How to Earn Free Gift Cards (6 Legit Options!)

Earn free gift cards to help stretch your Christmas budget and reduce your stress. It doesn’t take much time or work but can make a big impact.

Christmas stress is often related to money, rather not having enough money. It can be an expensive time. We do need to remember the gifts and the stuff isn’t the important part but I know we still want to do some of these things.

Having a budget is a good start. I like to keep track of mine in my Christmas planner. It helps me make sure I really follow it and helps me be prepared.

Another thing that helps is saving money throughout the year. Around the summer I start saving my change and wait to cash it in until I’m starting Christmas shopping. It’s like surprise money.

The other thing I find useful is earning free gift cards throughout the year. There are many ways to do this and it can really help take some stress off of your budget.

How to Earn Free Gift Cards

Earn Cash Back When Grocery Shopping

There are a few options for earning cash back when you are grocery shopping. These apps work by having you scan your receipts after grocery shopping. You can also usually connect your email and credit cards to earn even more points. 

There are two apps I use regularly that help me earn points that I redeem for free gift cards. 

• Fetch Rewards is one of my favorites. It works with any store and gives you points not matter what you buy. You can earn more by buying special items. If you want to maximize your earnings check the app before shopping to see if you can fit some of the items into your meal plan. Enter my referral code, TN8EW, during signup and you’ll get bonus Fetch Points when you complete one receipt.
• Shopkick is another great option. It works a lot like Fetch Rewards but you also get points for walking into stores, scanning products, linking a card, and more.You can also get $5 free just by signing up for Shopkick using my code RETRO and earning 50 kicks in 7 days, it’s easy to earn so you can hit that in no time. 

Fill Out Surveys with Swagbucks

This isn’t an option I use because I found it too time-consuming. However, I’ve heard stories of people making a lot of money using it so it’s worth a shot. Some people really love it. Sign up here and get a $10 bonus.

Use a Reward Credit Card

Many credit cards will give you gift cards as rewards for using the card. You want to be careful with this and always pay off your credit card each month. And don’t spend money you don’t have or wouldn’t spend anyway.

If you use the credit cards responsibly they can save you a lot of money. One credit card that works well for us and earns use free gift cards is our Amazon Prime card. We shop on Amazon a lot and it gives us great rewards when we do. It’s also great if you shop at Whole Foods. You earn 5% back at both places.

Get Cash Back Shopping Online

And last but not least is using cash back browser extensions. There are two great options that I often use. You simply install the extensions and shop like normal. They often will give you coupon code as well! This is one of my favorite options because it’s so easy to use.

You can use both of these options or just pick your favorite. 

• Rakuten is the option I’ve used the longest. All you have to do is sign up and you will get $30 just for signing up and making a purchase using the service. They have a toolbar you add and it will then automatically tell you when you are shopping on a site that is eligible for cashback. I’ve used it for years and earned quite a bit buying things I was already buying.
• Honey is another option I’ve used over the years. It’s another easy and free browser extension. I find it’s really good for searching out online coupon codes which is a great added benefit. Just sign up for free, install their extension, and start shopping!

Using these tips all year and then saving the points to earn your free gift cards to use at the holidays is a great and easy way to stretch your budget. I know some people that do this and pay for all of Christmas with the gift cards they earn. It’s a great goal to start early in the year!