3 ways to earn extra cash and giftcards this holiday season

One of the ways that I increase my gift budget at Christmas is to look for little ways to make extra money while I'm doing my normal online activities. Here are three of my favorite ways to get extra cash and gift cards in my spare time.

Jingit

Jingit is a relatively new way to earn money online. Once you sign up, you just watch short videos (less than 2 minutes each), and answer a few questions, and money gets added to your account. You won't earn a lot, maybe 10-50 cents a day, but eventually it adds up. I usually watch videos while doing my other online activities, but make sure you don't click away from these videos, or they will pause. I generally click a video to play while I fold laundry or wash dishes.

The money you earn can be added to a prepaid Visa card. There is a $3 charge for the card, so the first $3 you earn will go to cover that, but after that there is no minimum to add. I like to use my card when I have small balances after coupon at drugstores. So far, I've earned and spent about $15.

If you don't have any videos available on your account, try this one, which should reset so you can watch and earn every day (worth 10 cents). I'll try to keep posted when I find new ones.

(Note, this is my referral link. I think if you sign up under me, it increases my earn limit from $10-$15 a week. While this has NEVER been an issue for me, it might be in the future?)

Swagbucks

I've been using Swagbucks for a while. The basic idea is that you can earn points towards gift cards for doing basic tasks that you do online anyway. When you search through their search box, you may randomly win swagbucks (I usually get some at least once a day, the average number of points for a winning search is 10). You can also earn points for completing simple daily actions on the website like taking a daily poll or watching short videos (I usually leave these videos on in the background while I read blogs or twitter).

You can earn a bigger payoff by doing things like printing grocery coupons from coupons.com (10 points per coupon that is printed AND redeemed, usually paid out at the end of the month), taking surveys ("Trusted Surveys"), and signing up for newsletters and mailing lists ("Special Offers"). You can also do your online shopping through their portal, but I usually use other cashback sites for that. They also release codes on their blog, twitter, and facebook pages, which can be redeemed for free points. That widget to the right will tell you when there is a code available.

The best redemption option is a $5 Amazon GC for 450 points, making each point worth a little more than a penny. If you don't use Amazon (wait, you dont' use Amazon?), there are other gift cards available, and even a paypal option, but the rate is not as good.

(This is also my referral link, but this one is a doozy. If you sign up under me, I get 100% of the points you get. I would greatly appreciate this, and if I get a ton of referral points, I will do an Amazon code giveaway to share the wealth. Also, please feel free to post your own referral link in my comments and sign up under each other instead.)

MyPoints

Mypoints is the site I've been using to earn points for the longest. The easiest way to earn points is to sign up to receive emails (I'd set up a separate email account, or at least a filter, for this). Just by clicking through the emails, you'll get 5 points each.

You can earn more points by taking the short surveys they send out, taking mini-polls on the website, printing coupons, and shopping through their links.

I usually accumulate enough points (without shopping) to redeem for a $10 restaurant gift card every few months. It's not a lot, but it's so easy that I don't mind spending a minute clicking every day.

(This is also my referral link. If you sign up under me, I get 10% of any points you earn. Thanks.)