"Is it worth it?"
That's the first thing people ask me when inquiring about my money saving techniques. A few cents here... a couple dollars there... Yes, it's worth it! If you stick to it, those small amounts add up before you know it, I promise. And it honestly doesn't take up as much time as many people fear it does. Trust me, I have very little free time. What little bit I do have is usually spent doing important things. You know, like looking for something to watch on Netflix, adding it to my list, and never getting around to watching it. Well, that, and I'm like everyone else in that I tend to get caught up in whatever is going on in that addictive world of social media. Which is dumb, because I'm the most non-social person on the planet. But anyway, my point is, I'm the busiest person I know, and I still find time to do everything I'm about to tell you.
Okay, let's get to it. Click on the names of the apps/sites to learn more about them.
Cash/Passive Saving
Let's start with the basic, easy stuff that you don't have to put much thought into. I know a lot of people don't carry cash with them these days. I rarely do. But when I do have change or small bills like ones or fives, I'll put them in a jug in my closet and forget about them (because out of sight, out of mind) until I'm ready to pay for whatever I've been saving for. Like I said, every penny counts, and those small amounts add up over time. I guess you could always deposit it into a savings account. But if you're like me, it's not worth the hassle. Are you really going to bother taking $5 here and $2 there to the bank? Nah, me, neither.
Another trick to let change add up without really thinking about it is this: Whenever you write down an amount to deduct from your checking account -assuming you're old school like me and still use a register to keep track of your transactions- round the amount up to the next dollar before subtracting it. You'll forget all about that extra change and have quite a bit saved up before you know it. Personally, I can't do this because I'm too anal and have to know the exact amount I have at any given moment. But I know people who do this and it works for them.
If you have the option to have money deducted from your paycheck and directly deposited into a savings account, go for it. Chances are that you won't even notice it's gone. Even if it's just $25 or so, if you're paid bi-weekly, that's $650 a year! Start low with about $10 if you're hesitant, and increase it later if you find that you don't miss it.
Sell Some Stuff
My first adventure into making some spare change was via eBay. This was circa 2009. At the time, I was in need of some extra cash for a trip I had planned. I was living paycheck to paycheck (as I basically still am) and had nothing at all to spare. I had a couple of yard sales, which can be a great way to quickly make a little money, but it's kind of hit or miss. But I had a bunch of stuff left over and decided on a whim to put it all on eBay. I had no idea what I was doing, but I educated myself and I've made the bulk of my extra money that way. I mostly sell my kids' outgrown clothing, but I've found that people will buy the most random things, like a vacuum filter. You never know what people are looking for, so list anything that's in decent shape and you'd like to get rid of. If you're a newbie and need some advice on how to get started, let me know!
Credit Card Rewards
I think one of the easiest, yet most overlooked, way to passively earn money is by taking advantage of credit card reward programs. I prefer the ones that give you cash back; specifically the ones that offer 2%+ back. To get the most bang for my buck, I charge everything that I buy (even the tiniest charges like $2) to one card and pay it off every pay day. This way I don't have to worry about due dates, carrying cash, interest charges, or overdrawing my checking account. But to pull this off, you have to be strict about paying the entire balance every pay period, or at least by the due date every month, or else those interest charges will add up fast! That would completely defeat the purpose. I try to not pay attention to how much cash back is accumulating, because if I knew I had $200 waiting on me, I'd be tempted to use it on every day charges. If that's what you want to spend it on, then great. I just prefer to use mine on things that I consider extra expenses. For example, I allow the savings to add up until my next vacation, and use it to pay for whatever I bought during the trip, like food. If you travel frequently, a hotel rewards card is probably a great idea. Most of them give you at least 1 free night yearly and you can redeem points for free/reduced fee nights. As I mentioned earlier, my friend whom I usually travel with (the same one who introduced me to many of these techniques), uses her hotel rewards credit cards to get us free stays almost every time we go somewhere. Plus, we redeem our e-Rewards for IHG points. More on that below.
My favorite credit card is the Citi Double Cash card. It rewards you with 2% cash back on all purchases: 1% on what you purchase, and 1% on what you pay back. I also like the American Express Blue Cash Everyday, which you can apply for with this link. You'll get 1% to 3% cash back on purchases, depending on the category of the purchase.
One little extra hint regarding credit cards: Add authorized users to your account to help your rewards accumulate faster. Of course, you should only do this for people whose charges you'd normally be paying for yourself anyway, and trust to not go crazy with the spending power, such as a significant other or children. The American Express card that I mentioned will allow you to add your child as an authorized user at the age of 13. But authorized users for the Citi Double Cash card must be 18, I believe. At least, when I added my oldest son that was the minimum age. One important point to note: If your credit isn't so fantastic, you should probably not add an authorized user. You don't want to impact someone else's score negatively.
Online Coupons/Money Back Sites
You'd be surprised how much you can save when using these apps. All of these are simple to use. Trust me, if they weren't, I wouldn't use them.
Ibotta Choose your offers, (basically like online coupons that you redeem after your shopping trip), and either take a photo of the receipt or scan the QR code to redeem. Cash out after reaching $20. New offers added weekly.
Coupons.com app Just like it says, coupons in an app (you can print coupons via the app as well if you wish). You'll take a photo of your receipt to get cash deposited into your PayPal account. Just make sure you "clip" your coupons prior to your shopping trip or you won't be able to redeem them. I found that out the hard way.
Receipt Hog Take a photo of receipts from retailers such as supermarkets, dollar stores, drug stores or convenience stores to earn coins that may be redeemed for cash or gift cards.
Shopkick Earn "kicks" just for walking into many stores. Then, scan a few selected items with your phone while you're shopping, earn more kicks, and redeem for gift cards. Easy peasy. You can also earn kicks for buying selected items and submitting (taking a photo of) your receipt.
Fetch Rewards This is the easiest way to earn points that can be redeemed for gift cards. You're rewarded for simply taking a photo of your receipt within the app. Points are given based on items you've purchased from participating brands. I don't buy many name brand grocery items, but I still rack up points every grocery trip I make. Enter my referral code during signup and you'll get 2,000 Fetch Points ($2.00 in points!) when you complete one receipt: T3PHN
Receipt Pal Just like Fetch Rewards, it's super easy because all you have to do is take photos of your receipts, up to 12 per week (you can submit more to earn chances at winning a gift card). Redeem for gift cards.
Money Making Sites/Surveys
So, as I was saying, I don't really have much extra time on my hands. And I definitely don't want to be spending that little bit of free time glued to a computer or phone doing surveys or whatever to earn a few cents here and there. I'd rather be sucked into an Instagram black hole or something that's a total waste of time. But yes, I actually do surveys and "watch" videos and such. Though, I never sit down and do them for hours at a time. I may start a video playlist on Swagbucks or Inbox Dollars and let them run while I'm preparing dinner or cleaning, clicking on the next set of videos now and then as I walk by if necessary. Surveys are more time consuming. But I've been known to go through as many as possible while I'm waiting on my kid to finish up band practice, or while I watch a movie that's not exactly captivating, or waiting 17 minutes for pizza to bake.
I'll list my favorite sites below, along with a quick description. If you have any specific questions about any of them, I'll be glad to help you out. If you prefer to redeem points for cash back, as I do, you'll need a PayPal account for most of them. I like that they pay you via PayPal, because it's another way that I can kind of forget about it until it's needed. Then I transfer it to my checking account. One very important thing to remember when signing up for any of these programs in which money is redeemed to PayPal: Make sure you use the same email that's associated with your PayPal account.
And one last tidbit of advice for anyone who is hesitant about giving your email account to these companies when you sign up: don't be hesitant. I've used my "real" email account for every one of them, and I don't receive any spam at all, just legit notifications regarding my account activity. That being said, if you are required to enter an email for any of the surveys or offers within the site, you may want to set up a new email account specifically for that purpose. You will get spam from those.
Swagbucks has the best cash back offers for online purchases. But you can also do surveys and sign up for offers for "swagbucks" that you can redeem for cash or gift cards.
Paid ViewPoint is by far the easiest in that there are usually only 10 or 11 questions to answer per survey, so they're really quick to complete. Plus, there are no qualifying question to answer. But you'll only get 1 to 3 surveys per day on average. Most surveys pay 10 cents each, but the more you answer, the more higher paying surveys you'll get.
Branded Surveys This has definitely been the best site for me as far as qualifying for surveys. I can easily make $10 per week.
Inbox Dollars I kind of have a love-hate relationship with this one, because the minimum amount to cash out is $30. I think that's a little high based on the length of time it takes to earn that much. It's very similar to Swagbucks.
Quick Thoughts This app at least pays 10 cents if don't qualify for a survey. That's more than most apps pay for disqualifications. Most don't pay anything. And those that do, only give the equivalent of 1 to 5 cents, or nothing, as consolation. So this is a pretty good deal. You may only complete 5 surveys per day. Redeem for gift card codes.
Op4G (Opinions For Good) This is a charitable survey site that allows you to choose how much of your earnings you contribute to the charity, in 25% increments. That may seem like a bit of a ripoff, but the payouts for surveys are good. Most are at least $2, and you'll usually get a 25 cent consolation reward if don't qualify for the survey after answering a few demographical questions. I contribute a portion of my earnings to Children's Craniofacial Association, an organization near and dear to my heart because of the condition my daughter was born with. If you use this link to join, it will automatically set this as your charity, too. But it can easily be changed to a charity of your choosing.
e-Rewards: You must be invited by a brand to join this program. I have no idea how I was invited. But from what I've seen, if you sign up for certain rewards programs, such as airlines, hotels, car rentals and the sort, you may receive an invitation. In the event that you ever receive one, I highly recommend e-Rewards. There's not a cash back option for the points you accumulate with e-Rewards, though. You'll mostly benefit from this one if you use points for travel expenses such as hotel, flights, and car rentals. Some brands have limitations as to how often you may redeem points for rewards, but not all of them.
I guess that pretty much sums it up. There's actually a lot more I'd like to talk about, but I don't want to be too long winded. I'll definitely add some more tips (other than apps and websites) in a future post.
Please note that there may be more ways to redeem your rewards/cash back than those I mentioned. I'm just letting you know how I do it! And remember, you're not going to make enough money from these methods to quit your day job or anything. But they're excellent sources to supplement your income a little, depending on how committed you are. It's basically what you make of it, ya know? If you have any tricks/hints/secrets/favorite apps please please please tell me all about it!
No comments:
Post a Comment