THRIFTY THURSDAY

You've heard me mention many times how I get stuff free from Amazon all the time using gift cards. How in the world do I get so many gift cards? Well, I'll tell you: Swag Bucks and surveys. Today I'll start by telling you about Swag Bucks. (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!)

What is Swag Bucks?

Swag Bucks is a search engine that awards you for doing searches in the form of Swag Bucks (points that can be traded in for prizes.) You can chose from a variety of prizes including gift cards. But I ALWAYS go for the $5 Amazon.com gift card because it only "costs" 450 Swag Bucks. I can typically earn about $10 a month just from using this as my search engine. (I have it set as my homepage.) Oh, and you get 30 Swag Bucks just for joining!

They also have Swag Codes out at least 5 times a week that can be worth 10 – 30 Swag Bucks if you are interested in "hunting" for them.....I always just check their Facebook link on the left side every time I get online to see if there is a code out.

How Do You Earn Swag Bucks?

SEARCH:
The key is to use Swag Bucks as a replacement for your current search engine....and to use it EVERY TIME you want to go anywhere online. You won't win Swag Bucks every time you search. It's random. However, if you search often enough throughout the day, you can usually win anywhere from 20 – 50 Swag Bucks a day from just searching the web. I usually win within my first 5 searches each time I get online. Use it frequently. I use it ANYTIME I get online. If I need to check my gmail, I type "gmail.com" into the search bar...even though I could type it in and go directly there since I know the web address, I still do a Swag Buck search for it in hopes of earning points. If I want to go to Blogger to update my blog, I still type "blogger.com" into the search bar on Swag Bucks. Even if I want to go to a site that is in my Favorites Folder, I still type it in as a search. It's one extra (quick) step, but it's worth it! (It took Jared a while to realize this...)

BROWSE SPECIAL OFFERS:
You can earn 1 bonus Swag Buck just by browsing the special offers section every day!
Here’s how: Look down the left side of Swagbucks.com for the Special Offers link. Click "Go Now." Then scroll through these offers by clicking skip or next. DON'T actually DO any of the offers (unless you really are interested.) Once you get through about 3-7 offers it will alert you that you have received 1 Swag Buck. You can do this every day!

TAKE SURVEYS....OR AT LEAST JUST CLICK THE LINK
Swag Bucks just introduced surveys as a way to earn extra Swag Bucks. To find what surveys are available to you, visit Swagbucks.com and look for the Trusted Surveys option on the left side. You will earn 1 Swagbuck each day just for clicking that link. You don't have to actually do any of the surveys if you don't want to.

TAKE THE DAILY POLL
Again, on the left hand side is a link that says "Daily Polls." These are quick 2 second polls that you can take once a day to earn 1 Swag Buck.

There are SO many other ways to earn and SO many other things I could tell you, but that's the gist of it. If anyone is interested in signing up for Swag Bucks (it's free, by the way), you can sign up HERE under my referral. Then let me know if you do, and I can walk you through a lot more about it. Or let me know if you have any questions. I did a lot of research and reading about Swag Bucks before I signed up....as I'm hesitant about stuff like this. But after only about 9 months of using it, and over $100 in Amazon gift cards, I don't regret it at all!

Oh, one more tip: If you do sign up, it's best that you always use the same computer and only have ONE account per household.....meaning that they can track the IP addresses and can tell if more than one account is using the same computer and will cancel your account if they suspect someone has created multiple accounts under different emails. This has happened to a couple people I know who "referred" their husband or child and set up a second account on the same computer. If you want to refer a family member, just make sure they use a different email and say a work computer or at least a different computer than your account is on. Hope that makes sense.

So, anyway. There's my secret to the free stuff from Amazon, and another peek into how I continue to be thrifty and frugal.

Next week, I'll tell you about a couple survey sites I use to also earn Amazon gift cards....