Category: gift certificates

If you aren’t taking advantage of reward programs, then you are missing out on free money. I don’t mean doing offers where you have to pay like trials, but just for doing the things you already do like shopping or reading emails. You can do those offers especially if it’s for something you will use. I earn money for Christmas shopping.

I have taken advantage of deals where I wanted to try a new service and then I earned points on top of it like Netflix. Many banks have reward programs on their checking accounts and credit cards. I bank with Capital One and earn over 10,000-20,000 points yearly for banking. Some cable companies are offering reward programs. I have a Charter bundle package and I also earn points with their reward program. I don’t know if all cable or phone companies offer reward programs. I would check and most are free to sign-up.

I’m part of several reward programs like My Points, Big Crumbs, and now Ebates. I received a $15 bonus for signing up with Ebates. I had to spend $50 online before Christmas. I already made the requirement since I had certain presents to buy that I could only find online. I love to snag deals online as well as in the stores. I spent $60 yesterday on presents and will receive double rewards since it was Cyber Monday. I also use My Points when shopping and it just depends on who is offering the better deal. I can’t cash out my Ebatessince I just joined. I want to share with you the other rewards I’m getting to use for Christmas shopping. I love using these programs which really helps to lower my Christmas expenses. What are you waiting for and start earning rewards while you shop! I know there are many reward programs available, but these are the ones I have used and know have been around for many years. I am looking into Swagbucks.

• Charter- $25 gift card and $10 gift card
• Capital One- $50 gift card, $25 gift card, and $10 gift card
• My Points- $25 gift card and $10 gift card
• Grand Total- $155 in rewards= FREE MONEY!

How do you earn money for Christmas?

Yes it’s that wonderful time of the year again where you begin to make those infamous Black Friday plans. It’s just as important, if not more important, than your Thanksgiving Day plans. I’m actually getting a bit of a late start on making my plans. This year I already promised myself one store fighting the crowds. The rest of my shopping will be done online.

Yes I will be shopping at Wal-Mart which I know many people hate this particular store. I have my eye on a few items like the sheets, jeans for hubby, video games, and a couple of toys. I haven’t had to deal with any stampeding crowds since Wal-Mart has always let people in before opening the pallets. So people would crowd around the hot items they wanted, and many were very friendly by handing out the stuff to others around them. The electronics department would hand out coupons, but I have yet to buy any big items like tv’s, video game systems, or such. I mainly hit the bedding, clothes, and toys on sale plus any dvd’s and games. Many times I could still find everything I wanted on sale the next day and not fight any crowds. I get what I want and get out. The older the kids are getting, then the less toys I need to buy. I give out more gift cards to my nieces as they prefer Itunes and such.

If you haven’t already seen the ads, which I’m sure the avid shoppers already have, there are a couple of good websites to see the ad scans. I am not getting paid for this post, and these are sites I have bookmarked for every Black Friday. One site is BFads and the other site I frequent is Black Friday Info. Happy shopping and remember that nothing for sale is worth hurting someone else over. Be courteous as everyone is just trying to save a buck.

I’m sorry this is a little late today, but I got busy with some other jobs I was doing. Then I spent the day with my favorite little man and it was a lot of fun. I just wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful comments. I enjoyed reading them all, and will be doing more giveaways very soon. I have a couple lined up so I’m hoping to have them posted early next week. I used Random Org to pull the winner. Drum roll please…………………….Julieh (honeypie411) is the big winner. Congratulations! I sent her an email, but if she doesn’t see it for some reason then please let me know which store you would like the $25 gift card for. Again thanks so much to all my readers and I hope you keep coming back for more posts about your favorite topics. The main topic of course is saving money, but I am really enjoying writing about my weight loss journey. I will keep sharing as I progress.

Here is a great offer that I am getting and wanted to share. Canvas People is offering a free $55 Gift Certificate to redeem one free 8×10 canvas of your favorite digital picture. You do have to pay $14.95 shipping and handling but this is a great savings! You can order a frame for it as well, but I’m going to frame it myself since I already have a perfect one at home. This site is really cool. You can add special effects to the canvas. I think this is a great gift idea for anyone. Why not use a vacation picture which would make a great memory for hanging on the wall. This deal is also a great gift idea for grandparents. I’m buying one for my husband as a surprise gift so I can’t get into more details just to be safe. He really doesn’t read my blog but you never know. If you would like to browse or take advantage of this great deal then just click either on the picture above or click here to go to Canvas People. Enjoy this great deal.

So you are probably wondering what is a free Christmas spending challenge. It’s a challenge that I’m doing this year to pay for Christmas with our pocket change and the things I get for free. This includes gift certificates I redeem from My Points and other reward programs. I am also using the change we’ve saved in a jar. I normally use this money to pay for presents for our family like DVD movies and games. This year we are on a tight budget like most people so I decided to spend less. I can still give nice and thoughtful gifts without spending a fortune.

I give gifts to around 30 people which includes my family, hubby’s, teachers, mail lady, and such. My hubby and I aren’t exchanging any presents this year unless I can score some great deals on DVD movies and/or games, but I’m not holding my breath. I also buy items for gift baskets that I get for free or almost free. I get lots of compliments on my gift baskets from my friends and family. I have Tupperware left from in my inventory that I will give as gifts. I do plan on making homemade treats this year like chocolate covered mint patties, peanut butter balls and fudge.

I already have several gift certificates saved up. I redeemed 2 $10 Subway gift cards and a $10 Chili from My Coke Rewards. I just ordered another $10 Chili gc so I plan on giving those 2 to a couple. I’m hoping to get the Snow White blu-ray DVD combo pack that will be on sale at Wal-Mart on Tuesday for $9.96 plus tax after I use the $10 off coupon I printed. That will make another wonderful gift. I also got stainless steel water bottles on clearance. I just requested a $50 check from my bank since I use a free checking rewards program. I am getting a $25 CVS gc from My Points which I will use to help pay for the great deals I’m getting. I also did the CVS Monsters vs Aliens deal this past week. I paid $6 for that movie which is a great stocking stuffer for my son. My son’s Christmas and Birthday is already paid for with all those Bionicle Legos we scored last October so click here to read about that great deal. I’m glad we saved them so that is a huge help to our Christmas budget. I found a couple more gifts I had bought but didn’t give them last year. I have a bad habit of forgetting what I buy people earlier in the year, and then buy something else when it gets closer to Christmas. I will report back and update my Christmas spending challenge especially when it gets closer to Christmas.