Couponing 101, part 3

you've probably heard of or been to Coupons.com? you can print out most of those same coupons through MyPoints, or through Swagbucks.

which means you'd get the same value on the coupon *plus* Points or Bucks for every coupon you redeem!

there are a few coupons every now and then that you can only get by going directly to Coupons.com - so it is good to check there occasionally - but for the most part i print all my coupons through MyPoints (they also have links to SmartSource coupons and to Cellfire) or through Swagbucks.

MyPoints will send you emails.

most of the ones they call BonusMail will have a link at the bottom to click for 5 points.

i also get between one and five survey invitations a week - usually 10 points if i don't qualify, more if i do qualify and complete the survey.

NOT counting the coupons, i get about 50 Points a week....for very little effort.

true, you do need to accumulate several thousand points before you can redeem them for the "good" rewards, but it really doesn't take that long!

Plus, if you print and use the coupons (only counts if you USE them, just printing them doesn't count!) you get 10 Points per coupon AND 25 bonus points if you use more than 10 in a month!

Also, if you make online purchases, you can get Points from a lot of popular merchants. you can also get substantial points for certain offers - things like NetFlix or home-printable postage offers. nothing i'd suggest you do *just* for the points, but if you were planning to sign up anyway, then it's a fantastic deal!

now, Ebates! oh, how i love Ebates. much like how you get Points from MyPoints, when you shop online, except it's actual cash-money. a percent of your purchase credited to your Ebates account. You get a sign-on bonus (usually between $5 & $10) and then once you've gotten a certain amount in your account (i think it's $5 - but that doesn't include your sign-on bonus!) and they pay out quarterly. i have mine sent to my PayPal account!

before i make ANY online purchase, i check with Ebates to see if the merchant is listed!

finally, Swagbucks.

it's a little more complicated, but not by much. basically, it's a search engine. like Google. you don't need to download or install their search bar - although if you use Firefox as a browser you can install Swagbucks as an option in the built-in search in the address bar.

you can earn Bucks for searching for things on the internet. not with every search, but if you're searching the 'net anyway, you may as well see if you can earn a little while you're at it. And they have the same print-through option as MyPoints, so you can print the Coupons.com coupons through them and earn Bucks when you use the coupons.

when you visit the site daily, you can earn about five Bucks a day, not counting searches.

again, it doesn't sound like much, i know! but with less than an hour's worth of effort a day,

Points and Bucks can really add up!

and then you can redeem them for gift cards - my favourite is to redeem them for CVS, but i've also redeemed them for Walmart gift cards and Amazon certificates.