It's like a drug

Here’s my December Swagbucks report/analysis, just for fun.

I set out once again to hit a goal of 21 consecutive days, and I started that quest on Dec. 1 so that I’d be done amassing Swagbucks before Christmas and could therefore take it easy for the rest of the year.

I made 21 days in a row and was therefore eligible for approximately 340 bonus Swagbucks in January. But I decided I’d try to find the time to keep hitting the daily goal for the rest of the year. That meant capturing Swagbucks on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, but the daily goals were low those days, so it was relatively easy to hit them all without a significant disruption to my holiday celebrations.

Moral of this story: I hit the daily goal all 31 days, earning the December bonus of 300 Swagbucks and the daily goal bonuses for all 31 days. The total: 540 Swagbucks.

So here we are, a week into January, and I’ve hit all seven daily goals for the new year. Given the bucks I have earned daily, plus the 540 in bonus I was awarded a couple of days ago, puts me at nearly 1,250 in the first week, nearly half way to a $25 Paypal credit. Obviously I won’t earn 1,250 in the next week, but if I can keep the streak up for 21 days, as is my personal goal each month, I’m certain to earn more than 2,500 Swagbucks by Jan. 21, and will have more than 300 in earnings for February.

And once again I suspect I’ll shoot for another 31-day streak to maximize my bonus earnings. That’s because I’m taking some vacation in February and I have no interest in making Swagbucks part of my vacation. My vacation starts Feb. 18, so there’s no way I can hit 21 days in a row next month, the best I can do is 14 days. But even with a vacation week in February and a bonus of about 200 Swagbucks in March, I should still be able to earn enough points for a $25 Paypal credit both months, thanks in part to the fact I’m earning more than 2,500 Swagbucks a month in December and January.

I get obsessive about my daily points, but I have to remember that this is all bonus cash, and it does come at a price. Taking some time off from the site now and then helps recharge the batteries for a few months, and whether I’m ready to or not, I’m going to recharge those batteries for a week in February.