Budgeting Tips to Get out of Debt and Build Wealth

I’ve been taking online surveys for about a month now.  I thought it was time to reflect on the experience, positive and negative.  To sum up my overall feelings on being a paid survey taker, I’d say it does not pay enough to justify the time put into it, unless you are enjoying it and don’t mind waiting for the payoff.  I have had some fun with it.  I have one check on its way, and have received one free sample (on OTC medication) and one product trial (I eat this item they sent me and give my feedback on it).  The product trial arrived frozen in a box with dry ice… the kids and I had some fun with that!

Another thing I’ve noticed is that, as if you aren’t bombarded enough by advertising every day, you will really be exposed to ad impressions when you do surveys.  So you better not have a spending problem.

I’ve tried several survey companies by now, and one of the nicest to work with is  MySurvey.

You have to get up to 1000 points before you can earn a meaningful reward.  So far I’m at 345.  If you click on that image for MySurvey and join up, I’ll be 150 points richer.  (And you’ll be able to refer people in for points too.)  What I appreciate about this site is that they don’t send you tons of surveys that you end up not even qualifying for.  When they send you a survey, they mean you, and you’ll get something for your trouble.  That’s been my experience so far, anyway.

Also at the top of my list is Synovate’s Global Opinion Panels.  They are the ones sending me a check already!  (A $5 check, but I figured I might as well cash in as soon as possible.)  I am only 40 points shy of earning another $5 check from them.  A person named Maria Brighton communicates with you (is she really the one and only panel director?  or just a persona?) By the way, the first check says “pending” and I have not actually received any money for surveys yet.  But I expect I will.

Ipsos is kind of fun, because at the end of the survey you can play a game called “poll predictor” wherein you get to take a stab at the percentage of people that answered a poll a certain way.  Depending how close you get to the right answer, you get more or less points to allocate to different prize categories for drawings.

Inbox Dollars is great.  How easy can you get… just click on the link on their e-mails, refer other people in, once in a while take a survey to get an extra bump, and it all adds up.  I’m at $17, and at $30 you get a check mailed to you.

Another one exactly like that is Send Earnings.  Sign up for both of them via these links, earn me some bucks, and start earning you some bucks.  Why not?

The Paid Survey Duds?

There are some survey sites that I’m debating not sticking with after I cash out.  One of these is Toluna, where I frequently DON’T qualify for the surveys, and it seems to take a really long time to get enough points to get a reward.  You need 50,000 points to get a check (not sure how much the check will be?  If it’s $50 I suppose this is worth it).  I’m at 27,000 some points now.  I guess that’s not so bad for one month.  The jury is still out on Toluna.

And Surveyhead.  I have a love/hate relationship with Surveyhead.  I hate their goofy logo people and I hate how many times I’ve filled out an entire survey only to be told I didn’t fit the profile.   The cashout threshold is $25.  I’m at $17.  I have $10.50 pending.  Do you think it will ever be not pending?  I begin to wonder.  I have tried to ask about being ripped off by taking whole surveys and not getting paid for them, but no one answered my e-mail.  That’s not cool.  But on the other hand, there’s very often a survey available to try to take.  You have to go to the site to get them (they don’t usually e-mail you) but sometimes they pan out.

There are a number of others that I am still evaluating and if any come up as shining stars, I will let you know.  But if you are interested in this and want to be part of real surveys that aren’t juvenile, try the ones I mentioned above.

Posted By: Increasing Your Income, Taking Surveys For Cash by Darcy