Paying for Christmas - Swagbucks

I know, it seems a little early to be talking about this - doesn't it?  The trouble is that Christmas will be here before you know it and once again you'll be wondering how you're going to pay for it.

Prior to last year it always seemed like I was caught off-guard by Christmas.  Yes, I'm aware that Christmas comes the same time every year but I was never really prepared.  Our usual mode of paying for Christmas was to use our first paycheck in December since it was a three paycheck month.  Not a very good way of budgeting and it created a lot of stress.

To combat that stress I decided to make paying for Christmas a focus last year.  Christmas shopping last year was much less stressful given the fact that I had the money stuck aside to pay for it. There were a few steps that I took which I'll be sharing over the next few weeks.  This week I wanted to start with Swagbucks.

For those of you that aren't familiar with Swagbucks, it's a site that offers different ways of earning "swagbucks" (cute isn't it) which can then be turned in for awards.  They offer an incredible array of awards ranging from gift cards to electronics to houswares.  There is pretty much something for everyone.

There are a number of ways to earn swagbucks.  My primary way to earn is by using the site as my search engine.  By searching a few times a day, I average about 10 swagbucks per day.  If you are looking to rack up points faster (and have some time) there are a number of other ways to earn.  Some of them include:

• Answering surveys (rather time consuming, I don't typically do this)
• Taking the daily poll (this is super easy, I usually do this)
• Print coupons (another easy way to earn while saving money that I take advantage of - you do have to use them to collect your points)
• Tasks (these vary and I don't typically do these)
• Complete offers (I purchased our Netflix through here and earned swagbucks.  Unless you were planning on purchasing the item, I wouldn't recommend buying something just to get swagbucks)
• Play Games

While there are many options for redeeming your swagbucks, my personal choice is to buy Amazon gift cards.  A $5 gift card is available for purchase for 450 swagbucks (it's actually a better deal than saving up to buy the higher amount).  Everytime that my account has enough swagbucks accumlated I turn them in for my gift card.

A couple of things to note if you are turning in your swagbucks for gift cards.

• You can only redeem five of the same cards per month (plan ahead to maximize your purchase power)
• It takes a couple of weeks for the gift certificate to be credited to your account
• The certificate can be redeemed on your Amazon site where you will be able to use it when you are ready

I haven't redeemed my points for any actual products so unfortunately I can't comment on shipping charges or time frames for purchases.  If any of my readers have I'd be interested in hearing how it worked for you.

Using Swagbucks certainly won't make you rich, but wouldn't $50 be a nice addition to your Christmas fund?

If you want a chance to win a $50 Old Navy Card leave a comment here.  The drawing closes this Friday at midnight.

I'll be linking this up to We are THAT Family

You might also like:
My Week in Chicago
10 Things I Learned Being a Beauty Pageant Contestant
Frugal Gardening


Note:  The above link to Swagbucks is a referral link.  If you register through this link I will receive swagbucks.