Testimonial from Angie
I’ve been a Swagbucks member for a few years, but my intensity didn’t pick up until last year. I was determined to pay for most of our Christmas by purchasing gift cards and using them toward gifts.
While this worked out well, I also learned some valuable lessons in the process.
1. Get the right gift cards.
It really doesn’t save any money to have gift cards for stores I don’t shop at, so whenever possible, I only used my Swagbucks to get gift cards for stores I frequently shopped in. For me, this includes Walmart, Target, CVS, and Amazon.
2. Remember that it takes a while to get the gift cards.
Because it can take a little while for the gift card to be credited to your account, I try to redeem my Swagbucks regularly so I always have a supply. This came in handy this month when I realized that both mine and my husband’s Sonicare toothbrush heads had gone past the gross stage. In fact, upon further inspection, the clear head covers were no longer clear. EWWW!
Since I had a $50 Walmart gift card sitting in my Swagbucks account, I did a little on-line research. I found a box of 3 replacement heads at Walmart for $34.95.
I just happened to remember that I could also use my Walmart card at Sam’s Club too, and proceeded to look on-line there. Was I stoked to find a box of 4 replacement heads at $36.88 AND an instant $10 off at checkout. BONUS!
3. You can earn even more by shopping through Shop and Earn.
What I did next makes me giggle a little. It occurred to me that I could not only get these for free but I could use the Shop and Earn on Swagbucks and get points for “purchasing” these!
While I had decided that the Sam’s price was a better deal, I was disappointed to learn I only got 2x the points for my purchase (the actual price, no tax nor shipping, if applicable, included) where Walmart was 4x the amount. Oh well, I was still getting a freebie and points and still felt that Sam’s was a great deal so I went for it!
The only bummer was my local store was out of the product I wanted. I had planned to order it, pick it up at the store and use the remainder of my gift card there. I had to pay a little extra in shipping – still covered by my gift card. leaving me $15.48 to use in the store. I went to Sam’s over the weekend and used the balance on my gift card to purchase frozen fruit for our daily smoothie.
Today, my Sonicare heads arrived as well as my Shop & Earn email telling me that I have 74 Swagbucks pending which will probably show up on my account mid February. That’s a great chunk toward my daily goal, which I try to meet every day!
Angie is an Air Force wife raising 4 kids (ages 8, 6, 2, and 9 months). She loves good deals and learning how to stretch their money.
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