Archive for the 'Bored Money' Category
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
Here is an updated application link at Pinecone Research, which is again accepting new members. (May expire at any time, so apply now if you’re interested!) Looks open to all, but certain demographics will get more surveys. Only one person per household can sign up.
PineCone Research remains one of the better paying and reliable survey companies, with a payout of $3 (check or PayPal) for each 15-minute online survey. The hardest part is getting accepted, as they only take applications intermittently. I shared my thoughts on Pinecone and paid surveys in general here. I call them Bored Money - not terribly efficient but you can do it at your leisure and occasionally get to try some neat things like new soda flavors or even a new Sonicare toothbrush.
The three survey sites that I have been most active with besides Pinecone are NFO MySurvey, Opinion Outpost, and SurveySavvy. I like it them because they consistently offer me paid survey opportunities, they pay upon request reliably (important!), and they don’t mind if I don’t do every single survey offered.
Posted in Bored Money | 8 Comments »
Monday, August 17th, 2009
PineCone Research has re-opened their membership with an e-mail to current members. They remain one of the better paying and reliable survey companies, with a payout of $3 (check or PayPal) for each 15-20 minute online survey. The hardest part is getting accepted, as they only take applications intermittently.
Here is an updated application link at Pinecone. (Can expire at any time, so apply now if you’re interested!) Looks open to all, but certain demographics will get more surveys. Only one person per household can sign up.
I shared my thoughts on Pinecone and paid surveys in general here. I call them Bored Money - not terribly efficient but you can do it at your leisure and occasionally get to try some neat things like new soda flavors or even a new Sonicare toothbrush.
The three survey sites that I have been most active with besides Pinecone are NFO MySurvey, Opinion Outpost, and SurveySavvy. I like it them because they consistently offer me paid survey opportunities, they pay upon request reliably (important!), and they don’t mind if I don’t do every single survey offered.
Posted in Bored Money | No Comments »
Friday, June 19th, 2009
Well, I just burned a few minutes and grabbed another $25 Amazon.com gift certificate from MyPoints. It’s one of the few surviving “read e-mails for money” websites from the dot-com boom, and is a great example of Bored Money - ways to earn some money on the side that aren’t really high-paying on a per-hour basis, but you can usually do them at your convenience with no commitment or responsibilities.
The Payout
For the most part, you get 5-30 points for visiting websites that pay MyPoints an advertising fee. Many of them come by e-mail (BonusMail), so I would recommend either adding a special filter that automatically moves emails from MyPoints to a separate folder, or using a separate free e-mail for this program. You often get bonus points for signing up for e-mail newsletters or registering as a member, so having a separate e-mail would be best in that regard.
You can also earn points by taking surveys, playing flash games, using specific grocery coupons, using their Search toolbar, shopping through their online mall portal, and other activities. I primarily just stick to the e-mails, and run through them in batches when I’m waiting for some process to run.
As for redemption options, you can swap the points for the usual variety of gift cards - Barnes & Noble, Macy’s, CVS Pharmacy, etc. I usually just stick to Amazon.com since they are the easiest to use. 3,750 points = $25 Amazon.com gift card. Again, you’re not going to get rich doing this, but the points don’t expire as long as you have any activity within 12 months. Like today, I noticed that I was at 3,600 points and picked up another 150 in about 15 minutes so I could cash out.
Posted in Bored Money | 24 Comments »
Monday, June 8th, 2009
PineCone Research remains one of the better paying and reliable survey companies, with a payout of $3 for each 15-20 minute online survey. The hardest part is getting accepted, as they only accept applications intermittently.
Here is an updated application link at Pinecone. (It probably won’t last long.) Looks open to all ages and sexes. Only one person per household can sign up. Thanks to reader Elena for the link.
I shared my thoughts on Pinecone and paid surveys in general here. I call them Bored Money - not terribly efficient but you can do it at your leisure and occassionally get to try some neat things.
The three survey sites that I have been most active with besides Pinecone are NFO MySurvey, e-Rewards, and SurveySavvy. I like it them because they consistently offer me paid survey opportunities, they pay upon request reliably (important!), and they don’t mind if I don’t do every single survey offered.
Posted in Bored Money | 10 Comments »
Friday, May 1st, 2009
Here’s another find for the Bored Money category, which are ways to earn some money on the side that aren’t really high-paying on a per-hour basis, but aren’t bad if you’re just bored.
KGB, short for Knowledge Generation Bureau, is a “text-message-based information service”. You text any question to KGBKGB (542542), and for 99 cents they’ll answer you via text message. I’m not exactly sure why people would use this instead of the free ChaCha service, but perhaps they have better quality standards. Time.com tried it out and shared some unedited questions and answers.
Anyhow, KGB hires people working at home (or slacking at work…) to answer these texts as 1099 independent contractors. You get paid 10 cents for each answer you research yourself, and 5 cents for each “validation” answer where you simply double-check an automated response pulled from their database. You must work a minimum average of 6 hours per week. Reportedly, they are looking for people to fill the late-night shifts.
To apply, you have to pass a Special Agents Challenge test first, which is kind of fun but the main challenge is how fast you can type and use Google (though I guess that’s really the point of the job). I couldn’t pass up a trivia quiz, but didn’t feel like completing the application since 6 hours a week is too much of a commitment for me. This would fit someone who either loves to surf the web anyway, wants some extra cash, and doesn’t mind making probably a bit below minimum wage in exchange for very flexible hours and zero commute.
Posted in Bored Money | 11 Comments »
Friday, April 17th, 2009
Just a quick post to say that PineCone Research is accepting new members again for their paid survey panel. It seemed to die right after I posted it last time. Thanks Jan.
Posted in Bored Money | 6 Comments »
Thursday, April 2nd, 2009
PineCone Research remains one of the better paying and reliable survey companies, with a payout of $3 for each 15-20 minute survey. The hardest part is getting accepted, as they only accept applications intermittently.
Here is an updated application link at Pinecone. (It probably won’t last long.) Looks open to all ages and sexes. Only one person per household can sign up.
I’ve already shared my thoughts on Pinecone and paid surveys in general here. I call them Bored Money - not terribly efficient but you sometimes get to try some neat things.
The three survey sites that I have been most active with besides Pinecone are NFO MySurvey, e-Rewards, and SurveySavvy. I like it them because they consistently offer me paid survey opportunities, they pay upon request reliably (important!), and they don’t seem to mind if I don’t do every single survey offered.
Posted in Bored Money | 9 Comments »
Monday, December 15th, 2008
PineCone Research remains one of the better paying and reliable survey companies, with a payout of $3 for each 15-20 minute survey. The hardest part is getting accepted, as they only accept applications intermittently.
Thanks to readers Tom and Bryce, here is the most recent application link at Pinecone. (It probably won’t last long.) Looks open to all ages and sexes. Only one person per household can sign up.
I’ve already shared my thoughts on Pinecone and paid surveys in general here. I call them Bored Money - not terribly efficient but you sometimes get to try some neat things.
The three survey sites that I have been most active with besides Pinecone are NFO MySurvey, e-Rewards, and SurveySavvy. I like it them because they consistently offer me paid survey opportunities, they pay upon request reliably (important!), and they don’t seem to mind if I don’t do every single survey offered.
Posted in Bored Money | 19 Comments »
Thursday, October 23rd, 2008
PineCone Research remains one of the better paying and reliable survey companies, with a payout of $3 for each 15-20 minute survey. The hardest part is getting accepted, as they only accept applications intermittently.
Thanks to reader Tom, here is the most recent application link at Pinecone. (It probably won’t last long.) Looks open to all ages and sexes. Only one person per household can sign up.
I’ve already shared my thoughts on Pinecone and paid surveys in general here. I call them Bored Money - not terribly efficient but you sometimes get to try some neat things. Here’s a quick list of other paid survey sites:
The three that I have been most active with besides Pinecone are NFO MySurvey, e-Rewards, and SurveySavvy. I like it them because they continue to give me the most paid survey opportunities, even if I only pick and choose which ones I want to do. I’ve gotten multiple checks and/or rewards from all of them.
Joining e-Rewards is usually indirect, I get offers to join from my airline miles newsletters from time to time. Not sure if they still work, but you can try these two links for Continental and Northwest airlines (must have frequent flier account number).
There are several other sites with which others have reported varying levels of success: American Consumer Opinion, Greenfield Online, Harris Poll Online, Lightspeed Panel, or SurveySpot.
Posted in Bored Money, Deals & Offers | 19 Comments »
Thursday, August 21st, 2008
Lots of links to share, so I thought I’d do the shotgun approach to blogging tonight.
What The World Eats, Part 1. This is a cool piece that shows what 12 different families from around the world eat in a week, and how much it costs. In Time magazine, based on the book Hungry Planet, via Bogleheads.
Speaking of eating… what about the incredible shrinking Doritos bag “Big companies are protecting profits with subtle repackaging, putting a little less into boxes of cereal, containers of ice cream, rolls of paper towels and other products. Guess who’s paying for it.” One thing I’ve also noticed is that means generic packages often hold more product despite the outside box being the same size. This makes store brands an even better buy these situations.
ChaCha is a service where you can call or SMS text a question and a human will text you back the answer. Currently free. You can also apply to be one of those humans (”Guides”) and get 10-20 cents per query answered. Thanks to Frank, who says you can earn a flexible $6-8/hr. Use his e-mail frank.heilig@gmail.com as referrer when signing up.
A related site is Mahalo Greenhouse, where you get paid to research and write up results for the Mahalo search engine. Pay rates unknown, and you only get paid if accepted.
AishCafe is paying college students $250 to take an online course to learn more about Judaism. Interesting idea. Seems like a decent time commitment, must go through interviews.
Frugal Freedom has shared her early retirement budget, and it’s only $600 per month! I’m worried that her healthcare costs are too low, but she is living in an paid-off RV so her housing costs are minimal.
Is tipping really so hard? The Freakonomics blog notices that “out of 59 apps in the finance section [of the iPhone App website], at least 15 of them help you calculate a restaurant tip.” Seriously, what’s wrong with using the built-in calculator?
Posted in Bored Money, General | 17 Comments »
Monday, June 16th, 2008
Here are a few more tidbits that may be of interest:
E-Rewards Signup Links
E-Rewards is a paid survey site that is only open via invitation. It is often linked to an airline, so that you can can redeem your rewards for frequent flier points. Here are two open links for Continental and Northwest airlines, must have a frequent flier account number. I am a member; they aren’t the best in my opinion, nor are they the worst. I get a lot of survey opportunities, but they don’t pay as well as others. More information about other paid surveys here.
$10 from Costco American Express Card
If you have a Costco American Express card, they are offering a promotion where you can earn a free $10 Costco Cash card for paying your wireless phone plan automatically with the card. This card is one of the better gas rebate credit cards.
9 Months of Free Credit Monitoring
One of the three major credit bureaus, TransUnion, apparently lost a class-action lawsuit and the settlement involves offering up to 9 months of free credit monitoring service to anyone who has ever held a credit card over the last 20 years (i.e. lots of people). This includes free access to your credit score in addition to the report, as well as e-mail alerts when something changes. There is also a “potential cash payment” option, but it doesn’t very tempting given the number of eligible claimants (small pie, millions of slices).
They are supposed to allow claims starting today, June 16th, on the official settlement website. You don’t need to supply your full Social Security number (needs last 4 digits) or a credit card number, and you won’t be automatically signed up for any paid subscriptions after the free period.
Posted in Bored Money, Credit Cards, Deals & Offers | 6 Comments »
Saturday, May 17th, 2008
GroceryMiles
If you shop at Safeway or one of their partner stores Dominick’s, Vons, Pavilions, or Genuardis, you can get 125 United Airlines Mileage Plus miles per $250 spent. I’ve probably earned thousands of miles over the last few years. You simply have to go to GroceryMiles.com and register your club card. Today, I got one of those “Catalina” coupons that offered an additional 1,000 mile bonus if you sign up by 6/30. Although there seems to be no mention on the website, here is a scan of the coupon:
UPromise
Mentioned previously, there are a bunch of different ways to accumulate money at Upromise. The main one is as a cashback site like eBates. But there are two additional ways to earn some money through UPromise without changing your buying patterns. For one, if you link up your grocery club card (Safeway, Albertsons, and Publix are examples) you can get free cashback when buying certain brands.
Next, if you link up your credit card, if you shop at a qualified brick-and-mortar store you can get a rebate (1% at Bed Bath and Beyond, 3% at Eddie Bauer, etc.). You can also link your credit card to a dining program that automatically gives you a rebates when you dine out at participating restaurants. I never look at the list of restaurants, but occasionally I’ll get a couple bucks by chance. Right now if you sign up with UPromise and make a purchase through their cashback portal you can get a $10 bonus. (Also an $10 bonus for cashback portal eBates.)
Now, none of these programs will make you rich. But if you are bored just sign up, link up the appropriate cards, and forget about it. Just continue to spend as usual since they will just credit you automatically. With UPromise, supposedly the money is for college or student loans, but you can also request a check to be sent to you.
Posted in Bored Money | 12 Comments »
Monday, April 7th, 2008
PineCone Research remains one of the better paying and reliable survey companies, with a payout of $3 for each 15-20 minute survey. The hardest part is signing up - I just ran across a banner ad for a signup link at Pinecone. (It won’t last long.)
I’ve already shared my thoughts on Pinecone and paid surveys in general here. I call them Bored Money. Here’s a quick list of other paid survey sites:
The three that I have been most active with besides Pinecone are NFO MySurvey, e-Rewards, and SurveySavvy. I like it them because they continue to give me the most paid survey opportunities, even if I only pick and choose which ones I want to do. I’ve gotten multiple checks and/or rewards from all of them. However, I see that e-Rewards is currently not accepting new people.
There are several other sites with which others have reported varying levels of success: American Consumer Opinion, Greenfield Online, Harris Poll Online, Lightspeed Panel, or SurveySpot.
Posted in Bored Money, Deals & Offers | 15 Comments »
Friday, January 4th, 2008
Got your junk e-mail addresses ready? Unfortunately, no free razors to be found. First stop, free samples at Wal-mart. Currently available (refresh page as necessary):
- South Beach granola snacks
- Dove and Head and Shoulders shampoo
- Friskies dry cat food
- “Intimately Beckham” cologne/perfume
Also found in the Slickdeals Freebies area:
- Free 8-week membership to Bally fitness. (Be prepared to deal with the usual gym hard-sell.)
- Free Jamba Juice smoothie if you are a 24hour Fitness member.
- 5 free music downloads from Rhapsody (Are these any good?)
Posted in Bored Money, Frugal Living | No Comments »
Wednesday, December 12th, 2007
Paid surveys can be a reasonable source of additional income for certain folks. On a strictly per-hour basis, they end up at around $5-9 an hour and can get tedious. But hey, you can do them during downtime on the job or late at night while watching Leno in your pajamas, while adding up gradually to hundreds of dollars over a year. Personally, I find myself being more and more picky about them as time goes on.
PineCone Research remains one of the more elusive and better paying survey companies, with a payout of $3 for each 15-20 minute survay. Thanks to Barry for sending me the most recent recruitment e-mail, which states that they are looking for new members who are male and 18+. Here’s the new PineCone application link. I’ve anonymized the link, but this still won’t last long!
*Two important tips to keep the PineCone gravy train running:
- Whatever info you sign up with, keep it up to date and follow it exactly. For example, if your profile says you’re 35 and in a later survey you state that you’re 46, you may mysteriously stop getting any new surveys.
- Fill the surveys out as soon as you get them. If you miss enough survey deadlines, they will also remove you.
Other Paid Survey Sites
In my experience, NFO MySurvey. and SurveySavvy continue to give me the most paid survey opportunities, even if I don’t do every single one. I’ve gotten multiple checks from both now.
I don’t get hardly any surveys anymore from American Consumer Opinion, Greenfield Online, or Lightspeed Panel, but that may be due to my long periods of inactivity. SurveySpot only gave me sweepstakes entries.
Posted in Bored Money | 19 Comments »
