Earning Extra Money

A few weeks ago, I wrote this post about earning extra money by participating in research studies at your local college or university. Another easy way that I've found to earn extra money is by taking online surveys. There are a lot of marketing firms that will pay you to answer questions honestly about products or services. I would not rely on these for income but when I'm online and have some spare time, it doesn't hurt to answer a few questions and earn money for my time.

Here are some of my favorites:

Pinecone Research - This is a market research company that conducts periodic surveys and sometimes product trials based on your household information. It frequently sends out household questions for which you receive sweepstakes entries. If you are selected, based on your household criteria, the surveys are generally between 20-30 minutes and you receive $3.00. It used to send out physical checks but recently moved to PayPal as a payment option. I've been selected to participate in 3 or 4 surveys and getting cash is great, but the opportunities are limited and not very regular.

e-Rewards - This has been a mainstay of "earnings" for me. It sends out periodic survey opportunities, tells you approximately how long the survey will take and how much you will earn for qualifying and then completing the survey. Drawback is that it does not pay cash, but rather e-rewards currency that you can use to redeem for things like magazine subscriptions, money off coupons for places like Omaha Steaks, FTD, Proflowers. It also offers a $15 credit to your Borders Rewards card. Drawback is there is limited redemption of the rewards. For example, you can only get the Borders credit once per calendar year.

YouData - I just recently signed up with YouData and I am hooked! I installed the Ad player and as I am working on my computer or during down time, I get paid for watching ads and for clicking through to the ad's websites. The ad player shows you exactly how much you will earn for viewing the ad and then the additional amount you will earn for clicking on the ad. You can say that I got sucked in but I have actually discovered some really neat products. YouData pays through PayPal and it pays fast. Even if you earn just a few cents, it pays immediately to your PayPal account. I've accumulated a nice little PayPal balance by just checking my YouData ads once or twice per week.

e-miles - This is a similar concept to e-rewards but instead of earning rewards currency, you earn frequent flyer miles for a variety of airlines. You log on to your member page and click on the ads and marketing information, earning designated number of miles for just looking or more if you actually sign up for the offer.

Others I have tried:

Inbox Dollars - Not a big fan. Although you are paid to read the email ads, the pennies that they pay were just not worth it to me. The couple of surveys I tried to complete were way too long for paying so little. I like knowing exactly how much I am earning for my time.

I'm not making my living by doing online surveys but as is said, every penny counts and if I'm online anyway, why not earn something while you're there?

Do you know of other programs that I don't know about yet? Leave me a comment and tell me what your favorite online survey is.

Grocery Budget Update

We had 12 people (3 couples each with their 2 kids) at our cabin this weekend. As you can probably guess from what I bought - we are in charge of breakfasts! So my trip to Fred Meyer cost a little more than I expected to spend at this point in the month. I thought I went over but it turns out, I made it under by $3.34.

I had never seen marked down Organic Valley milk at my store before so I was happy to pluck those 3 gallons right off the shelf at $2.79 each!
Romaine lettuce $2.98
Bar S Bacon 3 for $7
Parmesan Cheese 2 @ $3.99
Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls 4 @ $1.99
Pillsbury Recipe Creations 2 marked down to $.89
Naturally Preferred Cage Free Eggs 2 for $5
Bananas $1.45
Red Band Bananas $1.39 - I got two bunches for this price

Coupons used:
$1/2 Stella cheese - found this at the deli!
$1.50/1 Organic Valley milk
$1/1 Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls
$.30/1 Recipe Creations

Total spent: $44.09

I still have $18 in Catalina coupons from Albertsons that I will need to use by next week, which will get me by for the rest of the month for any needed essentials but I'm not sure what I'll do if a screamin' deal comes my way!

Menu Plan Monday

Last week was so busy that we only made 2 of the 5 dinners I had planned. The chicken stir fry turned into a chow mein dish and we had lots of leftovers that we ended up eating on Wednesday. My parents brought us some delicious chili and cornbread on Thursday night and Friday night we left for our cabin so unfortunately we ate fast food that night.

I have to travel on Tuesday, so we may not get to everything on the plan but my theory is that it is better to have planned and not used than to not have planned and need!

Chicken Caesar Salad
Eggplant Parmesan
Quiche (this frozen quiche is feeling awfully rejected at this point!)
Spaghetti - using what sauce may be leftover from the eggplant dish

Eggplant is not a usual veggie that I would buy but it came in our CSA box this week. I had a roasted eggplant pizza for lunch last week and that really whet my appetite so it was a great coincidence that our organic farm would have eggplant in the box!

Visit orgjunkie.com for tons more menu plans and awesome organization ideas. She is the master organizer!

Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Soup

We had a delicious but very expensive prime rib roast for Christmas dinner - it was a special occasion after all! Since my husband's family was unable to join us for that feast due to weather, we actually had quite a bit left over. I could not bear to see that rich meat go to waste. So I cut it all up, chopped a bunch of onions, carrots, potatoes, celery and divided it all into freezer bags. One will be French Onion soup (check back for that recipe!), 1 will be a beef stew and 2 were designated for Beef & Barley soup. I always loved that soup as a kid and hadn't had it in years!

I'd never actually made this soup before and it turned out better than I had imagined. There's not a ton of meat (because this was a rich cut, but any less expensive stew meat, cut into smaller pieces will be just as good) and the barley really thickens it up. The barley directions said to pre-cook it but I figured that since it was going into the crockpot, that wasn't necessary. I used a concentrated bouillon product called Better than Bouillon but regular bouillon cubes (2 for max flavor)should work just fine.

Slow Cooker Beef & Barley Soup

1 cup beef, cut into cubes/small pieces
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup onion, diced
3/4 cup barley
2 tablespoons Better than Bouillon
4 cups water

Put all ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours.

Perfect for those cold winter evenings: warm food, warm soul!

I love the souper (har har) recipes on The Grocery Cart Challenge every week. Go over there for more great ideas and recipes!