I have some favorite ways that I make extra cash that enables me to buy the unnecessary little things I want in life without feeling guilty.
Best online survey site: www.valuedopinions.com
I get around $20 in amazon.com rewards per month with this site. They have tons of other gift cards you can redeem your bank for but my favorites are Amazon and Visa ($30). I find these surveys to be not ridiculously long, usually something halfway interesting and not too repetitive. Also, I can be honest with my stats and answers and still am able to qualify for a lot of surveys.
Best sample testing site: www.bzzagent.com
I joined this site a few years ago and cannot tell you how many great products I’ve gotten to try and review for them. You usually get full-sized samples of the products they want you to test in addition to coupons and mini samples for family and friends. The goal of this site is to try the product, tell them your honest opinion, and talk to others about your thoughts on the product – and also try to get them to try it. Right now, I am trying Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Peel, Lipton Spiced Cinnamon Chai Team, Café Escapes, Morningstar Farms, Redbox Video Streaming, Claritin-D and Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream. Right now is probably the most products I’ve received at any one time but I get at least one a month. Ultimately, you help the companies by spreading news about their products and you save a bunch of money in the process. You also get points to mypoints.com which I also like………..
Mediocre voucher / money-saver: www.mypoints.com
I have a friend who swears by this site; however, I have had issues with it. You mostly gain points by clicking through their links to purchase items on other sites. My problem is that I have found that sometimes prices are higher when you click through mypoints.com. I don’t use it in that way because I feel I compare prices enough and I can’t be bothered with it. However, I like mypoints because they send you emails with ads that you click on and get 5 points per ad. It’s a quick and easy way to gain points. Also, in conjunction with bzzagent.com, you can rack up points much more quickly because all of your bzzagent activities give you points as well. I just was able to cash in 7500 points for a $50 Amazon.com voucher so overall the site definitely has its perks.
Best click through cash back site: www.shopathome.com
I try to use this site all the time for all of my online purchases (and I shop a lot!). I find the shopathome has a lot of companies listed that offer cash back when you link through shopathome. For example, for my trip to Peru, I used an online booking agent, linked through shopathome and am receiving $100 back from that purchase alone. They cut you a check every 3 months which is very nice. I even got cash back today from buying a Groupon. I mean really – getting cash back while using a discount? What could be better?! They also give 110% cash back if you show them you could get more cash from another site like ebates.com which leads me to the……
Second best click through cash site: http://www.ebates.com
Ebates comes in handy for cash back from Amazon.com which shopathome does not offer. Not all purchases on amazon are eligible but if you are going to purchase on amazon, you may as well click through ebates and hope for the best. I like to see if ebates gives more cash back before turning to shopathome.
For Focus Groups (in-person) I like www.focuspointeglobal.com, www.inspiredopinions.com and www.2020research.com
Survey Runners Up: www.mysurvey.com This site has surveys of a decent length but I don’t acquire points as quickly as on valuedopinions. I like it as an alternative though.
www.e-rewards.com I like this site to cash in about 1,000 miles to various airlines once a year. Seems like an easy way to add a tiny bit to those frequent flier miles.
If you have any suggestions for other great sites, please write them in the comments!
Aimee Knows 