Start thinking about small ways to earn extra income with the holiday season coming soon! I talk about Swagbucks a lot because it’s an easy way to earn Amazon gift cards (among other rewards). I use the Swagbucks search engine every time I search online, and I get rewarded with Swagbucks. Every Friday is Mega Swagbucks Day, so you’ll see larger increments pop up when you earn Swagbucks while searching.

Another great way to earn Swagbucks is by referring your friends and family. You earn their first 1000 Swagbucks along with them, and that gets you to your FREE gift cards even faster! Plus, there’s a great promotion running now through the end of 2011:

1. Get at least 5 new referrals who are not members of your household or share the same address. Send an email to your friends & family, or put it out on your Facebook page. Share how you earn Swagbucks and how you’ve redeemed them.
2. When 5 of your referrals earn 50+ Swagbucks, you’ll earn a bonus 500 Swagbucks that will be applied at the end of the month you qualify. A $5 Amazon GC is 450 Swagbucks, which is the best redemption value for your Swagbucks. See what I’ve purchased with my FREE giftcards.

New to Swagbucks? You can join today with code 5For5 (it’s case sensitive). This code is active until 12:00noon PST on Monday, October 17th. You’ll get an additional 70 Swagbucks for signing up, starting you off with 100 Swagbucks total! This code is only for new Swagbucks searchers (sorry, vets!).

See what other methods I use to earn extra income for the holidays.

Monday, October 3rd, there will be a Swag Code Extravaganza all day! Keep an eye on the Swagbucks Twitter feed for the first code at 6:00am PST Monday morning. There will be seven different codes during the day, so watch for them at the Swagbucks blog, Facebook page, and on Twitter.

New to Swagbucks? You can join today with code BIGTIMEBUCKS (it’s case sensitive). This code is active until midnight PST on Monday, October 3rd. You’ll get an additional 70 Swagbucks for signing up, starting you off with 100 Swagbucks total! This code is only for new Swagbucks searchers (sorry, vets!).

I use the Swagbucks search engine every time I search online, and I get rewarded with Swagbucks that I redeem for Amazon Gift Cards. There are tons of gift cards and other rewards in the Swag Store, but I like shopping Amazon for my gluten-free groceries and holiday shopping!

This week, Swagbucks is celebrating Memorial Day! You’ve heard me talk about Swagbucks before. It’s one of my top 10 Ways I Made Money in 2010. I know a lot of you earn Swagbucks and redeemed them for Amazon gift cards, too!

All week, you can collect a series of collector’s bills they’re calling the “Score Four and Twenty Swag Bucks” challenge, since there are four Memorial Day-themed collectible Swag Bucks bills. If you can collect them all before Thursday, you’ll get a 20 Swag Buck bonus applied to your account (that bonus will be applied later that following week). There will also be a new area of the Swagbucks Ledger where you can track the Collector’s Bills as you get them and share your wins on Facebook/Twitter.

Then, on Thursday, you’ll see a Swag Code Extravaganza, where over 40 Swag Bucks will be given out in codes through the day.

I have a special sign-up code for those of you who are new to Swagbucks. Use my referral link and code MEMORIALDAY to get an extra 50 Swagbucks when you sign up (code expires midnight on 5/27). That will start you off with 80 Swagbucks, and it only takes 450 to get that first $5 Amazon gift card. I usually redeem my Swagbucks for Amazon GCs, but now they’re offering new GCs like Home Depot and CVS.

To learn more about how to earn Swagbucks for free stuff, use the 6 tips I share in Start Earning with Swagbucks.

Disclosure: When you sign up with my referral link, I earn Swagbucks along with you up to your first 1,000.

Great news for Swagbucks users! Swagbucks has updated their gift card offerings in the Swag Store. Now you can redeem your Swagbucks for these new cards:

• $10 and $25 Fandango Gift Cards
• $10 and $25 CVS e-Gift Cards
• $10 and $25 Home Depot Gift Cards
• $10 and $25 Brinker International (for restaurants Chili’s, Maggiano’s, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, and On the Border)
• $25 Overstock Gift Card
• $25 Lands End Gift Card
• $25 Cabela’s Gift Card

Swagbucks is one of the best ways to earn FREE money. I earn Swagbucks every time I search online, every time I’m on the computer! They just pop up once in a while, and they look like this:

If you’re new to Swagbucks, why not give it a try? Just sign up with my referral link, and you’ll start off with 30 Swagbucks. You’ll earn more each time you use the Swagbucks search engine. Then, try some of the other ways to earn Swagbucsk

Disclosure: I earn Swagbucks along with you when you sign up under my referral link.

As I’ve mentioned before, you can help Japan’s earthquake relief by donating your Swagbucks. Many of you have done so, and Swagbucks is reporting that they’ve raised the equivalent of $20,000 so far! Take a moment and donate some Swagbucks to the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. It’s an easy way to donate to help Japan for FREE.

If you haven’t signed up for Swagbucks yet, now is a great time, because you’ll start off with 80 Swagbucks in your account. Just use my referral link and code HelpJapan for 50 bonus Swagbucks plus the regular 30 you get for signing up (this code is valid for new members only and expires May 2nd).

I talk about Swagbucks often because it’s one of the easiest ways to earn FREE stuff like Amazon gift cards and Paypal cash just by using the Swagbucks search engine to search the internet.

There are SO many ways to earn Swagbucks:

• Install the Swagbucks toolbar to your internet browser; you get Swagbucks daily for using it and get bonus Swagbucks when you search. I earn the most this way.
• Take the Swagbucks daily poll. You get 1 Swagbuck each day for that simple click.
• Refer others to sign up with your Swagbucks referral. You can invite friends and family directly or add your link to the signature you use on forums and email. Everyone likes to earn FREE money.
• Every Friday is Mega Swagbucks Day, where the Swagbucks awarded for regular internet searching are much higher than usual. I save my research tasks (for blog posts) for that day.
• Subscribe to the Swagbucks Blog, where they offer extra codes.
• Join Swagbucks on Facebook and on Twitter, where they have contests for Swagbucks and offer bonus codes a few times a week.
• Use their portal for online shopping and earn Swagbucks for your online purchases. You can even earn bonus Swagbucks for purchases on Groupon and other daily deal sites.

I prefer to redeem my Swagbucks for FREE Amazon gift cards. It only takes 450 Swagbucks to get a $5 credit at Amazon, and it’s the best ratio of Swagbucks-to-money that I’ve found. You can use your Amazon GCs to buy everything from holiday gifts to specialty groceries to carseats!

Disclosure: I earn Swagbucks along with you when you sign up under my referral link.