Earning Amazon Gift cards...to buy more Kindle books!

It has become something of a mission for me to "earn" my books.  I didn't used to be like that. I'd buy paper books or borrow books & never had a specific budget in mind. I bought what I could afford, waited for most hardcovers to reach paperback & that was that.

Since owning a Kindle, downloading books can be quite an addiction, so I made a rule for myself: that I could only buy a book if I had a gift card balance. I can buy myself Amazon gift cards, to control book spending, but I couldn't use my credit card to buy the books. So I became pretty creative with ways to "earn" gift cards, and recently I learned of a couple more so I am sharing the great news: by buying things I would usually buy - but with a conscious method - I can earn Amazon dollars!


My Points.com This is the one I have used the longest and racks up a couple of hundred dollars a year. I use it when I want to shop online; I either use their search bar or type in a store I want to shop: Target, Office Depot, Petco, Overstock; buying checks, bubble wrap for work, shoes, Christmas presents. You name it, I search it and get 1 to 20 points per dollar.

In addition, I get points by printing & using supermarket coupons! Signing up for free trials (2000 for a Netflix trial). Clicking 1 question surveys. Sending flowers for Mother's Day (20 points per dollar!). Buying Gift Cards! Yep, buy a gift card for someone and earn on that too.

What do these points turn into?  There are numerous rewards for different stores, money in your Paypal account or a pre-paid Visa card. My favorite is the Amazon Gift Cards: 3,850 Points converts to $25 gift code. 7400 Points converts to $50 gift code.


Swagbucks - similar to My Points, just a different variety of shops to check out, "click to win" options. Quite new to me so I am testing it out. So far I have earned points by completing poll questions, referring a friend & searching the web. Some don't give as many points as MyPoints so it's one to switch back and forth with.

What do these points turn into?    You can trade points for goodies, like trading from a catalog. For Amazon Gift Cards, 450 points converts to $5; 3,150 for a $25 card; 5,900 for a $50 card.  Available for co.uk too.

Banking & credit card points My bank, PNC, gives out a point per dollar when I use my debit card as a credit card. I get points when I pay bills online. I get quadruple points when I use my business card. I need more points on this one to get good prizes from the catalog, but Amazon gift cards turn out to be the best point-to-dollar value that I have found.  Example, a $50 item might take 40,000 points but I can get a $100 gift card for that.

If I go through MyPoints above to buy something with my bank card, I get points at both places!!  Buying a new fridge? Find a website through MyPoints and buy with my card.... that's a heck of a lot of points right there!

Coinstar - when we tip all those pennies into a coinstar machine & find we have $80 from loose change, it's exciting!  To count the coins though, they charge 9.8 cents per dollar counted in USA; 11.9 cents per dollar counted in Canada. Ouch! Well if you choose "Free Coin Counting" it will skip the fee and give you a eCertificate or gift card instead with no counting charge. Amazon is an option, so get those pennies saved and converted.

With one extra click, you could be turning a regular activity into a money maker!  And it may seem to take a while to build points, but I've traded in for hundreds of dollars worth of gift cards over the past few years!
Know any more tips to earn $$ with something you are already doing anyway?