How to Save Money and Get Free Stuff Online
You may or may not be aware of it, but there are tons of ways to save money and get free stuff (gift cards, product samples, coupons) online! I am going to do a two-part series on these websites. This week I will share with you my favorite websites that help you save money and get money back from your online purchases. I use all of these websites and can assure you that they are totally legitimate. Yes, I have actually gotten checks in the mail just from buying things online that I was going to buy anyway!
How does it work? These sites basically give you a kickback for the purchases you make online…it varies by store, but you can earn up to anywhere between 1-15+% of your purchases just by clicking through these sites to the store instead of typing in the store address to your browser. They are simple to use…just create an account, then each time you shop online, search for the store you are going to shop at on these sites first. (You can even search for stores that carry a particular item). Click through their link to the store, make your purchase, and at the end of a set time period (usually per quarter) you will get a check for the amount you earned! These sites also have plenty of coupon codes for online retailers that will save you even more.
Ebates: Click here to sign up. You will get a signing bonus of $5 when you make your first purchase. Examples of your cash back potential: Gap: 2% back Ebay: 2% back Disney Store: 5% back Kodak Gallery: 10% back Cashbaq: Click here to sign up. You will get a signing bonus of $5 when you make your first purchase Examples of your cash back potential: Babies R Us: 2% back Drugstore.com: 7% back Shoebuy.com: 15% back
Upromise: Click here to sign up. This one is a little different in that instead of earning cash back in the form of a check, you are earning a % of your purchase that is deposited into a college savings account for you or your child(ren). In addition to earning money back for online purchases, you can link your credit cards & frequent shopper cards to your Upromise account and every time you make a purchase of a Upromise eligible item or dine out at a participating restaurant, you will get a percentage of that purchase deposited into your account. You can also activate “eCoupons” each month that will give you extra savings on particular items when you buy them during the month.
Earn $$ for Searching the Web: One more site that gives you money for searching the web just like you normally do. Swagbucks (sign up HERE) is basically a search engine that pays you in “Swagbucks” for searching the web. It is NOT one of those scams that requires you to search the web hundreds of times a day for things you don’t really want to search for. You just use it instead of Google or Yahoo to search the web and every so often you will be awarded a “Swagbuck” (or 2 or MORE!). You can use those Swagbucks for gifts from their store, including the best one…the $5 Amazon gift card for 45 Swagbucks. I can earn at least one $5 gift card each month just by searching for 4-5 things each day that I want to search for anyway (phone numbers, websites, etc). If you don’t shop at Amazon or don’t want any of the other things in the Swagstore, you can turn your Swagbucks in to CASH by redeeming them for $5 in your Paypal account.
I have found the best way to earn $$ from Swagbucks is to install the toolbar (it is just like the Google toolbar). Type in the things you are searching for right at the top of your browser and you will be on your way! Swagbucks also gives out bonus codes that will give you swagbucks just for entering them on the website. Once you get the hang of Swagbucks you can start watching for those codes and earn your prizes even faster!
Just do it! I can’t recommend these sites highly enough. I want to stress that none of these sites require you to do anything that you aren't already doing other than a few extra clicks before you shop/search. If you are shopping online or searching the web anyway, why not get money back? Never go straight to a store’s website again! The savings from these sites may seem small (2% here, $5 there), but they ADD UP! If you save up all of the cash and gift cards you earn just from doing what you normally do online, you could buy your family a really great gift at the end of the year or add to that nest egg for something in the future.
If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comment section. Like I said, I have been using all of these sites for a while now and can tell you anything you may want to know.
Next week I will post about other sites where you can sign up to receive free samples or try new products for free!