Affiliate Disclosure
Effective May 22, 2026
HansonsBudget is free to use. Here's the honest story of how money flows on the partner side — and the rules we hold ourselves to so it never bends a recommendation away from what's right for you.
How affiliate links work
When HansonsBudget recommends a product — for example, a high-yield savings account, a credit card, tax software, an insurance comparison tool, or an investing platform — some of those links are affiliate or referral links. If you click one and sign up, the partner may pay HansonsBudget a one-time or recurring fee.
There's no extra cost to you
The price you pay, the rate you receive, the bonus offer, and the terms of the product are identical to going to the partner directly. Affiliate compensation is paid by the partner from their own marketing budget, not by you.
User-first recommendation policy
We don't rank products by commission. Our Editorial Policy spells out the rules in detail; the short version:
- Free actions and educational steps come before any partner product when both are relevant. (Example: “Negotiate a lower APR with your card issuer” comes before “Apply for a balance-transfer card.”)
- Product fit matters more than commission. We try to match the product to your situation — fees, rates, eligibility, risk, stated goals — before showing it.
- If we can't honestly recommend a product, we don't show it, even if the commission would be high.
- We show why each recommendation appeared. If a card showed up because of your spending pattern, we'll say so.
Sponsored and partner content
From time to time we may publish content where a partner sponsored the work itself (for example, an explainer about how a specific product category works). When that happens it will be labeled clearly as Sponsored at the top of the page, and the opinions and editorial choices remain ours.
We don't accept payment to remove honest criticism or to recommend a product we wouldn't recommend on its merits.
Product categories that may include affiliate links
- High-yield savings accounts and checking accounts
- Credit cards (rewards, travel, cash-back, balance-transfer)
- Personal and student loan refinance
- Mortgage and home-equity products
- Auto, renters, home, life, and health insurance comparison
- Tax preparation software and CPA marketplaces
- Investing platforms and robo-advisors
- Identity-protection and credit-monitoring services
- Budgeting / financial-wellness tools
Compare before you click sign up
A product that shows up in HansonsBudget might still be a poor fit for you. Before signing up:
- Read the fees, rates, and terms on the partner's page.
- Check eligibility (credit score, income, residency, account minimums).
- Compare against at least one alternative — even if we've already done the comparison, your situation may not match the average user.
The disclosure you'll see in the app
Whenever we show a product card with an affiliate link, we display this line right near it:
HansonsBudget may earn a referral fee if you use this link. This doesn't change our goal of showing useful, user-first recommendations.
Tell us if you see a problem
If something on the site reads like a paid placement and shouldn't, or if you think a recommendation is poor, email us at [hansongrant1@gmail.com]. We take that feedback seriously and we'd rather change a recommendation than defend a bad one.