If you have not joined Swagbucks, now is a great time because the site has doubled the bonus you get for signing up, from 30 to 60 Swagbucks using a special code below. The bonus is to celebrate their second anniversary.
Swagbucks is a site that rewards you for searching for stuff on the Internet. Basically, you sign up, install the Swagbucks toolbar and every few searches you do you’ll earn a few Swagbucks. Then you trade in Swagbucks for gift cards and prizes. I’ve earned more than $300 in about six months of using the site. Where do you think I get all those Amazon gift cards for BargainBabeLA.com, eh? Hehehe.
If you join by March 4 and plug swagcode BARGAINBABE1 into the box that says “Enter your swagcode,” you’ll earn 60 swagbucks instead of the normal 30. The code is case sensitive and only works for new members.
Note, as part of the second anniversary, Swagbucks decided to inflate their currence, so everything is not multipled by 10. So if you had 45 bucks in your account you will now have 450. If a prize cost 45 swagbucks, it not costs 450. The ratio is the same the prizes still cost the same amount, relatively.
Subway is giving out free cookies to everyone who buys a $10 gift card.
Get a Black Angus $10 gift card free when you spend $50.
Check out my Q&A with master coupon organizer Erin Gifford of Coupon Cravings. She shared her secrets on how she organizers her coupons in one minute, how long she keeps coupons around, and where you can use expired coupons.
Reader Nancy shared an important insight about gift cards that I’m featuring as reader comment of the week!
I like giving gift cards and getting gift cards. It makes it easy for everyone. You can be creative with them. I am adding a cozy blanket from Macy’s with a Barnes & Noble card. Got the blanket for a steal, paid only 11.99 for a 40.00 throw. It’s called my cozy gift. Nothing like a good book and a cozy blanket. Next one is a Starbucks card with an Itunes card. Call that one “move it” gift. Music and Coffee. So you see gift cards can make a gift fun.
Nancy left the comment in response to my post about the perils of giving gift cards. My main point was that with some businesses teetering close to bankruptcy, you want to be careful where you put your money. Nancy provided a solution to another gift card dilemma, which is how to make a piece of plastic seem like a fun gift.
I am a fan of pairing gift cards with hand-written notes, homemade presents, cookies, or another gift item, especially if it ties into the type of gift card you are giving. For instance, give a spatula along with a gift certificate to Sur La Table or Crate & Barrel. Or an iPod accessory along with an iTunes gift card. You get the idea.
Related:
Get a $5 gift card at TGI Friday’s when you buy one for $25
Why do you hoard gift cards?
Sites to buy and sell discounted gift cards
Round up of gift card bonuses and perks
A friend of mine has sworn off gift cards. She doesn’t want to receive any this Christmas and she won’t be giving any. What happened?
She got burned. Badly.
My friend had received more than $100 of gift cards last Christmas for her favorite spa. She decided to string them out so she could pamper herself with mani-pedis every few months, starting with one in March.
But when she called the spa to make an appointment she discovered they had closed in January. Ouch!
To avoid getting into her situation, here’s what to look for if you are buying a gift card.
Pros:
- Store is busy when you visit
- Store is well stocked with goods (indicates good cash flow)
- Store is part of a national chain (not that this makes it a sure-thing!)
- A rival store just went out of business (strengthens survivor)
Cons:
- Store has cut back employees (indicates poor cash flow)
- Store had cut back hours (see above)
- There have been news reports about the store struggling
- The employees/owners say business is bad
What do you look for to decide if a store is safe to buy a gift card from?
Related:
Get a $5 gift card at TGI Friday’s when you buy one for $25 (WalletPop)
Why do you hoard gift cards? (BargainBabe)
Did you know it’s better to buy a gift card from the issuer than from a grocery store? (Get Rich Slowly)
Site to buy and sell gift cards (BargainBabe)
Gift card bonuses and perks (WalletPop)
Super fab deals on my WalletPop blog today!
Spirit Airlines is having a major air fare sale with one way flights starting at $16. Holy cow! But you have to book today.
Barbie, Hot Wheels, Toy Story, Dora the Explorer and everything else at Mattel is 20 percent off! Spend $50 and get free shipping,too!
Looking for a free movie rental code from RedBox? Now there is an iPhone app that aggregates all the codes and shares them every 12 hours. Downside is the app costs $.99, but if you use it once it’s a money maker. More info here.
Get a $5 gift card at TGI Friday’s when you buy one for $25 through Dec. 31, 2009.
My self-imposed gift card challenge – spend all 9 of my cards worth $431 before the new year – is not going so well. One down, eight to go. Here are my plans:
Anthropologie – $91.04. Should be easy to spend as me and my sisters luuuuv their clothes. I just need to make time to shop!
CVS – $12.04. I’m going to use this for a gift basket for one of my sisters. Through Tuesday there are some great deals at CVS, including:
- Essence of Beauty Bath and Body $4.99; Earn 4 ECBs Limit 2, Pay $0.99 each after ECBs
- Revlon Cosmetics or Beauty Tools (psa $1.99); Spend $15 Earn 7 ECBs Limit 1, Use $2/1 coupon from the 11/15 SS insert or $1/1 Beauty Tool from the 11/15 SS insert, Free after coupon
- Neosporin Lip Health $5.49, Use $2.50 off CVS Clip-Free coupon, Use $3/1 Printable HERE (IE) or HERE (FF), FREE after coupons
Dollar Tree – $20. There is one two miles from my house, gosh dang it. Perhaps I’ll use it to buy new holiday decorations.
SPENT! Gelsons – $20. I can’t bring myself to shop at this overpriced grocery store, so I gave the card to a friend to buy groceries for a turkey dinner we cooked. She bought a sweet potato pie, which we have yet to eat.
J. Crew -$211. I’d love a new pair of chords or maybe a cashmere sweater.
Jo Anns – $4.37. I’m going to add money to this card and gift it to a crafty friend of mine.
Marie Callender’s – $10. I could use this to buy a pie for a holiday party.
Old Navy – $12.46. The clearance rack is calling me.
TJ Maxx – $50. BINGO! TJ Maxx is great for gifts because there is a wide range of items for sale.
Meanwhile, I acquired a $5 Starbucks gift card, but I don’t think I’ll have any trouble using it. Hmmm, lattes.
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Time for a refresher on how and where to get discounted gift cards.
At PlasticJungle.com you can buy gift cards others have sold to the site for anywhere from 5-40 percent off. Look for cards from mainstream retailers like Sears, Gymboree, Kmart, and lots more. They guarantee all the cards they sell. Once you register on the site, you can sign up to receive an email when a gift card you want becomes available. That’s pretty cool.
GiftCardRescue.com is another great site to buy discounted gift cards. Expect to see cards mainstream retailers like Bed, Bath & Beyond, L.L. Bean, and Victoria’s Secret. You can also sell a gift card you have or exchange it for another on this page.
GiftCardBuyBack.com is a sister site to GiftCardsAgain.com. Sell your unwanted cards on the first one, buy discounted gift cards on the second one.
If you are a Costco you can get discounted gift cards to spas, restaurants, theme parks, gyms, movie theaters and more. The selection varies and some cards sell out (like Starbucks last year). For instance, a $50 iTunes gift card is $47. See all the discounted gift cards at Costco.
Here are today’s deals on my WalletPop blog.
Gift card bonuses are leading more shoppers to buy. Yes, getting a kick back does wonders.
Nab a free tote bag from Aveeno, while supplies last.
Sears 15 percent off VIP sale is coming this Sunday.
Save $100 off a 3-night hotel booking on Travelocity.
Lastly, get 30 percent off at Borders plus a $5 gift card.
See all the deals on my WalletPop blog.
I’ve been carrying around a secret stash of $431 for months, maybe even years. And no matter how big my credit card bill gets I can’t seem to use this $431. What’s the story?
The $431 is tied up in gift cards. Am I alone? I doubt it.
So to reduce my gift card stash I’m putting up a challenge to use all my gift cards by the end of the year, especially before I spend out of pocket on holiday gifts. It just doesn’t make sense to spend cash when I have a good deal of money tied up in plastic.
For some reason, I am terrible as using gift cards even though I love to receive them. The last two times I got rid of gift cards (totaling $94, mind you) it was because I gave them to friends who were about to shop at these stores.
Here are the gift cards filling up my wallet:
Anthropologie – $91.04. Should be easy to spend as my and my sisters luuuuv their clothes.
CVS – $12.04. Remember to USE it, Julia!
Dollar Tree – $20. There is one two miles from my house, gosh dang it.
Gelsons – $20. I can’t bring myself to shop at this overpriced grocery store.
J. Crew -$211. Time I start a cashmere sweater collection?
Jo Anns – $4.37. Maybe I’ll gift this to a crafty friend of mine.
Marie Callender’s – $10. I could use this to buy a pie for a holiday party.
Old Navy – $12.46. The clearance rack is calling me.
TJ Maxx – $50. BINGO! TJ Maxx is great for gifts because there is a wide range of items for sale.
As an incentive I’m going to take myself out for a fabulous sushi lunch (so much cheaper than dinner) IF I can find meaningful uses for all the gift cards by the end of the year.
What gift cards do you have in your pocket? How much money is on each? And how LONG have you been trying to spend them? Spill it. There’s no point in being shy – blog comments are anonymous!
