Zucchini Summer: June 2017

Time for another team challenge from Swagbucks! For those of you who don't know what Swagbucks is, it's a website where you can earn cash back on everyday tasks you do online like shopping, answering surveys, discovering deals, and watching videos. You can even earn for searching the web!

Their latest, the "Sweet Treat" Team Challenge, begins TOMORROW: Monday, June 12th at 8am PT.

Here's how you can join the challenge (and the site):
1. Click here to join the challenge and be assigned to a team.
2. Starting June 12th at 8am PDT, in addition to earning SB you'll contribute points to your teams total as you complete different activities on Swagbucks.
3. Check back on the page often to see the scores and what you've contribute so far.

All members who participate and contribute at least 400 points to their team’s total will receive a SB bonus in the form of a SB Swag Up Rebate on their next gift card! Not only that, but if you earn 300 SB before July 1st, you'll get a 300 SB bonus (as long as you've signed up under me)!

Here's a screenshot of my swag up rebates from the last 3 team challenges I've participated in. You can see it's a nice little bonus that helps me reach my gift card goals faster:

Members of the 1st place team will receive a 60 SB Swag Up Rebate, members of the 2nd place team will receive a 40 SB Swag Up Rebate, members of the 3rd place team will receive a 20 SB Swag Up Rebate, and members of the 4th place team will receive a 10 SB Swag Up Rebate. Rebates will be available on Friday, June 16th and will expire on Friday, June 30th at 11:59pm PT.

Good luck!

**UPDATE** There's a new way to get HULU for free! I just paid for 3 months of Hulu without spending a cent of my money. Read below for how to do it!

**UPDATE** As of right now (6-9-17), Microsoft has suspended the 1 month HULU reward. They stated that they are working on a new Hulu reward. I'd encourage you to still sign up and start earning those points so that you'll be ready when they release the new HULU option! Or if you want to use your points right away, you can get $5 gift cards to Amazon or Starbucks!

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I always hate when people ask my hobbies. Uh, like, is it lame to say "Watching TV"? This year my school did a Secret Pal among the staff and yes, under hobbies, I put "Netflix." We have subscribed to Netflix for a couple years now. I'd heard about Hulu but didn't know I needed it until I saw the preview for The Handmaid's Tale.

We got rid of our satellite dish (hellllo saving money!!).

Now, before I tell you how I'm getting this for free, know this: This post is NOT sponsored by anyone. I make zero dollars/points/anything. I just love a good deal and wanted to share!

Do you love Hulu and love saving money? Read how I've been able to get Hulu for free every month and find out how you can too--totally free!

There used to be this thing called Bing Rewards. Now it's the same program but called Microsoft Rewards. You earn points and can redeem them for gift cards. Guess what gift card is available? Yep. A one month subscription to Hulu.

Here are the nitty gritty details:

Sign up for Microsoft Rewards here (not a referral link. I get nothing if you join)
Earn points daily.
Click on "PC Search" and a Bing window will open. I like to click around on the headlines. I do this first thing in the morning for the scoop on news. If one looks particularly interesting, I'll click it again and read the article. But that's not necessary.
Log in with your phone and do the exact same thing: search and earn those 100 points.

When I log in, on the right side I see this.
You can see I've earned my points for searching on my PC
but not yet gotten my points for searching via my phone.

You can earn points from other things too, like today I had these bonus things (Road Trip and NBA) and earned an extra 10 points each just by clicking. Be sure to do any of the little extra freebies like this in order to maximize your Microsoft Rewards earnings!

hulu gift card from microsoft bing rewards

Once you have the points needed, click on "redeem" and choose the Hulu gift card. You'll get an email from Microsoft with the gift card code to apply to your Hulu account. They are super fast! I usually get my gift card codes within 24 hours.

how to get hulu for free by using microsoft rewards

This shows my progress towards
my next Hulu gift card

Since you can earn at least 250 points a day and a Hulu gift card is 6,800 points, you can earn 91,250 points in a year. Divided by 6800 points per gift card equals 13 gift cards and points left over. That's 13 months free of Hulu!---MORE than a year's worth!
Microsoft has changed the rewards program but you can still get Hulu for free. The above all still applies. When it's time to redeem, you will spend 5250 points on a $5 GameStop gift card. Do that 5 times so that you have $25 to GameStop.
Go to the GameStop website.
Purchase the $25 Hulu gift card. It will be an instant download that you can apply to your Hulu account.
Fine print boring details: If you earn 260 Microsoft points per day (doing the mobile and pc searches plus one of the 10-30 pt bonuses each day), it will take you 101 days to earn the $25 gift card. 365 days in a year / 101 days to earn a $25 gift card= 3.61 (the number of times in a year you can earn the gift card).
3.61 times to get a $25 gift card=$90. At $7.99/month, Hulu costs $95.88 a year. Take off the $90 you earned from Microsoft/Gamestop rewards and your Hulu cost is $5.88 a year or 49cents per month. Not technically 'free' anymore but darn close!