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. The amount I earned from mystery shops includes the reimbursement for my purchases.
Mystery shopping usually requires that you purchase something specific from the store you are evaluating for which you are then reimbursed. I usually charge those purchases onto my credit card so that I get rewards points and so that it does not use up my grocery budget for that month. When I am paid for mystery shopping I pay myself back and transfer the amount of money I spent on those mystery shopping purchases back to the credit card. The remainder is my profit.
February 2014
Pact app- $11.00
Freelance Writing- $135.00
Blogging/ Ad Revenue- $15.00
Marketforce– $311.76
BARE International– $77.93
Corporate Research International– $15.00
Total: $565.69
What did I do with this extra income?
We are working to pay off medical bills that we are in a payment plan with so the bulk of this money went toward paying off one of those bills and making payments on two others. I also made payments to my sister and my mother toward housing costs for our upcoming family trip to England for my sister’s wedding. My sister and mother booked housing and paid upfront for it while allowing me to make payments to them to pay them back prior to the trip.
Did you make any extra income last month? What are you using your side hustle money for?
How did you find places to do freelance writing for? I signed up for Marketforce and then accidentally completed my first shopper survey incorrectly. Totally not off to a good start :-/ That's a nice chunk of extra income! I'm going to look into some of the things you mentioned 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Kirsten
Thanks Kristen! I paid close attention to the personal finance blogs and websites that I read and jumped when I noticed that they take guest posts or pay for posts. I write for the Krazy Coupon Lady regularly but they pay people per post also. http://thekrazycouponlady.com/get-paid-as-a-kcl-contributor/. Keep an eye out for posts written by people other than the regular blog author. Larger sites may pay you for your guest posts 🙂 Also check out the job boards on ProBlogger. I have applied to jobs there but so far no luck with them yet, though I have heard that they can be lucrative. Good luck kicking Sallie Mae to the curb!