Online surveys and mystery shopping get a bad rap. Many people think that they are just scams but there are really some great (and legitimate) companies out there that will pay you for your time and effort. And to prove it, here’s what I earned from online surveys and mystery shopping last month, among other endeavors. I completed these mystery shops and surveys in the previous month (or earlier) and received the payment this month. Some of these mystery shops required me to pay something out of pocket to purchase a good or service (which I get to keep) but I was reimbursed for my purchase and was usually paid an additional fee.

September 2012
Viggle– $5.00 CVS e-gift card
ShopKick– $5.00 CVS e-gift card and $5.00 Starbucks e-gift card
Memolink– $25.00
Marketforce– $47.38
Trendsource– $6.60

Total Earned in September: $93.98

Whenever I earn gift cards I immediately transfer the gift card amount out of the relevant budget category into savings or my debt payoff budget category. For example, when I get a $5.00 Starbucks gift card, I transfer $5.00 out of my groceries/eating out budget envelope and transfer it into my debt envelope. I use a really easy budgeting website and app called Easy Envelope Budget Aid which helps me to visualize what that lump sum in my bank account is supposed to be used for and helps me to stay on budget.

This was another slow month for me. I really need to step it up with my mystery shopping and online surveys. These bills aren’t going to pay themselves!

So what did I do with this extra income? Well, part of it paid for a baby shower gift for my friend (yay!) and the rest was transferred to my credit card to help pay it down.

What did you do to make a little extra last month? What’s your side hustle?