I told you in my Creating Your Own History Curriculum post how I use PaperBackSwap.com to get free books for homeschooling.
Another way I do this is through Swag Bucks.
My son sportin' his Swag Bucks t-shirt.
I took a long time signing up for Swag Bucks because I didn’t really understand it. I would see little icons on people’s blogs, but I had no clue what it meant. At some point I realized what it was all about and now I’m hooked because one of the rewards you can redeem your Swag Bucks for are Amazon Gift Cards! And folks, Amazon Gift Cards mean
FREE BOOKS!!!
Swag Bucks' tagline is "Be Rewarded." I added the "with FREE homeschool books." 
So, in case you are like me and this whole Swag Bucks thing confounds you…
1. You sign up and download a toolbar.
2. You use Swag Bucks as your search engine. (Swag Bucks is powered by Google so you get the great results you are used to with Google)
3. Sometimes you win Swag Bucks during your search! This is totally random, but terribly exciting! My kids will shout out, “I won you 10 Swag Bucks, Mom!!!”
4. When you have enough Swag Bucks saved up, you redeem them for prizes…and of course, my favorite prizes are Amazon gift cards!
As an added bonus from now until August 12, if you sign up using THIS LINK, you can type in this code: AUGUSTBONUS and get an EXTRA 50 Swag Bucks! Woo Hoo! That means, only 400 more to go and you can get a $5 Amazon card!
There are no catches or weird behind-the-scenes stuff going on. In fact, I met Hal the Swag Bucks guy last month and he is perfectly normal! There are other things you can do to win Swag Bucks, but honestly, I just use it as a search engine and that’s been enough to get tons of Amazon cards to fund my homeschool book shopping habit. Seriously worth it.
and yes, I will get Swag Bucks if you click on any of these links and I’m okay with that!
See, I signed up for SwagBucks, but they don’t have a toolbar yet for Google Chrome (which is what I use), which means, it doesn’t really work for me… They did say that they were working on one, but for the time being, it isn’t too very helpful
Well, that’s no good.
Heather,
I use Google Chrome, too. You can add the SwagBucks homepage to your bookmark bar (on your Chrome homepage that has your most visited sites). Just click on that and you can search directly on the SwagBucks homepage. I know, it’s not as convenient as the Chrome search engine and I don’t always use us (which means fewer SwagBucks), but it is doable. I look forward to the Chrome toolbar!
Blessings,
I use google crome and you can set it at your search engine in your search bar. It gives the instructions below the other toolbar downloads. You right click you search bar, go to edit search engines. You type in swagbucks.com in the first 2 boxes and then paste you swag search code (found in on toolbar page located with google chrome instructions). Then you click over it to make it default (a little blue default box comes up to click). Then anytime you use your search bar you will earn swag. I like it better because i dont have to actually download a toolbar
Thanks!
Yeah! That worked…thanks, Leah!
I wouldn’t say I’m THAT normal…
Unfortunately, Chrome isn’t super toolbar friendly, but we ARE working on it!
Thanks, Hal, for jumping in there! I suppose normal is rather overrated, but you certainly are not creepy-weird, so that makes you “normal.”
Do you know about Amazon Mom? Free shipping, etc… Being the fount of knowledge you are, you probably already know this, but I just discovered it and signed up today. Totally exciting!
LOL…I’ve been looking at it, but no, I have not signed up yet (because I am always late to the party, so to speak!) Would love to hear more about it, though!
Oops. I just commented, but should have done so here. :/
I was a SwagBucks skeptic for a long time, too. I finally signed up after I saw just how many “normal” people were doing it, LOL!
I think you’ll be pleased, Tiana. I was skeptical when I first interviewed with the company, but I can tell you that everyone here is dedicated to making sure our users have the best possible experience. I can’t tell you how many of our users I have now met personally who have told me how Swagbucks paid for their Christmas, or how we helped them get their Homeschooling supplies. We’re all really proud of that. Let me know if you have any questions as you start swagging!
Hal, I’d be interested in talking to you about Swagbucks in regard to my blog. How can I contact you?
You can send me an email (halATprodege.com) and I’ll get you all set up.
I love swagbucks. I use chrome and I have finally installed swagbucks on this laptop. I also asked hubby to add it to the other two computers in the house.
We usually just go for the paypal cash which feels like it takes longer to earn than the amazon, but it gives us more freedom in how and where we spend it.
Who doesn’t love free money for something they already do (search the internet)?
Blessings
Honey
I need the try the Paypal cash sometime too…cash is just about as fun as books!
Go Honey Go!
Free books? I’m not sure I need to hear that right now (any more then about 5 more books and we will officially outgrow our bookshelves). But, I think I might sign up anyway
.
Did you see my moving boxes that are now bookshelves???
No, I didn’t. Do you have photos on the blog somewhere? Our small bookshelf is going to be retired (it’s particle board and is falling apart). So, now I need a new bookshelf.
You have to promise not to laugh!
– http://www.raisingarrows.net/2011/08/homeschool-spaces/
I have signed up, but it seems like it takes a long time to earn swag bucks and I kindda drew away from it. Does the swag bucks need to be in your tool bar? I do not remember seeing that and also do mean all you have to do is use it as your search engine and you can earn? So, like later on when I am searching for things for Mesopotamia I can use the swag bucks and earn? Thanks for posting this.
Peace
Swag Bucks needs to be your default search engine…hoping Hal will jump in here and explain if you HAVE to have the toolbar. I’ll see if I can get him to come over and answer your question specifically.
So, if I set it up as my default search engine that is what will allow me to earn swag bucks, right?
Peace, <
Yes, I’m thinking so.
I love the Paypal option for Swagbucks, because I often order my books from Christianbook.com!
Nice!
Yeah, I’m so glad Honey mentioned that! I think I’ll do that next!
I use Google Chrome as well – and I’ve got Swagbucks set to be my default search engine. I don’t quite remember what I did nearly 2 years ago….
But here is a link about it http://www.swagbucks.com/g/toolbars-and-plugins
Although my daughter has struggled to get it to work on her brand new laptop – it does work fine on my XP. I saw some information about it in the Chrome forums as well.
Oh wow, Amy–that was so much easier than I thought!! I signed up for Swagbucks a couple of weeks ago but hadn’t done anything with it. We do lots of Google searching, so I’m excited about this!! Thanks!!
Welcome aboard, Marla – there are plenty of other ways to earn too – if you ever have any questions about any of them, let me know!
Go to amazonmom.com When you sign up, you get 3 or 4 months of free shipping on any Amazon orders, and for every $25 you spend on baby items, you get 1 extra month of free shipping, up to 12 months. After the trial period, there is supposedly super great offers to renew, but I am still figuring it out. I hope to use my Swagbucks to buy quality vitamins and coconut oil. Free shipping is awesome!
I don’t know if I have ever purchased baby stuff on Amazon. Hmmm….have to check this out, though. Thanks!
I’ve been doing SB for a while and if you don’t have a blog or get referrals, and you just do the searches it takes weeks to get enough SBs to earn a $5 Amazon gift card. I found that the code searches and surveys just take too much time for me. It’s good to get free stuff every now and then, but just go into it with realistic expectations. I’m talking months and months to get $25 worth of Amazon gift cards and I use it every day and as my main search engine.
Hi Preschool Mom,
Even without referrals or a blog, you can still participate in a number of activities that will help you reach your SB goals even faster! Try out Trusted Surveys, Tasks, Daily Deals, Games, SBTV, NOSO, Daily Polls or Special Offers – they all offer plenty of opportunities for extra earning.
I too love swagbucks and paperbackswap. With my swagbucks I try to just forget sbout them being there until it is time to order curriculum for the new year. By then I usually have around $100 worth of amazon gc to trade in for.
On paperback swap I am currently collecting books for the next core we will use next year. Once I discovered I could find my Sonlight books there I have saved $400-$500 a year on our homeschool materials!
That is awesome!
I used your link and signed up! I’ve heard of it for ages but I’ve never seen it explained like you did.
Thanks for the simple explanation! I’m checking it out now!
I explained it because that is precisely why I took so long to sign up! lol