I’m earning at least $200 extra each month just doing the things I normally do online.

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I am just amazed by the number of apps and websites that let you earn free money and gift-cards just by signing up for their sites!

I used to think programs like Swagbucks and Ebates were scams but now I’m earning at least $200 extra each month just doing the things I normally do online. It’s kinda stupid easy actually (haha that’s a real turn of phrase right?) But seriously, if you’ve been curious about any of these types of programs, read on and I’ll explain how I earn extra money each month using them.

My biggest earner by far is Swagbucks. This is mainly because I set out about three months ago to earn at least $500 through Swagbucks for spending money to use on our next trip to Disney World. Swagbucks has an option to convert the “bucks” you earn either into cash deposited into your PayPal account or you can convert them into gift-cards. Since I’m specifically earning money for Disney I wanted to divert all of my “bucks” into Target gift-cards. I buy Disney gift cards that are redeemable at all Disney  parks with the Target gift-cards that I earn with Swagbucks. So far I have earned $300 to use at Disney for snacks and souvenirs just by using Swagbucks. I have a few months left to save before our trip and I’m confident I will surpass my $500 goal.

The fastest way to earn swagbucks is by letting the Swagbucks TV app run on my phone. I just turn it on in the morning and let it play. It normally shows movie trailers one after another and for every few videos that are “watched” I earn a few swagbucks. It’s surprising how quickly they add up. I also installed the Swagbucks browser. This earns me at least 25 to 50 extra swagbucks per day just by doing internet searches I would already be doing. Swagbucks also has a feature that allows you to fill out surveys for swagbucks. I do this occasionally but mostly I just use the Swagbucks TV and the search function to earn “bucks.” You can also earn swagbucks by shopping online, much like Ebates that I will explain below.

• Amount earned from Swagbucks this month (May): $125.00

Related Post: Swagbucks to Disney! Free Money for Your Disney World Trip

The next site I use to earn money online is Ebates. You may have seen the commercials on TV for Ebates and wondered what it was. It’s a pretty simple concept. You just sign up for an Ebates account, then when you are shopping online you click into Ebates first and then go to the store that you want to shop at through the Ebates site. For example, if I want to order something from Kohl’s I will go to Ebates first and then click-through to the Kohl’s website from Ebates. It will track my purchase and the money I earn will go back into my Ebates account. This deposits every few weeks as cash into my PayPal account. (FYI I’ve done Ebates for about three years and have earned over $4,000 since I started.)

TIP: If you are going to shop at a physical store but you know that store has an online presence, go through Ebates and order the things you need to buy online but choose “store pickup.” You will still earn Ebates money but you won’t have to wait or pay for shipping and handling. I actually did this today– I needed mulch for the garden so I ordered it from Lowe’s through my Ebates link and just chose “store pickup.” Don’t forget to use it for big purchases too: last year when our stove decided to catch on fire I ordered my new stove from Sears through my Ebates link and earned back a quick $100.

• Amount earned from Ebates in this month (May): $52.50

I’ve used Ibotta for about six months. This is a really cool app because you can earn money back on groceries. You just download the Ibotta app to your smart phone and go grocery shopping. Find items that you bought at the store on the Ibotta app and scan the item’s bar code and your store receipt to earn cash back.The cool thing about Ibotta is that if you sign up through my referral link you will automatically start out with $10 in your Ibotta account. I could probably earn more money from this app if I specifically bought their promoted items. I’m lazy with it though so I just earn for things I’d normally buy anyway. I earned 50 cents back this morning for a quick run to the store to grab milk and eggs. It wasn’t much but it was stuff I had to buy anyway– might as well earn something for it. The app also has some nice cash rewards for stores like Sephora and Target.

• Amount earned from Ibotta so far this month (May): $21.75

My newest money-making app is Shopkick. I’ve only been using it for about a month so I don’t really have the hang of it yet. Basically you download the app on your smart phone and when you are near a store with “kicks” the Shopkick app will ding. You just walk into the store and the app will automatically give you “kicks” just for entering the store. At some stores you can earn extra kicks for scanning specific items. One time it had me scan a Hershey’s bar in Walgreens and I earned something like 50 kicks for the process. You can also attach a credit card through Shopkick and earn “kicks” on items that you buy but I haven’t done that yet.

Amount earned from Shopkick so far this month (May): $10.00

Recap:

1. Swagbucks: $125.00
2. Ebates: $52.50
3. Ibotta: $25.00
4. Shopkick: $10.00

Total so far in May: $209.25

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