(MY LIFE) Remember When I Said I Was Already Wrapping Gifts for Christmas? *PICTURES*

My boyfriend and I in an edited photo

I had previously posted about my urge to wrap Christmas presents so early. You can view that post HERE. Well, I decided to take a look in my closet to see how many gifts I had so far saved up. I didn't realize I had so many! Here is a photo I took:

There are two laundry baskets full, along with the gifts sitting in the front that wouldn't fit. Like I mentioned in the previous post, I do a lot of online reward programs that do not cost me anything. With those reward programs, I can redeem for free stuff that is sent to me. So usually I'll redeem for something that would make a nice Christmas present for a family member... I wish I could post all the things that are wrapped, but some of my family reads my blog, so I can't. I will tell you a few items though for the family members who don't visit my blog...

I got this Stella Artios chalice gift set for free through the Stella Artios reward program. I'm giving this to my dad and step mom for Christmas. It's such a beautiful set.

I won Apple TV earlier this year. I have no use for it. It retails for $120, and I'm giving this to my dad and step mom for Christmas. I don't enter contests anymore because I've been really busy maintaining my blogs and working on my anxiety, but for those of you who doubt contest winning on the Internet, I am proof that you CAN win.

I got this Blu-Ray DVD for free on GSN. They have a new blu-ray reward every week that you can redeem your points for. My dad will really like this, so I got it for him :)

I could take all day and post photos of different things I have gotten for free online, but I already posted about those programs in the previous post so if you are interested in joining any of the sites, be sure to check the post out.

I also went to Liquidation World. I got my grandma a really nice bath gift set for like, $1.50. LW has blue ticketed items which are 75-90% off. They want to clear these items out, so they are marked ridiculously cheap. Many stores have clearance items or clearance sections with really great items! I also use coupons whenever I can. If a store is selling a certain product for let's say, $2.49, and I have a coupon for $2.00, then I'll get the product for 49cents! How beautiful is that?!

Another smart thing to do is to buy winter apparel as gifts (or for yourself), in advance. When I was at LW, I had seen Toronto Maple Leaf Pink Jersey Shirts (my step mom is nutty for this hockey team). The retail price is over $50.00. LW sells them for $30.00+. I got it for $7.00 since it is considered winter apparel. She'll be getting that at Christmas.

The beauty of it all is that come Christmas time, I will not have to deal with the craziness of holiday shoppers trying to grab the last deal on the shelf, I won't be all stressed out, and I won't accumulate any debts from gift shopping! I just get things as I see them, redeem points throughout the year with different reward programs, and put them in the closet to save for December 25!

(MY LIFE) Wrapping Christmas Presents in April? Yep. I do.

There is just something about playing Santa at Christmas that fills me with joy. I love seeing my family members faces when they open up the gifts I got them. It makes me incredibly happy.

Yesterday I had an urge to wrap Christmas presents. So I did. Why do I have Christmas presents already in April? Let me explain...

I am a part of many reward programs/websites that allow me to cash out for various prizes when I have enough points earned. Throughout the year, when I see a prize that a family member would really enjoy, I cash out. Later this year, I plan on cashing out for prizes that I can donate to Toys for Tots, etc. I know many of my readers are already fully aware of these programs, but others may not be. I wanted to share a few of the programs I am aware of with you, and in return, maybe you could share some of the programs I don't know about, with me :)

If you sign up for any of the reward programs below, and need help in understanding how to get points, just comment and I can explain fully. Please note: the reward programs that have my referral link in them have a * beside them.

Pointsandprizes- A website that had words throughout their website that have point values. You can redeem these words for points, and redeem those points for prizes.

GSN- A website where you can play games, answer trivia questions and win "oodles". With these oodles you can redeem for prizes in their prize store.

Swagbucks*- A search engine that gives you "swagbucks" for searching and other various tasks. You can redeem these swagbucks for various prizes.

Zoombucks*- Similar to swagbucks, you receive "zoombucks" for searching and other various tasks which can be redeemed for gift cards.

Irazoo-another website similar to swagbucks. Search and recommend websites to earn points to redeem for prizes.
Click to Give*- A website that donates to charitable causes with every click. You also get points for clicking to redeem for rewards. A win-win situation!

Listia*- When you sign up, you receive free credits which can be used to bid on items from other members. Most members ship free as well.

Suddenlydarling*- A website that gives you points for commenting on articles, daily log-in, etc. These points can be redeemed for prizes.

Cashlagoon*- A Pay Per Click site that gives you points/cash that you can redeem. No minimum cash out required. (the PPC is not good right now though but they do have other offers)

Chapman's Kids Club- Canada Only- play games to get points to redeem for chapmans products and different children's items.

Panel Cloud (for those who collect Airmiles)- You'll receive 5 Airmiles just for signing up. They will periodically send you emails with surveys worth Airmiles. If you do sign up and would use my email as your referrer, that'd be awesome. email: elliott_gyal@hotmail.com

and those are just the ones that I favor. There are many other programs you can join, but I find they take a lot longer to be able to redeem for anything. There are also many survey sites (Hotspex is an excellent example) that will provide you with points for taking surveys when they are available to you.

These programs are great. You don't need to pay anything, but it does take some time on your part to collect those points to be able to redeem for the prizes you want. All of the above programs I have listed are legit. I have cashed out numerous times on all of them (except Click to Give, I do that for charity, not for the tangible rewards).

So, are you a member of any of these sites? How are you enjoying them? Which is your favourite? Feel free to leave your referral links in the comments section below. Do not spam the comments though or I will not approve them.

Enjoy the free rewards :)