Swagbucks Has The Answers For Every Broke College Student
Start writing a post
Lifestyle

Swagbucks Has The Answers For Every Broke College Student

What does every college student wish they had more of? Money.

122
Swagbucks Has The Answers For Every Broke College Student
Author's photo

Everyone could do with a little extra money, not just college students, right? I am a full-time college student, mom to two young children, and wife to the most amazing man ever. We are a one income family, until I graduate and get my 'dream job.'

We conserve that income with me staying home with the kids instead of working, so we don't pay more for childcare than I would make working part-time, or even full-time somewhere for minimum wage. We do great for bills, but I want to be able to do something to make a little 'mad money' to be able to buy things without having to ask my husband for his bank card to buy his birthday and Christmas presents (talk about feeling sheepish!).

I'm sure we have all seen the 'get rich quick' schemes, and gimmicks out there that end in pyramid type programs, which can be really difficult to earn, or very expensive to get started and maintain.

I've tried a lot of the 'work at home' options as well, and you have to spend money to buy a pdf or an obsolete book that tells you to buy this, this, and that... etc. If I have to spend money, AND spend all of my free time working instead of studying or readying my 2-year-old for kindergarten, or helping my 8-year-old with his homework, I've actually created a worse situation than when I started.

Almost three years ago a friend of mine mentioned this website Swagbucks, he said you take surveys and watch videos etc. I was leery about the payout because I've tried a lot of survey sites, and you get $0.10 per 60 minute survey, and to me that just seems like too much effort for too little reward. I wanted easy, guaranteed payout. So I checked it out, and was absolutely thrilled with what I found, and once I started seeing positive results my husband joined too.

There are many ways to earn points, which they call SB or Swagbucks, and they add up quickly. I was able to see rewards after just a few days of letting videos play while I worked on homework, with little effort at all, and I had enough to cash in for a $5 virtual gift card.

My first gift card I ordered a virtual Visa, but it was not easy to find vendors that would accept them. I then started ordering gift cards from Amazon, BestBuy, Target, JCPenney, Wal-Mart, and other stores that I normally shop from, and it was amazing to have 'my own money' again!

The pictures below show you my progress of earning SB as I was taking the screenshots for this article. The first amount you see, on the far right hand side next to the gold star (thanks to PNG Mart for the use of their clipart) and the little avatar picture, 314 SB, is my current total.

As you follow along in this article you can watch that amount grow, these SB were generated using the Mobile Apps Video Playlists and the Watch Playlists while I work on this article, eat dinner, help my son with his homework, and some of my own homework.

This first screen grab is an example of how referrals work (I have not included my referral code anywhere on this article, this is for informational purposes only). As you can see, Mark is my highest referral earner, and it's a good thing too, because that's my husband. I don't know how many he has to earn for me to earn from his account, but it adds up; that's a $20 gift card just from his referral credit.

Here you can see my shopping activity, which stores I've visited through the SB Shop & Earn page, whether I made a purchase, how much of that qualified for SB, how many SB earned from that order and when it will be added to my account. I have 951 SB pending from S&E, and I've earned 15,485 SB from S&E lifetime. That's $154 back just from using the gift cards I already earned to buy things I already buy.

This is an example of several things you will find on your 'Swagbucks Toolbar.' You can see what my first daily goal was, earn 100 SB and get 10 SB bonus. If you meet that daily goal you get a second daily goal. My second goal for today is earn 550 SB and get 55 SB bonus. Then you can see there is another goal for the month. How many days in that month you met your daily goal, and the associated bonuses. All of these bonus SB are awarded in the first 1 - 3 days of the following month. So, if I meet my daily goal on 8/31 I will receive a minimum of 675 SB bonus.

This is my SB Inbox. You can look through it for easy tasks or offers to earn from or ignore it. The two I have stars next to are very simple. Clicking on the link opens a short, 15 second to 3 minute, video inside your mail, when it's done, delete it. I like keeping my inbox empty so I know what I've completed or not interested in.

These are my favorited Shop & Earns, companies I buy regularly from. You can see under each 'store' how many SB you get per $1 you spend. So, you earned a gift card from performing tasks to one of your favorite stores, and click on that store from the Swagbucks Shop & Earn page, shop online by using their link or shop from the SwagButton, and yup, you guessed it, DOUBLE DIPPING! You earn SB for some of the shopping you already do! There are certain items that don't qualify, but the benefit still far outweighs that little thing.

Swago is another event that runs regularly, you fill in the boxes by performing tasks; i.e. open your shop page, visit Macy's and activate the Shop & Earn header. This requires using Chrome as your explorer, but only necessary for the activation. You can earn everything else on any browser.

Spin & Win is another event that is run regularly, there will be different tasks associated with earning spins. As you can see, I've earned 35 spins in only three days of tasks. You can see on the wheel what rewards are available.

There are many playlists to choose from (topics menu under Categories) to have auto-play while you are doing something else; homework, watching T.V., etc. You only have to play a little attention to make sure you start another playlist when the current list finishes.

Swagbucks has their own surveys, and they partner with a lot of other companies, such as OfferToro, AdGate, Peanut Labs, etc.

There are also mobile apps. Even better! That's eight more ways to get points fast! We have an old deactivated phone that used to be just an expensive paperweight; I run videos on it (with Wi-Fi only) and doesn't interfere with my active phone.

You can even play games to earn SB, some you need to buy in-game purchases, and others SB is earned just from earning a specific score.

This is just my most recent list of gift card orders, received, and cashed out, except for the Barnes and Noble card which I plan to use tomorrow to buy my last textbook from the bookstore on campus. All of the others listed here were used to buy my daughter's birthday presents, and my textbooks for this semester.

Google Chrome has an extension available called the SwagButton. It stays up in your top right hand corner of the window. If you are logged into SB it will automatically recognize if you are visiting a Shop & Earn partner and you dont have to specifically go to the main SB page and find the store. The button also allows another method for viewing video playlists, surveys, input SwagCodes (random codes sent out on partnering social media platforms that give differing amounts of SB just for inputting the code before it expires). The mobile apps or SwagButton will give you a pop-up notice to tell you a code is available and where to find it. If you don't use Chrome, you can also run the SB Toolbar TV page, the same video playlists are available as on the button, but will run from any internet browser.

The great benefit of the button or toolbar tv is that it can run simultaneously if you are using the same computer to write a paper or shopping, or something else you use your computer for, other than streaming tv or movies. Sometimes the computer can be overtasked by running that much media, and if you are listening to a show or movie you have to continually go to the playlist and mute it so you only hear what you want.

Here is my final example of how much I have earned from starting this article until just a few minutes ago when I did a screen grab. This also shows my lifetime SB earned, 245,134; or $2,451. I am also very close to my second daily goal and an additional SB bonus!

I earn roughly $5 a day, with very little effort, and a whole lot of reward. There are other ways to earn, but I don't find them as beneficial, so I have not included them here.

Here's to your 'Mad Money'!

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

56580
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

36440
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

958310
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

188636
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments