Start the Year with Swagbucks

January 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

If you were with me last year, you saw what an amazing impact Swagbucks has had on my family budget. By trading Swagbucks in for gift cards to use on purchases I would make otherwise*, I had over $1300 more in my family budget in 2009.

*This is key. It’s one thing to use the gift cards for “fun” things that are extra to your budget (movies, Xbox points, etc.), but when you’re trying to pay down debt, you can really help yourself by using the gift cards for budget line items like clothing, gifts, household items, etc. By using my Swagbucks earnings this way, it frees up hundreds of dollars that I then send towards debt or savings.

If you’ve been waiting to see how Swagbucks has worked for people before joining, now’s your chance. Sign up through my referral link and earn 5 Swagbucks to start yourself off–use the code MONEYWISESWAG–and sign up by Saturday, January 16th at 1:00pm EST. Then start earning Swagbucks by using their search engine every time you’re on the Internet. You can earn extra Swagbucks with my Top 8 Tips to Earn Extra Swagbucks.

You don’t have to have a blog or know a thousand people to earn lots of Swagbucks–if you’re on the computer doing searches, you’re earning Swagbucks. Regular people earn enough Swagbucks to get a few Amazon gift cards, just by doing the above steps. See my FAQ: How do you earn so many Swagbucks? for more on how to earn Swagbucks quickly.

And, if you’re already a Swagbucks earner, look for a daily code in your Toolbar each day this week. More free Swagbucks!

Search & Win

Filed Under: Swagbucks

Bringing Money In: December

December 29, 2009 By 9 Comments

Photo courtesy of Daniel Y. Go

All this year, I’ve shared with you how I make money each month. I’ll do a wrap-up of these methods later this week. In 2010, I’ll focus on some new ways you can earn each month, including those of you who are bloggers (but don’t worry–there will be plenty for those of you who are not).

For the month of December, my extra income was $966.01 and came from the following:

  • Gift Cards: I turned in points through my bank’s program for a $50 Home Depot Gift Card. I also got a $10 CVS gift card using a pharmacy coupon.
  • Rebates: I got the $5 Snow White Rebate and $5 from SC Johnson; I’m still waiting for a number of others.
  • Selling Items: I mentioned last month that I wanted to sell a bunch of kids’ items on Craigslist to clean out my basement. It didn’t go well; I think too many people were already holiday shopping at the beginning of December and not looking for used baby items. I did sell $26 worth to moms in my MOMS Club, and I’ll try Craigslist again in January.
  • Blog Income: I received $570.01 in blog earnings.
  • Swagbucks: I started collecting Amazon GCs months ago through Swagbucks to use them for Christmas shopping. The bulk of my gift-buying was through Amazon, so it didn’t affect my monthly budget the way December is usually hit. What a difference! I redeemed $300 in Amazon GCs, and it wasn’t all gifts. I also bought an inflatable bed and some kitchen items we needed.

What were some ways you brought in extra income for your family during 2009?

Filed Under: Making Money

Gina’s Gift Guide: Intro

December 3, 2009 By 2 Comments

I feel the need to do a different type of gift guide. I know, everyone is doing a gift guide, but I’m getting kind of frustrated seeing all the guides out there (on blogs, in magazines, on TV) where clearly the products were just provided/suggested by the company and then you’re told they’re a good gift. Really? Because that doesn’t tell me anything. I need to know whether this item can withstand three small children and years of use/abuse. Rather than the price being super-low, I’d rather there be good value. Good value to me means that the item (toys, in this case) can be used in different ways by different kids, last a decent amount of time for the money I spend, and possibly be resold (that’s one of the ways I recoup my cost). So I’ve decided to highlight the items we’ve bought our own kids and been truly happy with over the past six years.

As for disclosure, I’m not getting paid to recommend any of these products. They are truly things we love in our house, parents and kids alike. If you’ve been reading here a while, you know that I don’t do product reviews. I do talk about things I use and love, like Diet Dr. Pepper and chocolate, IKEA and Glee music. No one pays me to tell you. I just have a big mouth and like to share.

The one way I do get paid is through affiliate links–like Amazon. I’ve been open with my readers all year about how I bring money in, one of the ways being Blog Income. When I am talking about a product and link to Amazon, it goes through my Amazon Associates account (you can sign up for this to, btw, if you’re a blogger). If you purchase the product and anything else on your visit over, I get a teeny tiny percentage. Since the majority of what I link to is $5 magazine subscriptions and other cheapy deals, it’s pennies per purchase. I appreciate every cent, though, because I value my time and see this as a way to work from home.

I value your trust. Please know that anytime I link to anything here at Moneywise Moms, it’s because I think it’s a good deal. It’s almost always something I’m buying too (like the three mag subscriptions I bought for my own family). I am constantly turning down offers and emails for things that I consider not high-enough-quality for Moneywise Moms. I value your time, too, and you don’t want to wade through too many posts or cheesy-looking links. I don’t like doing it at other blogs, and I won’t do that here.

Long-winded much? Yep, that’s me. Back to the Gift Guide–look for my Toy Recommendations today, with some Kids’ Board Game and other ideas coming in the next few days. And for the record? I have one present purchased so far, and it’s December 3rd. You’re going to get through this busy month, and so am I.

Questions? Comments? Lemme hear ya.

Filed Under: Holiday Shopping

Bringing Money In: October

November 3, 2009 By 7 Comments

Photo courtesy of Daniel Y. Go

Well, I’m now feeling the pinch to bring in this level of income more regularly since we have had to move up the van purchase to this November. If you’re thinking about bringing money in before the holidays, you may want to look back through my Bringing Money In posts over the year. Between gift card offers, pharmacy coupons, selling at Ebay & Craigslist, Swagbucks, and the blog, there are lots of strategies you can try to bring in a little extra income each month.

For the month of October, my extra income was $825.25 and came from the following:

  • Gift Cards/Rebates: Only one this month, a $10 CVS Gift Card from a pharmacy coupon.
  • Prizes: I’ve told you before–you really need to be entering contests on blogs! The odds are so good that you’ll win. I won a $15 iTunes Gift Card and a $75 credit to Jockey.com (on a Twitter contest). That’s a lot of free socks and underwear!
  • Swagbucks: I redeemed $239.85 in Amazon GCs that I’ve earned through Swagbucks over the past few months. My goal is to use my credit on things that we would buy anyway, in order to impact my budget. So far, I’ve bought toilet tissue, Norton Internet Security, and some gifts.
  • Blog Income: I received $485.80 in blog earnings. I still need to work on a plan to make this more consistent from month-to-month. It’s been on the to-do list forever…but the good news is that I’m almost at my year-end goal of earning $500/month from the blog.
Filed Under: Making Money

Get Free Money with Pharmacy Coupons

November 1, 2009 By 2 Comments

Be sure and check today’s paper for these two pharmacy coupons in your KMart and Target weekly ads. I’m able to make money every few months by using these at my local CVS. Here’s how you do it:

1) Each Sunday, look through the weekly ads for Rx coupons, particularly those that say “New” prescription. I check all the store ads even if they’re store I don’t shop: CVS, Kmart, Rite Aid, Safeway, Target and Walgreens (you may have other ads in your paper).

2) Find a pharmacy that takes competitor’s coupons. In my area, that’s the big drugstores–CVS, Rite Aid, and Walgreens. It’s up to you if you where you want to fill your prescriptions, but I would not recommend using multiple pharmacies. It can be confusing and it’s hard for your pharmacist to know if your medications are interacting with each other. I use just one pharmacy that takes all coupons.

3) Present your coupon when you pick up your prescription. The cashier will ring up the gift card, then deduct the amount with the coupon. Coupons for “new” prescriptions do not come up very often, so I always clip those and hold onto them. I carry them in the car so I’ll have them when I’m coming from an unexpected appointment at the pediatrician’s office.

4) Spend your gift card. With my frequent $10 gift cards at CVS, I purchase toiletries and can even splurge once in a while on expensive face cream. It’s an easy way to keep my household budget in check each month. I love shopping with other people’s money!

Filed Under: Coupons, Making Money

2009 Financial Goals: Quarterly Review

April 2, 2009 By 3 Comments

Earlier in the year, I shared my family’s financial goals for 2009. To keep us on track, I plan to review them quarterly (I find the accountability helpful). Here’s where things stand:

1) Make contributions to savings/debts before spending other money. With this goal, we wanted to be better about setting aside money to pay off debt or save (see #4 and 5) before spending money on unimportant expenses like eating out and other splurges. I think we were more attentive in January and February than March. In March, we had the twins’ birthday party, guests visiting several weekends, and an inflated sense of “we’ve got money” due to a large surplus in February with the income tax refund. There’s room to improve in April.

2) Continue to track our daily/monthly spending. I’m still doing the same thing, just jotting down daily expenditures on a calendar taped to the fridge, then putting the info into an Excel spreadsheet to compare month-to-month. I have to say, I’m kind of tired of it, but I know it’s important and worth the effort.

3) Keep our emergency fund intact, and begin investing it in a CD Ladder for increased interest. The plan to invest in higher-rate CDs is not as relevant now that the rates have dropped because of the economy. I don’t know if it’s worth it to move part of our savings to a CD that only makes 2.0% while losing accessibility, but I suppose I should do a little more research.

4) Plan for a “new to us” car purchase in early 2010. I’m keeping track of how much of the allotted $500 each month goes towards repairs or service, and it’s only $42 for the past three months! Since I don’t drive the minivan much, it takes me 9 months or so just to get to the 3,000 mark for an oil change or service. I know that I’m due for both service and car registration during the next three months, so this amount will not be as high next review. $1,458 to the car fund so far!

5) Make a major impact on our biggest debt–our mortgage. Our goal was to put an extra $1,000 a month towards our mortgage, and we’ve done it three months in a row without feeling a pinch. One reason was the big income tax refund, and the other is the extra $500+ I’ve been making each month. I’m glad this is on track and am eager to see the progress we make this year.

Filed Under: Budget, Family Finance