How I won $100 in grocery gift cards

This week's tip is for getting something for nothing... well, nothing but a little time!

Last month, I noticed that a lot of bloggers were running giveaways to win a $25 Publix gift card at their blogs, for their Italian Days promotion.  As I noticed them, I entered one or two here and there.  Who wouldn't want a free gift card for a grocery store (or for Target)?

Then I remembered a tip I had read from a comment to a post about winning blog giveaways over at Frugality Is Free:  sometimes multiple blogs will hold giveaways for the same prize.  So do an Internet search for that particular giveaway and enter as many of the giveaways as you can.  You might not win any, or you might win one... or you might win more than one!

For keywords, you can use the prize you are trying to win, along with the word "giveaway" and/or "2011".  (You don't want to find giveaways that aren't currently open!)  Or use the name of the company that is sponsoring the giveaway (usually the blogger will disclose which company is providing the prize).

Another idea - sometimes the bloggers are required to use specific wording in their giveaway post.  Copy a snippet of that text, enclose it in quotation marks, and search for those words.  You should only get posts for that specific giveaway.

As you search, the links to pages that you've already visited will appear in a different color, so you shouldn't have to worry about entering the same giveaway more than once.  Or, keep a list of the blogs where you've already entered.

When you enter blog giveaways, decide which type of entries you're willing to do.  Usually you will receive extra entries for connecting to the blog via Facebook, Twitter, and other social media.  You might be comfortable with all of them, or just a few.  Some will give you extra entries for doing a daily tweet on Twitter or posting about the giveaway on your own blog.  Decide whether it's worth it to you or not.  Of course, the more entries you put in, the more likely you'll win.

So I used this tip and entered lots and lots of $25 Publix gift card giveaways.  I didn't win most of them.  But I did win 4 of them, so soon I'll be getting $100 in free groceries.  And what could be better than that?

(And by the way, I've recently joined the excitement and started my own blog giveaway linky, Fortune Follies, on Tuesdays.  Link up your blog giveaways here!)

For more frugal tips, please check out the bloggers listed on the left sidebar under Frugal Tips Linkups. There are lots of great ideas on each blog and I'm sure you'll find lots of wonderful tips!