Friday, January 9, 2009

Methods Madness Marathon!! Surveys!!

As you can tell from yesterday and today...there is no rhyme or rhythm to what Method I will type about next. :-) As always, I am just taking the days as they come, and today I happened to take a survey. So, hmmmm....decided to focus on that today.

Before we start, if you have missed the start of this series ( running all thru January in order to get us all on track for earning and saving the most in 2009 ), click here to access them all. I will also be posting the banner above in the right sidebar. Simply click on it at anytime to take you to all the posts, so you can catch up and start from the beginning.

And, now time for a little progress report. Yesterday, we focused on lowering our bills in regards to TV/Cable/Satellite. How much did we impact our budget in one day?

  • Carrie ( that's moi ) - $200
  • Trisha - $252
  • Jenny - $36
  • Lori - $228
  • Sherri - $603
  • Cathy - $252
  • Kelly - $120
  • Abby- $150

And, those are just those of you who left comments. So, all together, we saved a whopping $1,841 between all of us! Isn't that amazing? Click here to read the details, and keep the comments coming. If you saved by calling, too, let me know! I am having so much fun tracking this Marathon!

So, back to today and Surveys. If you have read my webpage on them, you know it is one of the money makers I love. They are easy, can be done from home and at your own convenience....and, well, you can make money! What more needs to be said, right?

Click here to access my Surveys webpage or click on the Surveys button in the left menu bar at anytime.

So, what is the Marathon "to do" list for today?

Well, if you are like me, and already signed up with the companies, it is time to set a schedule/time to log into your "surveys" email account ( that is right....set up a surveys only email address...mine is surveysforcarrie@ ).

Also, I decided to set a goal for myself this year, on how much I wanted to make on Surveys. Last year was a slow year for me. I only took home $130. Not bad, but frankly, not a good year for me in regards to previous years.

I spent so much time getting this blog up and running, that Surveys fell by the wayside. But, I want to change that. So, my goal for the year is going to be $350. That is roughly $29 a month. Surely, I can do that! I am hoping this will keep me motivated to check my account and take the surveys. I have also decided to keep my scheduled "survey" day, which is the day of the week I pick to log into my survey site and take survey after survey after survey. BUT I will also log in quickly each day to see if there are any surveys I need to jump on quickly, I didn't do that last year...and I missed out on alot of opportunities. Many expire within a day or two, and I don't want to miss a good one.

Also, when signing up for all of the companies, don't forget that many of them have referral programs. You can make between 10 cents to $1.50 or so per friend you refer. This is easy money. You can send a mass email out to all your friends telling them about the program with your link included....or, if that is not your speed...consider making a signature for your email account.

Most email programs ( for example Yahoo! mail ) has this option free. You simply go to the Create a Signature section, and a box will appear where you can put a banner advertisement or type your own message with the link. This way, it shows up EVERY time you type an email...right under your name....and after seeing it over and over...your friends may actually sign up. ( the power of suggestion...right? ) You never have to mention it personally...but the information will still be there for them.

Here are my top pick for Survey Companies! And, don't forget to sign up for Roboform first...before applying. You click one button and it will then auto fill almost all of your application information.

As I find new companies throughout the year, I will update you and also update my surveys webpage.

Finally, here is my VERY simple spreadsheet for tracking surveys. I have a different worksheet for each company. I didn't add them all, only two, but you get the jist of it. Click here. As the revenue comes in, I log it in my budget against Extra Income.

So, here is your Methods Madness Marathon homework for this post:

  • Set up your Survey email account ( free thru Yahoo, Hotmail or whoever you like )
  • Set up your free Roboform account
  • Apply for all the survey sites you are interested in above
  • Set your scheduled day to take surveys, or log in daily to do surveys
  • Begin to Make Money!!!!

Do you love surveys? Did your sign up process go OK today? Leave a comment and let me know if this Method helps your family out financially, too.

7 comments:

Becky said...

Hi Everyone!
I do surveys for a lot of the sites that Carrie has listed here. Last summer I decided to try something that Andrea at Mommysnacks suggested....I let any points I earned for doing surveys accumulate until early October. I then redeemed everything I could to use towards Christmas gifts. All together I'd accumulated about $300. Some points I could redeem for checks while others I was able to get gift cards. I used some gift cards to give as teacher gifts and others (like Amazon) to buy gifts. I can't wait to see how much I can accumulate by saving all year long this year!

Thanks for all you do Carrie!
Becky

Renee said...

Carrie, how much time (approx.) do you think you'll have to invest to make that $29 per month?

Lorri said...

Thanks for all the inspiration to save! I just cashed out $10 tonight from My Survey. We're taking the leap to blog our year of savings at http://ourfrugaljourney.blogspot.com and have linked you as a resource!

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

I don't know...I wonder if I can even do it!! :-)

I am hoping to only spend about 15 minutes to 20 minutes a day to see if anything is worth doing it ( I can usually tell by the title whether I will truly qualify ). Of course, if I qualify for one, it can then take more time..but if it is worth enough money...it may be worth it.

I don't honestly think I will really make that each month, I am hoping for a few high paying surveys a year and it will average out ( I get those EVERY once in a while.....and refer a friend sign ups I am going to count...which hopefully I get some from my blog and friends).

We will see. I always set my goals much higher than I can reach...to keep me motivated. Kind of phsycologically (how the heck do ou spell that word? ) trying to trick myself into making more on surveys.

We will see what it really comes out at?

Debra said...

Carrie,
Thanks so much for the work you put into this. I signed up for just about all your recommendations 2 months ago. I have been very busy! I love it and am usually offered several surveys per day. As a stay at home mom, I find that if I can check often throughout the day, I will catch it before they have enough respondents. If I let it wait a day or so, I am out of luck. I have accumulated quite a bit already. Thanks

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Debbie said...

Carrie,

I've been doing surveys for years; however, one thing to keep in mind is that they take up a lot of time--usually 20 min. or so.

BUT...I don't do them through their own websites, but something I have found very useful are reward sites.

Two great sites are Sunshine Rewards and QuickRewards. If you want to join, please let me know, so I can send the referral link.

They include the surveys on their site, but they offer SO MUCH MORE in earning money opportunities.

It's hard to get to them every day, as you said, but I try to do them first thing every morning, when time allows!

 
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