11.11.09
Earn Extra Money Through Surveys & Reward Programs
And a little info now for my readers on how to make a little extra holiday cash:
Before I started blogging last year, I’d spend at least 30 minutes at nighttime to take a few surveys. I loved being able to bring in a little extra money while still being able to stay home with my Son.
I’ve been wanting to get together a list of “legit” Survey companies for you all, in case you are interested in that same path.
Before you start taking surveys, here are a few important things to remember:
1) You’ll definitely want to set up a separate email account just for surveys. A lot of the companies offer you $ for simply just reading emails, which can accumulate to 3-6 per day per company. This will also prevent your personal account from becoming bombarded.
2) You won’t “get rich fast” with any of them. They take time to reach the designated payouts that some companies require. You’ll need to definitely practice a little patience, but it’s so worth it when the checks show up!
3) Different companies offer different rewards. Some only payout with gift cards. Others you’ll have to reach a designated threshold before you get your money. Others pay out in freebies. And you might get lucky enough to find some that payout in a little of everything!
4) Always make sure a company is “legit.” Ask around or look for those posted as recommendations from bloggers you trust. But always follow the rule of “Use Your Best Judgment” or “If It Sounds Too Good To Be True…It Probably Is!” Never, ever pay a fee to join one!
5) You can use a program such as Roboform HERE that will automatically fill in data for you, saving you time! There’s a FREE version that you can download.
6) It may not seem like your surveys are adding up to much so consider putting them in a separate high-interest account, such as one from ING, to watch them grow (and earn interest!) Think of it as your Vacation/Christmas Club!
Here are a few I’ve tried: (NOTE: Click on their name to get to their site.)
My Survey – This is my all-time favorite one. After I reached my payout amount, I had my check in one week! They also sent me freebies to try and review that weren’t even on the Market yet. And whether or not you qualify for a survey, you still got whatever points they promised. They give you 10 points for joining and up to 1500 points per survey. They also have a referral program giving you 150 points for referring a friend
Inbox Dollars – This one was slow to reach payout. But I mostly focused on clicking on emails to read. Once I reached the payout, they did make me wait a set time before they processed the check and in the meantime, I had to keep my account active.
My Points – I didn’t get to work with them much because I started blogging right after signing up. But I know of others that like them and earn gift cards through them.
These are other recommended by other bloggers/readers, but I haven’t tried:
Ipsos- iSay- You’ll get 2-5 survey opportunities a week that earns you points. You can turn those in for gift cards to places such as Applebees, Chilis, Olive Garden, Amazon and Kohls. Each survey you complete also earns you an entry into a $5,000 drawing.
Surveyhead – You can get paid through Paypal. They send out frequent survey opportunities and you’ll get a $5 bonus just for signing up.
Opinion Outpost -This one lets you cash out at 50 points ($5) and most surveys are worth 20-30 points.
Survey Spot – Earn up to $5 per survey and you can request payout when you have earned $5.
Dollar Surveys – You get $1 per survey and you get paid out after completely them, rather than waiting to reach a specific threshold.
LightSpeed Research – They offer a lot of surveys. And you can even take the option of being paid in gift cards.
Other Income/Prize Earners:
SwagBucks – Have you heard me gush about them enough? If not, I have to say that I love them! You earn points just for doing your normal searches. Every so often, a box will pop up and you’ll have earned a “SwagBuck.” There are also Free codes put out every so often or other ways to earn Bucks.
Tryology – You get to try out FREE products in exchange for doing a video review on them.
Nielsen Home Scanner – You scan your purchases, upload them via software they give you and then you cash in points for prizes.
These are just a few out there. There are several more that are a little slower in earning. While these are “legit” companies, you may each have a different experience with them. Some are happy with slowly earning $, while others want to earn faster and find a company is not right for them. The only advice I can give is to sign-up for them and try them out. If they don’t work, you can close your account and try another one.
Feel free to share you experiences with these companies, but please…word them nicely, such as listing both pros/cons for them. Thanks!
I’ll save this in my left sidebar under “Resources” for future reference and update as I find any more that bloggers/readers enjoy.
7.26.09
Reader Q&A: How to Make Money Without A Blog
Whenever I get a question a few times from readers, I try to put up a posting on it. As they say, when one asks, there are several that don’t.
The one I’ve been getting lately is “I don’t have time/knowledge to run my own blog but I’d like to make a little extra money for my family. Do you have any ideas or recommendations?”
Obviously, the first thing Coupon Geek would HAVE to tell you is…coupon and follow blogs to find great deals. 
This won’t make you money but you’ll save loads. (But sometimes, you’ll get lucky and actually find money-making deals!) Then…
Before I had my own blog, one of the things I did was to participate in surveys. My favorite was My Survey. I actually put up a posting about it awhile back HERE.
Another thing to do is to join SwagBucks and to do your online searches there. You can turn in your SwagBucks for giftcards. I turn all of mine in for $5 Amazon gift cards, which only takes 45. Save up your $5 ones so you can get that FREE shipping at $25 threshold that most items qualify for. Especially make sure you do this on Fridays, as they are “Mega SwagBucks Days” and you can win more. $5 may not seem like much but it adds up and it doesn’t take up any extra time. This won’t technically “make” you money, but it will free up your cash you’d spend on those items for other things.
If you really want to know about some great money-makers, Moms By Heart has a well-written posting HERE with lots of ideas.
I hope this helps!
NOTE: If you have a question, please, by all means, feel free to email me at coupongeek at live dot com. I do my best to answer my readers. BUT please remember, some weeks get crazy and it may take me a bit to get back to you. But if it’s been a week, forward your email again. It either means I’ve spaced out or I’m disorganized that week. I honestly do not always have it together. You know how it is—going six directions at once sometimes.
6.4.09
Pinecone Research: Taking New Panelists!
Engineer a Debt Free Life has details HERE on how you can sign-up to get into the Pinecone Research Survey Panel. It’s a tough one to get into, with limited sign-ups, from what I hear, so sign-up before they quit taking them again!
You get $3 for each survey you complete, which can add up over time!
They already quit taking sign-ups but EADFL does have other survey opportunities for those of you looking for them. Use the same link above.
2.26.09
Swag Bucks: Worth Checking Out!
Sometimes I feel so far behind the times or like I live under a rock! Time is so limited that I always fear adding one more thing to my plate. Email. Blogging. Twitter. Facebook. Surveys. The list goes on and on….Somedays it’s sooo overwhelming!
So when I heard about Swag Bucks, I was like, yeah, I can’t handle another thing! But when I kept seeing these free codes pop up online, I thought I’d check it out.
In one day, I earned 11 Swag Bucks and did nothing but register, found a few codes on blogs and won 5 more by using them as my search engine. You turn the Swag Bucks in for prizes. Example: 45 Swag Bucks (SB) will earn you a $5 Amazon Gift Card. (Oh, how I loooovvee Amazon! I’ve been ordering from them for years.)
I looked at it this way: even if I just collected codes on blogs throughout the year, I’d earn an easy $5. So I thought…maybe you’d all want to check it out, too?
Click here to register and read all the details.
And here are two Swagbucks codes I’ve found that MAY still be working: BirthdayBuck and HappySwagDay. If I find more codes, I’ll share them with you. But you have to be quick at adding them, as they expire quickly.
