Today’s Swagbucks success story is from Sydney:
Four years ago my husband and I purchased our first home. It was a definite fixer-upper but it was in the area we loved and a price we could actually afford. We knew fixing it up would be a slow process as we saved for the projects as well as making sure we could pay all our monthly bills.
At first, we were able to get a lot of the cosmetic and small things done, like patching holes in the walls and painting. The larger things, however, had to be put on hold while we saved up a little more money.
The house had a nice screened-in back porch and I was excited to spend a lot of time out there. I imagined dinners and relaxing afternoons reading books while taking in the nice view of our yard.
I soon found out, however, that because the screen was in such bad shape (there were holes in it everywhere and some was even missing) that it was almost impossible to enjoy being out there without being assaulted by the hundreds of mosquitoes and other bugs that were drawn to the light in the evenings or just me during the day. Soon I found that the porch was only used as a means to get to the back yard.
During the next four years, the plan to repair the porch got put on hold as other, larger expenses, such as replacing the furnace and air conditioning units and having our first child, got moved to the front of the line. I began to get discouraged with getting the “fixer-upper” part of the house done as things were breaking more quickly than we could fix them.
So when I discovered Swagbucks last year, I decided I would pick a home project that I wanted to “treat” myself to. Being a stay-at-home mom, I had a little flexibility in my time but also wanted to make sure to spend most of it with our son.
I decided to dedicate one hour each day to Swagbucks: taking surveys, completing offers, watching videos, and doing searches. I started to really rack up the points and eventually was able to turn them in for gift cards to Lowes and Walmart.
I finally got enough to give that porch the makeover it deserved!
With new screens, new paint, a new fan, and new patio furniture, our back porch is now a place we can really enjoy. We love having family dinners out there, and I can relax and read… or even do my daily Swagbucks surveys and offers there!
I finally feel like I was able to do something to fix up the house — which felt like a real win — without completely destroying our regular budget. -Jen
Finish packing up the house.
I’m going to make it my goal to only eat dessert once a week and to cut back on the sugar I use in my coffee on a daily basis, too.
