make money

Mid-Year Hustle Update

Abby H.

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It’s June- The middle of the year, time to review how much I’ve made on my side hustles so far this year. To be fair, I did just complete a semester of college, so it’s probably not as much as I could have been making.

I’ve only included the hustles I’ve made money with in 2019. A complete list of all my money making hustles can be found here.

Radial Insight So far in 2019, I’ve earned a little over $25 in Amazon GC (which is my preferred method of payment, besides cold, hard cash)

PaidViewPoint– $33 via Paypal, plus I’ve done 2 studies where they send me a product to try out and fill out a survey about.

Field Agent $120.30 (via EFT) to date! This is one of my favorites. You choose the tasks you wish to do, and you can do as many as you are able to complete.

SBKC $50 via online Visa GC. I’ve been doing this for one for about 9 or so years. It’s dead simple.

Focus Groups $300 I’ve only done two this year, but I’m scheduled for one next Friday that pay $200!

Amazon’s Mechanical Turk  I really need to do more of these tasks- $10 in Amazon GC total.

Mypoints  $75 in various gift cards and Paypal payouts. I do 99% of my online shopping through Mypoints.

Misc. surveys $340. Here are a few of the survey companies I use: InBox Dollars, Reward Survey, Survey Junkie,  VIP Voice.

Swagbucks– $10 Amazon GC I don’t use Swagbucks as much as I used to. They have tons of surveys to do to earn points.

And from my list of Money Saving Apps:

So, my total for the year to date is: $1073.30. I use this money to pay for activities with the kids, special treats, and date nights.

Talk Back: I’d love to hear about your side hustles!

New Gig Opportunity: Become a Shipt Shopper!

Abby H.

I am a huge proponent of gigs, little side hustles that help you earn extra money.

I just found out last night that Shipt is looking for shoppers! You shop for and deliver groceries and essentials for others. Oh, and the best part? You can earn up to $22/hour!

Shipt is a membership-based grocery marketplace, enabling delivery of fresh foods and household essentials. Shipt is all over the US, to find out if Shipt is hiring in your area, check out their coverage map here, then sign up here. Once you sign up, answer a few questions, and they’ll email you if you meet their qualifications.

I’m all about earning some extra cash! I’d love to hear about your favorite side gigs and hustles! My list of favorites can be found here.

Earn Gift Cards with Radial Insight!

Abby H.1 Comment

With Halloween coming up, I’ve been busy busy busy! Trying to find fun and free events for the kids (and to share with you!), making costumes, and getting into fall with baking. I had to put the brakes on all my crazy busy-ness to share a great way to make money: Radial Insight.

Screen Shot 2018-09-27 at 9.40.56 AM.pngIn addition to doing surveys to earn money, Radial Insight has a program called Receipt Rewards. Receipt Rewards is a new and exciting way to earn rewards from Radial Insight. By submitting receipts for your online shopping at Amazon.com, Walmart.com, Target.com, Jet.com, Costco.com, and DollarGeneral.com, you’ll earn instant rewards.

Please note — you must be a member of Radial Insight’s public opinion panel to participate in Receipt Rewards. If you want to join, leave me a comment with your email address and I’ll shoot you an invite!

 

It’s super easy and quick. I joined and added the Chrome Extension to our browser yesterday and followed the steps (it took less than 15 minutes, BTW) to get everything connected to my Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Costco accounts. I really wasn’t expecting to earn that much, since I’ve been cutting back on our online shopping, but look what was in my inbox this mornings:

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Uh…. WOW. And it’s totally legit because I just cashed out for a $49.60 Amazon Gift card, which I will use to buy stuff that has been on my wish list for a while. And I’ll earn more rewards! There are gift card options for over 25 retailers and restaurants.

Still unsure that Radial Insight Receipt Rewards is for you? Here are the FAQ:

Receipt Rewards Frequently Asked Questions

From which websites does Receipt Rewards accept receipts?
Receipt Rewards accepts receipts from Amazon.com, Target.com, Walmart.com, Jet.com, dollargeneral.com, and Costco.com. If and when we accept receipts from new websites, we’ll be sure to let you know.

How old can the receipts I send in be?
There is no limit to how old your receipts can be.

Are there any types of receipts you do not accept?
We do not accept receipts for Amazon.com digital orders or gift card purchases, balance reloads, or in-store pick-ups from any website.

What do you do with my receipts?
We use the receipts you send us to learn about how Americans shop online and about current retail trends. Your personal information is kept secure and used according to the Radial Insight Receipt Rewards Terms provided below.

How will I get paid?
After you’ve accumulated $1 in Receipt Rewards, and for each full $1 you earn, you’ll receive a Tango Card with your reward. Tango Cards may take 24 hours to be sent.

And if doesn’t seem like a good fit for you, but are still looking for some other ways to make money, check out my post about side hustles.

Trade-in Your Old iPhone and Earn Cash with Gazelle!

Abby H.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. 

Have an old iPhone that you’re no longer using or that you want to upgrade? Trade it in for cash at Gazelle! I’ve done it now three times and it’s a super simple process!

Gazelle makes it so easy to trade-in used iPhones and other smart devices for cash. In fact, it can be done in three easy steps.

• Step 1: Select your iPhone from a list of options on Gazelle’s “Trade-In” page. Simply answer a few questions and Gazelle will provide you with an offer for your device.

• Step 2: For items worth $1 or more, it’s free to ship your device to Gazelle. Once your trade-in is received, the device is inspected to make sure its condition matches your evaluation.

• Payment: If the device matches your description, Gazelle will pay you in the form of a check, an Amazon.com gift card, or via PayPal. Payment takes about a week once Gazelle receives your device.

No other company does as much to help consumers sell their used iPhones or purchase high-quality, gently-used devices as Gazelle. Trade your old iPhone in for cash today!

Make Money while Blogging

Abby H.5 Comments

file0001174273310.jpgI get asked a lot how do you make money blogging. I was talking to a couple influencers at Influential Summit last weekend, and I decided that it was time to sit down and make a list to share.

There are several ways that it can be done. Here are just a few ways that I make money blogging.

I don’t make a ton of money blogging, but it’s enough to pay for any promotions or contests I run, buy crafts supplies for the Craft Mondays I host, and occasionally a trip to Starbucks for coffee and a breakfast sandwich. I don’t blog to make tons of money, I blog to share my journey through parenthood and my frugal skills with others. That being said, it is nice to make a little extra money sometimes.

Most of these links are referral links, so I will either receive a bounty/commission if you sign up through my links.

Affiliate Networks:

Escalate Network– My least favorite affiliate network, they have campaigns (usually pay per click/sign up) that change frequently and printable coupons. Minimum pay out $25.

ShopHer– Formerly MySavings. They have campaigns (pay per click, sign up) that change frequently, in addition to printable coupons and free sample offers.  Sometimes they have sponsored posts available too. Minimum pay out $50.

Shareasale– They partner with hundreds (maybe thousands) of companies and brands. Search for a company, apply, and once approved, start posting their deals and you’ll earn a percentage of what you sell.  I post deals from Mabel’s Labels, Craftsy, and Cents of Style. Minimum pay out $50.

Massive Sway- A completely different type of network. Massive Sway works with brands and PR companies to bring you campaigns to share on your blog and across social media platforms. Each campaign has it’s own set of posting rules and pay out amount. You apply for campaigns that interest you. I am unsure of any minimum payout.

Many companies have their own Affiliate or Tell-a-Friend Programs. If there is a website that you want to recommend, check out their site and see if there is a “Refer a Friend” page. Schoola has one that I like. When friends click on my link and sign up, they get a free $10 to spend, and once they place an order, I get $5 or $10 to spend too. It’s a win-win deal! All kinds of website have referral pages. I love that Zaycon Fresh (a company that sells farm fresh meat in bulk) offers $5 for new referrals and you earn $1 every time your friend orders!!)

There are tons of Affiliate programs and Refer-aFriend programs. Just check your favorite websites and shopping portals.

Other:

Amazon– When you are writing about products that you use or like, you can link to the items on Amazon and when people click the link and buy the item, you receive a commission. Sometimes there are also bonus programs where you will receive a flat “bounty” (aka commission) if someone signs up for Prime- It’s usually $5.00

Social Platforms- If you area blogger or influencer, make sure that your social media platform profiles reflect that. Here is a screenshot of my Instagram Profile:

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Remember that these social media platforms are a representation of who you are, so if you’ve embarrassing or unflattering photos, you might want to hide them! Brands will research you.

If you aren’t a blogger or influencer, there are still ways to make a little extra money. I wrote about my side hustles here and here.

 

Earn Extra Cash as a Stella & Dot Stylist!

Abby H.

I know some of you want to earn a little more money this year, and for some of you the hustles that I wrote about in this article aren’t in your scope of interest. Fear not,  I found out about a way you can earn money, while selling cute, stylish jewelry with Stella & Dot.

Just so you know, this post contains affiliate links, and I may be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links.

Stella & Dot is creating a whole new way of running a business! Fresh thinking. Irresistible style. Innovative technology. Modern selling. Your Business, Your Way!

Even better! New stylists who join now through January 31st, will get up to $650 in FREE accessories! Tell your readers about this fun, flexible, and rewarding opportunity.

Here’s how it works:

  1. – Join during this limited time offer—Now through January 31, 2017.
  2. – The stylist will automatically get $650 of free accessories.
  3. – Achieve $1000 of sales within the first 30 days and get a $199 rebate.
That’s like joining for free and getting $650 of free accessories!
Encourage your readers to be bold and discover the entrepreneur in themselves. They will find a job they will love when they explore launching their own business as a Stella & Dot Stylist!

Here are a few reasons why:
Flexible Rewarding Stylish
To work around the million other things you do. You call the shots. Earn 25% – 30% commission on your sales. No sales minimums, no quotas, no territories, no inventory or deliveries. Style that practically sells itself.

This offer is only valid through 1/31/17, so if it interests you, click on the banner below to get started!

How to make money: 6 tips that really work (because I do them!)

Abby H.

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So last week I wrote about ways to save money without coupons, today we are talking about ways you can actually make money.

These are all things that I do. None of them are iffy, weird, or involve you selling your blood.

  1. Surveys online. Here are two fer shure, legit companies that I use. Pinecone Research (they are always looking for 12-24 or Hispanic demographics) pays $3.00 paypal per survey! My other favorite is PaidViewPoint– They only send you surveys that you qualify for, so there is no wasted time. Payout is only $15.00, so I make payout about every other month. It’s not tons of work, and every little bit helps!
  2. I use cashback apps. My full list of favs can be found here. No lie, I cash out about $50.00 a month between all of the apps downloaded onto my iPhone!
  3. Recycle... Return your bottles and cans for their deposit money. You aren’t really making money so much as you are getting your deposit back. Depending on how much soda/bottled water you consume.
  4. Secret shopping. There are tons of apps and websites that will help you find secret shopping gigs. I recommend checking out Volition.com for a listing of secret shopping companies (and reviews). A few of my friends recommend jobslinger.com as a great resource. I earn about $25.00/week doing secret shopping and that’s for less than 1 hours work! Oh, and I can take Bitty Bird along with me!
  5. Clean out your Closets! About once a month, it seems the kids have grown out of something. Whether it be clothes, toys, or gear. I clean it up and take it to the resale shop. I can either get store credit or cash. There are resale shops for adult clothing, sporting supplies, even furniture!
  6. Turn your Junk Mail into Cash! I’ve been doing this for YEARS, and I love it. You can learn all about Small Business Knowledge Center here.  I just got another $20 Visa GC in the mail yesterday! My second this year!

There are other ways to make money: Have a garage sale, Drive for Uber or Lyft (our friend Brittany does it. She loves it driving for Lyft- she makes her own hours, and gets to meet all kinds of people).

 

How do you make extra money?

2016 New Year’s Resolution: #1 Make More Money!

Abby H.3 Comments

file000267804564Throughout December, I’m going to be posting about New Year’s Resolutions. Each post will have tips and tricks to help you navigate through your resolutions to become more successful at all of your frugal endeavors!

For a lot of us, one of our New Year’s Resolutions is to make more money.  And unless you plan on winning the lottery, that can be hard.

Here are a few ways that you can make some extra money in 2016.  I have done all of these and they have worked for me to one extent or another, however, YMMV.

  • Why wait until spring to clear out the clutter?  Have a Garage Sale and earn some extra money!  Whatever doesn’t sell, consider donating it to a charity and taking the tax deduction.
  • Sell items on your local Craigslist. Always remember to meet in a public place!
  • Check out resale groups on Facebook. Just go to Facebook and search Your city + resale.  There are a ton in San Diego!
  • If you have unwanted silver, gold, or platinum most malls have kiosks or stores that will buy the metal from you on the spot and give you cash. Some jewelers also buy metal and jewelry.
  • Have a skill? Can you babysit, mow a lawn, bake a cake?  Are you handy with a sewing machine? Let your friends and neighbors know. Make up a flyer or post on your Facebook.
  • Before you head out to go shopping, check to see if anything you are going to buy has a rebate.  Doing rebates is easy!  To learn more about how rebating works, check out the article I wrote here. It also includes a link to my favorite rebate website!  I get about $250 back each year just through rebates. Most of the time you can use coupon on an item that you are submitting a rebate for- talk about win-win!
  • Want to get paid for your opinions?  Why not try a focus group or a research study?  Learn more about them here. I participate in about once per month and earn approximately extra $50-$100 in cash each time.
  • Mogl– This site is a little different.  Sign up and register your credit/debit cards.  When you eat out at participating restaurants, you’ll receive 10% cash back!  You can use this in addition to any other cash back offers your credit or debit card offers.  I’ve earned $25 in the past year and we don’t eat out very often! I also like at Mogl donates money to local food based charities every time you use one of your registered cards.
  • I’m a HUGE fan of Small Business Knowledge Center.   Do you get lots of junk mail?  Is your inbox full of spam? Insurance, credit card offers, banking, credit cards, investing, telecom, mortgage or other loan type junk mail and spam?The Small Business Knowledge Center (SBKC) studies marketing techniques and practices.  They securely dispose of your junk mail after they are done with it- no need to worry! You can also put stickies on paperwork that you would like back and they will return it to you! SBKC mails you postage paid envelopes, you stuff your junk mail into it and drop it into the mail.  You will receive points for your junk mail, and once you receive 2000 points, you will receive a $20 Visa Gift Card. You can also forward emails to them as well.  They occasionally have special projects where they are looking for special items like welcome packets for credit cards.  Special projects offer additional/bonus points.I’ve done SBKC for 4 years and I consistently earn one  $20.00 gift card per quarter, that’s $80.00 in gift cards per year! That’s free money that I did no work for.  Just forward some emails before I hit “delete” and toss my junk mail into an envelope as it comes into the house and mail an envelope once a week.Unlike many other programs, you can sign everyone in your home who is over the age of 18!If you are interested in signing up, here is the link. In the box next to: How did you here about the SBKC Consumer Panel? Please type my name: Abby Hewes. I get points for each referral and that brings me closer to my next reward!

If you are looking to make money online, here are a few of my favorites:

  • Earn Cash with Paid View Point. Surveys are short (less than 5 minutes).  Earn cash with each Survey.   You get $1.00 when you sign up! The pay out is $15.00, and it takes about a month to earn $15.00. I earned about $60.00 in 2013.
  • Earn Gift cards with Mypoints. I take surveys, click links in emails, and do all of my online shopping through Mypoints. I’ve earned $80 in gift cards in 2013!
  • I also use Swagbucks. I use their search engine toolbar, take a daily poll, watch a video and click a few links each day! In 2013 I earned about $120 worth of Swagbucks rewards. Swagbucks has tons of rewards, you can receive cash via paypal too!

And updated for 2017: Here are a few more ways to earn money- My Hustle: How I make Part Time Income as a SAHM

Whether you want to earn extra money for a vacation, holiday gifts, or just to have some extra play money, with a few minutes each day, you can earn some serious money.

This page contains affiliate links.  Please see my Affiliate Disclosure here.

Scam alert and how to really make money at home…

Abby H.1 Comment

MONEY CASE 8
One of the things I get emails and messages about frequently is, “Have you heard about (Fill in name of scam program here) program? I got an email about it and it says I can make tons of money for only $50!” Or something that sounds equally as fishy.

With the economy being so depressed for an extended period of time, the rise in work at home and get rich quick scams is shocking.  Those who have a hard time finding a new job are perfect pickings for scammers.

I know that this is a savings blog, but I want to share with you some tips, hints, and information about what to look for if you want to work at home and make money online.  I don’t want to see any of you get scammed.

  • One of the most popular scams is the Nigerian Scam.  Basically an important person in an African country is in jail, if you send them money via wire transfer to help them, once they are out of jail, they will reimburse you plus a handsome fee.  Anytime you are emailed by someone who is asking for help and money, run run run.  Especially if they ask you to wire them your hard earned money (it can’t be tracked) or if they send you a check, ask you to cash it and either wire them the money or send them a money order.  That is a SCAM.
  • Work at home scams: If a company asks you to pay them for a list of work at home companies or secret shopper programs, that is most likely a scam. Google the name of the company and the word scam to double check.
  • For that matter, if a company promises an insane amount of money in a short amount of time, It’s a scam.
  •  If a “legit looking” work at home company requests a credit card number or any money at all, It’s a scam.

If you are looking to get rich quick, it’s damn near impossible!

I earn money online doing surveys, clicking links in emails and doing tasks.  If you are looking to make money online, here are a few of my favorites:

  • Earn Cash with Paid View Point. Surveys are short (less than 5 minutes).  Earn cash with each Survey.   You get $1.00 when you sign up! The pay out is $15.00, and it takes about a month to earn $15.00. So far in 2015, I’ve earned about $60.00.
  • Earn Gift cards with Mypoints. I take surveys, click links in emails, and do all of my online shopping through Mypoints. So far in 2015, I’ve earned about $30.00.
  • I also use Swagbucks. I use their search engine toolbar, take a daily poll, watch a video and click a few links each day! So far in 2015, I’ve earned about $60.00. Swagbucks has tons of rewards, you can receive cash via paypal too!
  • I do surveys with Pinecone Research. They aren’t always looking for new participants, but check out their website and see if you fit their open demographics. I make about $20/Month doing short surveys (10 minutes or less).

With all of these survey companies, these are surveys I am pre-qualified for. No spending 10-30 minutes only to learn that you aren’t getting paid and they don’t want your opinions (that’s the #1 reason I do not do Swagbucks surveys and I don’t recommend you waste your time doing them either).

I work on Amazon’s Mechanical Turk to make extra money that I transfer to my Amazon.com account.  I am trying to earn enough to pay for holiday gifts. You sign up and do tasks for small amounts of money, but the money adds up fast.  The tasks are quick and simple (transcription, surveys, flagging inappropriate photos).  I’ve earned over $50 since February.  If you want cold hard cash instead of Amazon.com credit there is an option to have money transferred to a bank account.  Mechanical Turk does ask for your SSN when you sign up- you will receive a 1099- MISC at the end of the year., regardless of which option you select.

Volition has a great list of mystery shopper programs that are free. I do a few of these programs, and I have earned money!

I will by no means become a millionaire, but the extra money each month helps out and allows me to save for holiday gifts, and take the Kiddo to do fun stuff that we normally couldn’t afford.

Screen Shot 2015-05-29 at 3.38.26 PMHere are a few insights that can help you determine if somethings a scam:

  • Does it seem too good to be true?
  • Is there no phone number or address to contact the company?
  • Does the website look “off” or give you a weird feeling (trust your spidery senses)?
  • Google the company name- What comes up?  If it’s not good, run run run!!
  • If a website has photos like the one below- it’s probably a SCAM!