Today I thought I'd share with you a few online gems that I use to bring in a little extra money. Sometimes a girl just needs to buy herself something, (or order it online and anxiously await the doorbell ringing) and not feel guilty about taking away money from the budget. This is what I've been doing to make that happen around here. I'm just going to throw all at you at once.
1. Opinion Outpost:
This is a survey site. They e-mail me about 4 per day, and they tell you how many points they are worth, and how long they take. If I don't think it sounds like a "good deal", I don't even bother. You have to do a short pre-screening survey first to see if you qualify into the demographic that they are looking for. Then you cash in your points- a 70-point survey is worth $7.00. There are short surveys, and long ones, 10 point surveys, up to 100. You can cash your points in for amazon.com giftcards and other things like that.
Opinion Outpost HERE (their website is down today, Wednesday, so check them out tomorrow.)
2. Swagbucks
If you haven't heard of Swagbucks, it's kind of a fun concept. They are a search engine, like google, (powered by google and ask.com in fact) that gives you "Swagbucks" (kind of like virtual dollars) when you do your searches with them. It's usually a surprise gift- you never know how many you'll get, or how often, but I was earning about 20 swagbucks per day, just by searching once or twice. I am HUGE into "googling" things, and so I try to search in Swagbucks first. Sometimes I win a few bucks without finding my answer, which is fine with me. The results aren't quite as refined as google, so then I search somewhere else if I need a specific answer. The BEST part about Swagbucks is that the rewards are FAST! You only need 450 swagbucks to earn a $5 giftcard to Amazon.com (they e-mail you a code.) If you only do one search a day, you can usually earn one giftcard to Amazon every month. If you search more, you could earn 2 or 3! Who doesn't love Amazon? This is one of the best ways to get free stuff. Go sign up here and start searching! You get 30 Swagbucks FREE, just for signing up! And there are about 5 other ways to earn swagbucks besides doing searches; they give out codes on their blog, on facebook, on these little treasure hunts... check it out!
Swagbucks HERE
3. ERG Survey
This is another survey site, but they are more on the "educational" end of things- in other words, it's often universities and groups doing studies and research, and they pay this company to get their surveys out to people. I like this one because it tells you how likely you are too qualify for a survey, before you even do the pre-screening. You have to earn $25.00 before you can cash out with a gift card, but there are lots to choose from, or you can donate your earnings to the Red Cross or other organizations. You get $5.00 in your account just for signing up.
ERG Survey HERE
4. Pinecone Research
This one is also one of my favorites. It's kind of hard to get accepted to do this, you have to wait until they have openings, which are limited. Right now I have an e-mail saying I can refer 3-5 people, so if you want to do this one, let me know ASAP! This is another survey site, but you ALWAYS qualify for the survey that they send you. They usually take around 15 minutes, and they pay you immediately by a check in the mail, or into a paypal account. You get $3.00 for every survey you take. My other favorite part is that you are usually answering questions about a product that is being developed. They will often send it to you in the mail and have you try it, and then they'll ask you to do another survey (and pay you another $3.00). You're sworn to secrecy about the things they are working on, but I have tried out some pretty awesome things! You can visit their website HERE and please leave a comment if you want a referral, I will e-mail it to you.
5. Ebates
This website is a shopping website of most of the major online stores, such as Old Navy, Macy's, Dell, etc. Their list of websites is HUGE. If you are ever going to order something off the internet, do it through Ebates. You just sign up, and then click on the website through the link on Ebates- it will tell you how much you will earn. I did most of my Christmas shopping online, and during the Christmas season they double their rewards. So I got 5% back from one store, 8% back at another, 2% back, etc. Every few months they will mail you a check with your money back. And just so you know how it can add up, my Christmas-shopping check came in February for $68! You can sign up HERE
6. Leapforce
All of the other options do not require any commitment- you can sign up and do them if or when you have a minute. Leapforce, on the other hand, is an actual work-from-home job. It is awesome. You can work at any time of the day or night, and you bill by the minute, so if you can only work 5 minutes out of every hour, that's fine. They want you to work at least 10 hours a week, but so far I have only managed about 5 per week. We'll see if I get re-hired next month. Contracts are renewed every 6 months, if they think you're doing a good job. I am called a Search Engine Evaluator. Once I sign in, there are all these little projects, from looking at things like results of video searches, book searches, map searches, or just regular keyword searches. Then you tell them how helpful their results are to certain searches. They are actual searches that people are putting into Google and Yahoo, so sometimes they are misspelled or make NO sense. Sometimes it's easy, sometimes it's tricky. You have to pass an open-book 8-hour test to show them that you basically know what you're doing. (You have a week to do it.) They pay me monthly, with a check in the mail. So technically I work for Google. WARNING: THERE ARE MAJOR SCAMS OUT THERE ABOUT PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR GOOGLE, AND MAKE $5000 A WEEK. DO NOT SIGN UP FOR ANY "WORK AT HOME" JOB THAT MAKES YOU PAY A FEW DOLLARS FOR SHIPPING AND HANDLING FOR THEIR KIT. THOSE ARE NOT LEGITIMATE, AND THEY JUST WANT YOUR CREDIT CARD NUMBER! Okay, having said that, if this sounds like something you'd like to do, you can apply and take their 2-part test. It's not the easiest job to get, but it's really nice to have. And technically I'm not supposed to disclose this, but they pay over $13 an hour.
Leapforce HERE
15 comments:
Thanks for sharing all this great info! :)
Heather! Could you refer me for the pinecone research? It sounds like fun! Thanks!
Whenever I try to get the pinecone reasearch, they are never ready for new people...if you have enough referal credits, I wouldn't mind that one! Thanks. I love swagbuck. You have some other fun ones on here too! Good for you for getting some extra spending money while taking care of such cute girls!
Holy Rollers Girl!!
This is hilarious to me, even though it's a great opportunity for you girls out there. The reason it is funny is because Heather started this kind of "search" when she was about 12 years old. before computers even... lol.... seriously, she would find out any info she could about a product that you could get free. It wasn't that long ago that I was going through my file cabinet and found an old file folder, it was titled, "Things that you can get for free in the mail"........I would take Heather's advice, she has spent years finding the best deals out there, and you all know that this girl knows how to keep her family alive and well when the economy is down, no you can't keep a good girl down, especially if it's HEATHER!!
Oh, I didn't make it clear that the file folder was in HEATHER'S handwriting!!! :)
Heather... thanks for all the great ideas. If I'm not to late I would like a referral for the pinecone research. Thanks!
good info! since your blog is private, is it ok if i copy & paste this post in an email to a family member who could use a little extra cash? let me know if you would be comfortable with that.
NICE! Good tips. Gotta try some!
p.s. have you already referred 5 people for Pinecone? If not, will you refer me?
Have you ever read the book, The prize winner of defiance, Ohio? This reminds me so much of the book - you should read it. Good job bringing in some money!
Awesome tips. I love the pictures of your girls playing in the water in the street!! Looks like such fun. I read your "Smotherhood" post, I can totally relate, and I am seriuosly starting to get anxiety now about when Halle becomes mobile. It honestly hadn't occured to me, I am just taking it one step at a time, but having two close together, being so little and having them both mobile is a recipe for disaster for sure!! Ahhh! Now this is easy to say since I haven't gotten to that stage quite yet, but it seems like the only thing you can do is brace yourself and realize that it can't last forever, and that they will be grown up all too soon! I love reading your blog and how open and honest you are, it is so refreshing!!
very interesting indeed.
here is my question, how do you know for sure that these are legit companies? I always worry about that kind of thing when doing this kind of thing. Have you had any bad experinces?
No, Emma, I have only had good experiences with all of them- (meaning, I've received real money/gift cards from them). I currently participate in all of them, which is why I feel like I can recommend them without worry. But you are smart to be careful, because there are so many dang scammers out there! :)
I want a referral if you don't have them all given out! I do most of the others too. I will be adding the others! Thanks!
Maybe I should be doing stuff like this instead of blog stalking till um. 12:30am! Thanks for the tips. Best wishes with your house hunting and Sam's real estate endeavors. Swim a ton, get your POOL days in! Get some in for me, too!
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