One of my favorite bloggers over at A Dime At a Time, recently mentioned M-Turk as a method of earning a few extra dollars. I decided to check it out. I signed up and got "verified" (took a couple of days) and then it required me to sign up for Amazon Payments. My email got verified and then I had to enter some personal info and have that verified. It was apparently supposed to take 24 hours. It's now been over a week. For whatever reason, I'm guessing this isn't going to happen for me. Doesn't seem like it should be that difficult of a process, for goodness sake.
I thought maybe it was something I could do on my lunch hours and some weekend time (especially this winter, when it's too cold to go out and do anything). From what I read up on it, you could earn about $5-$7 an hour. And while I wouldn't want to sit there all day (on a weekend or evening) making that kind of money, and hour wouldn't be that hard. While that certainly is paltry wages, haha, if I earned that per day, while I was sitting at my computer, anyway, it could add up to $150-$200 extra per month. A nice little extra chunk of change I could use. Hopefully it will work out and I can give it a try, at least.
I've been sitting on my 13,000 (about $130) Swagbucks points that I have built up. I'm not sure why, but Tuesday I decided to cash most of them in. Partly because the extra cash can come in handy as we are trying to save all our dollars for the cost of having our well dug. Plus, getting the $108 in my bank account from the ads, I thought another $125 would be nice to add to it, making an extra $233 total. I cashed in $100 to PayPal, so direct cash and then bought $25 Walmart giftcard for 2300 points (usually it's 2500 points). I can use the Walmart giftcard to apply to food purchases I will be making anyway, thereby reducing my cash outlay. I'm earning about $15 to $20 a month in Swagbucks (I really don't know how the people do it that earn hundreds) so it will take me awhile to build back up. I still have about $7 in points and another $5 pending from online purchases. Yesterday I did a survey all the way through, about 15-20 minutes of my time. Answered all the questions, watched the completion % go up to 98%, answered the final few questions they always do about demographics and then was told I did not qualify. Those ones really tick me off. That should have been 80 swagbucks. Very annoying when that happens. Today, I got emails that the $100 went into my PayPal account and an email with the Walmart giftcard code. That was fast. Swagbucks is my favorite way to earn a few extra dollars per month.
Little bits adding up is how I view a the money saving activities I do, which a lot of people seem to think aren't worth it. For instance, as school is gearing up to start, the issue of school lunches comes to mind. A school lunch is $3,which SEEMS like nothing, and people do treat it as such. But, as I told my kids, at $3/lunch/day/week it's $15/week. Not counting holidays, assume 4weeks/month = $60/month. At nine months school year that's $540/school year, for ONE KID. Assuming lunches don't go up in price, that's $6480 over the course of a k-12 education!!! For one kid.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I figure it takes me five minutes to pack a lunch, and this is whether I pack one, or a half dozen. Assuming I pack bottled water, a sandwich, and even expensive, pre-packaged treats like granola bar, I can pack a kid a lunch for about $0.60. So, I estimate I save over $5,000/kid over the course of k-12 education by packing lunches. And, pscki.g lunches takes me less time than writing the checks to put into their lunch accounts, and then driving to the school to deposit it. Little things add up!
it really does add up! I remember adding up the same thing when my kids were in school and except for a few times a month, they always took lunch. Plus the lunch staff always charged them for stuff they didn't buy and their lunch account was draining in one shot, that should have lasted a month or two, buying a milk and lunch 2-3 times a month. I got so mad after it kept happening I stopped putting money in and would only give them cash for milk and the days they bought lunch
DeleteI am going to do the MTurks, too. I thought she mentioned it took a while to get it set up. When I am on the computer and looking at kitten videos, I might as well do something to earn a buck or two. I would be highly irritated to find I did not qualify for something after I had spent that much time.
ReplyDeleteWhat is the bank verification all about? They report this money for paying taxes on income earned?
yes, I think the money earned is taxable, plus they want you to enter in bank account info to transfer it to to set up getting paid.
DeleteI have even had completed swagbuck surveys not pay and they are not good at responding...but it still is the easiest way to make money on the side consistently
ReplyDeleteit's annoying, but at least it doesn't happen very often. Most of the time, if I get selected to do the survey and complete it, I get the points.
DeleteI applied for M-Turk and was immediately denied without any given reason. I was hoping to earn a few extra bucks. Wish they would tell me why I was not a good candidate. I always forget about Swagbucks! I haven't been on there in a long time and the entire site is different now. I use to rack up Amazon gift cards on there a few years ago. For now I'm just listing items on Ebay and Mercari for extra income, it's more work, but at least it's something!
ReplyDeletethat is strange. Can't imagine why someone wouldn't qualify. I guess I'll keep holding out hope that it will eventually get past the verification process. I haven't heard of Mercari before. Is it like Ebay?
DeleteI seem to never be in the demo for swagbucks surveys so I gave it up entirely. It was just not worth the pain in the butt answering all the q's to not qualify.
ReplyDeleteOur summer has been out of control, but September is looming and we are cutting back on everything except college football, and all that was paid in June.
for awhile I couldn't seem to get any survey's to qualify for either. I just kept trying and seem to be getting more now. At least a few a week. I usually only click on the ones 20 minutes or less. I don't have the patience for the really long ones, especially when they keep repeating the same questions.
DeleteAw, thanks for the kind mention! Check to see if you have an account with M-Turk even though you didn't get a verification email. That is what happened to me. Low and behold, it was there! I've been watching some You Tube videos on how to maximize earnings. Tons of info out there. I have yet to put much effort into M-Turk, but have already cashed out for $40. I plan on doing more when the weather keeps me indoors. Like you said, it won't make you rich, but it does all add up and can be a good activity when you have a few minutes of down time.
ReplyDeleteAs for those surveys on Swagbucks, you can put in a ticket with them (really a complaint) and they quite often will credit you for your time. I've heard not to be a constant complainer to avoid an account suspension, but every now and then (especially if they really hack me off!) I'll do so and have been awarded.
it does show I have an account and says pending verification by Amazon Payments. When I log into Amazon Payments it says pending verification and should be done in 24 hours...a week ago haha! I just did a bit longer SB survey and got 150 points :)
DeleteKeep watching for it! Good going on the survey!
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