This doesn’t usually last too long, and this time it is limited to:

Females
ages 18-24

I’ve been signed up for about a year now and get $3.00 checks routinely!! Love Pinecone!

Click here to sign-up for Pinecone Research Click Here

I’ve gotten a lot of new readers since I last talked about one of the best programs out there, Upromise …….. a program that I think all of us with children or grandchildren should look into.

It’s a program where you can turn everyday spending into future money for college education. It’s something you can do right now, even when you may not have much to invest in the market.  Buy groceries or gasoline (things we all need) or even use coupons and it will earn you (or your children and grandchildren) money for college.

You can join for free. Then you register either a grocery card (like a Kroger card or a CVS card), credit card or debit card. I’d recommend starting with a grocery or drugstore card like I did.  You never have to add a credit card, but you’ll want it especially if you eat out a lot!

PURCHASES: Upromise has partnered up with major retailers we all use (Target, Gap, Apple, Home Depot, etc) that will give you a rebate with every purchase. That rebate goes into your Upromise account and accrues until you roll it over and invest.

E-COUPONS: Upromise gives you the ability to load e-coupons onto your grocery card and when you purchase that item at the store (and then scan your card), the value of that coupon is deposited in your account!  FREE MONEY!

RESTAURANTS: Earn 8% back from more than 8,000 participating restaurants

Not only can parents of a child enroll in Upromise, but the child’s grandparents, aunts, uncles etc can all enroll under the same account to benefit the same child or children.

I joined back after we had our daughter!  Every bit helps and it’s never too early to start.

Check it out yourself by visiting Upromise (it’s FREE of course)!

SEPTEMBER UPROMISE E-COUPONS: You can load these to your grocery card after you join.  Here’s a sample of the e-coupons available:

50 cents off Elmers School Glue

$1.00 off Charmin Mega Roll

50 cents off Bounty Napkins

50 cents off Wacky Mac Pasta

50 cents off No Yolks Egg White Pasta

75 cents off Snyders Pretzels

$1.00 off Chiquita Bites Family Pack

50 cents off Wacky Mac & Cheese Dinner

Check it out yourself by visiting Upromise

Enjoy!

I get many emails asking about the checks I receive from survey companies each month. Yes, I take surveys, but only from reputable companies. I’m Type A and quite conservative, so I really do my research before I even sign up. Most survey companies I have used are absolutely wonderful to work with……but there have been one or two that I have never mentioned on A Frugal Friend…..and won’t.

Survey companies are a way you can earn a bit of cash or merchandise on your own time and when the kids are fast asleep. You decide how much time you want to spend doing it. You don’t have to accept every opportunity that comes your way…..in fact, you can ignore them. I love that. I didn’t have anything to do with surveys for the last 6 weeks that we were fighting ear infections and stomach bugs in our house. No problem….you can do that.

The last few times I spotlighted the survey companies , Ipsos i-Say and Opinion Outpost.

This time I’m highlighting Toluna, formerly Your2Cents, one that I’ve been signed up with for almost 2 years.

Earning Points:

When you sign up you will receive sign up points automatically. For completing a survey (or participating in sponsored polls), you will earn additional points. The amount of points available for you to earn differs with each survey, but I’ve seen a wide variety of points offered per survey.

Sponsored Polls – this is one of my favorite ways to earn points. Just log-in and answer some fun polls…..some are multiple choice and some you get to write your opinion. It’s fun!

Redeeming Points:

You can redeem your reward points with Toluna in one of three ways:

Cash – you can redeem reward points for cash and they’ll mail you a check.

PayPal – you can redeem reward points for
cash deposited in your PayPal account. It doesn’t take long at all to earn that.

Gift Vouchers - This takes a bit more points to redeem for, but I actually prefer the check or PayPal method myself.

Minimum payout is $20 either by Cash or PayPal. I just today looked in my account and have enough points to have a check issued. YEAH!

Opportunities:

Survey opportunities are emailed to you. It’s best to open them as soon as possible, so they don’t fill up.

Advantages:

1. CASH – they’ll send checks (I’ve received them)
2. On sign-up you don’t have to divulge everything (I personally like that you can check,”Prefer not to say”….note however that you may be limited with surveys based on needed demographics.

Visit Toluna and check it out!

It’s that time of year……kids go back to school and before you know it we’ll be Christmas shopping. Or if you’re like me, you have a closet with some gifts already stashed. There are a few things I do throughout the year that help pay for Christmas….and you’ll find some of them on my navigation bar (up above) under Earning Extra $$. If you’re wanting a few extra dollars this holiday season, you might want to get started now.

The first one I’ll highlight is SwagBucks……..mostly because I get paid for something I would do anyway!

What in the world is this SwagBucks thing everybody is talking about?
That’s what I kept saying too, now it’s my absolute favorite thing. I had heard about it for months, but kept putting it off. Finally I started looking into it and signed up over a year ago.

Swagbucks is an alternative to Googling, but the results are powered by Google. More importantly, you win Swagbucks by searching. You win Swagbucks just for doing something you already were doing anyway – searching the internet.

They start you off with free Swagbucks and then you WIN Swagbucks when you search online. After only a few searches the first day, I had already accumulated many Swagbucks. After a couple of weeks, I had earned enough to redeem! Yeah. The best part – you can turn them in for gift cards (or other items).

The way I look at it, this is FREE money they are giving me for choosing to “SwagBuck” something instead of “Google”.

A Few of my Favorites:
$5 e-gift card to Amazon.com
$10 e-gift card to Barnes N Noble
$10 gift card to Starbucks
$50 e-gift card to Southwest Airlines
$5 PayPal (yes, cash)

Other gift cards available: Target, Disney.com, Lowe’s, Ticketmaster, and so many more.
Merchandise available- MP3 singles, books, TV series DVD’s, sports memorabilia and more.

Most of the time I redeem my SwagBucks for amazon gift cards….as amazon has so much, including groceries. But I do have to tell you that we recently started redeeming ours for Lowe’s gift cards………and we bought all our supplies for a major home improvement project we just finished in December……all FREE (just for searching the internet).

Everytime I need to search on the internet, I just go to the SwagBucks home page……others have the option to download a toolbar on their computer. I find it easier to just go to their homepage. If you are online often, like me, you’ll earn quickly.

Make sure you get your spouse or significant other to sign up too! Another perk is that you can earn SwagBucks for referring your friends too or even recycling your old cellphone.

They often publish free SwagBucks codes on their blog and other places.

Each Friday is also Mega SwagBuck day and they are giving away extra large SwagBucks denominations, so do a few random searches for things on Fridays. Go there and search for fun activities for the weekend, the weather forecast, or even A Frugal Friend.

To sign up, click on the link below and start earning gift cards for something you already do:

SWAGBUCKS SIGN-UP: Click Here

Enjoy!

I get many emails asking about the checks I receive from survey companies each month. Yes, I take surveys, but only from reputable companies. I’m Type A and quite conservative, so I really do my research before I even sign up. Most survey companies I have used are absolutely wonderful to work with……but there have been one or two that I have never mentioned on A Frugal Friend…..and won’t.

Survey companies are a way you can earn a bit of cash or merchandise on your own time and when the kids are fast asleep. You decide how much time you want to spend doing it. You don’t have to accept every opportunity that comes your way…..in fact, you can ignore them. I love that. I didn’t have anything to do with surveys for the last 6 weeks that we were fighting ear infections and stomach bugs in our house. No problem….you can do that.

Last month, I spotlighted the survey company, Ipsos i-Say.

This month I’m highlighting Opinion Outpost, which I’ve been using for about 2 years.

Earning Points:

For completing a survey, you will earn points. The amount of points available for you to earn differs with each survey, but I’ve seen a wide variety of points offered per survey. At Opinion Outpost, you only need 50 points to start redeeming. 10 points equals $1.00.

Redeeming Points:

You can redeem your reward points with Opinion Outpost in one of two ways:

Amazon Gift Card codes – you can redeem reward points for Amazon Gift Card codes. Just 50 points will get you a $5 Gift Card code that you can use at amazon.com! It’s emailed to you instantly!

Cash – you can redeem reward points for cash, issued as a check. Just 50 points will get you $5.00 cash! It doesn’t take long at all to earn that.

Opportunities:

Survey opportunities are emailed to you. It’s best to open them as soon as possible, so they don’t fill up. What I’ve noticed with Opinion Outpost is that I always seem to have survey opportunities (more than most). Today I received a survey opportunity by email, and when I logged in, I had 9 opportunities waiting for me.

Preliminary questions – when you open up the survey link, they might ask you a few preliminary questions to see if you qualify. Don’t give up – remember, surveys fill up quickly at times. They are looking for a certain demographic with each survey. Some are obviously looking for parents of children, some look for persons who consume or purchase certain items. If you don’t qualify, you’ll know pretty quick. Just wait for the next opportunity…..it likely won’t be long. With Opinion Outpost, they always seem to ask questions that don’t have anything to do with the survey at first……I’m sure they are trying to find out if you fit with other survey opporunities they have for you.

Advantages:

1. I do get many survey opportunities from them each week
2. Get points for Referring Friends
3. CASH – they’ll send checks (I’ve received them)
4. Amazon Gift Codes are sent instantly via email….you can redeem right away and get your reward!
5. Only have to attempt to take 1 survey every 3 months to remain active

Note: 1 account per household and for US or Canada residents.

Let me know if you have any questions at all about Opinion Outpost! Enjoy!

I’ve been sick the past couple of weeks…….and sometimes I find myself on the computer, but really don’t have the energy to do what I need to do.  So, I’ve been having fun taking more surveys than I normally do.  I like to pick the ones that pay me in cash, so I was happy to see several from Ipsos Survey Panel in my inbox.  If you like to earn a few extra dollars, taking surveys is one of my favorite ways.  There are some bad sites out there (they know who they are), but I’ve been using Ipsos for almost 2 years now (and get PAID)!

Ipsos Survey Panel:

***NEW*** Most rewards are either CASH or American Express Gift Card. I noticed that change this January, which really made me pay attention to their particular surveys in my inbox (versus other companies).

Partial points are awarded if you don’t qualify for a survey. Many times a survey has either already filled up or I am just not who they are looking for. Ipsos i-Say is one of the only survey companies that I’ve seen do this. Because of this, I always open their surveys and try to qualify.  Just tonight, I didn’t qualify for a survey, yet received 10 points just for trying. 

Redeeming Points:
You can redeem your reward points with Ipsos i-Say in one of a few ways:

Gift cards – you can redeem reward points for American Express Gift Cards. Just 500 points will get you a $5 Gift Card!

Cash – you can redeem reward points for cash, issued as a check. Just 1000 points will get you $10.00 cash! It doesn’t take long at all to earn that.

There’s also an opportunity to donate reward points to charity and an option to redeem for amazon gift cards.

Opportunities:

Survey opportunities are emailed to you. It’s best to open them as soon as possible, so they don’t fill up. Not only do you have the opporunity to earn rewards by taking interesting surveys, but you might also have the opportunity to try new products. You always have to promise confidentiality (that’s why I can’t tell you exactly what projects I’ve been involved with). That’s important not only to Ipsos i-say, but to the companies wanting the research done as well. 

Preliminary questions – when you open up the survey link, they might ask you a few preliminary questions to see if you qualify. Don’t give up – remember, surveys fill up quickly at times. They are looking for a certain demographic with each survey. Some are obviously looking for parents of children, some look for persons who consume or purchase certain items. If you don’t qualify, you’ll know pretty quick. Just wait for the next opportunity…..it likely won’t be long. The best part, is that with Ipsos i-Say, you’ll earn 1 point even if you don’t qualify.

Poll Predictor - After you have completed a survey, you will be given the opportunity to play the Poll Predictor Game. You can opt out if you don’t want to play – it’s no big deal. You are asked a question and have to guess what percentage of the population it applies to. You get so many Poll Predictor points based on your answer and you can spend those points on chances to win things like Home Depot gift cards. I never count on winning, but I like to see if I can guess correctly. It’s just fun.

Advantages:

1. Earning points even if you don’t qualify for survey

2. I do get many survey opportunities from them each week

3. The opportunity to earn reward points for trying new products

4.  US and Canada

5. CASH

It’s super easy to join the  Ipsos Survey Panel!  This is a good one to start out with.  For more ways to earn a bit of extra money, click on the “Earning Extra $$$” tab on the Navigation Bar at the top of my blog!

Email me with any questions you have!

You ought to know by now that there are some things in life that are FREE, unlike the popular saying. Thanks to my using SwagBucks instead of Google to search the internet, I’ve received FREE magazines, Free Amazon, Macy’s, and Starbucks Gift Cards, but my personal favorite….LOWE’S GIFT CARDS!

If you’ve been neglecting to use SwagBucks as your search engine (remember, it’s powered by Google), be sure to use it this week. It’s a HUGE week to kick off the Summer of Swag!

• Monday (JUNE 7th) is a Swag Code Extravaganza – they are releasing at least 5 Swag Codes throughout the day – that means FREE SwagBucks for you and me.
• Monday (they’ll be awarding many 25 SwagBuck amounts)  Every 7th searching win on Swagbucks will be awarded that big bill.  Every day will be a different high value.  This is HUGE!

New to SwagBucks?

What in the world is this SwagBucks thing everybody is talking about?
That’s what I kept saying too, now it’s my absolute favorite thing. I had heard about it for months, but kept putting it off. Finally I started looking into it and signed up over a year ago.

Swagbucks is an alternative to Googling, but the results are powered by Google. More importantly, you win Swagbucks by searching. You win Swagbucks just for doing something you already were doing anyway – searching the internet.

They start you off with free Swagbucks (extra right now for A Frugal Friend readers) and then you WIN Swagbucks when you search online. After only a few searches the first day, I had already accumulated many Swagbucks. After a couple of weeks, I had earned enough to redeem! Yeah. The best part – you can turn them in for gift cards (or other items).

The way I look at it, this is FREE money they are giving me for choosing to “SwagBuck” something instead of “Google”.

A Few of my Favorites:
$5 e-gift card to Amazon.com
$10 e-gift card to Barnes N Noble
$10 gift card to Starbucks
$50 e-gift card to Southwest Airlines
$5 PayPal (yes, cash)

Other gift cards available:  Disney.com, Lowe’s, Ticketmaster, and so many more.
Merchandise available- MP3 singles, books, TV series DVD’s, sports memorabilia and more.

Most of the time I redeem my SwagBucks for amazon gift cards….as amazon has so much, including groceries. But I do have to tell you that we recently started redeeming ours for Lowe’s gift cards………and we bought all our supplies for a major home improvement project we just finished in December……all FREE (just for searching the internet).

Everytime I need to search on the internet, I just go to the SwagBucks home page……others have the option to download a toolbar on their computer. I find it easier to just go to their homepage. If you are online often, like me, you’ll earn quickly.

Make sure you get your spouse or significant other to sign up too! Another perk is that you can earn SwagBucks for referring your friends too or even recycling your old cellphone.

They often publish free SwagBucks codes on their blog and other places.

Each Friday is also Mega SwagBuck dayand they are giving away extra large SwagBucks denominations, so do a few random searches for things on Fridays. Go there and search for fun activities for the weekend, the weather forecast, or even A Frugal Friend.

To sign up, click on the link below and start earning gift cards for something you already do:

SwagBucks sign up – click here

Use code SUMMEROFSWAG when you sign up for an extra 20 Swag Bucks free.

(NOTE: This code expires June 11th at midnight)

Most of my “Christmas cash” this year was due in large part to what I’ve done throughout the year. What do I mean by that? There are just so many different things you can do to earn a bit of extra money (cash) here and there. While I do enjoy surveys, I haven’t done as many the last few months because I just haven’t had the extra time. But there’s one program that I consistently use each and every week that does not take a lot of time….YOU DATA!

I started with YOU DATA in the beginning of 2009, and actually opened my first PayPal account so I could receive payments each and every Friday….cash!

START NOW FOR NEXT CHRISTMAS – If you spend as little as 2-3 minutes per week over the next year, and ignore the money accumulating in a PayPal account (like I have), you can have “Christmas cash” for next year. Cash that you can either transfer to your checking account or use to buy items online.

The concept is simple…..Advertisers will pay you to view text ads (and visit the homepage of their website). What I love about YouData is that you can fill out a profile about yourself and give as little information as you want……that you are a mom in TX, for example. Hardly any information is required. Log into your YouData account whenever you want and they will tell you if advertisers are willing to pay you to look at a text ad….this includes companies you’d recognize, small companies and organizations too. I have found some great new companies this way too, especially smaller boutiques. They pay you to look at an text ad – doesn’t take but a minute or so. You earn cash. CASH.

Every Friday, YouData deposits the money in your PayPal account for your activity that week. Safe and consistent. Every Friday. They won’t send you emails or reminders….you just visit them whenever you want. I like that. I try to remind everyone to visit YouData each Friday before “paytime”, because they won’t email you.

How do you Get Started?

SIGN UP: YouData sign-up – click here

CELLPHONE: You’ll need a cell phone number (only for sign-up). They do this in order to make sure you are a live person and aren’t trying to set up multiple accounts. They will text you an activation code…..and that’s it. I’ve never received anything else from them.

PAYPAL account: You’ll need to open a PayPal account if you don’t already have one. You Data was the reason I opened my account, and it’s already come in handy. Many popular retailers like Robeez and others let you order online and pay using PayPal. I love PayPal because I can transfer the money easily into my checking account.

MeFile: Fill out your MeFile (profile) and tell them as much or as little about you as you are comfortable with….what kind of music you like, etc. This will help them get the right ads to you. They don’t want to offer you children’s clothing ads to watch if you have no children.

Sign up your Spouse: You can have 2 active accounts per household….you’ll need separate email addresses and cellphone numbers though so they know you aren’t trying to double dip.

Visit once a week: Remember, what I love most about YouData is that you won’t get emails from them reminding you to visit. If you don’t visit and log-in, you won’t get any $$$, it’s as simple as that. I try to visit each Thursday (right before they send out payments for the week). It takes me no more than 2-3 minutes to view my weekly text ads. Some weeks there may be no ads for your particular demographic….they may be targeting women or men of a certain age that week. There have been weeks where I’ve earned up to $6.00 and some where I earned 20 cents, but little by little you’ll save up that money. Just forget it’s there in your PayPal account til next year!

PAYDAY: Every Friday, usually in the afternoons for me, you’ll receive a notification from PayPal that YouData has sent money to your account for your activity that week.

YouData sign-up – click here

Enjoy!

I get many emails asking about the checks I receive from survey companies each month. Yes, I take surveys, but only from reputable companies. I’m Type A and quite conservative, so I really do my research before I even sign up. Most survey companies I have used are absolutely wonderful to work with……but there have been one or two that I have never mentioned on A Frugal Friend…..and won’t.

Survey companies are a way you can earn a bit of cash or merchandise on your own time and when the kids are fast asleep. You decide how much time you want to spend doing it. You don’t have to accept every opportunity that comes your way…..in fact, you can ignore them. I love that. I didn’t have anything to do with surveys for the last 6 weeks that we were fighting ear infections and stomach bugs in our house. No problem….you can do that.

The last few times I spotlighted the survey companies , Ipsos i-Say and Opinion Outpost.

This time I’m highlighting Toluna, formerly Your2Cents, one that I’ve been signed up with for almost 2 years.

Earning Points:

When you sign up you will receive sign up points automatically. For completing a survey (or participating in sponsored polls), you will earn additional points. The amount of points available for you to earn differs with each survey, but I’ve seen a wide variety of points offered per survey.

Sponsored Polls – this is one of my favorite ways to earn points.  Just log-in and answer some fun polls…..some are multiple choice and some you get to write your opinion.  It’s fun!

Redeeming Points:

You can redeem your reward points with Toluna in one of three ways:

Cash – you can redeem reward points for cash and they’ll mail you a check.

PayPal – you can redeem reward points for
cash deposited in your PayPal account. It doesn’t take long at all to earn that.

Gift Vouchers - This takes a bit more points to redeem for, but I actually prefer the check or PayPal method myself.

Minimum payout is $20 either by Cash or PayPal.  I just today looked in my account and have enough points to have a check issued.  YEAH!

Opportunities:

Survey opportunities are emailed to you. It’s best to open them as soon as possible, so they don’t fill up.

Advantages:

1. CASH – they’ll send checks (I’ve received them)
2. On sign-up you don’t have to divulge everything (I personally like that you can check,”Prefer not to say”….note however that you may be limited with surveys based on needed demographics.

Click on the banner above to visit Toluna and check it out!

I get many emails asking about the checks I receive from survey companies each month. Yes, I take surveys, but only from reputable companies. I’m Type A and quite conservative, so I really do my research before I even sign up. Most survey companies I have used are absolutely wonderful to work with……but there have been one or two that I have never mentioned on A Frugal Friend…..and won’t.

Survey companies are a way you can earn a bit of cash or merchandise on your own time and when the kids are fast asleep. You decide how much time you want to spend doing it. You don’t have to accept every opportunity that comes your way…..in fact, you can ignore them. I love that. I didn’t have anything to do with surveys for the last 6 weeks that we were fighting ear infections and stomach bugs in our house. No problem….you can do that.

Last month, I spotlighted the survey company, Ipsos i-Say.

This month I’m highlighting Opinion Outpost.

Earning Points:

For completing a survey, you will earn points. The amount of points available for you to earn differs with each survey, but I’ve seen a wide variety of points offered per survey. At Opinion Outpost, you only need 50 points to start redeeming.  10 points equals $1.00.

Redeeming Points:

You can redeem your reward points with Opinion Outpost in one of two ways:

Amazon Gift Card codes – you can redeem reward points for Amazon Gift Card codes. Just 50 points will get you a $5 Gift Card code that you can use at amazon.com!  It’s emailed to you instantly!

Cash – you can redeem reward points for cash, issued as a check. Just 50 points will get you $5.00 cash! It doesn’t take long at all to earn that.

Opportunities:

Survey opportunities are emailed to you. It’s best to open them as soon as possible, so they don’t fill up. What I’ve noticed with Opinion Outpost is that I always seem to have survey opportunities (more than most).  Today I received a survey opportunity by email, and when I logged in, I had 9 opportunities waiting for me. 

Preliminary questions – when you open up the survey link, they might ask you a few preliminary questions to see if you qualify. Don’t give up – remember, surveys fill up quickly at times. They are looking for a certain demographic with each survey. Some are obviously looking for parents of children, some look for persons who consume or purchase certain items. If you don’t qualify, you’ll know pretty quick. Just wait for the next opportunity…..it likely won’t be long. With Opinion Outpost, they always seem to ask questions that don’t have anything to do with the survey at first……I’m sure they are trying to find out if you fit with other survey opporunities they have for you.

Advantages:

1. I do get many survey opportunities from them each week
2. Get points for Referring Friends
3. CASH – they’ll send checks (I’ve received them)
4. Amazon Gift Codes are sent instantly via email….you can redeem right away and get your reward!
5. Only have to attempt to take 1 survey every 3 months to remain active

Note: 1 account per household and for US or Canada residents.

Let me know if you have any questions at all about Opinion Outpost! Enjoy!

I just received another check in the mail today….from one of my affiliate programs. Yes, they pay by check (cash), which I love.

If you are a blogger and are just starting out, you may not have even realized that you can earn a bit of extra money through what’s called an affiliate program. I’m an affiliate for many different programs, and it has provided income for my family, and helped me continue this blog.

So, today I received a check from one of my favorites: My Savings Media

With any affiliate program, you will have to provide your personal information. The first question I get asked is WHY? You will be working with them. You will be earning income from them. They must report this to the IRS. So, if you want to earn money on your blog through reputable affiliate programs, you will have to provide either your Social Security number or a Tax ID Number. The first time I did it, I was nervous, but I’ve never run into a problem. I receive checks in the mail routinely from all programs, and just this past month I’ve started getting those tax forms.

Look around my blog, you’ll see promotions from various companies or deals. Many, but not all, are from affiliate programs. I’ve been featuring several of the programs over the last couple of weeks….there’s no reason not to help out other bloggers who may be just starting out. Any extra money is helpful! Here’s another:

MySavings Media – Promote brand name coupons and free product samples on your web site or blog.

Click Here

Other Reputable Affiliate Programs I use:
Escalate Media
Logical Media