How To Earn Money By Shopping Online

I love to shop online. I do the majority of my shopping online because it's convenient and I don't have to leave my house or take my kids into a store. Love it! There are a lot of websites that offer cash back when you go to their website before you shop online. It just takes a little planning ahead.

Ebates
This is one of my favorites. How it works is each store offers a certain percent cash back for any purchase you make at that store. The amount varies store by store and sometimes there are promos where they offer a higher percentage than normal. This especially happens during Christmas time. I once made a purchase at Toys R Us and got 8% cash back! It may not seem like a lot but it adds up fast. Just search for the store that you want to shop at. Click the link and it will take you directly to that store's website. Whatever percentage offered will automatically be added into your account after you make that purchase. They will send you a check in the mail for the amount that you earned that quarter. I have been using ebates since November and I have made about $75. I know that isn't a lot of money but I earned it by shopping so I think it's awesome! If you want to sign up, head over to the ebates website.

Swagbucks
This is another one of my favorite sites and I use it daily. How it works is you earn swagbucks by doing various things like daily polls, searches, surveys, shopping online, playing games, watching videos, etc. Those swagbucks can be turned into gift cards for stores like Walmart, Target, Amazon, etc. You can even earn restaurant gift cards. You can spend as much or as little time as you want on this site. I usually just do the daily poll, online searches, and some shopping so I really don't spend too much time on this site. Last year, I saved up my swagbucks for a full year and I earned an $80 gift card. That definitely came in handy when I was buying Christmas gifts for my kids. Just head to the swagbucks website to sign up. It's easy to do and it's totally legit.

SavingStar
This website works a lot like Ebates. You shop online and each store offers a certain percent cash back. They also offer cash back on grocery purchases. The money you earn for shopping online or grocery purchases goes into an account and you can cash out or get a gift card whenever you're ready. Go to the SavingStar website to sign up.

Flight Rewards
Many airlines offer cash back on online purchases. If you have an account with an airline to earn flight miles, you can also earn more points by shopping online. I know Southwest and Delta Airlines do this but I'm sure there are many more airlines that offer this service. Just go to the airline's website and sign in to your rewards account and look for online shopping. This is a great way to get more points so you can fly for less.

***Make sure when you're shopping online that you go to one of these websites first so you can earn some extra cash. It's easy to omit this step and just go directly to the website when you want to shop but you won't earn any money that way. I usually check all of these sites to see which one is offering the highest percentage back and then I shop through that site. The money adds up fast! I like to save up all year and use the money I make towards my kids' Christmas presents. It makes it so much easier to buy them what they want for Christmas and stay in budget.

Why I Started This Blog...

I consider myself to be an average stay-at-home mom. I'm not creative or crafty like most of the mommy bloggers out there. I hate crafting and I don't even know how to decorate my house! I also don't think I'm a very good writer. So why am I starting a blog?  Over the years I've discovered that I do have talents. I'm very good at planning and organizing my life so it doesn't feel like a circus. I'm not claiming to be perfect and I definitely have moments when my life feels totally chaotic. But I've learned a lot of ways to get through life so it doesn't feel chaotic and stressful. So that's why I created this blog. I want to share the things that I've learned so I can hopefully help others to feel like they can organize their life.

These are the things that I will talk about in this blog:

Travel
My family loves to travel and I am always planning our next vacation. I've learned some awesome tips over the years on how to plan vacations. In fact, many people have told me that I should start a vacation planning business. I don't even know how to begin to do that so I'm doing the next best thing, a blog.

Money Saving

I think of myself as the ultimate bargain shopper. There's nothing that brings me joy and satisfaction like finding a killer deal! In this blog, I'll share my money-saving tips to help others get the most for their dollar.

Cooking

I have a passion for cooking and collecting recipes. I have a cooking blog, Cooking With Mandy, that I started 4 years ago. It's been fun to have this blog but I felt like it was time for a change. Rather than just posting recipes, I want to incorporate all of the other things that I've learned over the years. I'll post my new recipes in this blog and I'll also re-post some of my favorites.

Family Life
I have been married for 13 years and I'm a stay-at-home mom of 4 kids. I love my job! There is nowhere else in the world I'd rather be. But sometimes life can get pretty crazy! My kids are starting to get a little older and they're involved in a lot of activities. It's so hard to juggle homework, chores, dinner, and getting them to all of their activities. I'll share my tips on how to balance everything and not feel like you're going crazy.

I hope you enjoy this blog and I hope I can help others to feel like their life is less of a circus!