If you’ve been reading my blog for very long, you know that I use gift cards to pay for a lot of things to help lower my out of pocket expenses. You may be wondering how I earn all of these gift cards. Most of my gift cards that I earn come either from credit card rewards (I’ll post about that another time) and from various online survey or rewards companies.
Last week, I posted here about Swagbucks, which is a site where you earn points that can be exchanged for gift cards or merchandise for searching the web. The cash out amounts are fairly low (you only need 45 points to cash out for a $5 Amazon gift card). I earned enough points for an Amazon card during my first week.
Here are a few tricks I have learned along the way:
*Do a few searches every day until you earn at least one Swagbuck. I have found that I only have to enter 2-5 search strings to win (I enter search strings consecutively until I earn a Swagbuck). Even if you only earn one Swagbuck each day and you search each day, you will have earned 365 points by the end of the year, or enough to cash out for $40 worth of Amazon gift cards. That would help out with Christmas shopping, especially if Amazon has their killer toy sale again like they have in previous years! If you’d rather have gift cards for somewhere else, it would be enough for a $20 Target gift card, a $5 Subway gift card, and a $5 Amazon gift card. Or, you could get a $30 Barnes & Noble gift card. You could also get a $30 iTunes card and a $5 Starbucks card. As you can see, there are tons of possibilities!
*If you have a Facebook account, become a “fan” of Swagbucks on Facebook. Click here to do this. If you check out the wall, there are bonus codes posted once or twice a day that you can add to your account. (To add bonus codes, log into Swagbucks, and then click on the icon that says “You have X Swagbucks.” There will be a box that says this: Have a SwagCode? Just enter it here and receive your SwagBucks instantly! Enter your code and click GIMME!)
*Publish your Swagbucks winnings on Facebook – when you “win” a buck, you now have the option of posting your win on Facebook. It shows up on your profile and it’s another way to promote your Swagbucks account (and get more ‘friends’)
*Read the Swagbucks blog (you can access this from the main page when you log into your Swagbucks account). Bonus codes are posted here, as well.
*Sign up for the Swagbucks newsletter. They send bonus codes embedded in the newsletter, so it’s an easy way to earn extra Swagbucks!
*Download the Swagbucks Toolbar onto your internet browser – Click on the “toolbars” option on the left hand side of the website after you log in and follow the instructions!
*Post the Swidget on your blog or your Facebook page. You can download it here.
*Tell all your friends – When your friends sign up under you, you win when they win for the first 100 Swagbucks (this does not include any Swagcodes that they enter)
If you haven’t signed up yet, you can join here. You will get 3 Swagbucks for joining!
What is considered a search string? It doesn’t seem like my swagbucks have changed since I signed up and I’ve been using the tool bar for all searches.
Sorry for the confusion! By search string, I just mean whatever you would ordinarily search for. I search online all of the time and used to always use Google, but I have started using Swagbucks instead to search for everyday things. Some of the things I have “won” bucks for searching recently were: Michael Phelps scandal, stomach flu relief for kids, and “best time to plant a garden in TX” I don’t know if there’s any pattern as far as certain topics being “winners” but that gives you some ideas.
Thanks, that all makes sense. I love your blog
Hi –
LOVE you blog! SO many GREAT ideas! Thanks for sharing.
I am trying to register for swagbucks, and it is asking for a swagcode – where do I get this? Also, the word I am supposed to enter just shows as a x – why is this?
Don’t know if this makes a difference, but I am reistering from Canada.
Thanks!
The Swagcode is optional (if you have one). They usually post one daily in a variety of places: the Swagbucks blog, the Facebook wall, on Twitter, or on the toolbar. You will get three Swagbucks for joining if you use my link. It should still work for you in Canada because they have rewards for Canadians, too (including gift cards for Amazon Canada). Hope that helps!