How to make a little ‘mad money’

I mentioned previously about the UPS man bringing a surprise package for a survey and I said I would explain more about what types of programs I do.  Last July or August I signed up with a variety of different survey/mystery shopper websites and, in the end, MySurvey and BzzAgent turned out to be the best.  I really recommend these programs, especially if you have young children.  It seems they are always looking for moms to join!

I have made about $60 from MySurvey since I started last summer.  It’s not much, but it’s just a little something extra.  Each survey earns points and you “cash out” when you have 1000 points, or $10.  Then about 4-6 weeks later, you get a check!  Occasionally their surveys will offer to send you a sample product to test and take another survey on.  I have gotten two of those so far; one for a microwaveable meal and one for laundry detergent. Obviously, the amount of surveys you get varies with your demographics.  If you have a husband, I recommend using his info as your “primary” information because it seems like the men get more surveys.  Probably because there aren’t as many of them signing up for things like this.  

The other program, BzzAgent, isn’t a money maker, but you can get some free stuff to try and some exclusive coupons.  The only drawback to BzzAgent is that the longer you are a member, the better.  I didn’t get anything the first couple of months I was a member and quite frankly thought it was a waste of time, but over time you earn seniority for product campaigns.  They are awarded on a first come-first serve basis, so if you get invited to a campaign, act fast!  Since last summer, I’ve done two programs with them.  One was for Smucker’s Uncrustables, where I received coupons for free boxes and other cents-off coupons to use or share.  The most recent is the Scrubbing Bubbles campaign, where they sent me a free automatic shower cleaner, $5 off starter kit coupons to share, and the toilet gel thing plus more coupons. 

I’ll share more coupon and product sample resources next week!