These are the rules every Deal Diary guide is written and updated by. They exist because most money-saving advice that goes wrong is not dishonest, it is stale or second-hand.
We go to the primary source
Coupon policies, app payout rules, return windows and government program details come from the company or agency that publishes them: the retailer’s own policy page, the app’s help center or terms, the official program site. We do not take a number from another blog’s summary. Every guide lists its sources at the bottom with the date we checked each one.
We show the date, and we re-check
Each guide shows the date it was last updated at the top, next to the date it was first published. When a store or app changes its rules, we go back to the source, fix the guide, and the new date goes up. A guide we have not re-checked keeps its original date rather than pretending to be fresh.
The catch goes in the guide
Advertised rates are ceilings. The cashout minimum, the hold period, the exclusions and the limits decide whether the money is real, so they go in the same guide, near the top, usually in a “Main catch” line. That rule applies to offers we are paid for, too.
We say when something is not published
Sometimes the answer people want is not written down anywhere official. Publix, for example, does not publish which states let you buy one BOGO item at half price. When that happens we say so plainly and tell you how to find out yourself, instead of repeating an unsourced list as fact.
Examples are labeled as examples
Where a figure shows how a mechanism works rather than what you will get, it is marked as an example. Your store, your region and your household change the answer. We do not quote invented averages, income figures or savings totals.
Money never buys a recommendation
Some links earn us a commission, and the site may show ads. A commission does not change what a guide says about an offer, and when the fine print undercuts a paid offer, it stays in. We never charge readers for anything, and we never point people to paid services for government benefits or unclaimed money, which are free to apply for. Details are on the affiliate disclosure page.
What we do not do
- We do not give financial, tax or legal advice. Guides explain how programs and offers work, not what you personally should do.
- We do not promise income from surveys, testing or any side gig.
- We do not invent testimonials, subscriber counts or results.
Corrections
If something in a guide is wrong or out of date, tell us. We check it against the source, fix the guide if it needs fixing, and update the date at the top.