Swagbucks - Surviving and Thriving

Swagcode alert! (The second of five.)

August 9, 2013 by Donna Freedman

You’ve got about two hours to earn five easy Swagbucks points. From now until 2 p.m. Pacific, go to the Swagbucks site and enter the code SchoolStarts.

This case-sensitive code is good in all countries where Swagbucks is offered.

Not sure what I’m talking about? You can get the basics by reading “Swagcode alert! (And four more to come.).” Feel free to click on the link in that article to join the program. (Note: If you do, I will receive a referral bonus. If you don’t want to do that, then just go to www.swagbucks.com and sign up that way.)

Short form: Swagbucks is a simple-to-use rewards site that lets you cash in for products, gift cards or even PayPal payments.

Swagcode alert! (And four more to come.)

August 7, 2013 by Donna Freedman

The Swagbucks rewards site has a “Five for Five” promotion going on starting, well, right now. Before I explain, let me give you the first code:

Zoom over to Swagbucks and enter the code BloggerTips, which is good from 3 to 4:30 p.m. Pacific today. The case-sensitive code is valid in the United States, Australia and Canada.

Go ahead. I’ll wait. But then come back to find out what a “Five for Five” promotion is.

Now that you’re back, here’s the scoop: Swagbucks has asked bloggers to put out posts touting the latest code. I’ll be doing this four more times between Friday, Aug. 9 and Saturday, Aug. 17. Each code is worth five points. (Hence, “Five for Five.”)

A brief Swagbucks heads-up.

June 27, 2013 by Donna Freedman

A shout-out to anyone who uses the Swagbucks rewards site: Another set of five “Collector’s Bills” starts on Monday, July 1.

Every time a new batch of Collector’s Bills comes along I get absurdly focused on earning all five. Guess I really am an American: I like to collect the whole set.

This time the theme is “Swagbucks Around the World,” with images of famous sites. Together they add up to 54 SBs and you’ll get a bonus of 20 SBs if you collect all five bills, which are awarded at random when you search the Internet.

Since you can earn the same image more than once it can be a little confusing. To check how many of the five you’ve stashed, go to the landing page and click on “My Swag Bucks,” then on the “Collector’s Bills” tab. The deadline to catch ’em all is July 8.

A second shout-out to those who don’t use Swagbucks: Give it a try. I cash my SBs in solely for Amazon gift cards, which I use for holiday and birthday presents, specialty items for myself (everything from olive oil to wool socks), and get-well or “just because” gifts for friends. But you can choose from other gift cards, electronics, housewares, health and beauty items, jewelry, daily deals and more.

Adventures in frugal hacking.

January 18, 2019May 26, 2013 by Donna Freedman

Recently I declared that I hate shopping. Today’s kind of shopping was both fun and profitable.

This morning I noticed that the Shop and Earn feature on the Swagbucks rewards points site is offering double the points through Memorial Day weekend.

Although not much of an online shopper I took a quick look anyway – and found yet another Swagbucks hack, which morphed into several other money-savers.

Is it ever too late to start saving?

October 15, 2015May 15, 2013 by Donna Freedman

Last week I participated in a Tweetchat with Liz Weston, J.D. Roth, MP Dunleavey and other personal finance geeks. One of the questions was, “I’m in my 40s and just started saving. What advice would you give beginners to make the most and try to catch up?”

A flood of 140-character advice poured in, but J.D. Roth summed it up best of all: “The best thing when starting to save late in life is to just DO it. Don’t worry about lost time. Just save.”

Easier said than done, to be sure. But necessary nonetheless.

Not a Swagbucks member? Get a bonus if you join by the end of the day.

December 13, 2012November 18, 2012 by Donna Freedman

Yesterday I took part in an online chat at CompareRewards.com, a site specializing in news and reviews of rewards programs. One of the guests was from Swagbucks.com, my favorite rewards site.

She gave us a promo code, good only through this weekend, that will provide new members with 70 Swagbucks upon joining, instead of 30.

I intended to put up a post last night — but I lost my Internet connection. (Moral of the story: Don’t intend. Just do.)

So if you aren’t a Swagbucks member yet, I hope you’ll do the following:

Game shows, rescued pennies, bonus Swagbucks and how to have a cheaper Christmas 2011.

November 13, 2011 by Donna Freedman

Today’s post is a bit of a grab-bag.

To anyone interested in joining Swagbucks: I might be able to get you 100 extra points. On Saturday evening I took part in an online chat about shopping/rewards sites. Those “attending” were given a code to offer to new referrals in addition to the usual 30-point sign-up bonus.

Join Swagbucks. I’ll make it worth your while.

August 1, 2011 by Donna Freedman

I love Swagbucks. There. I said it. I love Swagbucks because it helps me earn Amazon gift cards for doing what I’d do anyway, i.e., online searches.

I’d like for you to join Swagbucks using the widget here on the site. That’s because I’ll get bonus points if you do.

Yes, the Internet is a giant Ponzi scheme and I just want my piece of it. So I’m proposing a little incentive.

Frugal materialism.

January 15, 2016June 2, 2010 by Donna Freedman

One of my earliest articles for MSN Money was called “Living ‘poor’ and loving it.”* In the essay I noted that there’s real joy in knowing that you have everything you need and some of what you want.

But what if your goal is to have more than one of everything you need, and a whole bunch of what you want?