Saving Money on Strollers & Car Seats

The amount of baby gear that you need and/or want for your baby can be overwhelming when you add it all up.  I know this has been very true for my experience so I have been on the lookout to save any way that I can.  Currently I am due in June and still in my "only buy things on sale" mode hunting down items that I need piece by piece.

The #1 tip I have to share with you is ... drum roll please ... BUY OFF SEASON!  You can save so much money by purchasing large products like strollers and car seats off season.  Sometimes designs change, but often it is just the color or pattern that is different from season to season with baby gear.

I discovered this tip while shopping for my nursery furniture in a local baby store.  The clearance table was sitting nearby and next to it was the convertible car seat on my to-buy list.  I went over to check it out to find out that it was indeed the product from my list.  I have been limited in the world of car seats and strollers so I was surprised to see the one convertible seat that I knew would fit on sale.  It was new in the box with plastic and all selling for $80 which is significantly less then the $199.99 retail price or even the current $159.99 sale price on Amazon.  The model was simply being replaced by a new one and had to sell quick so I happily scooped it up.

After that I had my eyes peeled for the other car seat on my list.  I was not able to find it in stores, but I was able to get a good deal online by purchasing the seat in 2010 colors which saved me $70 that can go towards some other gear on my list.

I have found that strollers and car seats seem to be the products where you can find lots of leftovers from seasons past.  A great place to start looking is Google or Amazon and searching for 2010 car seat or 2010 stroller and see what you come up with.  Once you have done the research and know what your looking for if you are willing to tote baby around in an "outdated" color pallet you can save some dough!

* This post contains affiliate links, but I was not paid by the manufacturer to review this product - I just like it! I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC's 16 CFR, Part 255. Images courtesy of Amazon.

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Earning Free Amazon Gift Cards

Let's keep it real - babies are expensive!  When I found out I was expecting my budget was already tight, we just relocated, and are still paying off the fabulous road trip honeymoon in Ireland we took last May.  So with not much room to cut back and save for baby gear, and only so many hours in the work day when I found an easy way to earn some free Amazon gift cards (where my registry just happens to be!) I jumped at the chance.

The first thing I will tell you is that I work full time, and I value my off hours with my husband.  When he comes home from work we spend quality time together going for walks, cooking dinners, and exploring the area around us.  I don't have the time in my day to be filling out surveys or doing tasks to earn points on rewards websites.  I also don't believe in buying things that I don't need in order to get points on rewards websites.  So until I discovered Swagbucks I thought these venues were not for me.

Then I came across Swagbucks and learned that this rewards website had several unique ways to earn points that would not waste my precious work hours or free time.  I was interested so I joined.  You can earn points by doing the things mentioned above, but that's not how I earn points.  This is how I earn my points aka "Swagbucks"

1. Searching the Web - This is something I do all day anyway!  I installed the Swagbucks toolbar, and use it as my main search engine.  It is not as good as Google results wise, but 95% of the time it gets the job done.  You can earn anywhere from 7 - 50 Swagbucks at random just from searching, and sometimes even more if they are running a special event.  I generally hit the jackpot several times a day with my normal search activity.  It is fantastic.  I am essentially earning free baby gear through an activity I would be doing anyway so why not?
2. Daily Polls - This does take a moment of my time, but it is a quick way to earn a Swagbuck once a day that I enjoy.  I get to the poll through the link on my tool bar, and am always amused at the results.  It is a 1 click for 1 Swagbuck task.
3. NOSO - This stands for no obligation special offers.  It does take time to complete, but not much so I make it part of my morning routine.  You can sign up for offers or skip them.  I hate junk mail so I skip all of them and earn 2 Swagbucks per day.
4. Swagbucks TV - I like having something on in the background while I work.  From time to time instead of Podcasts I turn on the Swagbucks TV.  You earn Swagbucks for watching a variety of videos in a variety of different categories.  My husband also watches it while he gets ready for work.

So that's how I earn my Swagbucks with little to no effort on my part.  It is wonderful, and I am happy with my results so far.  I could be earning more if I took the time to take advantage of all the ways to earn, but for my lifestyle the way I do it just works.

You can join Swagbucks at this link, and give it a try for yourself!

Now back to the prizes.  There are many different prizes at different price points, but my goal in all this is baby gear, and Swagbucks has great deals on Amazon gift cards.  At first I was fooled and trying to save up for the $50 gift card, but then upon closer inspection I realized that the $5 gift card was a better deal.  In a nutshell the $5 card costs 90 Swagbucks per dollar while the $25 card costs 126 Swagbucks per dollar, and the $50 card costs 108 Swagbucks per dollar.  Once I realized this I started to redeem my Swagbucks for $5 Amazon gift cards which I can combine together when I make a purchase.  The catch?  You can only redeem 2 per day & 5 per month so learn to redeem as you go if Amazon if your fancy.  If you still have more to redeem that's what the higher dollar amount gift cards are for!

* This post contains affiliate links, but I was not paid by the manufacturer to review this product - I just like it! I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC's 16 CFR, Part 255. The image in this post is ©2012 Brooke Photo Studio (that's me!).

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Getting Free Gear

The more and more I register for and learn about what I need and want to prepare for babies arrival the more and more I think about how the heck I am going to pay for all of this.  I have started buying things a little at a time, but some extra cash would help.

A friend told me about Swagbucks so I decided to check it out.  It is one of those websites where you can do a variety of tasks like answering polls, and buying sponsored goods to get points that you can redeem for prizes.  I work full time, and have this blog on the side so I don't have time to be messing with internet polls, etc.  However there are two ways to earn points on Swagbucks that work quite well with my current workflow.

1. Installing the browser toolbar and using the search box to search the internet.  I use this as my first line of search when I need to find something, and then if I don't get a result I like I go to Google.  I search the internet multiple times a day anyway so this is the easiest way that I earn points.
2. I watch SBTV in the background while I work.  It has many channels with short programs, and you earn points for each one that you watch.  I generally have it on while I am working, and zone out most of the content while earning points.

I am earning points slowly, but they are adding up.  With these points I can earn gift cards for Amazon.com where my baby registry is.  You only need 450 points to get a $5 gift card, but I am holding out and trying to earn 5,900 for a $50 gift card.  If you'd like to give it a try visit this link which will add a few points to my account as well and be much appreciated.

* This post contains affiliate links, but I was not paid by the manufacturer to review this product - I just like it! I am disclosing this in accordance with the FTC's 16 CFR, Part 255.

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