I’m having so much fun earning FREE money simply by switching my search engine from Google over to Swag Bucks. I have to say, this is probably one of the best no-brainer decisions I have made. It’s a no-brainer because, seriously, why wouldn’t you use Swag Bucks to search the internet?? Especially if they are paying you to do it?

I’m jumping ahead of myself, aren’t I?

Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up. (Name that movie!)

I discovered Swag Bucks while reading some blogs last fall. I figured I had nothing to lose by signing up, so I did it. I also added the search toolbar to my browser window, just to make searching as natural and normal as it was before switching my search engine to Swag Bucks. Then, I went along doing my thing, just like normal. However, every once in a while, a message would pop up right after my searches that told me I won Swag Bucks!! Totally cool.

I hoarded my Swag Bucks. I didn’t really know what to do with them. Then, I read a blog post that explained that you can’t just redeem your Swag Bucks all at once. They set limits on how many prizes you can redeem for in a single month. For example, you can only pick up 2 prizes per day, and you can only grab 5 of the same type of prize per month. SO, I could grab five $5 Amazon Gift Cards ($25 per month). I started redeeming!

I told you about Swag Bucks in January, and invited you to join my quest to pay for Christmas 2010 using Amazon Gift Cards earned through Swag Bucks.

In February, I showed you how non-freakish the the toolbar looks, and I explained how you can earn even more Swag Bucks by referring friends. By February, I had earned $30.

I shared the Good and the Bad of Swag Bucks in March. That might have been the month that the people of Swag Bucks added a zero to our Swag Bucks numbers. It was weird and confusing at first, but I don’t mind it at all, now. For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, let me give you an example: You used to earn 1-3 SBs by searching. A $5 Amazon Gift Card used to “cost” 45 SBs. Now, you regularly earn 10-30 SBs and a $5 Amazon Gift Card costs 450. So, yeah. They just added a zero. Whatever. By March, I had accumulated $80 in Amazon Gift Cards earned through Swag Bucks.

I gave you a quick little recap in April, and announced that I had $150 worth of gift cards waiting in my Amazon account. SO cool!!

It is now May, and my Amazon Gift Cards that I redeemed for at the beginning of the month have now been posted to my account. Another $75 worth!!

My grand total is $225!! And, all that JUST by switching my search engine from Google to Swagbucks.

What is my secret?

No, I don’t spend all day on the internet.

No, I don’t play all of the scavenger hunt games. I think I’ve only done one, and it took me forever.

What I DO is search as I normally would.

If I know that I want to double check the Safeway post at Frugal Living NW, then I type that into my search box instead of going into my reader or clicking from a link to pull it up. I know some of you do that when you are reading this site, too!

I look at the “From TSG” message when I notice that it has been updated in my toolbar. It often has a code that I can enter for Swag Bucks!

I earn between 1-3 SBs every time I pull up my browser, just for using the Toolbar.

My “goal” is to earn Swag Bucks at least 3 times a day. So, if I have only earned SBs twice that day, I do a couple of fun searches to see if I can earn something.

And, my #1 way of earning Swag Bucks is through referrals. When you sign up for Swag Bucks through my referral link, then every time you earn, I earn. I’m pretty sure it is only up until you earn 1000 SBs, and then I don’t earn any more. To get referrals, I do blog posts like this one where I tell you what Swag Bucks is all about.

Every once in a while, if I have earned a large number of SBs in a single search, I will click the link that lets me announce it on Facebook. Yeah, this can get annoying when you see all kinds of posts like that on FB, so I limit my “bragging” posts to only when I earn a large amount. People on Facebook DO ask me about it!!

I know you are dying to know how many referrals I have. I’ll be up-front with you about that. Right now, Swagbucks is reporting that I have 65 friends. However, 18 of those referrals have never earned a single Swag Buck. They signed up, and probably freaked out. They never added the toolbar or did a single search using the Swag Bucks search engine.

15 of those 65 friends have already earned 1000 SBs, so I don’t receive any more from them.

That leaves me about 32 referrals who are active (and about 11 of those people have less than 100 SBs, so they might have fallen off the wagon, too!).

If you are one of those referrals who have earned yourself some Amazon Gift Cards, THANK YOU so much for earning some for me as well!! Let me know in the comments!! I’d love to celebrate with you!

AND, if you want to start earning money for Christmas 2010 (or anything else!!), then sign up for Swag Bucks today!! I’d be grateful if you decide to use my referral link!!

Be Sociable, Share!

•