If you are feeling the squeeze this year with increasing costs for almost everything, then you are not alone. Prices are rising, and Christmas is less than 2 months away.

Did you just get a knot in your stomach at the mention of Christmas? I’m sorry. This post is not to magnify your limited resources, but rather to give you hope for earning money for Christmas. Realize that time is on your side for earning $5 Amazon gift cards or other rewards through Swag Bucks.

Though I have written about Swag Bucks in a beginning, intermediate, and advanced series, I recently found Swag Bucks the solution when I needed some extra funds.

You see, I had exhausted our home schooling budget and still needed some reading books not available at our library or at the used book store, so I turned to Swag Bucks.

By earning Swag Bucks each day, I earned $40 in Amazon gift cards in one month. I chose this amount because I could get FREE shipping with any $35 order. However, I could not redeem all those Swag Bucks until August due to the limit of 5 identical rewards per month.

Though there are various ways to earn, here’s how I earned those rewards:

1. Completed the To Do List each day of July.

Swag Bucks offers 4 easy items on the To Do List that can be completed each day for Swag Bucks. The To Do List, located on the left sidebar, is as follows:

a. Daily Crave: Watch two videos and earn 1 Swag Buck
b. Toolbar: Use the Chrome Swag Bucks toolbar and earn 1 Swag Buck
c. Daily Poll: Take the poll to earn 1 Swag Buck
d. NOSO: Skip through the offers and enter the captcha code provided to earn 2 Swag Bucks

2. Search at least three times each day.

Swag Bucks are randomly awarded for searching. However, once you win, you won’t get another reward for a few hours. In using time wisely, I would search in the morning until I earned, then in the afternoon until I earned, and then again in the evening. This way, I was receiving 7-20 Swag Bucks for each session of searching.

My son enjoyed searching and earning the Swag Bucks for me. I appreciated his efforts in helping me get through the month as it was definitely an investment of time.

3. Reach Daily Goal and Bonus Goal every day of the month.

The goal Swag Bucks are not deposited into your account until the first week of the next calendar month. Since I was earning during July, I received these Swag Bucks in August.

a. Daily Goal: Your daily goal is located in the left sidebar. A green bar will show how close you are to earning your daily goal. When I started in July, my goal was 30 Swag Bucks. By the time I reached day 31, my goal was 110. The goal does increase, but the rewards were worth the investment.

If you reach your daily goal each day of the month, then you will earn a bonus of 300 Swag Bucks in the next month for being a monthly master. The winning streak tab on the left sidebar will document your progress throughout the month. If you miss a day, then the badge you have reached will hold while your winning streak starts over.

b. Bonus Goal: After you reach your daily goal, you can earn more Swag Bucks for a bonus. These bonus goals are added together and awarded in the next month. I earned an additional 235 Swag Bucks throughout July which arrived in my account on August 5th.

Earning Swag Bucks is one way to prepare for Christmas. Though it is FREE, you will need to determine how much time you can invest into earning Swag Bucks. On some days, I could earn Swag Bucks within one hour while other days took close to two hours. I committed to the 31 days and reaped the rewards of that investment.

Swag Bucks has its perks. I loved purchasing the 6 books we needed for home schooling by using the gift cards earned. My son loved being a part of the process as he knew the goal as I searched and took surveys. He helped and checked the progress with me throughout the month.

One will not get rich by using Swag Bucks, but you can earn some extra gift cards to offset the cost of gifts for Christmas. In using time wisely, Swag Bucks was a good option in July. However, I could not do it now that home school takes so much of my time. I only offer this suggestion as I know times are difficult, but there is a way if you have the time to invest.

In the next post, I’ll share ways that I earned Swag Bucks to reach my daily goal. If you need money for Christmas, then plan to start earning Swag Bucks daily on Wednesday, October 1. Happy choosing!

Question: Have you found Swag Bucks’ rewards worth the investment of time?