Cookie Policy
Last updated: 3 August 2026.
Cookies are small text files stored on your device when you visit a website. Some website features also use your browser's local storage or session storage in a similar way. This Cookie Policy explains how Side Hustle Savings uses cookies and similar technologies, how you can control them, and your rights under UK GDPR and PECR. Read alongside our Privacy Policy.
1. Cookie categories we recognise
- Strictly necessary cookies, required for the site itself to work (e.g. remembering your cookie choice, keeping requests routed correctly, and protecting against abuse). Allowed without consent under PECR Regulation 6(4).
- Functional cookies, remember non-essential preferences such as expanded/collapsed menu state. We would only enable these after consent. Currently not used.
- Analytics cookies, measure how visitors use the site so we can improve it. Require your consent before loading. See section 3 for the tools we plan to use.
- Marketing / advertising cookies, used by ad networks and social platforms to profile visitors and show targeted advertising. Require your consent before loading. Currently not used.
- 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 5.
2. What Side Hustle Savings uses today
| Name | Category | Purpose | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| shs_cookie_consent_v2 | Strictly necessary | Records your consent choice for each cookie category (necessary / analytics / marketing) along with the timestamp, so we do not re-prompt on every page and can prove your choice. | Up to 12 months (browser local storage), after which the banner reappears. |
| Session / edge cookies set by our hosting platform | Strictly necessary | Set by the platform serving the site to route requests correctly and protect against abuse. Do not identify you personally. | Session or short-lived (typically deleted when you close your browser). |
| shs_newsletter_draft_* (private editor only) | Strictly necessary | Used by the private newsletter editor. Stored solely on the editor's own device. | Until manually cleared. |
3. Analytics and marketing tools we plan to enable
We use the tools below to help us understand how visitors use the website and improve our content. Analytics tools only load after you have provided consent through our cookie banner.
| Tool | Purpose | Cookies | Category | Consent required |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Analytics 4 (GA4) | Aggregate, anonymised traffic analytics, pages visited, referrer, device type, approximate country. | _ga, _ga_<container>, _gid (typical durations 24 hours to 13 months). | Analytics | Yes, blocked until you consent. |
| Google Tag Manager (GTM) | Container that loads Google Analytics (and any future tags) only when the corresponding consent category is granted. GTM itself does not set marketing cookies. | None set by GTM itself. | Loader (governed by consent) | Loads only when Analytics or Marketing consent is granted. |
| Google Search Console | Measures how the site performs in Google Search results. Uses server-side data (search queries, clicks, impressions), does NOT set any cookies in your browser. | None. | Not a cookie tool | No cookies to consent to. |
| Consent management platform | Records and enforces your cookie choices, and lets you change them later. Cookies used are strictly necessary because they exist only to remember your consent. | shs_cookie_consent_v2 (see section 2). | Strictly necessary | No consent required, required for the site to honour your PECR rights. |
If we ever start using a marketing tool (for example a Meta / Facebook Pixel, TikTok Pixel, LinkedIn Insight Tag, or Google Ads conversion tag), it will be added under the "Marketing" category and blocked until you consent. This page will be updated in advance.
4. Newsletter and transactional email
Our newsletter is delivered by Beehiiv and our transactional emails (contact replies, welcome messages, form notifications) go through Resend. These platforms do not set cookies on this website; they process your email address on their own servers. Standard email tracking pixels inside newsletters (open and click tracking) are a normal part of email marketing and are described in the confirmation email you receive, along with a one-click unsubscribe. See our Privacy Policy.
5. 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.
6. How to give, refuse or withdraw consent
- On your first visit: the cookie banner offers three choices - Accept all, Reject non-essential and Manage preferences (which lets you turn Analytics and Marketing on or off individually). Only your choice is stored, non-essential cookies are not loaded before you decide.
- Change your mind at any time: click (also available in the footer of every page) to reopen the panel and update your categories or withdraw consent entirely.
- Consent logs: your choice and the timestamp are stored in your own browser under
shs_cookie_consent_v2. We do not send that record to any server. Consent expires automatically after 12 months so we re-ask you. - 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 use private / incognito mode.
- Third-party affiliate cookies: control these at the provider's own 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.
7. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control
There is currently no consistent legal standard for how websites should react to Do Not Track (DNT) or Global Privacy Control (GPC) signals. Our cookie banner nonetheless keeps every non-essential cookie blocked by default, which is at least as strict as those signals would require.
8. Future changes
If we add a new cookie or change how an existing one is used, this page will be updated and, where consent is required, the cookie banner will re-appear so you can make a fresh choice. Material changes will move the "last updated" date at the top of this page.
9. Contact
Questions about cookies? Email hello@sidehustlesavings.co.uk.