I love being a MyPoints member.  I’ve written about it before, but I didn’t really give you any tips or pointers to show you how easy it is to earn free gift cards.   I want to take the time to tell you what you can do to earn your first gift card from MyPoints with little effort and absolutely no money out of pocket!

When you do any task to earn points for MyPoints, unless it’s reading e-mail, they usually stay “pending” on your account for 30 days.  This is mostly to ensure that they get paid by the company, or that the information you submit is truthful, and one of many other reasons.  This is why I say that I can help you earn a gift card in 30 days.  Give or take 2-3 days, and it all depends on if you do the things I tell you to in one day or stretch it out.   Any way you look at it, you can earn a gift card quickly to one of hundreds of manufacturers!

This guide is pretty long, so if you’re already a MyPoints member skip around to the points that pertain to you or feel free to look around the site to find more savings tips and tricks!  There’s over 1,000 posts to read, and I do my best to provide you with quality info and the top freebies as often as I can.

Ready to earn from MyPoints?  Here’s how to get on your way to free money:

First, of course you’re going to need to go to MyPoints.com and register.  You’ll have to confirm the e-mail they send you before you can get started. I will include the points you’ll earn beside each step.

Each item in green is something I’m not counting in your gift card total because not all of you will have referrals.  MyPoints has been around for a long time so everyone you know may already be a member   All of the point-earning opportunities I include will be things pretty much anybody can do.

Keep in mind I am operating under the assumption that the opportunities for points will be the same for you as they are in the “dummy” account I’m doing to help walk you through these.  You may see different offers but they should be similar, and this will give you an idea of how your points will look if you do them all.

• Fill out your short personal profile. (5 points)
• Work the Network, Invite Friends.  Facebook Wall Post (50 Points)
• Import e-mail addresses and invite up to 20 friends (500 points)
• Download the MyPoints Toolbar for searches, etc.  (100 points)
• Complete your in-depth profile (60 points)
• Print and redeem 15 coupons. (150 points)
• Do a total of 31 searches (75 points)
• Sign up for the daily deals alert (25 points)
• Click on “Easy Points”.  Answer the 3 questions in the box on the right upper side of the page.  (15 points total)
• In that same box, answer “Health” if you see it, until the end of the questionairre.  (80 points)
• In that same box, answer the tab “Education”, do the same until the end of the questionairre.  No financial info should be asked or given. (30 points).
• Again in that box, answer “Other” until the end of the survey (55 points).
• Register with Quality Health (50 points).
• Take the Nature Made quiz.  Don’t make any purchases you don’t want to. (150 points just for quiz)
• Sign up for Beyond the Rack (25 points)
• Sign up for Home Service Magic and just request info.  (25 pts)
• Register for the Publishers Clearinghouse Sweeps (50 points)
• Fill out the Target gift card survey for the shopping spree (50 pts)
• Register at Viewpoints and write 1 review (50 points)
• Write 9 reviews at Viewpoints for 50 points each (450 points)
• Look under Max Points, and click on Plus Points (offers without credit cards).  Complete 2 offers (250 points)

You will also have e-mails to click on sent to you each day if you opt in for them, and they are worth 5 points each or more.  Each will tell you how much you can earn.  If you don’t want to take advantage of one of the offers above there will be others so you can still get a quick gift card, but the method above (as long as everything is offered) is the easiest way to get a gift card.

When everything on my list is completed, you’ll have 1,695 points!!  You’ll work for it but that’s enough for a $10 gift card to one of many places like Cracker Barrel, Panera Bread or Red Robin.  You can let your points stack up and get a large gift card near Christmas or another special occasion.  This was part of the way I paid for Christmas a couple of years ago, and continue to use it each year.  It’s so easy to click on the e-mails.

Don’t give your phone number out if you don’t want to!  I signed up for one of the many free voicemail accounts just to get a free dummy phone number for surveys.  There are many services out there who offer you free phone numbers and voicemail accounts, just for the sole purpose of having that voicemail box.  I know we have an unlisted number, and I never give it out.

If you have any questions about this just leave a comment or e-mail me at makingcentsoutoflife (at) gmail (dot) com.  I hope this shows you just how valuable rewards programs like MyPoints can be!