what the heck is swagbucks?

If you're like me, you see a few of your friends getting into this Swagbucks thing and you are mildly interested. You may have even signed up to see what it's all about. After all, it's free, right? Can't hurt. I signed up with Swagbucks...I think about a year ago or so. I would use Swagbucks as my search engine here and there, if I remembered to. I didn't realize until recently how easy it was to earn swagbucks! I would get bucks when I searched for things every once in a while, but it was taking forever to rack up the bucks so I wasn't that excited about it. Then I started looking into ways you can earn bucks and this whole new world opened up before me! Okay, that's a little dramatic, but when I was able to use two of my Amazon gift cards that I had gotten with Swagbucks to score a really sweet deal on some diapers and wipes, I was hooked. I am no teacher, but I will attempt to explain it...somewhat. There's a lot to learn and really the best way to learn is to just get on their site and play around, but here is what I have learned so far...

Who can put it better than Swagbucks themselves? I got this from their website:

Swagbucks.com is an online portal dedicated to helping you earn digital dollars called "Swag Bucks", which can be redeemed for exclusive Swagbucks.com merchandise.

You get 30 swagbucks just for signing up. There are several different ways you can earn bucks, but I will only talk about the ones I have used so far:

*Searching the web ~ The most commonly used, I think, is by using their site for your search engine. I used to use Google all the time, but now I use Swagbucks anytime I need to search for something. You don't get bucks with every single search, but the more you search, the more you earn!

*Trusted Surveys ~ There is a list of surveys on their site that you can participate in. I just did one a few minutes ago that took about 10 minutes to complete, and it got me 10 bucks and put me over the top for another Amazon gift card! (a $5 Amazon gift card costs 450 swagbucks)

*Voting in the Daily Polls ~ This is pretty self explanatory. Every day they put up a new question and you just answer it. This will get you 1 buck.

*Inviting your friends to join =D ~ If you get friends to join through your link, then every time that they earn bucks (through searching the web) in their account, you get rewarded too!

*NOSO (No Obligation Special Offers) ~ These are special offers from third parties. You have the option to sign up for the special offer, or skip it. I usually go in every day and skip through them all (there are about 5). This will get you 2 bucks just for looking.

*Finding Swag Codes ~ I think this is the most fun! There is a box on the right hand side of the homepage underneath "Enter your swag code". When you have a code you just enter it in that box and then click "gimme". A swag code can be anything. Here is an example of one from a while ago: BTh3reBSquarE. Sometimes the code can be found on Swagbucks' blog, sometimes in the news feed on Facebook, earlier today there was one in a picture on their Facebook page. The easiest way to find out about them is to subscribe to their blog and "like" them on Facebook. It's a fun little community too. I get a kick out of being a part of it.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love a good deal. I'm one of those crazy people you see in the checkout lane at Target with a big coupon binder and a bunch of very random items in my cart that I usually walk out paying very little money for. I started getting into couponing about a year ago. It seems like we are always just trying to "get by" from paycheck to paycheck. I am a stay at home mom. I have very strong convictions about staying home with my kids and so we have had to get a little creative with our living style. Me becoming a coupon fanatic has been one of those creative changes. I can't tell you how many times it has helped us out.

Getting crazy about Swagbucks is along the same vein. I redeem the swagbucks I earn for Amazon gift cards. I take advantage of the savings I can get on Amazon for a wide variety of things that we need.

If you have been thinking about joining Swagbucks but just really didn't understand what it is all about I hope that I've helped you a little. Here is a link to sign up. I have shamelessly inserted it in various places throughout this post as well. =) Also, if you click on the link, but decide to quit and come back to it later, please come back to my blog and enter through my link again. If you shut your browser and then later just go back to swagbucks and sign up, I won't get you as a referral. If you sign up, thanks and I hope you have fun! If not, I still like you. ;)