Mouse Money!

Happy Labor Day, everyone!  I hope you are getting to enjoy a little time off from work.  This past month has been especially crazy for me, so I am particularly thankful that I get a day to relax and focus on my family.  But... you really don't care about that, do you??  Let's talk gift cards!

So far, I've outlined some easy ways to make cash from point-earning sites that allow you cash in for gift cards.  Hopefully, you've poked around them enough to see that there are some pretty decent options for gift cards - Amazon, Walmart, Paypal cash, lots of retail stores & restaurants. All of those are awesome, but if you are on a quest for Disney cards specifically, you won't find them there.

So how you do you convert SB or Perk points to Disney?  In one word - TARGET!  Because these sites don't offer Disney cards directly, you have to use Target as a middle man to get them.  It's a few extra steps, but hey - free!!! Actually, better than free, because you can get a discount on those Disney cards, making your Target cards go further.

I'll take you step by step on how to do it! Let's go...

Step 1: Get a Target Red Card.  Red Cards are Target's in-house credit or debit cards.  You can sign up for them at any Target store, or online here.  The Red Card gives you an additional 5% off all of your Target purchases (in store and online), and free shipping for all of your online orders.  If you are a Dave Ramsey type who doesn't want any extra cards, I will set your mind at ease now by telling you that you will never actually charge anything on this card if your goal is earning Disney gift cards!

Step 2:  Download the Target app on to your smartphone.  This is different than the Cartwheel app (You should get that, too - some good deals!  But not needed for Disney cards).

Step 3:  Cash in for Target cards from SB/Perk or similar.

Step 4:  When your Target gift card shows up in your inbox, pull it up and find two numbers - the gift card number and the access or PIN number.  The gift card number is a 15 digit number that should start with 041.  The access number is an 8 digit number.

Step 5:  On the Target app on your phone, use the menu to find "My Accounts" and then "My Gift Cards."  Follow the prompts to enter in your gift card info - your gift cards will now be saved to the app.  THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!  For whatever reason, if you buy something from Target online, they limit the number of gift cards you can use to 4 max.  If you are cashing in for smaller
increments (which, as mentioned earlier, is probably a good idea since there is never any guarantee these sites will continue as is), you'll need to do something to use them together as one payment.  But never fear!!!  Target is amazing and has a way to do that.  Once your gift cards are entered, scroll down on the screen and select the option "Combine."  That will allow you to check all your smaller cards and turn them into one card - and one form of payment!!!  If only the Disney corporation itself would catch the snap of how wonderful an option this is!!!  But I digress...

Step 6: Go to Target.com and SIGN IN!  Be sure that you have made your Red Card your default payment option on your Target account.

Step 7: Find the $50 Disney gift cards (search feature works great for this purpose).  Add 1, 2 or 3 of them to your cart - 3 is the max Target will let you order. But you can order as many different times as you want.   Once you put them in your cart and go to checkout, you'll see that your Red Card discount is automatically applied!  Which is cool. because you are paying with gift cards, not a Red Card!  So you get the bennies of the Red Card (5% off and free shipping) without actually using it.

Step 8:  Beneath your order summary, click the option "Pay with a Target GiftCard".  This will bring up a screen that asks for the gift card number and access number that is saved on your Target app.

Free gift cards are even better than a cute puppy in your mailbox.

Step 9:  Click "Complete Order" and wait about a week for your FREE Disney cards to arrive in the mail.  I must say, nothing quite compares to the surge of joy I get when I open that mailbox and see the padded Target envelope in there.  Come to Mama, free Disney gift cards!

Things to know: the Disney gift cards go in and out of stock online (in fact, while I am writing this, they are not available).  They usually come back within 3 or 4 days, so you might have a short wait.  If you are having a gift card emergency and cannot wait, you can go to a Target store, pull up the bar code of your gift card from the Target app and buy them there - they are always available in the "impulse purchase" section right by the cashiers.  However, the Red Card works differently in stores - you only get the 5% off of what you actually charge to your card, so you are losing that additional 5% off that way.  Still great, but a tiny bit less so.

Questions?  Comments? Ask away!  I am off to eat some steak in a cattle car at Wild Country Meats, an Oklahoma tradition!  Jealous, aren't you?

My next post will be about a couple other earning sites - not nearly as good as Swagbucks and Perk, but still free money!

Perk!!!

This is not my nephew.  My nephew has not been born yet.

My apologies for taking so long to write the next blog entry.  Our family got some SUPER HAPPY news - my sister & brother in law are going to be adopting a newborn baby boy!!!! - so that has switched my focus from blog life to baby shower planning.  But I'm back to share with you my absolute favorite site for extra earning - Perk!

Now, I can hear you thinking, "If it is your favorite, why didn't you tell us about it first?"  Well, I'll tell ya.  Perk is a super lucrative way to earn (I am making between $120-$140 a month from Perk), but it has a fairly steep entry curve - you have to do a ton of work up front to maximize Perk.  Once you've done it, it is smooth sailing, and you can just sit back and earn.  Swagbucks is much easier to jump in and start, so that was why I started there.

Can I just pause and say how much I love the word "perk"?  Think of all the wonderful images it conjures up - feeling better when you've been down, coffee brewing, a special bonus that not everybody gets.  I love the word "perk."

Okay - back to money making.  Perk is an earning site that pays you to watch short videos (or run them on your phone, whether or not you are watching them), similar to SBTV or EntertaiNow.  Perk has NO LIMITS, unlike those other two, so you can run them 24/7.  And Perk allows you to use up to 5 devices per account!

Here's how to do it:

1.)  Sign up with this link:  Get started with Perk TV!

2.) Download the free Perk TV app onto your smart phone.  Note: Perk only runs on iPhone 3GS or better or Android 4.0 (ice cream sandwich) or better. Old phones are fine but ancient phones are not.  The Perk app looks like this.

Further note: you do NOT have to activate these phones with a cell phone company.  As long as you have wifi at home, you are good to go.

3.)  Press play on the videos (they are trailers for either apps or videos, unless you are using an iPhone.  More on that later).

4.) Earn points - 4 points for every 2 videos you watch.

5.) Cash points in for gift cards.

6.) Freak out because that was so easy.

7.) Call/email/message Angie and thank her for sharing her wisdom with you.

8.) Go find more phones to run Perk on.

THE END!!!

It really is that simple.  What's the catch, you say?  No catch.  But there are some things to be aware of as you start your Perk journey.

Awareness Item A: Obviously, to maximize your money here, you need to have 5 phones running.  So, how are you going to get 5 phones?  You can ask around and see if any friends or family members have phones they aren't using anymore that they would be willing to loan/give you.  I tried this method, and lots of people were super nice and gave me phones, but all of them were too old to work with Perk.  My husband had better luck, so we got a couple of start up phones that way.  Remember - you are NOT using it as a phone, so things like cracked screens or messed up SIM cards are A-OK.  Think of those phones as inhabitants of the Island of Misfit Phones, and just like Rudolph, you are coming to rescue them from their sad existence by giving them love and a life of purpose as one of your Perk machines!  Or something like that.

You can also check Craigslist or eBay to see if you can find some phones for cheap.  I got 2 more phones there for fairly cheap.  Two decent choices to get started are Kyocera Hydros or Samsung Rushes.  They aren't the greatest phones ever, but they are inexpensive and run Perk well.  I have one of each, and in my experience, the Hydro is slow but a good little plodder - it runs constantly with no need to babysit.  The Rush is faster but occasionally gets hung up on an ad and freezes.  I have to pay closer attention that one.  As a general rule, the better the phone, the better your earning with Perk, but there is an exception to that - iPhones.  Apple has recently changed their rules, and they do not allow one app to advertise for other apps.  I don't understand why, but there it is.  That means that app trailers are not available on iPhones - just movie trailers and some other kind of video that I haven't even paid enough attention to adequately describe.  Both of these videos are LONGER (sometimes much longer) than the typical app trailer.  So since you are being paid by the video, Apple products are a bad investment for Perk.  They cost more up front and they don't earn as fast.

Once you are convinced of the awesomeness of Perk, and find yourself willing to pay a little extra money to get a better phone (trust me, this will happen!), I HIGHLY HIGHLY HIGHLY recommend the LG Fuel.  Walmart.com has them for $30.  So stinkin' worth it.  They are lightning fast and run without interruption.  They pay for themselves in about 3 weeks, and after that, they become your own personal ATM.  Here is the link to that phone.

Awareness Item B:  Phones that run videos on your wifi use data.  Fact.  Depending on your internet service provider, this might be something you want to keep an eye on.  Many ISPs give you unlimited data at home so if you use a company like that, Perk away and don't give this a second thought.  But I know I have lots of Tulsa peeps reading this blog, and many of you are in the Cox Communications boat with me.  Cox DOES have a data cap - 250 GB a month.  Based on all my reading and my personal experience, they don't seem to enforce it. (And honestly, why should they???  It does not cost them one extra penny if I use quadruple that amount of data - it's greed and what happens when there is a virtual monopoly in a geographic area.  Okay, rant over.)  Anyway, with 5 phones Perking, plus normal data usage (computers, video games, Netflix, etc.) you will likely run right up to the limits.  Be prepared to get an occasional nasty-gram from them about it.

PROOF!!!  (That's me on the right.)

Awareness Item C:  This is really the biggie.  Perk is an unsustainable business model.  (Did you know I teach MBA classes occasionally?  Okay, so they have nothing to do with economics, but I'm still counting it.  A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR is
writing this blog!)  I have been around the block a few times with these earning sites, and with the exception of Swagbucks, who seems to have figured out the balance, all of them either completely close shop or drastically change their reward structure so that they are no longer worth doing.  (Anybody out there use Viggle?  You know what I mean!)  All of that to say, don't count on funding your retirement with Perk. It will go away eventually. But try to enjoy it while it is still around!

That's all, folks.  Perk is the best!  As always, feel free to ask questions in the comments section.  And next time I really, really will explain how to flip all these Swagbucks/Perk gift cards into Disney cards.

Swagbucks 101: A Primer

It's officially hotter than the surface temperature of Mercury outside, so I am staying indoors with my laptop and a Diet Pepsi and writing the next chapter in my series on earning free gift cards.  Hope all you sun worshipers are having a great time - I'll come out and play later this week, when we are scheduled to have jacket weather in mid-July.  Good times.

Last time I introduced you Swagbucks, and specifically the apps that help you earn points with little to no effort.  Today, I'll tell you about other things you can do to earn additional points on Swagbucks.  All of these tactics will help you rack up those gift cards even quicker!

1.) SEARCH - As I told you earlier, Swagbucks began as a Google competitor and it still works well for Internet searching.  Every 4th-8th search will earn you a handful of Swagbucks (you'll know because you'll get a celebratory screen that informs you of your winnings.  For a non-gambler like me, this makes me feel like I just cashed on some slot machine.  It's the little things, people.)  These wins usually require you to enter a Capcha so they know you aren't a bot.

2.) SWAG CODES - Every day, Swagbucks releases a code or two (or occasionally, even more than that) that can be entered into the Swag Code box near the upper right of your main screen.  It looks like this:

The SB people release their codes in various places (their blog, their FB page, etc.) but not even I have time to constantly check all those places to see if I code is posted.  I recommend signing up with Swagcode Spoiler so that you will get an email or tweet whenever a new code is released.  Sign up here.

3.)  SURVEYS - Since SB exists by selling data, it makes sense that they would use another method of data generation to earn more points.  These are surveys about products you use, travel, political opinions - pretty much anything and everything.  At the top of your SB homepage, you'll see a menu option "Answer."  A drop down from there takes you to "Paid Surveys".  Gold Surveys and Survey Dashboard are both good places to find surveys that usually pay you anywhere between 50-250 points for successful completion.  I usually have no problems earning an additional 100 points per day with surveys.

Some things to know about these surveys.  First, the disqualification rate on them is HIGH!  They are looking for certain demographics for each survey, so after answering a few questions, you might get bumped from the survey.  The good (???) news is that you get one SB for your effort if that happens.  The bad news is that it can get frustrating.  Don't get discouraged - just move on to the next one.  You aren't doing anything wrong.  I personally like to do these while I am watching some mindless TV (like Real Housewives of Orange County.  Yes, I am lame like that.).  Second, like lots of things in life, the honest people have to pay the price for the losers out there.  In the past, some people haven't taken the surveys seriously and just answered them any old way without reading them.  As a result of this, most of these surveys have some internal checks built into them to kick out the people who aren't actually giving them usable answers.  This means you'll get questions like "How many wheels does a bicycle have?" or questions about places you've visiting which include choices like "Neptune" or "Middle Earth".  It's weird and it makes the surveys longer, but that's what's going on.  I know I wouldn't have ANY blog readers who would try to game the system, but just in case some ne'er-do-well found their way here, be warned that they can terminate your account for inconsistent answers to these surveys.  Don't get cute.

There are a zillion other ways to earn on SB, but these are the ones that are the most consistent and easiest. Feel free to poke around the site and ask any questions in the comments about other ways to earn.  Oh, and if you are just now deciding to do jump in and do this, here is the link to join Swagbucks:  Click me!

Up next - how to convert Swagbuck points into gift cards of all types, and specifically Disney cards. 

SWAG!

Well, today isn't working out like I had hoped (long story, but just like almost every story about me, it involves lost keys).  So I am turning this lemon day into lemonade and blogging!  I TOLD you I was committed this time.

I am going to jump right in to explaining how to earn gift cards for free.  As mentioned before, there are lots of ways to achieve this, but today I will be focusing on the granddaddy of them all... SWAGBUCKS!

Swagbucks started several years ago as a Google competitor with one major difference - Swagbucks paid users for the data that their searches generated (you didn't think Google was helping you search the Interwebs out of the kindness of their heart, did you?  They make coin on that info, big time).  So anyway, SB (as it shall henceforth be called) kept some of the money to pay employees and fill up the office coffee pot and such and passed the rest on to users in the form of points that could be cashed in for gift cards.  I got involved back in the early days, and it was an easy, if slow, way to earn some extra cash.  I traded in the points I earned for Amazon gift cards and that helped support my extreme K-Cup addiction, so that was A-OK by me.

Fast forward to a few months ago... I had noticed that the SB website had really expanded but I didn't pay that much attention to it since I was busy doing more important things like playing fantasy football.  First, there were a lot more ways to earn points.  Second, there were lots more options for gift cards to spend your points on - in addition to Amazon, you could now get Target, Walmart, iTunes, Paypal cash and a host of other options.  I started digging and found a gold mine - SB is now the number one way I am earning free money for vacations!

I'll take the time in future posts to explain some of the major ways you can rack up points on SB, but I am going to start by outlining the easiest way to get going - SB apps.  SB has a couple of smartphone apps that earn points for you by playing (notice I did not say "watching") short YouTube style videos.  These apps are free to download (both iPhone & Android).

Here's how you do it:
1.)  Sign up for Swagbucks - it's free and they don't sell your info for spam.  Here is the link:
Swagbucks sign up

2.)  Once you've completed the sign up process (short & easy), go to the App Store or Google Play and download SBTV and EntertaiNow.  The icons look like this:

EntertaiNow

SBTV

You'll need to link these to your SB account with the email & password you used during sign up.

3.)  On SBTV, you can earn 2 points (called Swagbucks) for every 5 videos that play, up to 50 points a day.  They run & advance automatically, so you don't have to babysit them - just start 'em up and let 'em go!

4.) To make the process even easier & faster, go to the "Categories" section of the menu & click on "Home and Garden".  Scroll through the list, and you'll see several videos labeled "10 Second Tip".  As you might imagine, these videos last 10 seconds.  Swipe left across them and a little heart will appear in the lower right corner - this video has now been added to your favorites list.

5.) Go back to the menu and tap "Favorites."  Then tap the first video on your list, and THAT IS IT!  They will run automatically until you reach your daily limit of 50 points.  With the 10 second videos, this will take less than an hour.

6.) EntertaiNow is similar, except that you need to watch 10 videos to earn 2 points.  However, the daily limit on EntertaiNow is 120 points!  It takes longer, but the reward is greater, too.  And again, once you start the process - that's it.  You just let it run and don't think about it.  EntertaiNow has several shorter videos under "TV Spots" on the menu: The Boondocks, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The League, Modern Family, Touch, and Mad Men are shorter choices.  EntertaiNow is great to run while you are sleeping!

To review - after you sign up for Swagbucks and download the 2 free apps, you can earn 170 Swagbuck points per day with minimal effort.  What can 170 Swagbucks get you?  Well, SB makes it easy because each Swagbuck is worth 1 cent.  Doesn't sound like much, but it adds up fast.  After just a month, you will have earned $51.  After a year of nothing but the apps, you'll have earned $620.50 for FREE!

And it gets better in a couple of ways.... First, Swagbucks allows multiple accounts per family, as long as the user is 13 or older.  So you can double, triple or quadruple that money if you have family members that are old enough and want to help with the earning process.  Second, Swagbucks has daily point goals that will show up on the left side of your SB home page.  It looks like this:

Basically, it's a reward that SB gives you for using them to earn points.  They are tiered - the first goal is smaller and the second goal requires you to earn more points.  But... the 170 points you earn will ALWAYS get your first goal for the day, and usually the second, as well.  AND... you can earn even more points for being consistent - as much as an additional 300 points per month if you meet your first goal everyday.  SB pays out the daily goal bonuses once a month - so conservatively, you can make an additional 600-650 points per account per month - making your annual earnings $700 per person.  For nothing!!!!

Phew... this is a lot of information, but honestly - it is crazy easy.  Leave a message in the comments if you have questions.  In the next few days, I'll post about other ways to earn on Swagbucks that can raise your earnings even higher.  Happy Swagging!!!!

Reunited (and it feels so good)

A few years back, this blog & I broke up.  It just wasn't working out.  The blog was needy and smothered me.  And I have to admit, there was another man in my life.  A six month old man.  Who is now a 5 year old who has been joined by a 3 year old younger sister.  But anyway, I think I am ready now.  Ready to commit to the blog again.  Ready to do the hard work to make this relationship last.  So blog, I sing to you:

"If ever you're in my arms again, this time, I'll love you much better.  If ever you're in my arms again, this time, I'll hold you forever.  This time will never end!"

OK, enough silliness.  (And my apologies if that lyric has turned into the earworm for you that it has for me).  I'm resurrecting the blog.  The last time around, I ended up blogging primarily about couponing.  I still coupon occasionally, but I have moved on to bigger & better things, specifically in the way of funding vacations for my family and I get lots of questions about them, so I am using this blog as a resource/reference for folks who are interested in doing the same.  I am going to start with a series on earning free gift cards for travel - something that I have had tremendous success with in the past couple of months ($700 since the last week of April.  HOLLA!!!).  Before I get started with all the details about how this works, here are some basic facts everyone needs to know.

Fact #1: I am defining "free" as zero monetary cost to me.  I pay nothing for these gift cards.  BUT (and this is a big BUT.  Pause while my son giggles.), there is a time and effort cost.  If you are looking for a portal to a magical land where Disney gift cards rain out of the sky and all you have to do is scoop them up and put them in your pockets, this ain't it.  Check your crazy uncle's house for wardrobes - that might get you there (but don't eat the Turkish Delight, whatever that is).  I am going to show you how to minimize the time & effort involved, but you are going to have to do something!

Fact #2: I'll be introducing you to some point earning sites that allow you to convert points into gift cards.  I'll provide links for signing up to them.  The links are referrals for me.  If you end up using these sites, I get a small amount of extra points.  That is not the reason I am doing this, because honestly, I could earn more points in the time it takes me to write this blog points than any referrals I get, but I did want full disclosure.  I teach public speaking, so I am all about revealing my vested interest to enhance my credibility.  Aristotle would be proud of me.

Fact #3: If you are interested in a Disney vacation specifically, a big key to making this work is getting a Target Red Card (there are credit and debit versions of the Red Card - I recommend the debit version).  Now, I know Target is not without controversy.  There was that whole security breach thing.  And they support local gun carry laws.  And they say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas.  Basically, whatever your socio-political stance, you can find something to hate at Target.  But here's the thing... they are also AWESOME!  (And their Red Cards were actually the most secure during the security problems last year).  The Red Card gives you an additional 5% off on purchases and free shipping with any Target.com purchase.  Did you know that Target sells Disney gift cards??  And that you can get 5% off of those?  Cool, right?  I'll explain in detail later how to do all this, but I did want to let you know up front that you will need to get cozy with Target to maximize your earnings.  Oh, and if you don't live near a Target?  No problem.  You can do everything you need to do on Target.com.

Fact #4:  I am a certified cuckoo crazypants when it comes to this stuff.  I do A LOT to make this happen.  But I love it - no kidding, I consider it my hobby and it is relaxing and fun for me.  I can pretty much guarantee that at some point during this series, you will pause your reading, look up from your computer and say, "Is she nuts??? I don't have time to do all of this!!!"  That's fine.  Just figure out what fits into your life and do that.  No pressure to do it all - just do what makes sense for you.

I am excited to get back into this!  I am going to put on my professor hat and say "I am intending this to be a conversation, not a lecture" and "If you have a question, a bunch of other people probably have the same one" so feel free to use the comments to ask about anything that isn't clear. 

Have a wonderful 4th of July!