Easy ways to earn money

Last week, I mentioned how I had redeemed a $50 gift card to Lowes via MyPoints. I got lots of emails and questions regarding this, so I figured I would do a post on this program, as well as another, that are EASY and free ways to earn some extra money on the side. 


The first is Swagbucks. I was introduced to it via Money Saving Mom, whose site I have followed religiously for almost two years. 

Click here and you can sign up. This is super easy. You search using their site, and are randomly rewarded points. I seem to average about 30 a day. Then you use the points to "buy" items in the Swag Store. To me, the best deal is a $5 Amazon gift card for 450 points. These come in SO HANDY at Christmastime! I was able to buy our Blu Ray for pretty much nothing out of pocket, thanks to these cards. It's not a lot, but if you only get two $5 cards a month, that still adds up to over $100 a year! Plus, you can shop "thru" Swagbucks at online merchants and get a certain number of Swagbucks for each dollar spent. Very easy and I highly recommend it! Right now, you get 30 Swagbucks when you sign up!

With MyPoints, there are several ways to earn. 
1 - Shopping through merchants
2 - Printing/redeeming coupons
3 - Reading emails (the easiest)
4 - Doing surveys (sent via email, and you get points even if you don't qualify)
5 - Downloading the navigation bar and doing searches (so many points for a number of searches, which is capped at 50/month I believe)


I usually just do the email, because I seem to find better cashback alternatives from sites like shopathome.com or ebates.com (message me if you want referrals to those, too!) but I managed to earn enough points for the $50 Lowes card in just under a year. I just click on the emails while I'm leaving a message or something like that - so it's NOT an inconvenience at all!


Some suggest setting up a separate email for this, but I like it in my main email, because if it bugs me enough to ensure I check and delete! There aren't referral links for this program, but I can email it to you. While you don't have to use my link for either, I can get extra points if you sign up as part of my network :)


I hope I've done an OK job of explaining these programs. If you have any follow-up questions, feel free to ask.