For some of you, the idea of planning for Christmas all year long sounds ridiculous!  There have been many years where I found myself starting to plan for Christmas in November, only to find that I was so stressed out that I didn’t enjoy the season.  I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off and spending money I didn’t have.  This is not the ideal way to spend Christmas.

This past year, I started planning for Christmas in January.  Although the holiday season was still busy and crazy, I was able to enjoy it!  I wasn’t worried about money or gifts.

This year, I’d like to help you have a stress free Christmas.  Each month on the 25th, I will post a new 12 months of Christmas post with one thing you can do to begin planning for Christmas.

This month, I’ll help you get started on  earning  some extra money doing what you already do.

Swagbucks

If you’ve been reading for any length of time,  you’ve heard me talk about Swagbucks.  Over the last year, I’ve earned more than $100 in Amazon gift cards through Swagbucks.  Just during the month of January, I’ve earned over $15 $20 in Amazon gift cards.

Swagbucks is a search engine (powered by Google and Ask.com) that randomly awards you “Swagbucks” for searching the web.  These Swagbucks can then be redeemed for great prizes.  You can get a $5 Alice.com gift certificate for only 20 Swagbucks or an Amazon gift certificate for only 45 Swagbucks.  If you’re new to Swagbucks, you’ll get 3 Swagbucks to get you started when you sign up here!

Each month (or sometimes a little more frequently), I use the swagbucks I’ve accumulated to purchase Amazon.com gift cards.  I apply the gift cards to my Amazon.com account at the end of each month.  You can let them accumulate throughout the year and by the time Christmas comes around, you should have quite a bit of money to spend. And in case you’re not familiar with Amazon (or it’s been a long time since you’ve shopped through them), they offer almost everything under the sun!  You can even buy groceries through them!

Also, check out my post on How to Earn More Swagbucks to maximize your earnings.

Use a Cashback Site When Shopping Online

If you shop online or book your travel online, you could be getting money back.  There are quite a few sites out there that I have used over the past year.  Although this hasn’t been quite as good for me as Swagbucks, I still managed to make an extra $75 last year.  I probably know I would have made a lot more, however, I sometimes always forget to use one of these sites when booking our hotels and airfare.

These are the sites I would highly recommend.

Ebates – You can get $5 just for signing up with Ebates and making a $20 purchase within 90 days.  This site will also give you $5 for each friend who signs up and makes a qualifying purchase.

Mr. Rebates – Mr. Rebates doesn’t provide a sign-up bonus like the other 2 sites, however, the percentage you earn is often higher than the other 2 sites (which is one of the reasons I check  all 3).  They also offer you a percentage of what your friends spend as well.

Shop at Home – Shop at Home offers a $5 sign-up bonus and they also allow you cashback on the purchase of some giftcards!  You can also get a $5 bonus when your friends sign up.

In order to use these sites, simply sign up using the links above.

Once you are ready to shop, use the site of your choice (or I pull up all 3 in separate windows) to check for the store you’d like to make your purchase from.  You can enter the name of the store and each site will tell you the amount of cashback they offer.  For example, if I were looking to book a hotel, I might type in Hotwire or Expedia or I might type in Hilton.  I usually choose whatever store offers the best cashback deal (or if you’re new and making a small purchase, you may be better off using one of the sites that offer a $5 bonus on your first purchase).  Click on the link provided and you will be taken to that site directly.  Once on that site, simply make a purchase.  Your purchase typically takes a few weeks to show in your account, but it’s oh-so-worth it!  Also, make sure to recommend these sites to your friends.  Not only can you help them save (or make) a little money, but you also get a bonus for your kindness.

By using the methods above, you should easily be able to come up with an extra $100 by Christmas!

This post is linked to Works For Me Wednesday.