Simple earnings from Perk

If you're anything like me, you have probably been scouring the internet for ways to make a few extra bucks from home. I have been using Swagbucks for a few years off and on. It can take a little while to get your gift card code emailed to you (I have seen it vary between 22 hours and 14 days).

A friend of mine mentioned Perk. Although I was hesitant at first, I bought a phone to dedicate to it. Just a $30 prepaid phone (didn't buy any minutes, just the phone itself, and hooked it up to my home wifi). She sent me her referral link, and I was hooked on the simplicity.

Want to know how simple it is? Just go to Perk to sign up for an account (from your phone, or computer). Now I will state that Perk is most beneficial when used through a cellphone, but there are ways to earn from your computer too. There are a few Perk apps you can download, but the first one I want you to focus on, is Perk TV.

After you install the app, and log in, you will see a screen with 3 circles. The ones that seem to run the fastest and smoothest are the App Trailers (green circle). From there, just choose the top app and select 'Watch & Earn' and then 'Watch Trailer To Earn Points'. You *could* download the app, but you will use up all the free space on your phone if you do this for all the apps, and probably not even open most apps.
You will earn 4 points per 2 videos (any of the circles from the first screen, I suggest the App Trailers because they are under a minute each).

Once the first trailer is done playing, you will see a screen that shows you what video will play next and a countdown of 7-8 seconds. At the bottom of the screen, you will see an option to rate the ad with either a thumbs up or thumb down. Tapping either will give you 50 TOKENS. Tokens are not your priority. They can be useful in the other apps, and entering sweepstakes, but won't help you cash in for gift cards to your favorite retailers. I will talk more about tokens and the other apps at a later date.

If you have more than one phone (or ipad, kindle, etc), you can install Perk on those as well. As many devices as you'd like. However, I wouldn't suggest running more than five at the same time. Some may run more than this, but it runs the risk of violating Perk's Terms of Service.

Redemption is simple, and you can cash out as soon as you reach 5,000 points for a $5 gift card. You make your selection, and have a 5 digit code text to you near instantly. Simply enter that, and you will get an email with your reward on the following Monday, Wednesday or Friday. For example, if I cash out on Sunday, I will get my gift card info in my email the next afternoon/evening.

I often redeem for Target gift cards. I follow the link in my email to my gift card, and enter the required info into my Target app. Simply open the app as I'm heading to the checkout, and I don't have to remember to bring anything extra to the store with me. Different stores vary in this. If you have questions, please leave them in the comments, and I will answer to the best of my ability!

One last thing, because I know you are wondering, I signed up for Perk in mid-August 2014, and have redeemed for $650 so far.

Swagbucks 101 part 2

So now you've signed up with Swagbucks. What's next? There are so many things to click on the homepage... That's all a matter of personal preference. But to make it easy on you, here are some things you can do.

That will take you to this screen

You can see that there are only a few options at the moment I took this screenshot. Don't be discouraged, as they add new ones throughout the day. When you click on one of the images, it will open a new tab for you to view the videos. There are 2 different layouts that you'll see in different links.
Here is the one I clicked on the top left

This setup only runs when it's the active screen on your computer (one exception is the Swagbucks Extension, but that will be in a later post). You let it run for about 30 seconds until the 'next page' arrow turns teal. As you go through the videos, you will see the checkmark next to each step turn teal as well. When you have finished, you will see this screen, and you will instantly see those Swagbucks next to your name.

This is the other layout when you click on the Daily Finance link (to the immediate right of the comedy icon)

Upon clicking on one of the links, another tab will open with the video or article content. I usually let it load, then go back to the previous tab. You can close the article/video tab when the teal checkmark has appeared to the right as shown below

After you complete view all the articles in the activity (I have seen up to 15 on one page), you will see this screen. There is no new screen to say you have completed it, but the progress bar will be filled in, and all the checkmarks will be teal.

With the second layout has tabs left open, quite often it will keep playing videos. Unfortunately you don't get credit for these.

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments section below so I can answer them.
Happy Swaggin!

Swagbucks 101 part 1

A few years ago, I heard of Swagbucks from another blog I read. I signed up and would do a search here or there. It wasn't much, but it slowly added up to $5 Amazon gift cards (my redemption of choice, there are many other retailers available but I will get to that later). Adding these up made for some very inexpensive birthday and holiday gifts.

I didn't redeem for a single gift card last year, as I was much busier after returning to working outside the home. Near Christmas, my dear friend mentioned how well her husband was doing with earning giftcards through his Swagbucks account. I decided to give it another shot. What a good choice on my part!

Since January 1, 2014 I have redeemed Swagbucks for $15 in Amazon gift cards, $20 in Target gift cards, $5 in Walmart gift cards, and $10 in CVS gift cards. That's $50 so far this month free money!

Want to start earning your own gift cards? Sign up here!

Here's a snapshot of my past earnings since I started

Super Savings Sunday!

Today I really remembered my love for saving money.

I brought my son to a friend's house for a playdate. On the way home, I stopped at CVS and got 3 newspapers. I had $5 ECB that I used, so it only cost me $4. Took the papers home and started sorting my coupon inserts. I was a bit bummed that there was only one insert, but it was larger than usual. I was most interested in the b1g1 Speed Stick coupon to use later at CVS for free deodorant.

I took the ads and matched up a few deals between CVS and Target that would give me back rewards to use at their stores later on. I also had earned gift cards to both stores via Swagbucks (I will post more about that in a later post), so I was taking that into consideration as well. My internet coupons were also printed via Swagbucks link.

I went to Target first. They showed in their ad that when you purchase 10 select items, you would get a $5 Target gift card in return. There was also a deal on L'oreal hair products that you would get a $5 gift card when you spent $20 on these hair products.

Here is what I purchased:

(3) cans Campbell's chunky soup $1.44 each
used (1) $1 off 3 coupon

(1) jar Ragu pizza sauce (no coupon used)$1.19 each

(6) boxes Barilla Plus pasta $2.09 each
used (3) $1 off 2 coupon - internet printable

(2) 25.4oz bottles L'oreal Total Repair conditioner $5.99 each
used (1) $5 off 2 coupon - internet printable

(1) 25.4oz bottle L'oreal Total Repair shampoo $5.99 each

(1) 12.6oz bottle L'oreal Total Repair shampoo $3.99 each

Total after coupons were $25.83
Used the above mentioned $10 gift card
New total $15.83 AND I received 2 more $5 gift cards for future use at Target

Here is what I got at CVS:

(4) Speed Stick for men $1.99 each
used (2)B1G1Free Speed Stick coupon

(2) Speed Stick for her $1.99 each
used (1)B1G1Free Speed Stick coupon

(1) gallon milk $3.39
no coupon used

(1) pack Trident gum $1.57
no coupon used
Total after coupons $10.96
Used $10ECB from last week's toilet paper deal
New total 96 cents and I got $6ECB from the deodorant, and $1ECB for the milk

Any questions? Post them in the comment section :)

FREE deodorant and other Extra Bucks rewards at CVS starting tomorrow

There are reports that tomorrow's Smart Source insert will have B1G1 coupons for Speed Stick deodorant. When you spend $12 on select products (before coupons) you get $6 ECB. You can preview the ad scan over at I heart CVS

Facebook page

I have added a Facebook page that will include tips and links back to this blog page

Revamping my blog

I have recently cut back my working hours. It obviously cuts our income, so I am going back to cutting coupons and looking for frugal ideas to apply to everyday life.