Sunday, May 23, 2010

Survey Companies?

Lately, hubby and I have been thrown a few unexpected expenses. We have an emergency account set up just for times like these but, it still feels like a kick in the pants when I'm trying to pay off debt and pay back my emergency account at the same time. Let's just say my plan to have a major debt of ours paid off by February has been moved back a little. But, I'd rather be safe with the new tires on my car than have to drive 250 miles hydroplaning and having to take side streets through Dallas like I did last week!

Anyway, back when I first started staying home with C I was looking for ways to make a little extra money from home. I would see all of these "Take my survey online and earn cash" ads and I was always really skeptical. I need some extra money but, I don't need a computer virus or some crazy guy calling my cell phone. So, I did some research and read a lot of blogs and I decided to sign up with a few of them.

A year and half later the one I like the most is Opinion Outpost. The surveys aren't unbelievably long and you usually qualify for most of them. They operate on a points scale, every 10 points is $1 and they pay out an actual check after $5. I usually wait until I hit about $25-$30 before I request a check. I've gotten 3 checks from them and then I stopped doing the surveys for a while. They still emailed me opportunities and today I went back over there. I discovered that I still had $15 unclaimed and still had survey opportunities so, I did some! It's a pretty cool deal, if you have time during nap times or in the evenings to just sit down and take a few surveys.

They also have a refer a friend program. For each friend you refer that starts doing surveys you get an additional 20 pts or $2. If you're interested in signing up for Opinion Outpost please follow my refer a friend link http://OpinionOutpost.com/join/7213674 I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Another program I just came across is Cashcrate. I just signed up with them yesterday so, I'll let you know how it goes. So far, I don't like them as much as Opinion Outpost.

Some tips with survey companies:
1. Make sure they're legit. A lot of times you can google the name of the company and scam and you can find out.
2. Check peoples' blog posts and discussion boards for companies they recommend.
3. Some companies will pay you to sign up for credit reports, credit cards, and other things... a lot of times credit reporting agencies will charge you money after a trial period, you also probably don't need another credit card! It's my policy to not sign up with any product or company that wants my credit information.
4. Don't sign up for anything you don't feel comfortable with.

3 comments:

  1. Hi Christine...thank you for this post, I too have been a little leary about this, but after your opinion, perhaps I'll give it a try!

    Blessings Monica @ Organized Chaos!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks so much for this post! I've been wondering about survey companies for a while, but have never known where to start. Also, you were one of my choices for the Versatile Blogger Award:
    http://crazyworldamazinglife.blogspot.com/2010/05/i-got-what.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. I already use them and I love them! It is so so so sooooo easy to make money through them unlike all the other survey companies that require you to get points that will add up for this or that. Such a great company!

    ReplyDelete