I have to admit something: I've been cheating on my blog with another blog. Ok, non-clever joking aside, I have a new blog. Not that I'm abandoning this one, because the two are totally different and unrelated. But the other one has certaintly been holding my attention lately! It's called The Broke Student's Guide to Stretching Your Dollar. It's aimed at college students, and focuses on all the ways that students can save money and get the most value for what little money they do spend. I focus a lot on getting things for free, earning money doing practically nothing (like paid-to sites) and taking advantage of all your campus has to offer, as well as tips and tricks on the things you do have to purchase whether you like it or not - like textbooks and groceries. Anyway, if any of thats useful to you, please follow! And then link all of your friends to it!
http://brokestudentguide.blogspot.com/
Showing posts with label freebies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freebies. Show all posts
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Ways to Make Extra Money at College
I haven't updated much lately - I've been too busy moving into my swanky new one-person apartment at Indiana University for my (first) senior year! It's pretty freaking amazing, but unfortunately I'm finding myself quite broke. My dad has decided he can't spare me any more money than the cost of my books (roughly $400, ouch!) so I've been having to scrape together some pocket change on my own. Luckily, I'm fairly good at that. Aside from my 3 hours a week job at my dorm (literally, I have a 3 hours per week cap on what I can work. That's about $22 a week, tops, but I don't have enough time to get another part time job) I have a variety of ways to scrounge up pocket change. I've already shared a couple on my blog, but here's a refresher course:
1. Earning money online doing paid surveys, clicking on links in emails, and filling out offers (mostly signing up for newsletters and such, yay for spam filters!) If I spend a couple of hours a week doing this I can make about $30 a month. You can read my complete list of proven legit sites here. Right now my favorites are Treasure Trooper, SendEarnings, Inbox Dollars, and MyPoints (email me to get a referal link to the last one, it's invite-only). The last three I earn primarily through their paid emails, where you get about $.05 each for clicking on ad-supported emails. They send maybe 5-10 a day, so it actually adds up really quickly. Clicking through them all is my favorite mindless thing to do while watching TV or on the phone!
2. I have a few other suggestions in this post, explained in greater detail. In short they are donating plasma, selling extra stuff, advertising your skills on craigslist (math tutor? knitting lessons? strong guy available to lift stuff?), or creating a blog or website to sell advertising on or sell goods/services.
The other one I list is paid university studies. I'd like to go into more detail on that one because I've been looking at a lot more of them lately and they are perfect for college students in particular. If you're at a large research school, there is an excellent chance that there are some studies that will pay you to participate. These can be anything from sitting at a computer answering questions for an hour to participating in a group discussion. You can find Indiana University paid experiment at this website. To find some for your own university, just search "[Your College] Paid Psych Experiments" or similar. I also find a lot of them pasted up on flyers around major classroom buildings, especially the psych building, but even in the business school here. They say something like "18-24 YEAR OLD FEMALES, GOOD HEARING, HEAVY DRINKER, SMOKES LESS THAN 5 CIGS A DAY, $10/HR" with some pull-off contact sheets. They are looking for just about every type of person, and don't be afraid of participating in the ones with qualifications like "heavy drinker/drug user" because that's not a ploy for turning you into the police, it's just a qualifier for the study! (I'm assuming that fact, as I do not actually qualify as either a heavy drinker or drug user. But if I did, I would totally be using it to get more money. To support my habits. Or you know, whatever. In my actual case, it's more like a shoe habit).
Other college-specific things I'm doing right now are selling off my old appliances that freshman didn't know they need but now that they're at college they totally need (Like last year's window fan? My new apartment has Air Freaking Conditioning. I'm happy to provide the same luxury of cool air to dorm-dwellers at a fraction of the price of the same appliance at Target!) Also, now is the prime time to sell textbooks on places like Amazon. Students are still enrolling in classes, being accepted on waitlists, and switching into other classes, so textbooks are being purchased like crazy. I bought mine yesterday, and they were probably twice the price than if I'd bought them in the summer! They will also likely pay more for shipping right now. If you don't want to sell on Amazon, use Craigslist or a University supported forum (most colleges have one - Indiana's can be found on OneStart. )
Do you have any good ways to make extra money at college? Please tell me. I am so broke. And my readers probably want to know too! :) Happy earning!
1. Earning money online doing paid surveys, clicking on links in emails, and filling out offers (mostly signing up for newsletters and such, yay for spam filters!) If I spend a couple of hours a week doing this I can make about $30 a month. You can read my complete list of proven legit sites here. Right now my favorites are Treasure Trooper, SendEarnings, Inbox Dollars, and MyPoints (email me to get a referal link to the last one, it's invite-only). The last three I earn primarily through their paid emails, where you get about $.05 each for clicking on ad-supported emails. They send maybe 5-10 a day, so it actually adds up really quickly. Clicking through them all is my favorite mindless thing to do while watching TV or on the phone!
2. I have a few other suggestions in this post, explained in greater detail. In short they are donating plasma, selling extra stuff, advertising your skills on craigslist (math tutor? knitting lessons? strong guy available to lift stuff?), or creating a blog or website to sell advertising on or sell goods/services.
The other one I list is paid university studies. I'd like to go into more detail on that one because I've been looking at a lot more of them lately and they are perfect for college students in particular. If you're at a large research school, there is an excellent chance that there are some studies that will pay you to participate. These can be anything from sitting at a computer answering questions for an hour to participating in a group discussion. You can find Indiana University paid experiment at this website. To find some for your own university, just search "[Your College] Paid Psych Experiments" or similar. I also find a lot of them pasted up on flyers around major classroom buildings, especially the psych building, but even in the business school here. They say something like "18-24 YEAR OLD FEMALES, GOOD HEARING, HEAVY DRINKER, SMOKES LESS THAN 5 CIGS A DAY, $10/HR" with some pull-off contact sheets. They are looking for just about every type of person, and don't be afraid of participating in the ones with qualifications like "heavy drinker/drug user" because that's not a ploy for turning you into the police, it's just a qualifier for the study! (I'm assuming that fact, as I do not actually qualify as either a heavy drinker or drug user. But if I did, I would totally be using it to get more money. To support my habits. Or you know, whatever. In my actual case, it's more like a shoe habit).
Other college-specific things I'm doing right now are selling off my old appliances that freshman didn't know they need but now that they're at college they totally need (Like last year's window fan? My new apartment has Air Freaking Conditioning. I'm happy to provide the same luxury of cool air to dorm-dwellers at a fraction of the price of the same appliance at Target!) Also, now is the prime time to sell textbooks on places like Amazon. Students are still enrolling in classes, being accepted on waitlists, and switching into other classes, so textbooks are being purchased like crazy. I bought mine yesterday, and they were probably twice the price than if I'd bought them in the summer! They will also likely pay more for shipping right now. If you don't want to sell on Amazon, use Craigslist or a University supported forum (most colleges have one - Indiana's can be found on OneStart. )
Do you have any good ways to make extra money at college? Please tell me. I am so broke. And my readers probably want to know too! :) Happy earning!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Want to make some extra money?
Want To Make Some Extra Money?
As a full-time college student (click here to read more about me!) I am constantly bombarded with a need for more spending money. New books, new clothes, late night Starbucks... *ahem* you know how it is. Of course, I have very little time between studying and, uhhhh,
Treasure Trooper Paypal Payment1. http://www.treasuretrooper.com/ Treasure trooper is my favorite - mostly because they've made me the most money! See those pictures? I've made almost $200 for fill
ing out some dumb surveys and doing free offeres! They mail checks or deposit in your paypal.
When Do They Pay? They pay out the 15th of every month as long as your earnings are over $20.
Favorite Feature: Fast paying! The offers are usually approved the same day you fill them out and it's easy to get the $20 needed to receive p
When Do They Pay? They pay out the 15th of every month as long as your earnings are over $20.
Favorite Feature: Fast paying! The offers are usually approved the same day you fill them out and it's easy to get the $20 needed to receive p
ayment.PRO TIP: search for keyword "email address" or "zip code" - all you have to do is enter your email/zip code! No forms! They're my faves. Open up a new email account to handle all the spam.
Bonus Features: a slot machine where you can win extra money, a $100 treasure hunt, a "trading hut" where you can trade the coins you also earn completing offers for prizes, and more fun stuff! Join Here
Bonus Features: a slot machine where you can win extra money, a $100 treasure hunt, a "trading hut" where you can trade the coins you also earn completing offers for prizes, and more fun stuff! Join Here
Treasure Trooper Payout To Date $249.35Best Feature: The "pay per click" emails. Super easy!
When Do They Pay? You can request payout when you get $30. It takes me about 3 months to earn the $30 JUST by answering the emails (but it's faster if you also do surveys and offers).
Bonus Features: SendEarnings has pay to play games, pay-to-shop on some great sites, surveys, and offers, plus a great referal program.
PRO TIP: save your daily emails up and then answer them all in a big bundle once a week - they're less annoying that way and you can see all at once how much your money jumps up from the emails!Join Here
Send Earnings Payout To Date $27.203. http://www.inboxdollars.com This site is essentially the exact same as Send Earnings. You get sent emails which are worth about .02 each - which really adds up! You can also do free offers and surveys for money. You get $5 free from signing up. Just think - if you do this along with Send Earnings, you'll be getting at least $60 just from clicking on emails!
Best Feature: The "pay per click" emails. Super easy!
When Do They Pay? You can request payout when you get $30. It takes me about 3 months to earn the $30 JUST by answering the emails (but it's faster if you also do surveys and offers).
When Do They Pay? You can request payout when you get $30. It takes me about 3 months to earn the $30 JUST by answering the emails (but it's faster if you also do surveys and offers).
Bonus Features: InboxDollars has pay to play games, pay-to-shop on some great sites, surveys, and offers, plus a great referral program.
PRO TIP: save your daily emails up and then answer them all in a big bundle once a week - they're less annoying that way and you can see all at once how much your money jumps up from the emails!
Join Here
Join Here
InboxDollars Current Earnings: $2 to Payout!
Read more about CashCrate here.
When Do They Pay? after you reach $20.
Bonus Features: They also have points and surveys, and some really good referral benefits!
PRO TIP: Click Here to read an excellent guide on making your first $100 on CashCrate.
Join Here
5. MyPoints no link for this one cuz it's invite-only, you have to give me your email address (email me at lia.saunders (at) gmail.com). It's another one that sends emails that you click on (plus surveys/offers, but I like to be lazy.)
PRO TIP: Click Here to read an excellent guide on making your first $100 on CashCrate.
Join Here
5. MyPoints no link for this one cuz it's invite-only, you have to give me your email address (email me at lia.saunders (at) gmail.com). It's another one that sends emails that you click on (plus surveys/offers, but I like to be lazy.)
When Do They Pay: You get points that you can then redeem for gift cards, and you can cash in your points as soon as you've earned enough for a reward. There are several different point-reward levels. The retailers you can redeem gift cards at vary from department stores to online retailers to resteraunts. My first reward was a $50 gift card to Macy's, and it hasn't taken me long at all to earn another $50 card.
Bonus Features: Gift cards to my favorite resteraunts/stores, and daily pay-per-click emails that usually contain excellent deals to shop at some of my favorite online sites. (I ACTUALLY use them for shopping. Now that's a good deal!)
6. ChaCha ChaCha is essentially google from your phone: you text 242-242 (CHACHA) a question, and somebody online looks up the answer for you and texts you back. When you work for them, you are the one answering questions, and they pay you about .10/question. It is a really legit company - you have to fill out a W9 online, and they have about an hour's worth of training material for you to read before you can even be TESTED to become a guide. It's really quite fun and addicting! You can make about $5/hr on average answering questions.
PRO TIP: Their "Daily Spin and Win" feature is a quick and easy way to get a few extra points. You can spin once per day and win up to 10,000 points! Also, like the other paid-to email sited, MyPoints paid emails are best to do all at once in a group, and are good for mindless activities such as when you're on the phone or watching TV.
When Do They Pay? You can get money sent to your bank account after you reach $100, or you can sign up for a debit card with them. There are tutorials explaining payout on the ite.
Bonus Features: Answering strange questions is extremely interesting. I have learned so many strange and unusual things that I never thought I wanted to know! Plus, you can select which categories you'd like to answer questions for, to keep it interesting for you. There is also a quality team which pays extra for good answers. NOTE: ChaCha is not always hiring.
So. I've made over $300 on the survey sites I listed, money that I can promise you I have actually received, no scam, into my bank account and straight to my wallet. Think of all the luxuries you could afford to buy! Seriously, sign up, and share your referral links if you've got any.
In addition to this article, check out these awesome posts as well:
*Supplement Your Income With Sweepstakes
*Ten creative ways to earn extra money
7. https://www.mturk.com This is a really awesome Amazon site that is essentially a marketplace for online labor. A company who has a task to complete - something you can do at a computer, like check links to see if they are still up, check if photos are blurry or grainy, taking a survey, proof-reading, etc - lists it as a "HIT" on Mturk, and then users can choose to complete it if they qualify and earn money for each HIT that is accepted. It's great for the company because they can get a lot of different people doing the same tasks - less margin for error that way - without needing to hire someone to do something unskilled and mind-numbingly boring like checking photos for blurriness. Although I just started out on the site (check out my whopping $.70 haha) I found it through a friend who assures me that it is indeed too legit to quit. Score! Amazon is so awesome.
8. Twitter. Yeah, you probably have a twitter already (Follow Me!!) Well, so does everyone else- which some have realized is a great potential market for paid advertising! How can twitter users cash in on this? A variety of sites offer programs where they tweet advertisements under your name and pay per click, referall, or post. The more twitter followers you have, the more your account is worth to advertisers. I'm new to this so no payouts yet - let me know your experiences! Here are some legit, review-backed sites I've found:
So. I've made over $300 on the survey sites I listed, money that I can promise you I have actually received, no scam, into my bank account and straight to my wallet. Think of all the luxuries you could afford to buy! Seriously, sign up, and share your referral links if you've got any.
In addition to this article, check out these awesome posts as well:
*Supplement Your Income With Sweepstakes
*Ten creative ways to earn extra money
Monday, August 3, 2009
GIVEAWAY! Win Mario Mushroom Earrings and Necklace
That's right it's time for an OmgLia giveaway!! I will be giving away the following two items:
1 Pair of Mario Mushroom One Up Earrings in red or green
1 Mario Mushroom One Up Necklace in red or green
Total Prize Value: $26
How to Enter
There are several ways to enter this giveaway. Each option is worth 1 entry and you can choose to do as many as you like for a total of up to 7 entries! Leave a comment for each individual entry.
1. Visit http://omglia.com OR http://omglia.etsy.com and pick out your favorite item. Comment with who you would buy that item for (yourself, your 5 year old sister, your grandmother, etc!) and why, along with your email address.
2. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive monthly coupons, offers, updates and behind the scenes information about OmgLia, and leave a comment on this post with your email address.
3. Follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com /omglia and leave a comment letting me know you're following, along with an email address.
4. Facebook fan me at My Facebook Profile and leave a comment with an email address.
5. Follow this blog publicly and leave a comment letting me know you're following, along with an email address.
6. Link Back to this giveaway using a banner, tweeting or facebooking , blogging, a myspace bulletin, etc and leave a comment linking to your promotion, along with an email address.
7. Purchase any item from http://omglia.com OR http://omglia.etsy.com and leave a comment here with your email address.
This giveaway ends Monday, August 17th and a winner will be chosen on that day.
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. Winner announced soon...check back!
1 Pair of Mario Mushroom One Up Earrings in red or green
1 Mario Mushroom One Up Necklace in red or green
Total Prize Value: $26
How to Enter
There are several ways to enter this giveaway. Each option is worth 1 entry and you can choose to do as many as you like for a total of up to 7 entries! Leave a comment for each individual entry.
1. Visit http://omglia.com OR http://omglia.etsy.com and pick out your favorite item. Comment with who you would buy that item for (yourself, your 5 year old sister, your grandmother, etc!) and why, along with your email address.
2. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive monthly coupons, offers, updates and behind the scenes information about OmgLia, and leave a comment on this post with your email address.
3. Follow me on twitter at http://twitter.com /omglia and leave a comment letting me know you're following, along with an email address.
4. Facebook fan me at My Facebook Profile and leave a comment with an email address.
5. Follow this blog publicly and leave a comment letting me know you're following, along with an email address.
6. Link Back to this giveaway using a banner, tweeting or facebooking , blogging, a myspace bulletin, etc and leave a comment linking to your promotion, along with an email address.
7. Purchase any item from http://omglia.com OR http://omglia.etsy.com and leave a comment here with your email address.
This giveaway ends Monday, August 17th and a winner will be chosen on that day.
THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. Winner announced soon...check back!
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Raffling off $45 of merchandise for only $5!
Have you ever browsed omglia.com and thought wistfully, "I wish I could buy a bucketful of this amazing, colorful, funky jewelry, but I'm totally broke and don't have any extra money :(" Admit it - probably (and you probably thought it just like that, too, with the frowny face and everything.)
WELL, frowny-face no more! This is your lucky day! I'm raffling off $45 of merchandise for only $5 a ticket! And to make things even AWESOMER, the first 5 tickets will only cost $3 each!!
Look at all this swag - for the superlow price of one ticket (or 2, or 3 - however many you can afford!) you could open up your mail to this awesome package worth $45. Now that's what I call recession-proof spending! (OK, I'll quit being nerdy.) Included in this sweet swag bag are:
Hello Kitty Cell Phone Charm - valued at $5
Flower Button Earrings - valued at $7
Purple Lilac Button Studs - valued at $3
Pink Striped Little Earrings - valued at $4
Blue Star Keychain - valued at $6
Blue and White Polka Dot HairClip - valued at $3
Green and Blue Polka Dot Hairclip - valued at $3
Rainbow Balloon Earrings - valued at $7
Blue and Green Star Earrings - valued at $7
Raffle ENDS on March 1, 2009 and the first 5 tickets are only $3 each! Buy your ticket(s) NOW and tell all of your friends!
WELL, frowny-face no more! This is your lucky day! I'm raffling off $45 of merchandise for only $5 a ticket! And to make things even AWESOMER, the first 5 tickets will only cost $3 each!!
Look at all this swag - for the superlow price of one ticket (or 2, or 3 - however many you can afford!) you could open up your mail to this awesome package worth $45. Now that's what I call recession-proof spending! (OK, I'll quit being nerdy.) Included in this sweet swag bag are:
Hello Kitty Cell Phone Charm - valued at $5
Flower Button Earrings - valued at $7
Purple Lilac Button Studs - valued at $3
Pink Striped Little Earrings - valued at $4
Blue Star Keychain - valued at $6
Blue and White Polka Dot HairClip - valued at $3
Green and Blue Polka Dot Hairclip - valued at $3
Rainbow Balloon Earrings - valued at $7
Blue and Green Star Earrings - valued at $7
Raffle ENDS on March 1, 2009 and the first 5 tickets are only $3 each! Buy your ticket(s) NOW and tell all of your friends!
Monday, February 9, 2009
Free Money
So most of you have probably heard by now of my love for paid-to sites (aka free money). Well my dirt poor boyfriend just signed up for 2 of them and he's working on saving up for college classes this summer so I'm trying to help him out by whoring his referal links around! If you want to read more about the paid-to sites that I love, click here to visit my blog entry with proof pictures and then come back and use these links to sign up!!
Treasure Trooper
Treasure Trooper is my favorite - mostly because they've made me the most money! See those pictures? I made almost $150 for filling out some dumb surveys and doing offeres! They mail checks or deposit in your paypal. TIP: search for keyword "email address" or "zip code" - all you have to do is enter your email/zip code! No forms! They're my faves. Open up a new email account to handle all the spam.
Send Earnings
Send Earnings is good because it's super lazy. They send you emails, you click on them, they pay you. You can receive money when you get $25. They give you $5 when you sign up, plus referrals, and if you're not lazy you can do the surveys and stuff too. I mostly just do the emails, it's a super easy way to add up money fast (each email is about .02, they send about 2-3 a day.) My first payment just arrived in the mail! It takes me about 2 months to earn the $30 just by answering the emails. TIP: save 'em up and then answer them all in a big bundle once a week - they're less annoying that way and you can see how much your money jumps up!
Treasure Trooper is my favorite - mostly because they've made me the most money! See those pictures? I made almost $150 for filling out some dumb surveys and doing offeres! They mail checks or deposit in your paypal. TIP: search for keyword "email address" or "zip code" - all you have to do is enter your email/zip code! No forms! They're my faves. Open up a new email account to handle all the spam.
Send Earnings
Send Earnings is good because it's super lazy. They send you emails, you click on them, they pay you. You can receive money when you get $25. They give you $5 when you sign up, plus referrals, and if you're not lazy you can do the surveys and stuff too. I mostly just do the emails, it's a super easy way to add up money fast (each email is about .02, they send about 2-3 a day.) My first payment just arrived in the mail! It takes me about 2 months to earn the $30 just by answering the emails. TIP: save 'em up and then answer them all in a big bundle once a week - they're less annoying that way and you can see how much your money jumps up!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Black Friday Weekend at OmgLia.com!
Novemer 28 Through December 1!
This Black Friday weekend, http://omglia.com is offering tons of awesome bonus deals! Pick a coupon from the following list and enter it during checkout to redeem! (if you cannot find where to enter it, just email it to me!)
Free Shipping on Domestic Orders: BLACKFRIDAYSHIPPING
Free Gift Box + Gift Packaging: BLACKFRIDAYGIFTWRAP
Free Pair of Holiday Earrings With Purchase: BLACKFRIDAYEARRINGS
Sunday, August 3, 2008
GIVEAWAY!!! Free prizes!
As some of you may know, I recently changed my primary etsy shop from liasaun1.etsy.com to http://omglia.etsy.com. As such, many of my listings have expired - and to be honest I don't feel like relisting them. They're old, the pictures aren't very good, and I'm sick of looking at them in my inventory. So here is your chance to get some of my unsold designs FREE! I will be giving away 3 pairs of earrings. You may enter using the following options. (enter as many times as you can!)
Option 1: Feature my giveaway in your blog. Include a picture of your favorite item from my shop for an extra entry!
Option 2: Have a website, myspace, livejournal? Add my banner and show me where you've added it! You can find a page of easy copy and paste banners for you to add easily RIGHT HERE.
Option 3: Complete this short survey:
1. Have you seen my shop/blog before? If not, where did you find out about this giveaway?
2. What appeals to you about my shop/items for sale?
3. What would you like to see more of in my shop?
4. What do think is the target market for my items (age, income, etc)?
5. Any suggestions or critiques for me?
Giveaway Ends August 10 at 11:59 pm!
Saturday, March 29, 2008
The Sampler
So, I'm branching out my promoting this month and sending in some items for the April The Sampler! I sent in 30 button earrings - I'm starting small just to see if it's a total waste of money before I dive right in. I'm not sure how much money I spent total, but it's not more than $15. I can't wait to get my Sampler too.
For those of you who haven't heard of it, The Sampler is a package filled with DIY goodies. The items are all donated by crafters looking for some promotion, and you pay the money to cover the shipping costs, website costs, etc. It's a really neat little program and I'm crossing my fingers that I get some sales! Those of you who can't donate should totally buy one.
PS How kickass are my current biz cards?
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