Reward Yourself: Reward Programs You Need to Join

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I love to get the most for my money, extra for little effort, rewarded for doing what I’m already doing, etc, etc, etc. Selfish? Maybe. But true. And I know I’m not the only one. Pretty much every brand or consumer company has some kind of reward program. Then there are the websites all about saving or rewarding just by using their site as a jumping point. As I said, I will gladly take a bonus/something extra/freebies/gimmegimmegimme…

Here are the reward programs I favor and a little bit about how they work:

Reward Programs

UPROMISE

“Earn cash back for college on what you already do and buy.”
If you’re not familiar with Upromise, it is a rewards program that deposits money into a college savings fund for your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews- anyone! Or, you can pay down a student loan you have already. They also have an option to get your earnings by check.

I love this one because you earn from things you already do. Here are ways to earn:

• Online shopping (1,000’s of partners!!)
• Restaurants
• Travel
• Grocery coupons (double win!)

Every little “something” helps, right? :)

E-REWARDS

This is an online survey site that pays you for your opinion. It also partners with Upromise (above) so you can cash in your earnings for Upromise bucks to pay down your loan.

You receive emails when surveys are available, and you can choose how many you receive a week. You may not qualify for maximum earnings on every survey, but you do earn something for each survey you try.

SWAGBUCKS

Swagbucks is a super simple rewards program. My favorite rewards are Amazon.com gift cards. It is only 500 points for a $5 gift card!
Now, there are tons of ways to earn points…if you sat all day on Swagbucks. I choose to do a few of them, but I still earn points pretty quick. (i.e. I typically earn FOUR $5 Amazon cards a month.)

• Searching the Internet: If you use Swagbucks search engine for searching the Internet, you could win anywhere from 1-100 Swagbucks just by searching! If yours is a winning search, you’ll see a Swagbucks Bill at the top of the results page. I usually win at least once a day, so this is a great way to accumulate bucks!
• Daily Poll: Swagbucks has a new random poll question every day. It is only 1 point, but only takes a second.
• Finding codes: Swagbucks will often have free codes available on their Facebook page, Blog, Twitter page, or in the Swidget (you can find it here at the very bottom of my page). These codes will expire the same day, so if you find them in time, you can copy and paste them in the swagcode box at the Swagbucks homepage. With the Swagbucks app you can get an alert when there is a code.
• Swagbucks TV: You earn 2 points for every 5 videos watched. That seems unworthy of the time it could take. I agree. However, since I do not use my phone for my alarm clock, when I plug my phone in at night to charge I will leave this on and running all night. It really racks up the points.
• Special Offers: Swagbucks offers pretty high amounts of swagbucks if you complete a special offer. Sometimes these are just watching a short video or “liking” a company on Facebook. Sometimes you’ll be asked to sign up for a free trial of something (Netflix, for example), sign up for a credit card, download something, make a purchase, join a group, and more. These should only be completed if you’re willing to complete all the requirements.
• Other ways: Shopping, printing coupons, referring friends, trading in cell phones and video games, playing games and watching videos on Swagbucks TV, voting in daily polls, and sharing your birthday (50 bonus Swagbucks on your birthday!) and much more!!

All of the following reward programs run through codes:

PAMPERS

Codes can be found on all Pampers products as well as free codes through social media. You do not have to have a kid in diapers to participate, and there are some great rewards. My personal favorite is a Shutterfly photo book. I have done several for myself and several for gifts all for free.

KELLOGGS FAMILY REWARDS

Free codes can be found on social media, and grocery receipts can be uploaded for more points from Kelloggs products.

DISNEY MOVIE REWARDS

Do you purchase or receive Disney movies? Don’t throw away all those DVD case inserts just yet! Every Disney movie comes with a rewards code. Their Facebook and Twitter accounts will also give away free codes periodically. Disney’s rewards bank has lots of cool memorabilia you can redeem points for, as well as gift cards, and travel. A couple times a year they even have Starbucks gift cards! Yes!

Now go get rewarded! You deserve it!

Originally published September 1, 2015