One of my favorite ways of scraping up a little extra spending money is taking surveys. I don’t do it as much as I used it – just don’t have time! – but if you’re looking to earn a few extra dollars, it’s definitely a great way to do that!
My favorite survey site is MySurvey – I’ve done surveys for them for probably 4-5 years, and love working for them! Each survey earns points, and when you get up to 1,000 points you can them cash them out for a $10 check, or keep saving them up to buy merchandise. (The best value for point conversions is usually just to get cash, though.)
The thing I like best about MySurvey is that every survey you take earns points. Some earn 10, some earn 100, and every once in awhile you’ll qualify for a survey that earns a couple hundred! Depending on the demographics of your household, you may receive a lot of surveys and you may receive just a few.
It’s definitely not a get-rich-quick scheme, but if you enjoy completing surveys, it’s a fun, legitimate way to earn a few extra dollars.
Here’s a couple of other ways to earn some extra cash. I typically try out sites like this before I post about them, but I haven’t had a chance to try these out myself yet. They’re both time-sensitive and I thought I’d mention them before time ran out!
- Write 10 reviews for ViewPoints and earn a $10 Amazon gift card – via Money Saving Mom
- Answer surveys about Super Bowl commercials and earn cash – via Mommy Snacks
- Product testing opportunities from Johnson and Johnson – via Money Saving Mom
Pinecone Research is another good survey company – they pay about $3 per survey, but I don’t like the fact that you have to answer quite a few “household” (qualifying) surveys that don’t earn you anything. Registration for Pinecone Research is only open on a limited basis, and I do my best to let you know when it’s open!
Do you do surveys for MySurvey or anyone else? I’ve tried out a lot of different survey companies, but haven’t found any others that offer points/money for every survey (as opposed to a sweepstakes entry), or that were easy to qualify for. I tried taking surveys for one company and I never qualified for the surveys. I liked MySurvey because even if I don’t quality to take the longer survey, at least I’ve earned 10 points or whatever for the 5 minutes it took me to answer the qualifying survey!
I signed up for both MySurvey and Pinecone Research after hearing about them on this site, and I would have to say that I am much more impressed with Pinecone. It probably has a lot to do with our family situation (2 adults working full time, no kids) that affects what is worth it for our family – and what surveys we get offered!
If I think of MySurvey points as a penny each (1000 equals $10), it’s not a good return on my time. I can take a 2-3 minute survey and get only 10 points at times – that’s only $2 an hour or less. I don’t get offered surveys here often, so it took months to get to the $10 I could redeem.
Pinecone Research offers me more surveys and at a max of 20 minutes for $3, I’m making at least $9 an hour, more than minimum wage. I also love getting the money in my PayPal account the very next day! I’ve done less household surveys than actual paying surveys, so they weren’t a turnoff to me.
Overall, surveys aren’t going to make us rich or supplement our income too much, but it’s great too have a small stream coming in for special items we’re saving for. Thanks for the tips, Carrie!
Gosh, that is interesting Denise. I have tried twice to sign up for Pinecone and have never gotten any thing – even a confirmation email from them.
I’ll bet it is the difference in our households that make one work better then the other for us. We have one full time worker, one part time and three kids – so I would say we are a bit different in the demographics. Interesting.
I started doing My Surveys in Oct after you recommended it. I already have 1820 points accumulated. I find that for whatever reason I often qualify for the “additional questions” and more points. So that is nice.
And last month Gain sent me 2 bottles of laundry detergent to try. That was great – free detergent and the survery only took me about 10 or 15 minutes yesterday to complete.
I do my survey and like it. I don’t have to spend alot of time on them and it is great for extra christmas money. You do not make alot but I have gotten to try some fun products.
Do you know anything about the “Official Consumer Product Survey of America?” I received a packet in the mail a couple of weeks ago, and it says you can get coupons, etc. in the mail, but I don’t know if this is reputable or just a waste of time and my address.
Thanks for any help you can give!
Don’t know anything about it, but I would probably steer clear unless it’s something you requested.