10 Ways to Get Free Money

I'm on a tight budget, so I'm always looking for ways to get stuff for free. I've been asked many times how I manage to find so much for free, so I'm going to share some tips with you.

1. Bing Rewards: Bing is a search engine like Google, however, if you sign up for Bing Rewards, you can actually earn points for searching. You can earn up to 15 points per day from searching on your computer and an additional 10 points for searching on your phone. Just make sure you're logged in before you do any searching. I go in and just do a bunch of random searches every day to get the maximum number of points. When you get enough points you can cash them in for gift cards. We frequently redeem them for our monthly Hulu Plus Subscription (we haven't paid for that in probably 6 months) and Amazon gift cards. My husband and I both have accounts so we earn rewards twice as fast. Sign yourself up and then refer your spouse or significant other and you will both earn bonus points when they hit silver. You can sign up for Bing Rewards here (and when you hit silver status we both get bonus points!)


2. Ebates: If you do any online shopping this is a great website (including some things on Amazon). You earn cash back on your online purchases. Simply log in to Ebates before you buy anything, select the store or website you are buying from, and continue shopping as normal. You can also use this for booking hotels, car rentals, vacation packages, etc. Every 3 months, you can redeem your cash back as long as it's over $5. You can have them send a check, paypal, or you can donate it to an organization or charity. You can sign up for Ebates here.(You can also earn money for referrals.)

3. Coupons: This is a time consuming one, but if you can find the time, couponing saves a lot of money. You can make it easier by using sites like www.thekrazycouponlady.com where they have the best deals already figured out for you.

4. Amazon: I have Amazon Prime so we get free 2 day shipping on most items and we use the rewards we get from Bing to buy stuff for free. We have gotten over $110 in free products from doing this in the last 6 months. You can sign up for Amazon Prime here. (Amazon also offers referral bonuses but only for student accounts.)

5. Open Checking Accounts or Credit Cards: This one can take a ding on your credit, but depending on the amount you earn it can be worth it. Keep your eyes open for bonuses for opening up checking accounts or credit cards. Just be careful not to use the new found credit to put yourself in debt! We cancel ours as soon as we are able to without losing the bonuses we earn. Just yesterday Amazon was having a promotion that if you are approved for the credit card you get a $60 Amazon credit. Earlier this year, Capital One had a promotion that if you open a checking account you get $125 and $75 for a savings account. So my husband and I both opened accounts and earned $400 for free! We have done this a few times with different banks.

6. Achievemint: This is a great rewards program for people who are trying to be healthy and active. It links to your apps that keep track of your health and activity habits. You earn points based on activities you do or healthy posts you make. When you earn 50,000 points they send you a gift card for $50. So for example I have Facebook, Twitter, MyFitnessPal, and Runkeeper all linked to this app. Every time I complete a run on Runkeeper, I earn points. Any time I make a healthy post on Facebook or Twitter, I earn points. If I keep track of my eating on MyFitnessPal, I earn points. It's an easy way to make money for things you are already doing, and a great incentive to be more active.  You can sign up at www.achievemint.com 

7. Young Living Oils Essential Rewards: I by essential oils on a monthly basis, so I signed up for their Essential Rewards (ER) program and I earn a % for every ER order I place. I can then cash in the points for free oils. If oils are something you are interested you can sign up for them here, or go to the contact page and I can talk to you more about them.

8. Credit Card Rewards: For the most part we try to pay cash, but for our online bills, or big purchases, we use a credit card that we can earn rewards with. There are lots out there, so just find one that works well for you. You have to pay close attention to your spending though and be sure to pay it off at the end of the month, otherwise you will end up paying more in interest than you will earn in rewards which depletes the purpose of using it in the first place.

9. Surveys: Check your receipts because many times they have surveys that you can complete for gift cards. It's usually only around $5, but for a couple minutes of you time, it's an easy $5.

10. Time Share Presentations: We haven't done this one in a while, but you can go to different kinds of time-share like presentations to earn gift cards, or vacation packages. You have to sit through a lengthy presentation, and turn down the pushy sales person multiple times (don't get sucked in!), but sometimes the promotions they give out to get you there are really good.

DIY Body Wash

I made my own body wash this week. It's great because I know there are no harmful chemicals in it, and it's much cheaper than buying organic body wash.



Here's what I used:

2/3 C Liquid Castile Soap
1/4 C Raw Unfiltered Honey
1 Tbl Organic Cold Pressed Coconut Oil
2 tsp Jojoba or Olive Oil
20 Drops Lavender Essential Oil
5 Drops Tea Tree Essential Oil

I just combined all the ingredients into an empty bottle of store bought body wash. The first time you have to shake it up pretty good, but after about a day just a gentle shake is all you need before applying to a wash cloth or lufa.



This recipe does make a liquid. You can put it in a foaming dispenser if you prefer it that way. I just pour some on my lufa and it lathers great.

Why I chose these ingredients:

*Castile Soap gives you suds without the added chemicals.

*Honey helps your skin retain moisture and elasticity without drying it out.

*Coconut Oil is great for the skin. It moisturizes, but it also helps kill germs, reduce the appearance of stretch marks, and wrinkles, and smells good.

*Jojoba or Olive Oil gives your skin added moisture. You may not even need to moisturize after using this soap.

*Lavender Essential Oil smells good, is great for acne, eczema, psoriasis, and just good for your skin in       general.

*Tea Tree Essential Oil is great for killing germs, fighting acne, and helps oily skin. This has a strong scent though, so you don't need much.

You can add other essential oils as you choose that are great for the skin. I think next time I will add some peppermint for the smell, but also because it has cooling and stimulating properties.

Want your own essential oils? You can get them at cnbachus.wix.com/m613oils

Lemon Essential Oil

Lemon is a FANTASTIC essential oil! It's one of my favorites. It's also one of the first oils that I started with.

It's made obviously from lemons. But it's not made from lemon juice like you might think. It's actually made from the lemon peel. It also takes 1,500 lemons to make just 1 pound of lemon essential oil!

So what's so great about it? Well first it smells fantastic. It smells just like freshly squeezed lemons. But it also has some great uses.

It can be used in cleaning products. It works great as a degreaser, and can get rid of the stickiness left from labels, gum, or anything sticky really. It also kills germs, which is great for cleaning, but also for killing germs in public water. Just add a couple drops to a glass of water.

Lemon oil also has health benefits too. It can be used to combat bloating, and used in combination with peppermint to help with weight loss. It can help with congestion, just put a little over the bridge of your nose and along your sinuses. Fighting acne is another use for this oil.

I've also used it in my hair if it's really oily as it absorbs oils. If you want natural highlights, you can even put it in your hair and go out in the sun. But be careful as it increases photo-sensitivity if it's on your skin.

You can use it to treat minor cuts and burns. Just make sure to read your labels and dilute properly before applying to your skin.

And that's just a few of the ways this oil can be used! There are many other was as well!

If you would like to learn more about essential oils, or find out how you can get your own oils go to cnbachus.wix.com/m613oils

I also teach classes if you are interested in learning more about them, just contact me to set up a class, or if you are far away, we can do an online class!