An Easy Way to Earn Money {Swagbucks}


As a stay-at-home-mom with a growing book collection, I like having a way to shop (at a variety of places, not just Amazon) without actually spending our cash.  Swagbucks offers help in this way.  By using their search engine, I earn points.  The points are called Swagbucks and are then redeemed for gift cards or purchases.   I think my next gift card (likely next week or sooner) will be for Starbucks, though I have only redeemed them for Amazon gift cards so far.  (Though I don't drink coffee, I do meet girlfriends there every other month or so, and I do like their hot chocolate!)

First, I will say that I am sharing about Swagbucks (linked through my account) because I have been earning money (in the form of Amazon gift cards) from them for several months now.   Occasionally someone asks about Swagbucks, so I thought I would create a post telling you what I do to earn and how it all works.

I had heard about Swagbucks, but wasn't sure if it was a gimmick or not.  Then a blogging friend wrote about it quite a while ago.  I trusted her and signed up "under" her.

Swagbucks is a search engine (like Google).  You do not earn Swagbucks (SB) each and every time you use it, but every so often (multiple times a day if you search a lot) your searches earn you Swagbucks.  Typically I earn 7-11 SB on my "winning" searches.  Once I won 50 SB which was quite exciting!  Your SB add up, and then you redeem them for gift cards or you may shop using them.  Each SB is worth about a penny (depending on how you redeem them).

You do not need to refer friends to earn Swagbucks, but if a friend is referred by you, you are able to earn up to 1,000 SB for what each friend earns.

I choose to redeem my SB for Amazon gift cards because we shop Amazon multiple times a year (sometimes multiple times a month) and it seems to be the most valuable.  For 450 SB, I redeem them for a $5 Amazon gift card.  I can, with minimal effort (2 minutes a few times a week) earn a $5 Amazon gift card each month.  If I remember to use Swagbucks for my search engine a few times a day, almost every day, it would only take a week or so to earn the same.  But I don't remember to do that.

Other Ways to Earn
Swagbucks is not just a search engine.  They now provide multiple ways to earn SB like polls, coupons, videos, games, shop, and surveys.  I, personally, don't have the time to earn SB with some of those, though I do the daily poll (all of 10 seconds) when I think of it to earn 1 SB.

Earn Fast with More Searches
If you and your family really want to earn SB, I would suggest downloading the SB toolbar which will be at the top of your internet screen or make SB your home page.  (To be honest, I do prefer the Google search engine, but SB searches also work.)  Instead of downloading the toolbar, I have Swagbucks saved in my "Bookmarks Bar" which also goes across the top of my screen, but does not take up so much screen space as the SB toolbar.

Earn Slowly with Less Searches (My Way)
Typically, when I come to the computer, I want to check email (Yahoo and Gmail), Facebook, and possibly a couple of other sites.  First, I go to Swagbucks, and then I search for Yahoo mail, Gmail, and Facebook.  Doing that may or may not earn SB.  But then I will also search for whatever else is on my mind, if anything.

When you do earn SB, you will see an image similar to the one below (not my own).  It tells you how much you have earned. 
A Tip or Two
I read somewhere that by searching morning, afternoon, and evening tends to give you a better chance of earning SB.  I don't know if it is true, but it seems to be.  I may earn some SB after four (or ten...) searches, but once I earn, it seems to take a long time to earn additional SB.

The NOSO (No Obligation Special Offers) do provide you with images that if you click them, you will be asked to provide your information to get on a mailing list or that type of thing.  If you are not interested, just scroll down to the "See Next Offer" button.  You do NOT need to get on all of the mailing lists...unless you want to.

I am by no means an expert, having only been earning Swagbucks actively for a few (4-5) months now.  But, if you have questions, feel free to ask.  If you want to, my Swagname is thissimplemom, and you can sign up through me here (or any link in the post).  You might be interested in this post from SB if you are considering joining or already have.

Do you already use Swagbucks?  What is your favorite way to earn?  Any other tips for newcomers?  I bet you could teach me!

~ Annette {This Simple Mom}

1 comment

  1. Something I just discovered a few days ago: When you do the daily poll, a screen will pop up that lets you know you can earn 2 swagbucks if you watch a video. It's usually just a short commercial. Once it's over, and it lets you know you've got 2 swagbucks, there's a button at the bottom of the screen where you can watch another one. Even if it's the same commercial over and over, you're still earning 2 swagbucks per video. It will let you know when there are no more videos available. That has doubled/tripled my earnings each day. Once you close that screen, though, you're out of luck until the next day, as far as I can tell. There's also the regular video feature, but you only earn 3 swagbucks per 10 videos, which isn't nearly as quick. On both accounts, though, you could just have the videos playing while you look at other things. :) Hope that helps some.

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