Everyone knows the big holidays, days like Memorial Day, Labor Day, the Fourth of July, and Halloween, but did you know that almost every single day on the calendar has a themed celebration to go along with it? I know at my house we certainly do. In fact, we’ve even made it a point to start celebrating some of these more obscure holidays!
March 3, for example, was National Cold Cuts Day, so we went out and made ourselves some deluxe cold cut sandwiches. Another good one: October 7 is National Inner Beauty Day, which we honor at our house by celebrating the personal qualities that make each member of our family special.
One of our favorite days, however, is actually National Walking Day! It happens during the first Wednesday in April each year, and it’s just such a wonderful chance to get out of the house and into the spring weather to enjoy one of my favorite simple activities: walking! From the store, around the neighborhood, on a hike—you name it.
At my house, we like to celebrate National Walking Day while also earning some free stuff, whether that’s a T-shirt for completing a 5K (walk, not run!), cash for a task done for a stranger, or—my favorite—gift cards just for walking into certain stores! There are plenty of ways to celebrate National Walking Day and get free stuff, and today we have a helpful little guide to some of the best.
Celebrate National Walking Day and Get Free Ts
One of the cool aspects of National Walking Day is how charity groups use it as an occasion to host 5K events to raise money for worthy causes. Walks tend to vary by geographic region, but in the past, my friends and I have participated in National Walking Day 5Ks that raised money for everything from the American Heart Association to the American Cancer Society to some more localized, grassroots causes.
I’m pretty tuned in to the events in my area, but you can easily hunt down a great event (and, of course, a free t-shirt that comes with it) by searching online for “National Walking Day 5K” plus the name of your area or by going to an event site like Eventbrite. And hey, if you participate you’ll not only help others and collect a prize, you’ll also get your steps in—and then some.
Step It Up on National Walking Day and Get Paid
We’ve talked quite a bit in the past about the best free smartphone apps that pay you cash, and it just so happens that one of those apps has the word walk right in the title. I’m talking here about Gigwalk, which is a great fit for users who do a lot of walking in a city or even a suburban setting, especially one that has lots of shops, restaurants, and other businesses.
Gigwalk is free to use, and how it works is that you open the app and see gigs—short projects or jobs or tasks people are paying to have done—posted on a map. These gigs will be represented by red pins, and when you click a pin you get details and specific instructions about what you have to do to complete the gig. This usually includes something random like taking a photograph of a display in a certain store. These gigs can take anywhere from just a few minutes to up to a few hours and pay ranges from $3 up to $100. That’s right, $100! In my experience, though, those lucrative gigs are highly sought after and usually rare. The money goes into your PayPal account after you’ve completed a gig.
Celebrate National Walking Day and Get Free Gift Cards
The app I really like to use for getting free stuff on National Walking Day is called Shopkick. It’s a shopping rewards app that lets users earn points—called kicks—for the shopping they do normally. It rewards you for things like making purchases, scanning barcodes of items, and even for just walking into some stores! Once users accumulate enough kicks they trade them in for gift cards.
To get some kicks this National Walking Day all you have to do when you’re out walking is open up your Shopkick app, go to the “earn” tab, and look at the list of kicks that are nearby. Now, these will vary by location, but in my area, there are plenty of stores like as 7-Eleven, Walgreens, and Target that offer kicks. Of course, you don’t have to limit yourself to using Shopkick on National Walking Day—you can earn kicks by walking into stores 365 days a year. You can also earn kicks by scanning certain items within that store for more info and by making purchases as well. Shopkick has been such an incredible boost for my budget!
The real point of the day is to just get out of your house and enjoy a nice walk of course, but that shouldn’t stop you from raking in some savings, too.
So, there you have it, three great ways to celebrate National Walking Day and to get free stuff while you do. The real point of the day is to just get out of your house and enjoy a nice walk of course, but that shouldn’t stop you from raking in some savings, too.
Who knows, maybe you’ll get hooked on using Shopkick like I am? And maybe you’ll also get hooked on celebrating these silly and fun obscure holidays. Why not, right? There’s no day that can’t be brightened with a little bit of fun!
Learn all the ways you can use Shopkick to get free gift cards while celebrating National Walking Day. Download Shopkick’s free app and get ready to be wowed. Welcome to the fun, Shopkicker!
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Image courtesy djoronimo
