The convenience of shopping online is better now than it has ever been. Anything you can think of is available online, and rarely do you need to leave the comfort of your home to get what your heart desires. I’ll tell you my secret of how I shop on Amazon for free and you can do it, too.
Shopping Online
I discovered Amazon before there was Amazon Prime. I loved being able to get the items I needed without leaving home. As more and more stores offered online shopping, I began to leave the house less and less. The only thing that was stopping me from fully shopping online was money. It was costly to have items shipped, and it cost money to purchase those items I wanted. I realized I needed a more permanent solution.
The solution I needed came into my life in late 2012 in the form of Swagbucks. It was late at night and I was browsing my favorite blogger’s site for simple meals to feed my family. Throughout her site, she kept mentioning something called Swagbucks. She said it was her favorite way to shop online because of the cashback. It was a way for her to earn money and gift cards by simply shopping online. What?! Needless to say, I did some more research about this company called Swagbucks.
Swagbucks in a Nutshell
Now, Swagbucks isn’t a store to shop online like Amazon but is a means to get to the stores I wanted to shop. It’s like choosing which road you want to take to your favorite store. I choose Swagbucks because when I’m shopping online, I get points for every dollar I spend. If I’m already shopping online, why not use my Swagbucks link so I can cash in my points to get free gift cards and cash?
Another great part of Swagbucks is the referral program. Whenever you refer someone to Swagbucks using your personal link, then you get 10% of their points for life. So that blogger that referred me to Swagbucks five years ago? She’s still earning 10% of my points! How awesome is that?
How I Shop for FREE on Amazon
Because I do ALL my shopping online through my Swagbucks link, my points rapidly add up. All the people I’ve referred to Swagbucks also adds to my points. AND I do my research for my articles through Swagbucks’ search engine to get additional points. My kids play the games and watch the videos at Swagbucks, so I get points for that, too. Basically, I get points every time I use my computer and I use my computer a LOT.
As those points add up, I cash in for Amazon gift cards. Now that Amazon has Prime membership and I can get free two-day shipping, free music, free kindle books, free videos, and other free stuff from my prime membership, I do a majority of my shopping at Amazon. I always have a gift card to use at Amazon that I’ve redeemed from my Swagbucks points. I can’t remember the last time I’ve had to actually purchase something at Amazon without having a gift card to use.
How much I have earned so far
I started using Swagbucks in 2012, but I didn’t start using it regularly until about 2014. The company has added more benefits and ways to earn points since it started, so I heavily rely on it all these years later. Another great feature at Swagbucks is that they track your points earned so you can see where you’ve earned points and how much you have earned. All of my earnings have helped pay for Christmas and other special occasions and holidays.
Updated: As of July 2020, I’ve earned 298,240 points.
Swagbucks has promotions year-round, so there’s always a special for clothes when back to school shopping, holiday bonus when shopping during the holidays, tax program discounts during tax season, on and on. If you take advantage of each promotion, your points add up quickly.
If you shop online or get online for any reason, you should try out Swagbucks to get points while you are online. It’s a free membership and you can redeem your points for gift cards of your choice or cash.
