swagbucks — Beating Broke

Earn Rewards with Swagbucks

June 9, 2015 By Shane 3 Comments

It’s been a while since I last wrote about Swagbucks. A little over a year to be exact. And almost 3 years before that. I’ve been using Swagbucks for a long time, I guess. What is Swagbucks?

Swagbucks is a rewards program. You earn rewards called Swagbucks for doing a variety of activities. What sort of activities? Glad you asked.

Swagbucks Search

This is probably the easiest way to earn Swagbucks. You can install the Swagbucks add on for your browser and set the Swagbucks search as your default search so that when you search in the location bar it directs you through their search engine. When you use their search, you can randomly win Swagbucks. It’s not every search, but depending on your search volume, you might win about once a day. Your winnings will vary, but they can range from lower amounts like 5 Swagbucks all the way up to 20-50. The search feature is powered by Yahoo search.

Swagbucks Polls and Surveys

This is probably the second easiest way to earn Swagbucks through the program. You log into the site and take a poll. The payout is usually something like 2 Swagbucks for each poll you take and the polls are usually pretty short. You can also take surveys which tend to be a little longer, but the payout, which varies, is usually a bit better as well.

Swagbucks Coupons

Swagbucks has a relationship with Coupons.com that allows for you to sign into their site and print off coupons. Because of that relationship, there’s always a pretty good selection of coupons on stuff you’ll use all the time. For each coupon that you redeem, you earn 10 points.

Swagbucks Shopping

Like most rewards programs, Swagbucks has agreements with all kinds of online retailers where you can click through a link on the Swagbucks site and then earn points based on the money you spend at the retailer. For example, their homepage is showing 4 Swagbucks for every dollar spend at Walmart.com right now.

Swagbucks Daily Crave

This is a newer way (to me at least) to earn Swagbucks. There’s a link on the sidebar of the Swagbucks site that leads you to a new page that shows you some videos. You earn a Swagbuck for watching a few of them. Pretty easy to use and easy to earn a few Swagbucks each day.

Swagbucks Play

With the play feature, you can play online games for Swagbucks. The amount you can win varies depending on the game, but certainly a great way to have a little fun and earn some Swagbucks easily.

It’s pretty easy to earn Swagbucks and work towards rewards. Do a few of these tasks each day and the Swagbucks will add up pretty quickly. And trading the Swagbucks in for your rewards is pretty easily too.

There’s two ways to redeem your Swagbucks.

Rewards

This is my favorite way to redeem Swagbucks. For me, the thing I redeem them for the most is the $5 Amazon gift card. It’s only 500 Swagbucks. There’s a whole bunch of different places that you can get gift cards from, and you’re sure to find at least one or two that you’ll want to have.

Swagstakes

While it’s never a sure thing, Swagstakes can be a fun way to redeem your Swagbucks. Obviously, Swagstakes is a play on Sweepstakes. You redeem your Swagbucks for entries into a Swagstakes with the hope that you’ll win something worth way more than your Swagbucks are worth. The entry “cost” varies by the Swagstakes, but most are less than 20 Swagbucks per entry. I don’t use this option very often as I tend to prefer the sure thing of a gift card, but I have entered a few of them. Never won yet though. 🙁

Swagbucks is a pretty cool rewards site that I’ve been using for years and I’ve never had a bad experience with them. Over the years, I’ve redeemed my Swagbucks for a whole bunch of Amazon cards. Depending on how much I use the site, I’ve sometimes earned a new card every month. On average, it’s more like every 3-6 months though. Still, for a few minutes a day, it’s an easy way to save a bit of money on my Amazon purchases.

Earning Swagbucks and Saving with Coupons

March 23, 2012 By Shane 10 Comments

Coke Zero © by DefeatEd2k4

Have you all seen those commercials for Coke Zero where the person is put into some crazy situation and then they drink a little Coke Zero and notice the and in the description, then start saying “and” and getting all these crazy things? That stuff doesn’t happen in real life. Right? That’s just some commercial mind’s crazy idea of what the melding of “Real Coca~Cola taste AND zero calories” can do for you. While I can’t vouch for the power of and in your soda drinking, I certainly can show you a way that and works in real life.

What I’m talking about is saving money with coupons AND earning Swagbucks. I’ve talked about Swagbucks a few times before, but, if you’re unfamiliar with them here’s a rundown. Swagbucks is a “paid-to-search” site, where you use their custom search engine, and occasionally win Swagbucks for doing so. They’ve got a bunch of other ways to earn Swagbucks, including taking a daily poll, watching SwagbucksTV, Tasks, and even games. One other way, that I’ve been taking advantage of, is their coupons feature. Using their coupons page, you print out coupons. They’re running the same system as Coupons.com, so if you usually use that, you’ll be getting the same coupons. The big difference here (the “and”, if you will) is that for each coupon that you print through the Swagbucks system, and then redeem, you earn 10 Swagbucks. Pretty cool, no?

Once a week or so, I’ll go through the list of coupons and print as many as we’ll use, then give them to my wife who cuts them out and sorts them for use. She’s in charge of that, because she’s got the coupon organizer, and is far better at actually remembering to use the coupons than I am. 🙂

My favorite use of my Swagbucks is to trade my Swagbucks in on Amazon.com giftcards. 450 Swagbucks gets you a $5 Amazon card. On average, I get a new card every other month. While it certainly isn’t going to make me rich, it feeds my Amazon habit, and helps me reduce my spending on books and such.

Give Swagbucks a try. (Join Swagbucks here.) After all, who wouldn’t like to make some extra cash and save with coupons?

If you sign up before April 2nd, 2012, and use the code MARCHSWAG during the sign up, you’ll get an added 70 Swagbuck bonus on top of the current 30 Swagbucks you get when you sign up, for a total of 100 Swagbucks to start off with.

Easy Ways to Earn, Make, and Give Free or Cheap Gifts

December 27, 2011 By aeneriz 6 Comments

With Christmas less than two weeks away, you may be feeling the crunch to get the perfect gift in time. Or perhaps, your gift budget is running low, yet you still have quite a few people on your list to give gifts to. Here are easy last minute solutions to earn free or cheap gifts for the season.

1. Swagbucks:

Many people have mentioned the fun and ease of Swagbucks. Have you signed up already? Are you participating every day to get bucks? Spending just a few minutes each day searching, doing the daily poll, and other small and fast tasks will add up quickly. You will easily receive more points for every person that signs up under you. Once you have someone sign up under you, every time they earn a Swagbuck, you earn one too. For easy earning, sign yourself up and then have your spouse or family member sign up under you. My husband and I spend minimal time on Swagbucks and earn at least a $5 Amazon gift card each month. I know you may be thinking, “What can $5 buy me on Amazon?” With no taxes (in most states) and a prime membership, $5 can choose from a lot of small and affordable gifts for kids and friends. Also, the Amazon gift card available on Swagbucks can be combined in your Amazon account to add up to a greater amount.

2. Coinstar:

While Coinstar does not exactly reward you with free cash, it can turn your huge coin collection into real hard gift cards. When you cash in your coins to Coinstar and redeem them for gift cards, including the Amazon e-gift certificate, you do not have to pay any extra fees that are usually associated with cashing in coins for cash. Coinstar recently added gift cards for Chili’s Grill & Bar, Maggiano’s Little Italy, Papa John’s, and Toys”R”Us. You may be surprised by how many coins you have. Even cashing in enough to earn a $5 gift card puts you $5 ahead in your spending budget.

3. Homemade:

Homemade gifts can be wonderful gifts. They are thoughtful and usually cost more time than money. So if you have the time, try making things from scratch. Here are some ideas for fun gifts to make under $5:

Make homemade caramel sauce and pair it with homemade hot chocolate mix. Place them in small glass jars with a cute note saying, “Have a sweet Christmas”.
Pair a small bag of gummy worms with a notebook full of quotes from books, a pen, and perhaps a book (check the local thrift store for great deals). Attach a note saying, “To my favorite book worm”.
A bag of popcorn with a handmade ticket that says, “Admission to One Free Movie Date with me” (Of course, this may cost more than $5 when they do wish to see the movie, depending on what time you go).
Cover a wooden letter (check your local craft store) with yarn for a home decor gift great for the whole family.
Fill a tea cup with several bags of tea and pair with a side of homemade scones or tea cakes.
Bake bread from scratch and pair with homemade or store bought jelly.
Homemade play dough for children.
A big tin of homemade cookies or brownies.

Just because your Christmas budget may be tight this year, there is no reason to stress out over gift giving. Most people are appreciated at the thought behind the gift. Always pair the gift with a special card or note to really show the gift receiver how much you appreciate and care for them.

photo credit: shimelle