Cookie Policy
Last updated: 23 July 2026.
Cookies are small text files that a website stores on your device. Browser local storage works in a similar way. This page explains which cookies and storage entries Side Hustle Savings uses today, the categories of cookies that exist on the wider web (and might be added here in future), and how to control them. Read alongside our Privacy Policy.
1. Cookie categories
- Strictly necessary cookies — required for the site itself to work (e.g. to remember your cookie choice, keep your request routed correctly, or protect against abuse). Allowed without consent under PECR Regulation 6(4).
- Analytics cookies — measure how visitors use the site so we can improve it. Require consent. None currently in use.
- Marketing / advertising cookies — used by ad networks and social platforms to profile visitors and show targeted advertising. Require consent. None currently in use.
- Affiliate tracking cookies — set by third-party providers (banks, cashback sites, bookmakers, etc.) after you click through from our site so they can attribute the referral and pay us commission. These are set by the third party on their own domain, not by us. See section 4.
2. What Side Hustle Savings uses today
| Name | Category | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| shs_cookie_consent | Strictly necessary | Remembers that you have seen (and accepted or rejected) the cookie banner so it doesn't reappear on every page. | Up to 12 months (browser local storage). |
| Session / security cookies set by our hosting platform | Strictly necessary | Set by the platform serving the site to keep your request routed correctly and protect against abuse. They do not identify you personally. | Session or short-lived (typically deleted when you close your browser). |
| shs_newsletter_draft_* (internal editor only) | Strictly necessary | Local drafts for the private newsletter editor at /newsletter-editor. Stored solely on the editor's own device. | Until manually cleared. |
3. What we do NOT use
At the time of this update, this website does not load:
- Google Analytics, GA4, Google Tag Manager or Google Ads pixels.
- Meta / Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel or any advertising tracker.
- Plausible, Fathom, PostHog or other web analytics scripts.
- Marketing automation, session-replay or heat-map tools.
If we add analytics or marketing cookies in future, they will be treated as non-essential, blocked by default, and only loaded after you give explicit consent through our cookie banner. This page will be updated before that happens.
4. Affiliate tracking on offer pages
When you click an offer link (for example a bank switch, cashback or referral offer) you leave Side Hustle Savings and are handed to the provider's own website. That provider may set its own cookies to attribute the referral so it can pay us the commission described on our Affiliate Disclosure page. Those cookies are set by the third party, on their own domain, and are controlled entirely by their own privacy and cookie policies. Side Hustle Savings does not read them and cannot delete them for you.
5. How to withdraw consent or change your choice
- Reset our banner choice: clear site data for sidehustlesavings.co.uk in your browser settings and the cookie banner will appear again on your next visit.
- Browser-level controls: most browsers let you block or delete cookies from the settings menu — search "cookies" in your browser's help pages (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge). You can also enable "Do Not Track" or use private/incognito mode.
- Third-party affiliate cookies: control these at the provider's site or through your browser. Blocking them will not affect your use of Side Hustle Savings, but the provider may not be able to recognise the referral.
Blocking strictly necessary cookies may stop parts of the site working correctly, but it will not stop you reading articles.
6. Cookie banner behaviour
The banner appears on your first visit and stores your choice ("accepted" or "rejected") for up to 12 months in browser local storage. Because we only use strictly necessary cookies at the moment, rejecting has no effect on the essentials — your choice is recorded now so that, if we ever add non-essential cookies, they will be gated by it.
7. Contact
Questions about cookies? Email hello@sidehustlesavings.co.uk.