Thursday, March 26, 2009

Look what came in the Mail! $500 Free Visa Gift Card!!

Well, this morning I headed to a local coffee shop to meet Andrea from Mommy Snacks for some iced hot chocolate!! Yes, I gave up coffee for Lent. It has been difficult, but I have persevered thus far. :-)

Thankfully, although I would have loved to have sat and chatted all day, I made it home in time for the arrival of my Fed Ex man. Because...he was asking me to sign for my $500 Visa Gift Card!!!! Woo, hoo!! And, there I am holding my loot ( also a $50 Savings Bond that came in the mail today, too..I will post about that soon. And, disregard my red, shiny nose...I have had a cold!! ).

As you all know, I do my monthly congrats post ( expect one in about a week...April is just around the corner ) and this month...I will be included!! Yay!!

So far in March, I have heard from a number of you and we are up to over $7,000 in free gift cards/money/gifts between us all!! In fact, since I have started tracking, we are over $30,000..yes, $30,000 in free money given to my readers via Online Offers.

And, this doesn't even count the free Wii, Wii Fit's, etc, people who may not have let me know or those from before I started tracking at the end of last year. So, I bet the number is even higher!

I am in shock and so thankful all of us have benefited so greatly from these programs!!

So, I just wanted to send a quick reminder to everyone that is my all time favorite way to make extra money for families! Why? It has the largest impact!

Want to finally take the plunge and give Online Offers a try?

I usually recommend newbies try IDeal offers first. They are quick, the smallest investment and have a great track record.

If you would like to do an offer like I did above, then click here. This will give you $500 in a generic gift card...Visa or Mastercard. In fact, I am getting ready to start this one myself, too.

How long did it take for me to get my card? I started on Janurary 27th. My money arrived on March 26th. Two months!

How much did I spend for this? $68.11! So, I made a profit of $431.89!

Plus, I got to keep Mineral Make Up, Eye Cream, download some songs, etc.

Don't know where to get started?

First, read the general Online Offers directions here.
Second, read the IDeal instructions here.
Third, catch up on Frequently Asked Questions here.
Finally, click on my Facebook link here. Once there, go to the Discussion Board and expand it. You will see two different discussions with IDeal in the topic that will be beneficial to read.

Plus, just check out my Online Offers webpage for even more details...my spreadsheet I use for tracking, other companies I utilize and the Bragger post...to see pictures of all the others who have gotten their free money, too.



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22 comments:

Becky said...

I've been wanting to try so I tried a small one for $10.00 yesterday.
I have a question for you we live in a small town where we were only given street address a few years ago. We've had a problem with sites not recognizing our street address. It happened with our cells phone they had to mail them to a relatives house for us.
Is there a way to contact the company's before I begin to let them know it is a legitimite address.
I never got the email for the $10.00 survey. I'm just trying to avoid getitng to the end to find out I'm dq'd.
Thanks for your help love your blog.

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

Becky,

Set up your account but do any of the offers.

Email them thru their contact page the FIRST day ( as you only have 60 days to complete everything ).

Explain your situation and they should answer you within 2 days or so. If they say they recognize your address, then begin signing up for your offers.

If not, do nothing. You are not out any money or under any obligtion to finish anything.

Becky said...

Thank you Carrie I will give that a try.

Suehaad said...

Congrats! I, too, think that online offers have the biggest bang for the buck! Based on the time it takes me to complete the offer and the $$ I receive, I am making an hourly rate of approx. $100 an hour! Not bad.

Thanks again for helping me and every one else get started. Your information on on line offers is excellent. Thanks again!

megs92 said...

Congrats, Carrie! What a great feeling to hold that $500 in your hand! We've submitted all the paperwork and are just waiting for it to come through...fingers crossed.

I'd be curious to know how you use the card - just for everyday, at the grocery store, CVS, etc.? Or do you sell it online or try to use it on just one big purchase? I've never used a pre-paid card before and it seems like there are a few annoying restrictions (i.e. can't use it at a gas pump, etc.)

Congrats again!
~Megan

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

Megan,

I don't use it at the grocery, gas or drugstores, etc.

I don't do this, because my credit cards give me such a high percentage back...3%, that I don't want to miss out on getting that free money by using this gift card.

So, this gets used for everything else.

For example, when my phone bill comes, I will call and pay it with this for that month ( it will override my auto pay as long as you call and talk to them ).

When we go to a restaurant, we will pay with this ( since we only get 1% back at restaurants ). When I shop Target for my weekly clearance sales. :-)

Any shopping we do except gas, groceries, etc. and household bills that will except CCs without a fee and I am not getting a high percentage back on my credit cards.

THEN...when I get down to a small amount, I go to Kroger and ask for a Kroger Gift Card wih the exact amount ( say $11.21 ). They are able to load an exact amount and I pay it with this gift card.

Othewise, when you get down to the last few dollars, you have to make a purchase for the EXACT amount for the gift card to process thru. And, what is the likely hood that you will buy something for exactly $11.21 after taxes, right?

Anonymous said...

Hi Carrie,

I tried e-mailing you at moneysavingsmethods@yahoo.com and it came back that you did not have a e-mail box. Is there another e-mail address that I can directly e-mail you at?

Thanks,
Kathy

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

Kathy,

You added as s to the end of saving.

It is just moneysavingmethods at yahoo dot com.

Let me know if that doesn't work.

Oh, and did I have it typed wrong somewhere on my blog?

Thanks,

S. said...

I did 5 of the smaller offers (around $20) over the past two years. They worked fine. I never noticed the higher value offers before.

I'm working on a $100 i-deal offer right now. I'm excited about trying the Boca Java. My uncle is very choosy about his coffee. The one he loves only comes in the Senseo pods and it's too expensive to keep him swimming in coffee. I'm hoping I can find a good one for him. This is a great way to sample different coffees w/o spending a fortune.

megs92 said...

Hi Carrie,

Great advice! I will definitely see about paying our phone/electric with the card (if it arrives...!). One other question though, do you know if you can "break up" the $500 into smaller Visa gift cards, i.e. at Kroger by buying 5 $100 cards, for example? That way we could use them for wedding gifts, etc. which would be very handy. I really like the Kroger GC idea as you're getting down to the end of the card's value. Will definitely do that.

Thanks again!
~Megan

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

Megan,

Great idea. Yes, that would work, too.

I'll have to remember that, too, if I end up needing any gift cards for gifts!

Thanks, Megan!

Andrea @ Mommy Snacks.net said...

Woo Hoo!!!! You are such a wealth of information, my friend!!!!

Marcy said...

Carrie - yay for you! That is so cool! One of these days I'm going to sit down and figure all of this out (by reading your instructions) so that I can follow along with you and earn some $ too. :-)

megs92 said...

Boo-hoo. I found out today that my Kroger won't let me pay for any kind of gift card (Kroger or otherwise) with a credit card. That is so disappointing! Oh well... Enjoy using your $500 card, Carrie!
~Megan

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

Wow..that is odd.

I would contact Kroger customer service.

You should definitely be able to buy at least the Kroger gift card with a credit card.

I load my Kroger Gift Card every week. Call 1-866-221-4141

Ask them nicely to explain why your Kroger will not allow you to buy a Kroger gift card and pay with a credit card.

Let me know what they say.

Remember, contacting customer service when issues arise is very important so they know what their store are doing and so the customer understands the policies clearly.

Often times, they will even send you coupons or some type of compensation for your trouble. :-)

Connie P. said...

I am attempting to do the offer you linked in this post Carrie. Thanks for all the info. I hope I did everything right and that my approvals will show up soon.

Thanks again!

Jessica H said...

I am lost ! ! I tried the 500 gift card from the Ideal site. I completed 4 deals on platinum.. And then completed two deals on the gold page. Except everything is showing pending status under the platinum list when I check gift status. None of the deals are showing under the gold list. I just dont understand. I don't want to do anymore and have them credit under platinum instead of gold or silver, because I will run out of deals to do. As of now there are like 10 different ones pending on my platinum list. Im so frustrated. I think I got scammed !

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

Jessica,

Did you check the status on each one before you completed it?

If you go to my IDeal instructions,

http://moneysavingmethodsonlineoffers.blogspot.com/2008/09/i-deal-instructions.html

it is step number 8.

Did you do that and it is now showing in the wrong spot? Did they move?

If you didn't do step 8, then that is the problem.

If you did step 8, then write me back and let me know so I can figure out what happened.

Jessica H said...

I did ck before..and they were in the right place... now they r all in platinum.. There are even some i didnt complete under he platinum list, but i opened to look at.. will these just disappear from under platinum pending status so that i can possibly complete them under gold or silver??? or are they gone now that i just looked at the details???

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

Oh, I see what you mean.

Anything you click on to look at will show up as pending under the category you looked at them under.

But, as long as you didn't complete them, you can go to the next section and complete them there ( just make sure they show up as pending in the right section before you finish them ).

They will NOT disappear from the other section. They will always show as pending once you clicked on them. That is nothing to worry about.

Jessica H said...

Ok.. thanks so much for your help. Sorry i am a little confused.. or A lot LOL.. I guess the main problem I am having is that after it shows pending in my platinum list for just looking at them, they won't show up in any of my other lists... Ugh. I think im going to wait a day, see what happens overnight and start again tomorrow morning looking at this.. been at it for a few hours and now I am getting crosseyed LOL

Carrie @ Moneysavingmethods.com said...

Jessica,

Yep! The first time you do it, you will go batty.

Once you have them all done, you will be checking your status everyday...I got so nervous the first time.

But, you are right. Let it feed thru tonight and see if tomorrow it will show up in the right category.

 
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