Cookie Policy

Last updated: July 27, 2026

This Cookie Policy explains how Spends Better uses cookies and similar technologies to recognize you when you visit our site. It sits alongside our Privacy Policy, which covers everything else we do with information.

What is a cookie?

A cookie is a small text file stored on your device by your browser when you visit a website. Cookies let a site remember you between visits, keep you signed in, remember settings, and (in the case of third-party cookies) track behavior across sites for analytics or advertising.

Cookies we use directly

• Session and preference cookies. Set by WordPress to keep the site working properly. These do not identify you personally and are removed when you close the browser or after a short time.
• Consent state. A single small cookie remembers your response to our consent banner (accepted, denied, or set specific preferences) so we do not prompt you again on every page load.

Cookies set by third parties

When you accept analytics or advertising cookies, third parties we use may set their own cookies:

• Google Analytics (via Site Kit). Measures which articles are being read and where readers come from. Google’s own cookie policy covers how it treats this data.
• Google AdSense (only once we are approved and enable ads). May set the DoubleClick cookie (typically named “IDE” and set on the doubleclick.net domain) to serve and measure ads. You can opt out of personalized advertising at Google Ads Settings, and manage other network-level opt-outs via the DAA opt-out or Your Online Choices.

Managing consent

When you first visit Spends Better, our consent banner asks you to choose between accepting cookies, declining non-essential cookies, or setting per-category preferences (Functional, Analytics, Advertising). Your choice is stored and honored until you change it. To change it later, click “Cookie settings” in the site footer at the bottom of any page.

Managing cookies in your browser

You can also manage or delete cookies through your browser at any time. The exact steps vary by browser; the major browser vendors publish current instructions:

• Google Chrome
• Mozilla Firefox
• Apple Safari
• Microsoft Edge

Disabling all cookies may cause parts of Spends Better (and most other sites) to behave unexpectedly. For example, the consent banner may reappear on every page because there is no cookie to record your prior choice.

Do Not Track

Most browsers include a “Do Not Track” signal. Because there is no universal industry agreement on how sites should respond to that signal, we currently do not act on it. We rely on our consent banner (and per-category opt-outs above) to give you meaningful control over what runs.

Cookies and readers in the EEA, UK, or Switzerland

Once we are approved for AdSense and enable ads, visitors in the EEA, UK, and Switzerland will see a Google-certified consent message before any advertising cookies are set. That message replaces the standard consent banner for those regions to satisfy IAB Europe Transparency and Consent Framework requirements. See our Privacy Policy for the full details on how those regional obligations are met.

Changes to this policy

We update this policy when the set of cookies used on the site changes, when a service provider changes its own cookie behavior, or when a regulation requires a disclosure that was not here before. The “Last updated” date at the top of this page reflects the most recent change. If the change is material, we will highlight it at the top for a short time.

Contact

Questions about cookies or this policy: [email protected]. Under GDPR and similar regimes we respond within 30 days.