My top 10 survey websites & ways to make money from home

I thought I would make a big list of my favorite survey and other websites where I have made money from home. *work in progress

This is a list of the ways I have made money online in the past 3 years. I know that they are not scams because they have actually paid me:

1. ChaCha Earn money finding the answers to customers questions at home from your computer. No set hours, just log in when you want to answer questions. I have earned the most money answering questions for ChaCha, probably about $3000 in the last 3 years.
2. Toluna Earn points for taking surveys, testing products and voting on polls. Trade in points for cash or other rewards. 60,000 points gets you $20. They have actually paid me $20 & another $20 is on it's way in the mail. I also have 28,000 points. I think it will be easy to make $20 every month with Toluna.
3. SurveySavvy Earn money for taking surveys and testing products. This is one survey panel that I joined 3 years ago. I was paid $1 back then. You can refer friends and get matching rewards.

This list is the survey panels or other things that I am currently trying but have not actually gotten paid from yet:

1. Mindfield Online I've heard that they send out a lot of products to test and high paying surveys. You can cashout when you have $5. I have $7 pending approval with them. They pay with either a check or Paypal.
2. Instant Cash Sweepstakes Take easy 3 question surveys and win cash, sweepstakes tickets, and coins that can buy more tickets in the sweepstakes. Earn matching prizes from referrals. They will pay you via Paypal once you have $2. I have $1.53 so far.
3. Cash Crate Make money by completing offers and taking surveys. They give you $1 just for joining & you can cash out at $20. Some of my offers are pending, once they are credited I will have $20 and will get paid.
4. Swag Bucks Earn Swag Bucks for searching the web, taking surveys, shopping in their Shop & Earn Mall, voting in polls, sending in prize photos & videos, watching videos, inviting friends to join, completing special offers, finding swag codes, & trading in cell phones & video games. You get 30 Swag Bucks just for joining!
5. Surveyhead  Earn money for taking surveys. You get a $5 bonus for signing up & you can cash out when you have $10. I will soon get paid because I have $10 pending.

Last updated on 11/27/2010 at 1:22am

Survey Savvy

Dear friend,

I have enjoyed being a member of the SurveySavvy.com community and thought you might find it fun as well.

As a member, you can make a difference by participating in online surveys, focus groups, as well as other interactive studies.

SurveySavvy is unique from other online panels because of its patented referral program that gives you incentives for every survey your referrals complete and additional incentives for every survey their referrals complete. This represents growth to your account balance regardless of whether or not you actually complete any surveys!

To sign up, click on the following link: https://www.surveysavvy.com/ss/ss_index.php?id=3696282&d=c&action=join&lid=en-us

If that doesn't work, copy and paste the link into your browser.

Take Care,
 Jennifer

MindField Online

You've probably noticed that I've been trying out a lot of survey panels. One of them is MindField. I have heard that they send out a lot of products to test & high paying surveys but I have not received any yet. I will be updating on all of my survey panels & letting you know if they actually ever pay me. Want to try out MindField with me? Go to http://mindfieldonline.com/referral/462c3acb

Thanks for the free tacos Jack in the Box!

Jack in the Box had free tacos yesterday. They were giving 2 free tacos to anyone who came in after 2 pm. I took the kids in and we got 8 free tacos (we got 2 for the baby even though she can't eat tacos yet!) We didn't even need a coupon and there was no charge for tax or the 4 waters we also ordered. The tacos were pretty good but the kids did not like the hot sauce on them. We heard about it by watching a funny Jack in the Box commercial on Youtube. You can see it here.

Print Coupons with Swag Bucks!

Mandi has talked me into joining Swag Bucks. I was going to wait until they gave out a code for new users that would give me extra points, but I didn't want to wait anymore. I was losing out on all the Swag Codes they were giving out just to earn maybe an extra 20 Swag Bucks. So far I think it is great. I search the internet a lot anyway so why not earn Swag Bucks at the same time.

You can earn Swag Bucks for searching the web, taking surveys, shopping in their Shop & Earn Mall, voting in polls, sending in prize photos & videos, watching videos, inviting friends to join, completing special offers, finding swag codes, trading in cell phones and video games.

They have a lot of great prizes that you can trade in your swag bucks for. I am going to try to get an Amazon.com gift card.

There is also one REALLY cool thing about Swag Bucks: I can print coupons from Swag Bucks and each time I use one in the grocery store I earn 10 Swag Bucks. I was already printing and using them anyway! So it's awesome that I will be getting even more out of my coupons.

If you want to try Swag Bucks too & earn 30 Swag Bucks just for joining go here: http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/surveymama2010

Pay Day!

Yay! I got a check yesterday from Toluna. I also have 55,000 points in my account so as soon as I get 5000 more points I can request another check. I love Toluna! I really like how they always have surveys available for me to take. They are my definitely my favorite survey panel so far.

Toluna is the only one I can recommend right now and say you will definitely get paid, because they are the only ones who have ever paid me (yet). I will let you know when/if any of the other survey panels that I am trying out ever pay me. 

I didn't realize until today that I could earn 500 points by recommending Toluna to my friends. If you want to help me earn 17 cents let me know & I will send you an email invite!

Walgreens is a customer focused retailer? Yeah right!

To whom it may concern,
    I had a very negative experience yesterday at your Walgreens located at _______. I was in your store around 8:00 pm with my 3 children. This was my first time ever going inside that store. While shopping for other items, I noticed that they had Purina One dog & cat food for sale for $.99. I happened to have on me 4 coupons for $2.00 off any one Purina. When I checked out the coupons made the register beep & would not take all 4 coupons. I told her that at the other Walgreens I had been to adjust down the price of the coupon, if it is more than the price of the item, to match the price. She must have been a little new because she had to get her manager and this is where things went ugly.
    The manager’s name was ________, he was an older man with gray hair. When he checked the transaction he said that they would not take the coupons for those items because the coupons were for more than the price of the Purina. He was very rude to me. I told him that when I have been to other Walgreens stores & they adjust down the price of the coupon to match the price of the item he said that “they shouldn’t be doing that because it is wrong” and that he would definitely not adjust the coupons down because it would be coupon fraud. I asked him if he would call the person over him to check this he said “well he’s at home.” I asked him to please call him and he responded with “With the day he’s had, I don’t think so!”  He was very belligerent, saying that he would not call him at home & would not check with anyone to see what the coupon policy was and he was definitely not going to take the coupons for the Purina.
    The cashier asked me if I wanted to go ahead and pay for everything & I said no, that I “needed to go shopping in their store some more and think about what I was going to buy.“ The manager than angrily punched the keys into the register to void the transaction & signed a receipt very angrily, glared at me and then walked off with a huff.
    I could tell the cashier thought her manager was being very rude. She was very nice to me throughout the whole thing. I took my cart & put back almost all of the items that I was going to buy & then went to check out with the same cashier again. She said that she talked to one of the other cashiers who said that she heard she was supposed to mark the price of the coupon but since the manager said no she could not do it.
    I have now read your coupon policy on your website and it clearly says that “The coupon amount must be reduced if it exceeds the value of the item after other discounts or coupons are applied. (For example, a $5.00 coupon for a $4.99 item will result in a $4.99 coupon value).”
    I hope you will train that manager on your official policy. That Walgreens is 15 miles away from my house. I am not going to go out of my way, wasting my time and gas to shop there if I can’t use my coupons & I am going to be treated like a criminal.

Update: 

About 45 minutes after I sent this letter to Walgreens I got a phone call from the manager of the store I went to last night. I wasn't expecting them to call me right away. I can't remember all that he said but basically he apologized a lot for the way I was treated & said that they would be having a coupon policy training meeting with not only the rude assistant manager but also all of the employees who work in the store. He said that the coupon policy is new and said the assistant manager should have either adjusted the coupon to the price of the product or raised the price of the product to the amount on the coupon. He hoped I would give them a second chance.

I don't know about that though. I don't want to have another run in with _____. I guess I should have asked him exactly when they will be having their coupon training meeting so I don't go in before then. There's not much chance of that happening any time soon though. I'm perfectly happy with my relationship with the Walgreens down the road. Usually I mess up & have to apologize to the cashier for not knowing what I am doing. That's the way it should be!

You will be happy to know I have now printed a Walgreens coupon policy to carry in my binder just like the Krazy Coupon Lady recommended. I don't think the assistant manager would have looked at it even if I would had it though.

The funny thing is, I don't even have a dog or a cat! I didn't need the Purina. But it was free and I was thinking about how fun it would be for to drop it off to someone who needs it.