I'll Be Rich... Someday

Before you read this post, let me assure you I haven’t sold my soul to the devil of consumerism.

Now, I always liked saving and doing well with my money.  When I got married, it became a whole new ball game, especially because I didn’t have a job for so long. Yes friends, getting deals is my sick obsession, I admit it.

 I want it to become your sick obsession too.  Come, drink the kool-aid!  But in all seriousness, I like saving money, and because I have so many friends who are college age or freshly graduated, I want to share some ways I save or even make money with very minimal effort on my part.

What you’re already doing: searching the web

Don’t get me wrong; google and I are best buds.  I have 3 gmail accounts, plus a google+ account that I still don’t understand. But I found another site that PAYS me to search the web!  The downside is that it doesn’t pay for every single search, but I would guess it pays at least 25% of the time.  It awards you swagbucks, and you can cash these out for gift cards to major companies like Amazon.  I’ve been a member just under 2 months and already have $5 in points.  If you’re interested, here’s my link (hey I’m not stupid, I may as well cash in on your faithful readership): http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Panduhzk

What you’re already doing: checking e-mails

There are two companies that pay you to read their e-mails.  It literally takes me about 10 seconds total to click through these each time I check my e-mail, and the payoff is completely worth it.  My personal favorite of these companies is called mypoints.  I like them better because they send more emails, which makes the payoff faster.  I just ordered a $75 gift card from them in May, and I will have another $100 for Christmas gifts when the time comes.  Some of this is from making purchases through their site or doing surveys, but still: worth it.  www.mypoints.com

The second company is called inbox dollars.  The upside to them is that they pay cash.  The downside is that if you don’t actually participate in their offers every so often, they downgrade you to weekly e-mails instead of daily. My link for that one is http://www.inboxdollars.com/?r=ref4426045

What you’re already doing: shopping online

There are also two companies that literally pay you cash back for every purchase you make online.  How did I not know about these before??  So when you do your Christmas shopping online, do it through these sites and earn cash back.  The first one is ebates.com.  They give you a $10 gift card with your first purchase; I already have my $10 Target card in addition to the rebate.  The link is http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=OtRuu195RYnAkQ9X8f3U7w%3D%3D.

The other website is mrrebates.com.  This site often gives you a higher percentage of cash back, but I always check both just to be sure I’m getting the best deal. That link is http://www.mrrebates.com?refid=588022.

What you’re doing already: shopping in stores

A site called plastic jungle lets you buy gift cards at discounted rates.  For instance, there are tons of gift cards on there now for 20% off- you pay $20 for a $25 gift card.  You just automatically saved $5 before you even walked in the store.  This would also be a great idea for Christmas gifts! www.plasticjungle.com

All of these sites are ones I have used personally and can assure you are the real deal.  Here’s another secret: I don’t pay for Christmas gifts with my own money.  Ever, really, unless they get really expensive.  It takes a little bit more effort, but let me know if you’re interested and I’ll share more about that later! Happy saving!