By Laura from Our Coupon Adventures
I’ve been earning $80 in free gift cards every month. How? Well, here are the four ways I’m doing it:
1. Viggle
This is the easiest and most rewarding way that we earn money from home. All you do is simply download the Viggle app on your smart phone and start checking into your favorite shows!
My husband and I “Viggle” everyday and we earn about $40-$45 in CVS gift cards each month (Although you can also earn Starbucks, Old Navy, Barnes and Noble, and many more…).
If you have more smartphones in your household, it will be easier to earn even more gift cards each month.
2. Swagbucks
Swagbucks are another easy way to earn gift cards for doing things you already do: Searching the web, shopping online, printing coupons, etc. Use the Swagbucks search engine when online to easily rack up points.
With little effort, it is easy to earn $5 a month in Target, Wal-Mart, or Amazon gift cards. If you shop online, take surveys, and watch the videos, you will earn even more points. Also, when referring friends, you will earn points when they search online, so the more friends you refer the easier it is to earn more gift cards!
3. Shopkick
Shopkick is a great app if you are regularly at Target, Wal-Mart, or even the mall. All you have to do is download the Shopkick app and start earning points!
When you walk into stores, open you app and you can earn points just for being in the store. You will have a list of products available to scan at the stores, and each item will be worth a specified amount of points.
Also, if you link your debit card to shopkicks, participating stores (like Toys “R” Us) will reward you points for each dollar spent. When you reach 500 Shopkick points (which is very easy to do), you can redeem a $2 target gift card. You can continue to do this every time you’re at the store, and the gift cards will add up pretty quickly!
4. Jingit
Jingit is great because you earn actual money (that can be added to your Jingit debit card). Simply download the Jingit app on your smart phone and log in on your computer.
You can earn money from watching ads, scanning products at Walmart and even for buying those items. It is easy to transfer the money from Jingit to your debit card, and can be used anywhere a credit or debit card is accepted.
By doing these little things each day, I am able to earn money that goes towards groceries, lunches out, and even gifts!
I like these apps because I honestly don’t have to put in a whole lot of effort to these four sites as they are things I am already doing (searching online and walking into stores!). Free money, why not?
Do you have any other tips or ideas for earning free gift cards?
Laura is a military spouse and a stay at home mom of 2 little girls. Her husband is currently deploying for a year, so Laura and her girls live with Laura’s sister and her family. She and her sister run a blog (Our Coupon Adventures) that discusses their efforts to feed both their families while staying on a budget.
Another app that will get you $5 a month via Amazon or PayPal is the vertosmart Smart app. Once you sign up, you install it on your phone and computer and start earning!
Thank you for sharing! -Meg, MSM Team
Awesome, I love this post. About two weeks ago, I just started to use all of those sites/services you just mentioned, and already I have over $15 in gift cards, just by doing things I am going to do anyway. Thanks so much, I really appreciate it.
I use this app called Beer Money available in the App Store. You can redeem Amazon, iTunes, and Google Play gift cards for trying new apps. The minimum reward is $3, which is only 1500 coins. You get 200 when you input this invite code: 89a770f
I redeemed my gift card after two days and received it in 8 hours.
I like to try to find ways to make or save $$$ because I’m disabled & can’t really work. Especially not ‘normal hours’! I have done some editing, though I didn’t get paid for it. So, I just recently started using Viggle & Swagbucks too. I’ve used Viggle primarily & it seems pretty neat although they no longer offer gift cards. I really like books & music so I’m happy with those as rewards. I haven’t been using Swagbucks much but if it’s as easy as Viggle I suspect I will! I also have an app called RecieptHog which rewards you for “scanning” your reciepts with your smartphone. The only time I tried to use it, it froze up a bit & didn’t register my reciept but said reciept was quite crinkled & I probably did something wrong. We’ll see how it behaves the app the future…
Try Google’s Screenwise Trends. You log into the panel once a week on your smart phone, tablet and computer to earn $12 a month. You don’t have to do anything but check in. However tis does allow Google to collect your browsing history on Chrome so if you use Chrome you will lose that privacy. I only use Chrome to check in so its great. I also use Bing rewards.
I also do bing rewards and is really easy to get points just from searching every day, and ibotta which is great as well.
I also print coupons and use the coupons from swagbucks. You get 10 points for each coupon you use and this adds up fast! plus the coupons offered on here are better value than the ones in the newspaper lately!
I detest Viggle. I can never get logged on and the app always tells me i need to connect to the internet. The app is more trouble than it is worth!
I just signed up for Viggle…thanks for the tip! But, I don’t see CVS or Old Navy in their rewards section…maybe they no longer offer rewards to those stores??
I know that the rewards will change randomly, but CVS always comes back. That’s the one I always wait for because I can use it for my household and personal items.
My frustration with most of these apps is that they require you at some point to have a Facebook account. We don’t allow Facebook in our home due to the things my husband has seen innocent people go through in his job in IT. We know it is rare but not exposing our family to that risk at this point. We do Ibotta and sometimes we do Swagbucks. We watch all of our tv on the internet. Has anyone been able to take advantage of Viggle watching delayed tv? We can’t watch the shows usually until the day after they air.
Hubby and I both use Viggle, luv it!! I also do swagbucks, earned $100 Amazon gc right before Christmas 😉
You can create a facebook account with less than complete information. I have friends who don’t use their real names – like some teens whose last name starts with a B, so their facebook last name is Bee. And you certainly don’t have to USE facebook just because you sign up, so if you think it will be helpful for saving/earning money, you might consider signing up with a pseudonym.
Through a survey I took from somewhere….I was invited to be part of the “Food for thought” community (company is called Communispace). As long as a log in a couple times a month and take a survey or two (seriously, 10-15 minutes of my time a month), they send me a $10 Amazon gift card.
Now *that’s* a good deal!
I also got into a Communispace program! I think I’ve earned $15 in Amazon cards in about 6 weeks 🙂
Thank you for posting this!!! I have recently lost my job, due to no fault of my own, and inbetween interviews, I’m constantly Swagging, Field Agent, Gigwalking, Shopkicking, and looking for more ways to bring something home to the table. Money’s tight; I’m thankful for what I have (my family and babies), but still stressed out.
I never have heard of Viggle before…we are big TV fans, so I’m sure we’ll start raking in the bucks with that soon 😉 I love doing surveys to get giftcards!
So, with this Viggle, do you have to leave your TV on all day, or when you’re “checked in”? Not sure I understand what it is/how it works.
No, I do not leave the TV on all day, just long enough to check in. =-)
Shopkicks works great for me. I have tried Jingit and every time I log on there is nothing to watch! Tried using it at Walmart to scan things and it froze up after one scan. didn’t work the greatest. Viggle, can you just play shows with the sound off? Leave phone plugged in and play shows? I’ve heard people used to do that with the Swagbucks app that played the commercials, but I think now you have to keep clicking on to the next ad and it won’t just play.
I’ve also signed up for ipoll. I have made quite a bit with it if I catch it right.
I used to earn one $5 amazon GC/month with swagbucks but this year I’ve consistently earned 2 $5 CG/ month. Just got my 6th since the beginning of the year added to my acct. My tip is CHECK YOU INBOX at the top right corner – once I started doing that after reading it somewhere I started racking up a lot more points. Also, since this is a money saving blog (and Crystal thinks everyone should use coupons!!https://moneysavingmom.com/2010/04/why-you-should-use-coupons.html) remember you can print almost all coupons available at coupons.com thru swagbucks and earn 10 points per coupon redeememed. It takes a long time for that to go thru at first but once you start getting the points, they will add up fast. There are rare occasions when a coupons.com coupon will not be on swagbucks too.
WooHoo!! I currently use swagbucks like crazy on my phone and on my computer. Will definitely check the others out!!
Endorse is another great cash back rewards app to use on things you buy at the grocery store anyway. You just scan your receipt like Ibotta.
There are also two similar sites kind of like swagbucks. 1.) Gifthulk (Not BBB accredited) 2.) iRazoo (Not BBB accredited either) Both are simple to use. The only problem with iRazoo it’s high for the payout like 6,000 points to convert for $10 CVS card. iRazoo is REFERRAL ONLY If you would like more info on iRazoo I do have a blog post you can read. {http://couponsaretrueblessings.blogspot.com/p/irazoo-101.html}
Hi, thanks for sharing these tech savvy ways!
If you’re looking for more ways to save on cards, I just blogged about it here: http://www.creativelyredeemingher.blogspot.com/2013/03/simplify-cards.html
Cheers!
Rachel from Creatively Redeeming HER
Thanks for sharing this! I just signed up for Viggle and am currently earning points for watching Wild Kratts with my daughter. It does kind of creep me out that it listens though.
I LOVE Swagbucks! I make about $40 a month in Amazon cards that I save up in my Amazon account for Christmas and birthdays… I started using Jingit in the fall… but it has been very inconsistant… I am going to try and download Viggle and see if it works for me… does anyone know if you can do either Swagbucks or Viggle on a Kindle?????
Opinion Outpost and IPSOS-ISAY are my favorite survey sites to earn gift cards ( I get the Amazon certificates). Some are long, some I don’t qualify for but I earned $25 from Opinion Outpost last month! Just have to go for it!
I registered for ipsos and get their emails but havent answered any surveys yet. How mch do surveys usually pay/time?
I bought a Kindle before Christmas when they went on sale and got it free using my Amazon gift cards that I had saved up from Swagbucks. I now earn even more because I can use my Kindle to watch Swagbucks TV while I am doing work or other stuff on my normal computer (it just sits next to me so I can tap over to start each new video). The only thing is I had to download a new browser called Dolphin which would them let me download Adobe flash player since it isn’t suppord for Android anymore. I just did a google search for Kindle flash player and found a post telling me how to do it including links. You may not need that for all elements of Swagbucks though but the videos won’t work without it.
Thank you, Crystal, for putting our article on your page!! We follow your blog regularly and appreciate the opportunity to promote our new blog and share our tips.
I know some of you are worried ab0ut data usage, but with my carrier as long as I am using Wifi I am not charged for data. I just log into my home WiFi and go.
By the way, I just started with Viggle and am so impressed that I can earn points for watching Doc McStuffins! I don’t get to watch many grown-up shows so being rewarded for letting my kids have their TV time is awesome! AND it works with DVR/TiVo!
Thank you!!!!
It takes a while but I use Bing everyday for 20 searches and I get points that I can eventually redeem for Amazon gift cards. I also do surveys with Opinionoutpost, Surveyhead, and Toluna to get gift cards or cash every now and then as well.
I have earned quite a few $5 Amazon.com gift cards through Swagbucks–all without using a phone. It’s such a blessing to lowering costs of things I already buy. 🙂
Love this!
Thank you, Crystal, for putting our article on your page!! We follow your blog regularly and appreciate the opportunity to promote our new blog and share our tips.
I don’t have a smartphone, either, so Swagbucks is the only one that I participate in. However, I’m probably saving $80 a month by not having a smartphone or a costly data plan!
Excellent point!
My husband just got us smart phones- I was not at all wanting/needing one but we got free phones (no contract) and will be paying $75 for both with fees and taxes included. Now I just have to cancel my old one and start using it. Only downside will be having to change my # as I don’t think this new provider will let me keep the old one.
I use Virgin Mobile so I only pay $35/month for unlimited text and data and 300 talk minutes (I never ever use them all and I make a lot of free calls using Google on my computer at home). I bought my first smartphone for $50 on sale and it worked great – but then I saved all my Amazon GCs from Swagbucks and eventually over time I was able to upgrade to a much nicer smartphone for “free.” (It felt free because it wasn’t coming out of my budget – of course it took time to accrue those cards!) You CAN have a smartphone for very little money these days!
I am curious to know how many hours of tv “per day” or “per week” that needs to be viewed to earn $40 in gift cards. It seems like a great way to earn money but I am not sure if I really watch enough TV to make it worthwhile? Can anyone give me ideas on how much time it takes? Thanks!
It’s a lot. Basically, you earn one point per minute that you watch. You do get like 50 or 100pt bonus for watching certain shows. You need 12,500 points for a $5 Starbucks giftcard 20,000 points for a $10 Papa Johns card. We don’t have cable and don’t watch a ton of tv. I earn a $10 gift card about every 6 weeks.
Oh my goodness that’s almost 9 days of watching tv for 24hours each day… unless my math is off… that’s a ton of TV to get a $5 starbucks card
12,500points /60minutes = 208hours (and 24hrs in a day x 9 days = 216hours)
For viggle: We normally just get the CVS gift cards, it takes 10,000 points but I sign in first thing in the morning and through out the day I will check in, then before I go to bed I check in as well. I average 10,000 points a week for a $5.00 CVS gift card. Which we use when Cvs has those great deals. It’s not that I am sitting in front of the Tv the whole time. I’m basically just checking in. I’m basically just checking in and going about my day.
Yes, it is. I check in to the today show, which is 4 hours. I don’t watch that long. Just enough to see the weather. The bonus points do help, so it doesn’t take as long. We got a ton of bonus points during the Olympics and got 3 giftcards during that time.
We only watch primetime tv for 2-3 hours a week.
Do you have to be watching live TV? I got rid of cable and only watch shows onlineor through Hulu+ on my Roku. The only channel I watch through my antennae is CBS.
We don’t watch that much TV, we normally just check into something in the morning (usually ESPN because sports center last for hours!) and then go on with our day. Once I get the points for watching that show, I’ll re-check into something else (another long program). So, as long as you are able to turn on the TV every 3 or 4 hours during the day, the points add up pretty quickly! Also, there are random ads throughout the day that are worth points also.
I just started using Viggle once I saw this post! I’m also having trouble gathering points. So, it looks like based off of these posts, you don’t have to be in front of the TV to get the points? So, if I “check-in” to Sportscenter in the morning, close out the app, then go to work, will I still get those points? Or does the app have to be open?
I am really excited about the Viggle app, we watch a lot of TV and just purchased our first home and one of the rewards you can redeem is for Lowe’s gift cards!
Good luck! =) If you’re good about remembering to check in, the gift cards can add up quickly. I make it part of my daily routine to check in a few times a day (into the long shows-sportscenter is my favorite because it lasts for hours!!) You will get tons of points for this show each time you check in–and FYI, after you check in you don’t have to keep watching. Also, in the evenings some of the popular shows will attach trivia games to play while watching the show and you can get hundreds of bonus points with those games!
Here’s my question… Do you earn enough from these apps to pay for the data package required by your smartphone. (We don’t have smartphones, not because we can’t afford the phones, but because we can’t afford the added extra monthly fees). Thanks for your help!
I only use viggle and swagbucks, and my earnings are usually around the $20 mark per month. We use virgin mobile for our cell phones. I have a smart phone, unlimited data, unlimited text, and I think 400 minutes for $35/ month. Dh pays $45/ month, but gets 1200 minutes. I’m not sure how much you’re paying now, but I am thrilled we switched!
I too use Virgin Mobile and love them! It’s $35 a month for 300 minutes, unlimited data/web & text, though I lucked out and got grandfathered in to their old pricing structure and am paying $25 a month for that plan. Net10 is another cheap option. My husband just has a basic flip phone and talk plan $15 for 200 minutes so not sure what their pricing is on data plans.
I do love all these apps, but I always forget to actually USE them! I’m in Target multiple times a week, and do you want to know how many times I’ve turned on shopkick? ZERO! I have the worst memory ever lol, I should start putting it on the top of my shopping lists or something!
I know what you mean =) I had shop kick for the longest time and never used it. A few months ago, I started using it regularly and now I earn gift cards all the time!! They seem to be pretty good about adding shop kicks or points regularly.
Set up a reminder on your phone triggered to remind anytime you go to target. I know the iPhones can do this.
I have a couple of questions, first one..will all these apps on the smart phone cause it to slow down or take up a lot of gb ? #2 Is or are these apps in Ontario Canada? cause I fined a lot of these coupon savings sites are only in the states and seem better than our sites here..#3 Is it simple as you say or do you go through all these surveys, questions etc..etc..cause again there is a lot to do to get some of these deals / samples …I have gone to so many sites that send you to more sites then there is more questions/surveys, that I am really getting turned off on having to go through so much just to get a sample or coupon …help!! ..something simple would be really good right about now ….:)
I hate survey companies that do that! HATE it, sitting there answering no to 300 “offers” isn’t worth it for the $.05 survey, at least not for me. Viggle and swagbucks are both amazingly easy, and don’t have any of that. Super simple. I have shopkick, but have never really used it, so I can’t really speak there, but it does seem easy. And I have never tried jingit. I have no idea who is open to Canada or not though, sorry!
I shop with ebates and Vitacost. I also use swagbucks and will check out the others. Thanks for the tips 🙂
Most deal sites are aimed at Americans. squawkfox.com is a Canadian blog that might be a good place to start.
Thanks so much for sharing that link!
I can’t do any I don’t have a smartphone boooohoooooo!!
I don’t have a smartphone either but Swagbucks can be done on your computer!
Shopkick drives me nuts and rarely works correctly on my phone.
I also use Ibotta for items I’m already buying…you get cash back. And you can use coupons on those items and still earn the cash back. Which I LOVE!
I love Swagbucks…it’s so simple.
Hadn’t heard of the other one…will have to look into it.
Sadly I don’t have a Smartphone so only one of these suggestions will work for me….
Just FYI: Swagbucks can be done without a smartphone.
Viggle can also be done with a iPod or iPad. I don’t have a smart phone either but use viggle on my iPad.
Thanks! I will check out the ipad app.
Maybe someone can help. I can’t afford technology things right now. I have a basic flip cellphone, prepaid emergence use only. I have the second generation ipod touch. Well here’s the problem my ipod will not update at all. I’ve wiped it clean and restored it numerous times. Nothing works. I don’t have money to send it off to be looked at and I don’t have money to replace it any ideas?
Search for videos on YouTube. I learned how to fix my husband’s broken screen. If you can’t figure it out, maybe you can post a barter request on Craigslist.
Thanks
I would contact Apple. If you have an Apple Store nearby, they might be able to look at it and tell you what’s wrong with it even if you can’t afford to fix it.
I also have a 2gen iTouch. My understanding is that I can no longer “update” the os and would need to purchase a new one to update most of my apps. I’d love to be wrong–but so far have found this to be the case. The Apple guy just looks at me ( I guess no one holds onto their tech this long without updating) and suggests that I consider updating to a new/refurb iTouch or an iPad.
Sigh…..
Thanks, I will contact Apple to see what I can do. I do not think that there is a Apple store near by. Probably 1-2 hours drive away.
Consider replacing it through Ebay. Especially if you are willing to use older technology. This is how my husband replaced his. It cost less than $20. Might be worth taking a look.
Great tips if you have a smart phone. I currently do not pay for internet on my cell.
You get more chances on swagbucks by using a laptop . Also try crowdtap . It is very easy to earn on that one . I earn about $5 week in Amazon cards.depends on how much time you spend on it