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.

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 survey. 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.

Paid surveys can be a reasonable source of additional income for the right people. On a per-hour basis, they are rarely a great deal and can get tedious. But hey, you can do them during downtime on the job or late at night while watching Leno, and they can add up to hundreds of dollars over a year. I find myself being more and more picky about them as time goes on.

Accordingly, my preference is to stock with sites that offer regular surveys and are upfront about payouts. I’d much rather know I’m getting $5 for a 20-minute survey than be entered in some vague sweepstakes drawing for $500. Here are the sites that I think best fit this criteria:

Pinecone Research is one of the more elusive paid survey companies, as they pay $5 for each and every survey you complete, as well as give some neat products to try out. With them, I used to* make a steady $10-$25 per month. Thanks to Kathy 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 Pinecone sign-up link. I’ve anonymized the link, but this still won’t last long!

*Two important tips to keep the Pinecone gravy train running:

1) These guys are very strict. Whatever info you sign up with, you must always 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. It’s best just to be honest.

2) Fill the surveys out as soon as you get them. I think this is why I was kicked out. For some reason they stopped e-mailing me survey alerts (multiple e-mails to Ms. Scott trying to fix this went unanswered). By the time I got the notices in the mail, the survey had expired. If you miss enough surveys, they boot you. I’m still a bit grouchy over this… 🙁

NFO MySurvey is another site that always tells you exactly what you’ll get before you do the survey. The payout rates are a little lower, but you can get a steady stream going. Some examples are 10 points (10 cents) for a 1-question survey to 250 points ($2.50) for a longer 10-minute survey. Occasionally you get a big one for more. You request payout svia check, and they send it out promptly. MySurvey sign-up link.

These folks are more laid back. You can miss several of these surveys, but you have to do one every few months to keep your points alive. They’ll send you an e-mail reminder to do so.

Other Surveys Sites
Here are some other ones, sorted in decreasing order of how often I get survey opportunities: American Consumer Opinion, SurveySavvy, Greenfield Online, Lightspeed Panel

I’ve been getting a steady stream of e-mails for months now about a company called AGLOCO. Apparently, they are starting an application that shows ads on the bottom of your computer screen (screenshot). They make money off the ads, so they pay you to run it. So why do people keep e-mailing me? Because you also make money if you refer other people, and if those people refer more people, and so on…

If you remember a company called AllAdvantage from years ago, this is very similar. I remember making about $100 a month from AA. Of course, they went bankrupt! The only way I see this company making money is if the payouts are much lower, perhaps in the $20 per month range for running it a few hours a day. Now, I have no idea what the actual payout will be, I’m just saying keep your expectations reasonable. It’s kind of like MyPoints is with e-mail, and fits nicely in the Bored Money category.

To be clear, I am neither a proponent or opponent of this application. I’ve done my due diligence and it appears to be legit with no spyware or other nasties, however, nobody will know for sure until the application is actually released. I went ahead and signed up and will see what happens.

Another survey company that I’ve gotten paid out for and that I have heard other positive experiences about is MySurvey.com. Like other programs, they offer you rewards points for taking surveys. They let you redeem the points for cash, which is nice. 1000 points = $10, so think of it as $0.01/point. The payouts tend to be smaller per survey (from 10-300 points), but the surveys are also shorter. Occasionally I have been offered to receive test products and then provide feedback on them for points as well. I also like that they seem to have a steady stream of paying surveys every month.

MySurvey joins Pinecone Research, E-Rewards (both currently not taking new members), and SurveySavvy as the paid survey programs that I’ve used and liked so far.

You can also try Greenfield Online, but they offer less good-paying surveys.

I got some reader requests for more Bored Money entries. Remember, this category is for stuff that I feel has a relatively low reward-to-effort ratio. This usually includes things that involve taking surveys or that involve smaller or non-guaranteed payouts, as compared to the fatter rewards like $100 signup bonuses or free iPods that I put in the Deals & Offers posts. They also tend to be things that are always available. In other words, you can save them until you’re bored!

Coincidentally, I just got another e-mail from StartSampling.com. As the name suggests, you give them some of your demographic information and they match you up with manufacturers that are looking for feedback on their products. You pick what you like, and it gets sent to you free in the mail. I’ve gotten things from food to soap to various coupons (nothing worth over $10). I just picked up a sample of Swiffer dusters. Just stick to the “Select Samples” area and avoid everything else. The “Tryer Miles” points system is largely useless, as there is nothing to redeem them for.