5 ways Bing can help you save money

Until about two months ago, I exclusively used Google as my search engine. But I was curious about Bing because I heard it offered rewards for trying it out, and I’m a sucker for free money.

I have to say I’m glad that I gave Bing a try. While Bing was adequate as a search engine (though not better than Google), I was pleased with some of its other features that saved me time.

In light of my experience, I wanted to share a few tips I gained by using Bing. Here are 5 ways that Bing can help you save money.

1. Bing Rewards

Bing Rewards is a way you can earn something for trying out Bing.

The program is free to sign up for. When you visit Bing, there is a toolbar at the top of the page that shows you ways to get points. You get points for things like checking out features of Bing and for doing routine searches.

For example, I was able to earn 6 credits a while ago for checking out Bing’s social search, which tracks how people are talking about current events.

Once you get enough credits, you can redeem them for gift cards, and other prize items.

Or if you are charitable, you can use the points for donating towards charity.

Bing rewards can add up pretty quickly because of the special offers. Right now there’s a promo where you get 250 points for signing up. (You can use 100 points to donate $1 to charity, so just by signing up you can donate a couple dollars to TeachforAmerica).

You can also redeem rewards for entrees to sweepstakes. Right now some of the Bing reward prizes are:

–55-Inch LED TV
–Blu-ray Player
–Xbox 360 250GB Console with Kinect
–1-year Netflix subscription
–Movie and game assortment ($1,000 Amazon.com Gift Card)

The only thing you need to participate is a Windows Live account which is very easy to set up. (I had one from an old Hotmail account).

Check out Bing Rewards and start earning some free stuff just for searching the web.

2. Money saving videos

One of the great parts about Bing is its integration with other MSN content.

Bing Money Videos puts a lot of personal finance content at your fingertips. You can get information about the markets, personal finance, real estate, and autos in a visual format.

3. Flight Search

Bing Travel is a site I always visit when I am booking airfare.

The airfare search is pretty similar to other big sites like Kayak.com. But the neat part is Bing Travel offers a prediction on whether you should buy your ticket now or wait. It even gives a confidence level on its prediction to let you know how large the error might be. (Bing Travel bought out an replaced Farecast a few years ago, for those that remember that site.)

This is not a tool for everyone, but I think it’s perfect for me and readers of this site. Predictions can never be perfectly accurate, and that annoys a lot of people, but for me I am happy with getting an educated guess which is better than nothing. There are many times I have waited to see my fares drop, and other times I booked quickly when Bing Travel suggested fares would rise.

Bing Travel is definitely worth checking out before your next trip.

4. Recipe search (can make more food at home)

Looking for a quick recipe, that’s also highly rated? Give Bing Recipes a try.

While I enjoy cooking and saving money at home, I am not a big fan of wading through tons of recipes before finding one that works.

Bing Recipes takes some of the edge off by presenting easy-to-use results paired with a thumbnail image of the recipe result.

I like that you can filter by options such as Rating (one to four stars), convenience (Quick/Easy, Freezable, etc), and Occasion (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Wedding, etc).

5. Event search (can plan out weekend)

What’s going on this weekend?

This is often an annoying question to answer by search. You would often fare better by checking out a moderated website that gives a calendar of events.

Bing Events is one attempt to answer this question very quickly. The page offers a decent list of events searchable by cities (your area or another town), dates (today, this weekend, this week, etc), and category (performing arts, music, etc.)

How can this help you save money? By knowing about events in advance, that gives you more time to plan for things like parking. Plus you get more time to look for promotions. You can also get ideas for cheaper alternatives.

The only feature I wish they would add is a filter by Cost. I would love also to see one of the Cost categories be free, so you could always search for free events every weekend. Until that happens, I consider Bing Events a good idea that one step short of greatness.

Do you Bing?

I know there are some people who are huge fans of Bing and probably have some ideas as well. Share your experiences as I love to try out new and innovative ideas.