How much do you save with rewards programs...

[starry_solo]

I have never had them ask for that. What do they want your id for?


Thanks Loralei!

I have no idea. I went to log-in to my account one day and it said to contact customer service. I did and they said they wanted my id to verify the account (which I thought was weird).

I checked with my sister (who uses the same computer as me) to see if her mypoints account had that same issue and it did.

So, I'm wondering if it's because there are two of us in the household with accounts. But I remember the TOS didn't say anything about not being able to have multiple people in the same household each have their own account.

 

[ajh88]

Count me as a fan of MyPoints! I've been a member since 1998 and I've earned over 90,000 points in that time (with several long periods of inactivity). I primarily click the emails and do the grocery coupons, but I also shop through them. I've been using them for so long that it is just 2nd nature for me to go through their site when I'm shopping online. I save up my points to get Rainforest Cafe gift cards which we use on our Disney vacations. I've redeemed for a $50 gift card for our upcoming trip and should have enough points to get another $25 card before we go. I literally spend less than 5 minutes a day clicking emails and once every week or so, I go on their site to print coupons.

I am also a member of SwagBucks, ebates, and Inbox Dollars. I have learned some SB tips here (thanks!), so I'll have to go on there more. I like Inbox Dollars because it is simple. Almost just like MyPoints but you get money instead of points - 2 cents for each email you "read". You have to get to $30 to cash out and I'm not quite there yet.

I get frustrated with ebates because I feel like there is a lot of fine print. For example, I didn't get my cash back for several purchases I made at back to school time last year because I used a couple of different coupon codes that made my orders ineligible. At the end, 3% cash back isn't worth not using a 20% (or more) off code, KWIM? At least MyPoints will give you the points based on what you actually spend (in my experience).

I don't do ANY surveys from any of the sites - I am impatient as heck and I just don't like answering the SAME questions over and over again. I don't make nearly as much as some folks, but I still come out a little bit ahead for very little effort!

 

[Kycha]

Alright, I just had to report back. I signed up for swagbucks on 2/5. And have already earned 268 points. I am more than half way to my first $5 amazon gift card(450 pts) in just a couple days. I'm hoping to cash out for my first gift card by weeks end. If I can earn a $5 amazon gift card every week or so, I'll be a happy camper.

So, thank you to Lorelei and the other posters with all your help!

 

[Loralei]

Glad you are enjoying swagbucks Kycha!

One other tip (that I can't remember being mentioned earlier in the thread...) is what is referred to as the daily 4 (or now actually 5).
1. 1 swagbuck for answer the daily poll
2. 2 for going through the NOSOs (No obligation special offers)... just click skip on each one...at the end (6 or 7 offers usually) it will make you type something in a box to get your 2
3. 1 for visiting the trusted surveys portal. You'll need to fill out a questionaire the first time to create your portal. I've never actually filled out any surveys b/c I see too much complaining on facebook about them not actually crediting. I just open the portal for the bonus buck.
4. If you download the toolbar you can get one a day just for opening your browser. If you're like me & don't like toolbars, download it in a browser you don't use much & just open it for your buck.

 

[rumrunnergirl]

 

[DCLbrideSept2009]

I have done Sunshine Rewards and My Points and prefer My Points. I had both for quite a while before I ever really did anything with them. My Points, I usually earn an average of a $10 GC per month or more. I do VERY LITTLE online shopping. Most of my points come from clicking through e-mails (5 points each) and surveys. I absolutely don't buy anything online or sign up for anything I wouldn't have anyway. So I'm not spending any money above what I normally would. Sunshine Rewards for me just seems to be more difficult. I did really work it for a while just to get up to $25 so I could cash out for a Disney GC and then haven't done anything with it since. I wish My Points offered Disney gift cards. Some people have had luck cashing in for Walgreens gift cards and then "buying" Disney gift cards at Walgreens. I do have a $10 Walgreens GC that I plan on trying this with, but then I realized that the minimum Disney GC at Walgreens is $15, so I have to add $5 of my own money (not a problem). From MyPoints I also have lots of Chilis/On The Border gift cards that we plan on using on the way and/or on the way back from Disney (we drive - about 18 hours). Also just cashed in for a $25 Cracker Barrel gift card that we will use for breakfast probably on the way to Disney. We should have all of our meals to and from Disney covered with gift cards.

 

[rnorwo1]

Thanks again everyone for your responses, the possibilities are making my head explode right now! I haven't made it thru half the mypoints and ebates emails yet, so I'm just going to stick with those two right now until I get a system down. I think I'm going to have to get a set time to sit down and do them each day.

 

[Cherbear013]

I use ebates exclusively and I was just sent a check for $54. I like getting cash because you can spend it on anything, as opposed to getting a gift card to a specific store.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

I do mypoints, swagbucks, erewards, pinecone, and a few other ones I can't think of right now. I devote the most time and energy to swagbucks and mypoints and they pay out the most for me.

My kids are in school full time and I'm a sahm so I have more time to devote to it now than I did when they were smaller. It took much more time to cash out before. Now I have all day to "work" on junk. It's fun money, splurge out to dinner funds, stuff like that. It won't pay the bills but it's nice extra income.

 

[Carina]

It won't pay the bills but it's nice extra income.

Guilt free Money!

 

[cassie58]

I do Swagbucks, Inbox Dollars, Quickrewards, Ebates, and Mypoints. I treat it as a slowly but surely system, getting points/money, building up over time. As others mentioned, I don't do a lot of online shopping, but check to see which site has best deal and go through that 1. I try to do daily things on each site throughout the day when I have time. Swagbucks TV is good 1 to leave on while doing other things, but make you check in every so often now, so it takes a little longer.

I started Swagbucks in the spring and have enough for a $50 SW giftcard & some paypal cards. I get 20-30 pts/day with daily, searches, videos, and codes, just doing it here and there, between part-time work, kids, etc.! Does anyone know if I can use the paypal $$ to buy Disney GC w/? They used to have them as prizes, but don't now, so I'm hoping to buy some. Mypoints doesn't have Disney , but has Rainforest Cafe/Landry's(T-Rex) and I'm almost up to the $50 Visa GC. All the others get me cash or Disney cards, which I can put towards possible Thanksgiving trip - every little bit counts!

I also signed up for Disney CC in spring to earn reward dollars. We also use Discover for cash back, and pay them off each month. I'm considering the SW CC for airfare, after seeing offers in the mail and here on Budget Board for 1 or 2 free roundtrip flights.

cassie58
11/08-ASMo & Timeshare
8/09-CSR

 

[ThisIsTheYear]

Does anyone use Mindfield? I used them a few years ago and made some nice play money. Since I got laid off, I started to visit the surveys and the quotas are always filled. I guess they have a lot of members now?

 

[ThisIsTheYear]

I do: Creations Rewards, e-Poll, Free Ride, Global Opinion Panel, InBox Dollars, Ipsos Surveys, Memolink, Mindfield Surveys, My Survey, My Points, Opinion Outpost surveys, Pinecone Surveys, Quick Rewards, Send Earnings, Simple GPT, Start Sampling, Sunshine Rewards, SurveyHead, Survey Savvy, Swag Bucks, and Toluna Surveys. A few others too, LOL.

Wow! I'm curious, how much time do you spend on them in a day/week? Thanks!

 

[mrsklamc]

It's early so I may be missing it, but I don't see anyone mentioning shopathome. Which really surprises me because they have a 110% 'best cash back on the web' guarantee. Although I don't know that they do anything besides cash back so if you're mostly a survey taker....

 

[mcever4]

Can someone explain to me what "swag codes" are? I have been going to swag bucks and using their search engine, but people talk about swag codes and I don't know how to get them! Thanks for any help!

Robin

 

[mrsmav]

Can someone explain to me what "swag codes" are? I have been going to swag bucks and using their search engine, but people talk about swag codes and I don't know how to get them! Thanks for any help!

Robin

Swagcodes come out occasionally. Sometimes once a day, sometimes more than once a day, some days there are no swagcodes. There is a facebook page for Swagbucks. When there is a code out people on the FB page post "Thanks TSG." I don't look for codes often but if I happen to notice that there is one out I might try to find it. It is sometimes on the blog. Sometimes it is hidden somewhere on the SB site or even the FB site. SB posts codes on Twitter too, but I don't use twitter. Sometimes the codes are easy to find. Sometimes they are cryptic - I don't tend to spend more than a few minutes looking.