Sisterly Savings

This  year, I plan on spending more time on market research panels and surveys. While  I am currently a member of a few test panels & survey sites, I haven’t really placed any effort on my part into most of them which I really wish I had. But no fear, with a new year comes lessons learned right?

One market research panel I just joined last month, Toluna, sent me  (2) t shirts to test and complete a survey on the wash & wear of it. Plus I get an additional $10 just for participating & completing the survey. Pretty sweet! So there are definitely some perks to it!!

Now with online market research panels, you won’t qualify for all of them. I have been turned down for quite a few but fortunately I was able to get in on a few high ones!

Once you sign up with a company, the companies will usually send you an email with a screener  to see if you qualify . If you do qualify, then you’ll be able to take the survey and/or participate in a panel.

I get a few emails from Toluna to complete surveys that equal anywhere from $1-$3 generally, but I have also gotten (2) survey opportunities for $10. While I don’t have the time to complete a lot of surveys, they can be a great way to build a little extra money on a monthly basis that I tend on working into my schedule.

If you would like to sign up with Toluna, just click on the above banner to register for free.

PineCone Research is one of the TOP premier research panels that only accepts new applications a few times a year and the panel is now open (usually they only accept new members by elite email invites)! The application process doesn’t stay open for long, so if you would like to join, here’s your chance!

They don’t send very many surveys, but the ones they do are well worth it! I’ve been a member for almost 2 years now, at that time, I had to”hunt” down an elusive banner to sign up, lol!

I have never heard of this company but I am all game when it gets positive reviews from a real user!

Brandie @ Free Sample Freak has made $174 with Hits4Pay. It’s pretty much the same as all survey sites where you sign up to read emails, although with this company, Brandie says you need to log into your account to check what’s available!

There were only 2500 spots available a few months or so ago which means they will be running out of openings soon! I signed up immediately and am just waiting for approval! I also get a Free $10 sign on bonus, woohoo!  I’ll keep you all posted with how well Hits4Pay out!

Today’s segment is from a wonderful bloggy friend of mine who is a money making guru when it comes to online offers!! Please give her a warm welcome!!

1. Surveys – These can be money makers that you can do at your own convenience.  Not only do you get to give your opinion, but you get paid. At times, you will even get items to test at home or be invited to participate in focus groups.  Some of the companies even give you a bit of money when you complete your pre-screening questions for each survey. 
2. Mystery Shopping – Do you like to shop?  What about going out to eat at restaurants with your family?  If you do, Mystery Shopping is a wonderful way to make some extra money or get free dinners out, etc.  If you apply with legit ( never pay ) companies, you will begin to receive shop requests daily that you can apply for and, if accepted, complete.  One of my readers recently got a $450 Gym membership for free, just for filling out a report each month.  How fun is that?
3. Bank Offers – Do you see all those advertisements for $100 free to open a new checking?  $50 free to set up a savings account?  Most of these have very easy stipulations to meet and before you know it, you have free money in your account.  And, as many people don’t realize, they usually do soft pulls on your credit, so they do NOT affect your credit score.  Yay! 
4. Online Offers – My all time favorite.  Do you remember when Jennifer got her free $500 Gift Cards?  I have been doing these for years and have made a very nice income off of them.  Next time you see a pop up advertisement online for a free Plasma TV, don’t automatically assume it is a scam.  Of course, research to make sure it is a legit company, or check with Jennifer or myself, but consider how much extra money you could make for your family with these.

Welcome to another edition of “Make Money Online”! This week’s Money Maker is a great survey panel called PineCone Research. Click here to sign up.

They have just opened its panel for new members and you get to earn $3 for each survey you complete! I love this panel because all of my readers can participate in this!!

Last year I recieved about 2-3 surveys a month and I also even recieved surveys that my teen daughter was required to fill out (so be sure to fill out any/all questionnaires!). You get paid by paypal or a check, whichever you prefer, and once you complete a survey, you can expect your payment within 3 days for payapl or 2 weeks by check. I personally prefer paypal since the payment option was much quicker!

The surveys are not that difficult and can take up to 15 minutes to complete and they also notify you by mail of any new surveys which I love because you never get to miss out on a survey!

While they don’t overflood you with surveys and you won’t make very much, its an easy way to get a little extra money per month!

(Thanks to MoneySaving Mom for the Heads Up!!)

If you would like to follow along in our Make Money Online Sessions, you can view the past posts starting here!

{And please leave comments here if you have any questions and/or suggestions, or have a great money making site or would like to  to share with us the money you earn as we go along in this series. We want to keep each other motivated by sharing our comments with each other!}

In this series are discussing various tips/ways to earn some extra money online that is actually valid and tried and true! If you would like to follow along, you can do so here.

I came across Snapdollars a while back, and while I haven’t really paid much attention to it, I received a check yesterday for $37!

For this site, there is a lot of ways to earn points but the real money comes in the form of referrals. You get $5 for EACH person you refer! I had sent out a dozen emails to friends/family and thats where I earned the bulk of the money for hardly doing anything at all:)

The only thing I did not like was the fact that they charge a $3 fee if you request to be paid by check, so I actually made $40 which is the payout timeline. I think I may switch to another method of payment….And if you sign up now, you’ll get $5 as a sign up bonus and I get $5!! Just click on above link to sign up:) I just love when I can get free money!

Has anyone else signed up with SnapDollars and have had gotten paid? We’d love to hear about it!!

So far we’ve covered a wide array of ways to make money money online. And just to let you know before I post about them, I wait until I actually get paid so that you can be sure its worth your time! No point in discussing something if I can’t back it up!!

This week, we are doing another survey site that I am pretty happy about as well (lightspeed panel still being numero uno!).

Global Test Survey is another pretty good site that pays out. The surveys are pretty much the same as other surveys, nothing too difficult and they don’t waste your time reading emails or asking you “to fill out surveys to serve you better” like a few others have done. I have done Surveyspot.com which sucks, I haven’t gotten anywhere with them and Opinion Outpost, although reviews are high that say they pay and are a good company , I still have yet to be approved for 1 survey!! Ah well, with Global test Market at least I’ve gotten 4 surveys in a month and a 1/2 that I’ve actually completed.

They award by points the more and the more surveys you take, the higher the value of your points.

Basically the more surveys you have taken in your time at the site, the higher the point value. You also get 20 bonus points for each referral as well .

You won’t find your inbox being flooded with surveys so you can’t give up your day job and it actually did take some time to receive my first survey from them but there has been a steady stream ever since.

You can expect about 1 or two surveys a month but some months I may get none and the next 4 will arrive so it can vary. It does take a while to reach a cash-in level , but in that 4-6 months you’ll have spent the equivalent of around 3-4 hours filling in surveys so it’s hardly a time consuming chore and you earn Free Money!

If you want to sign up, click on the banner !

To see more in this series, you go here.

Have you done a survey site that has earned you money? If so, please tell us about it!

Another great find everyone! And just as the name inplies, LightSpeed, they are on the ball! I am happy to report a great site that pays out!

I just started with LightSpeed Research on 7/7 and already have made $5 in Amazon GC! Wow, this company is great and the surveys are pretty easy. What I like is the fact that I get enough surveys to earn quickly instead of waiting for them to email me 1 or 2 like a few other survey sites have done.

What is lightSpeed Panel?

Lightspeed Research is one of the world’s leading online market research companies. We collect information about people’s preferences for products, services, and marketing programs (such as TV advertisements). As a member, you are part of a group of people who have agreed to participate in market research studies.

How does it work?

You just fill out a survey (and they offer many) and they award points for each one. Surveys take from 5 minutes to 35 minutes to complete and reward points are based on the length of each survey. The points arange from 50- 150 so its very easy to earn quickly! You then can redeem the points for “Rewards” .

Some of the rewards with their points are :

$5 Paypal 575 points
$5 Amazon E Certificate 550 points
$10 Fannie Mae GC 1100 points
$10 Old nay GC 1100 points

and much, much more!!

Its free to join, the site is very easy and its nice to get a quick payout. Just remember though, you may not qualify for EVERY survey. I didn’t get into 2 but I still made out pretty good for just starting out!

If you’d like to sign up, just click on banner above and I’ll get a few cents as referrals! Thanks!

Now go earn some points y’all!!

While this blog is primarily about saving money I also would like to make money as well. One of the easiest ways to start off is doing online surveys. There are a lot of different survey companies but I researched 2 in the past 2 months to see if it really does pay to do them. My results are below:

Cashcrate is the most popular and I must say, very good on paying! I made $87.00 in the past 2 mths just from doing surveys! How it works:

Cashcrate is a Get Paid To site and is free to sign up. Companies pay the owners of Cashcrate to find people to review their products, services, and websites. Cashcrate then in turn pays you to do it for them. The payout starts at $10 so it easy to get your money quickly!

There are completely Free Offers and a few trial offers to sign up for as well as 2 daily surveys. When completing some of the surveys, I timed them just to see how long they took to complete and most surveys took about 3 minutes at most.Also, the offers that pay less, say like $.25- $.50 take the least amount of time to complete and are quick & easy.

When doing offers, before starting, be sure to clear your cookies so that you can get your credits without any hassle.

You also can earn money by referrals as well. Cashcrate will pay you $3 for each person you refer as well as a percentage of what your referral each time they earn!! So you’ll keep on earning as long as your referral earns money, its like they are working for you!!

So far I really like the site and consider it a pretty good investment of time. I’m not expecting to make a lot of money through them but a little extra money per month is definately a Good thing!

Another site I really like is Free Cash Cafe. At the Free Cash Cafe, you get paid to take surveys, order free samples, signup for trial offers, participate in sweepstakes, join clubs, and register for online services. Its pretty much the same as Cashcrate with the same benefits and pays as well, to date I have earned $55.00. Payout starts when you earn $7.00 and they pay out monthly as well! As with Cashcrate you also earn 30% commission on your referrals earnings too.

Between these 2 sites you can earn a little extra cash monthly but I guess it depends on how much time you really put into as well. The money I made has only been for about 30 minutes a day and there. Not every day.

Do you have a survey site that pays well and that you like? What ways have you earned money online?