Well, the program has saved me significantly more than that. But for the purposes of this post, I’m talking about money I was able to bank by using Swagbucks.

As some of you remember, we have a new strategy for rewards programs. When we used rewards program gift cards for purchases, we bank an equivalent amount. Buy a $20 item on Amazon, send $20 from checking into savings.

So far, the results have been good. We’ve added $275 to savings since November.

The number should have been about $400, but sometimes I forgot to transfer the funds. Guess I’ll be more careful about that in the future.

Meanwhile, we’ve also banked about $225 from Mr. Rebates, Ebates, and Inbox Dollars. Those were already coming in, though. So I’m far more excited about our new strategy netting us $275.

Of course, Swagbucks has saved us a lot more than that over the years.

I checked my Amazon account history from November ’09 to present. In all,  GCs from Swagbucks paid for just over $1,525 of items.

Whoa.

Those GCs went to buy books, video games, consoles, collectibles, t-shirts, underwear, shoes, razors, shampoo, toilet paper, cereal, vitamins, pet supplies and more.

This gives me a new determination to concentrate on the program. Frankly, in the last five or so months, I’ve been slacking pretty badly.

What with the emotional and physical blows over the last 18 months,  I just haven’t felt up to wading through surveys every day. Looking over those numbers, though, it’s hard not to have a renewed enthusiasm for the program.

Clearly, it’s possible to save big with Swagbucks — even bigger than I’d realized. Of course, I have to remember to actually put the funds into your savings account. It’s a process.

Point being: Here”s to another $1,500 in freebies!

What rewards programs do you use? Do you use it for free stuff or just to stretch your dollar?

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I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again (and again and again): Always ask. I’ve had three instances in the past couple of weeks that highlighted this for me.

1. JCPenney

As some of you recall, we bought some new curtains and rods to make sure everything matched. There was a lot of hustle and bustle, as I kept ordering the wrong things.

Finally, we found the right confluence of items. The last item we needed was a curtain rod which was, of course, only available online. And for some reason, I couldn’t choose ship-to-store.

Since I’d naturally left it til the last few hours of the sale, I couldn’t call customer service. So I had to choose the $8 home shipping. Once the order was complete, I emailed JCP, asking if it could be shipped to the store.

Unfortunately, by the time they got back to me, the order had already shipped. So I responded, asking (very, very politely) if they would give me an $8 credit on the order.

And they did.

2. Hair salon

I go a long time in between cuts. Mainly because I’m excellent at procrastination, but also because there are always so many other important fires to put out.

I finally got a cut/color after two months. The next day, I got a “We Miss You” email, offering a free blowout for a service before June 1st. Did I mention I made my next appointment for June 11th?

So I wrote the salon, explained the situation and asked if they would honor the coupon during my next appointment. I got a very nice note back saying that she would absolutely take it during my next appointment.

Now, assuming I didn’t accidentally delete the emails in my last round of inbox-cleaning, I’m all set!

3. Cover Charge

We knew there was a cover charge at the piano bar last weekend, so Tim took out $10.

We got to feel all smug in our preparation. Until we got to the door and were asked for $12. Oops.

We told the guy we only had $10, and then we started discussing where the closest ATM was. The employee took pity on us, I guess, and said he’d take $10.

That one was nice because we didn’t even have to ask! Plus they more than made up for the $2 with our drinks bill.

Have you had any similar successes lately? What’s your most bragworthy coup?

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Okay, back from the hotel stay. It was wonderful, and we came back pretty relaxed.

Actually, I came back relaxed but urpy. Apparently, my body has forgotten how to process alcohol.

It may have something to do with the fact that we got only five hours’ sleep. My body likes eight to nine hours of rest to flush everything out.

So I was a little logey most of yesterday.

But the rest of the time we had fun. We wandered around the area and found a wonderful Thai place the first night. It’s really hard to find quality Asian food in this city.

The next afternoon we did some shopping. Mainly window shopping, but I did get myself a Dr. Who salt & pepper shaker. Then that night we scooted off to Tempe.

The only real cost of note (and it was a big note) was the night in Tempe. I had no earthly idea it cost so much for two people to drink.

Back when I drank with any regularity, I chose dive bars with strong, strong drinks and lots of drink specials.

At my favorite haunt, two $6 drinks would last you the whole night. Of course, the actual taste of the Long Island Ice Tea was painful. But it did the trick nicely. And, as I said, you only had to drink two of them.

The piano bar, however, didn’t have any specials, just specialty drinks. And I think the alcohol-to-mixer ratio was pretty stingy. Which means we went through several. It’s a good thing I’d been drinking or the bill might have had a much, much larger impact.

Still the bar was great fun. It’s a good thing we forgot singles because I’m pretty sure my song requests would have stumped them. Other peoples’ suggestions were plentiful, though. So the place was rockin’.

I definitely want to go back again. Next time, however,  I’ll order the strongest drinks to get more bang for my buck.

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Hotel  stay commenced! Lazing around today, drinking in Tempe tonight. Be back on Monday.

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