Badblog

Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?
Every year businesses give away thousands of dollars in free money and gift cards as a way of promoting their websites/products. We’ve put together a list of 16 of them who will give you a ridiculous $1,935.20 in free cash right now.
Some of them are as simple as filling out a form and some of them take a bit more effort, but you can easily knock out all of them in a couple of hours.
Without further ado, here are the 16 companies giving out free money right now….

1. Try Banking at Capital One 360 – FREE $50.00

About a year ago, Capital One took over ING Direct and started offering free online checking accounts. What’s even cooler is that they’ll give you $50 just to open one.
I’ve already got a checking account that I’m pretty happy with, but I don’t mind opening a second one for some free cash.
Here’s how to do it:
1. Open a free checking account with Capital One 360.
2. There’s no minimum deposit with this account, but you’ve got to make at least 3 purchases with your Capital One 360 debit card during the first 45 days of opening the account.
3. On the 50th day, Capital One 360 will deposit a free $50 in your account. Sweet! For those of you who aren’t familiar with Capital One 360, they are a pretty popular virtual bank that gives spectacular interest rates. It’s completely free to open and maintain an account with Capital One 360.
Go claim your $50 and take yourself out to lunch.
Read more about it here: “Free Money Alert: Get $50 from Capital One 360”

2. Get Paid to Complete Tasks at InboxDollars.com – FREE $30.00

There are a number of sites on the web that will pay you to read advertiser’s emails, sign up for offers, and take surveys. I’ve tried about a million of them, but there are only a few of them that I would recommend. Inbox Dollars is one of those companies and I want to show you how I made $30 in a little over an hour completing offers on their site.
It’s free to join Inbox Dollars and best of all, they give you $5 just for signing up! Inbox Dollars just requires that you accumulate $30 in earnings before you can “cash-out” and they pay you by sending a check.
Some sample offers include one that asks you to sign up for a email newsletter from AMF Bowling. That pays 50 cents and takes about 15 seconds. Another offer asks you to sign up for a free account at Turbotax.com to earn $3.50. These are simple and there are nearly a hundred of them to choose from.
If you are interested in giving Inbox dollars a try, visit the sign-up page here to get started.
Read more about it here: “How to Make $30 Quickly with InboxDollars”

3. Open a Free Account at OptionsXpress – FREE $73.15

The folks over at OptionsXpress are offering new, USA customers a $100 bonus when you open an Individual or Joint account and make three trades in the stock market. I love signup bonuses like this because they take very little time and are usually pretty profitable. This one took me about 10 minutes to complete.

Now, OptionsXpress charges $8.95 for each trade you make, so after making 3 trades, I’ll still be netting $73.15 in extra cash. If you want to do it, here’s the step-by-step…
1. Open a new Individual or Joint account (IRAs, other tax-exempt, linked, or shared accounts are excluded from this offer). You’ve got to deposit $500, but you can withdraw it after 6 months. I’m not really worried about that, because this is money that is in my savings account and it’ll go right back into savings when I’m done with this offer.
3. Make at least 3 trades within 12 months of account opening. I’m not going to be trading any risky stocks here, because I don’t want to lose any money. This isn’t a stock recommendation, but I chose the most conservative Vanguard mutual fund that I could find (VWINX). It’s traded between $24.50-$25.50 for the better part of a year, so it’s pretty steady and I know I’m not going to be taking a big risk.
4. The $100 bonus will be deposited into my account within one month. Sweet! It’s not instant cash, but I don’t really care. It’s all going into the long-term savings account.
Read more about it here: “Look! Optionsxpress is Giving Away a Free $100”

4. Do Your Shopping via Ebates.com – FREE $10.00

The folks over at Ebates.com, the cash-back shopping site, are giving away $10 gift cards when you sign-up as a new member. You can choose either a $10 Target, Walmart, Macy’s, or Kohl’s gift card. You need to make a $25 purchase at any of the stores on their shopping list in order to qualify for the free gift card.
I certainly don’t recommend spending $25 just to get a $10 gift card, but if you have plans to buy something online anyway, I would definitely cash in on this… Especially if you’ve got a gift card from a birthday or Christmas that needs to be spent. Look at this as a way to get a little bit extra back on your purchase.
Some of the cash-back offers I use frequently include the 3% back on iTunes purchases, 1% back on Apple store purchases, and 3% back on Target purchases. But there are a ton of stores to pick from as well.
Read more about it here: “Get a FREE $10 Target Gift Card from Ebates.com”

5. Open a Netspend.com Account – FREE $20.00

This is another easy $20 just for requesting a prepaid, reloadable card from Netspend. I’ve tested this one and over 200 hundred readers have cashed in on this, so you know it’s a good one.
1. Click HERE and ”Open a NetSpend account” for FREE.
2. You will receive your NetSpend “Visa” Debit card within 10 business days. Mine made it here in 4 days.
3. Once you receive the card, simply log into NetSpend and activate it.
4. In order to get the FREE $20, you’ll need to load the card with a minimum of $40.00 using PayPal, a bank account or one of the other many options.
5. Once you load the $40.00, NetSpend will add $20.00 to your available balance on the card. I confirmed this myself with my own card.
6. Go to the ATM and withdraw the $60.00 total from your card or spend the funds at your local store, online, or wherever you can use a credit card. Yes, if you withdraw the money via ATM or cash back, you’ll be hit with the $2.00 fee for a PIN transaction or a $2.50 ATM Fee (would only be $17.50 – $18.00 bonus in this case). But, you can avoid the fee by ACH transferring it for free back to your bank
Read more it here: “Free $20 Cash for Signing Up at Netspend”

6 – 10. Sign Up for a New Credit Card – FREE $1,425.00

One of the best ways for a Penny Hoarder to make some serious extra cash is to take advantage of credit card sign up bonuses.  Of course, to get the most benefit, you should have excellent credit, and you should routinely pay off your credit card in full each month so you’re not paying interest.  (After all, every time you pay interest, you’re losing some of the positive effects of the bonuses.)
Just recently I received over $1,300+ in credit card bonuses by selectively choosing new cards to apply for and use.  All I had to do was put my regular spending on t he credit card over the course of a few months.
Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard® - $400 Signup Bonus (Update: You must make $3,000 in purchases in the first 90 days in order to redeem the $400 travel statement credit. These can be purchases you were already going to make; i.e. groceries, gas, etc.)
American Express Gold - $250 Signup Bonus
US Bank FlexPerks Card -  $175 Signup Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred Card - $400 Signup Bonus
Citi ThankYou Preferred Card - $200 Signup Bonus
For those of you wondering, here’s a great article on how to do this without hurting your credit score: How Opening and Closing Credit Cards Affects Your Credit Score
Read more about it here: “5 Credit Card Promotions That Made me $1,375”

11. Take 5 Minutes and Open a Betterment.com Account – FREE $25.00

Betterment is a simple, online tool that allows anyone to invest in stocks & bonds without incurring transaction fees. It’s become pretty popular with small investors who want to start saving, but can’t afford the expensive fees you find at places like Etrade.com and Merrill Lynch. Plus, they’ll give you a free $25 just to signup!
1.) Open a free account at Betterment.com. The form takes about 90 seconds to fill out, so can literally do this while sitting in the doctor’s office or while watching television.
2.) You need to make an opening deposit of $250 or more within 60 days of opening your account. If you’re not ready to make a deposit right now, my advice is that you go ahead and fill out the Betterment promotion form today. You can always make the deposit later, but this way you’ll have the promotion locked in, just in case the promotion ends.
3.) Once you’ve deposited $250 (and waited 60 days), Betterment.com will deposit a FREE $25 bonus into your account. How easy is that? You can then withdraw your entire account balance or you can keep the $275 invested and earning interest with Betterment.
Right now this is USA only.
Read more about it here: “How to Make $25 While Sitting in a Waiting Room”

12. Download this App & Get Paid $185/year

Media Research Panel is a smartphone app that helps media companies better understand how consumers use, view and share TV, social, digital and mobile media. Their app “measures activities conducted on a device, such as sharing, viewing, clicking, chatting, downloading and more. The app also listens for TV shows, and, using technology of Gracenote, Inc., identifies which TV shows was captured.”
If you install their app, they’ll pay you $5/month per device. And you can install the app on up to 3 devices. Plus they’ll send you a $5 bonus after the 12th week. (Totals $185/year)
Here’s how to do it:

1. Sign up at MediaInsidersPanel.com
2. Install and activate the MI Mobile app onto your device(s).
3. Watch your e-mail for important information and instructions on next steps. Also, at no time is a member’s personally identifiable information ever shared or released publicly, nor will they ever interact with you via social media.
Here are the devices that they support:

Android™ smartphones and tablets that run Android version 4.0 or greater, and are not rooted. We also accept the Kindle Fire HD, but not the first generation Kindle Fire.
iPhone®5, iPad®, iPad mini®, and iPod touch® devices that run iOS version 5.0 or greater.
***You’ve got be a US resident, 13 years or older, and have a valid email address.

13. Open an Account at Serve.com – FREE $50.00

Serve is American Express’s version of a prepaid, reloadable card and they are offering $50 when you open a free account, sign up for direct deposit and have two direct deposits put in your account. That’s a FREE $50 for about 5 minutes of work. Sweet!
And here’s a tip: You can direct deposit a number of things besides your regular paycheck. I like to keep my paycheck going to my primary bank account, but for bank bonuses, I use other sources of income to fund it. Try to think of another place that you get monthly income from. Do you get a social security check? Insurance check? Second job income? Mystery shopping payouts?  A number of the “paid-to-email” sites also offer direct deposit. I know that Fusion Cash does, because I get a nice cash-out from them on the 20th of every month.
Here’s a link to the promo page:     Serve.com $50 Bonus
Read more about Serve.com here: “How to Get a Free $50 from Serve.com”

14. Transfer Your Prescription to a New Drug Store – $25.00

If you have a monthly prescription from your doctor, I’ve got an easy way for you to make $25 bucks a month…
Several of the national grocery and drug store chains have been know to run promotions where they will give you free cash or a gift card when you transfer a prescription to their store. For example, this month Walgreens is running a promotion where they will give you a $25 gift card for transferring a prescription to your local Walgreens.
You can usually find these coupons in your Sunday newspaper circulars or on coupon blogs like DealSeekingMom.com and MoneySavingMom.com.
If you can’t find a coupon for a specific location, ask your store manager if they’ll accept a competitor coupon. You can then take the Walgreens coupon (or another one that you find) and have your store match it. Lots of stores will do this including Publix and some Walmarts, CVS’s, and Rite Aids.
Read more about this trick here: “Here’s a neat trick to make $25/month if you have a prescription…“

15. Take a Few Surveys with MySurvey.com – $15

Most of you know that I hate survey companies.
There are so many scammy sites out there and often times taking a survey is little pay for a lot of work. However, one of the exceptions I make is with MySurvey.
They’re one of the oldest online survey companies and they have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau.
The reason I like MySurvey so much is that they pay you for even the surveys you don’t qualify for. You see, most survey companies make you take a “qualifying survey” before you are given access to the paid survey. And if you don’t meet the qualifications for that particular survey, you earn nothing (despite the fact that you spent 5 annoying minutes answering questions).
MySurvey is different – even if you aren’t given access to the full survey, they will still pay you for answering the questions in the qualifying survey. Pretty cool, huh? Now, you’re not going to get rich answering surveys, but it can be a fun way to make an extra couple hundred dollars a year. Heck, I do them as I’m watching TV.  Each survey pays differently, but on average I earn an extra $15/month for taking a few surveys.
Signup for MySurvey.com here. (USA only)

Read more about it here: “The 9 Best Survey Sites to Make Extra Money”

16.  Trade Stocks at MotifInvesting.com – FREE $100.25

Motif Investing is unique among online brokers, because instead of picking individual stocks, you invest in a cluster of stocks (usually 20 to 30) from a similar field.  Sort of like a mutual fund, but the motifs range from Clean Energy, to Republican Companies, to Healthy and Tasty, to Obamacare.  Basically any interest you have or trend you’d like to invest in can be found on Motif…
Even, better they’re giving away a ton of cash right now. If you open a new account and make one trade, you’ll earn $50. Make 3 trades, and you’ll earn $75. Make 5 trades, and you’ll earn $150!
Now Motif charges $9.95 for each trade you make, so after making 5 trades, you’ll still be netting $100.25 in extra cash.  That’s like getting all of your transaction fees free AND earning $100 extra.  Sweet! Signup here - Free $150 Motif Promotion.
Read more about it here: “How to Make $100 This Week with Motif Investing”

There you have it. If you’ve finished the list, you’ve just made $1,935.20 in FREE money.

Beyond the Golden Age of Content Marketing

We’re living in the Golden Age of content marketing. What was once a stealth tactic that select brands were adopting a few years ago has grown into a full blown heyday with everyone from American Express to Red Bull extolling the virtues of content marketing. And with good reason! Content marketing remains one of the most authentic, useful ways for brands to reach their consumers.

Contently Summit

Searchshots recently attend the Contently Summit on Content Marketing in New York. Over 200 brands, agencies and journalists came together to discuss trends, changes and the new frontiers in content marketing. What struck us was that while branded content has become a widely accepted practice, content marketing still faces an uphill climb to prove out its reach, ROI and secure its place as an effective marketing tactic.

While content marketing is experiencing its boon, it will be interesting to see what the next few years in the field bring in the way of legitimacy, advanced metrics and saturation. Contently Summit bought some common themes to the surface and gave us an idea of where content marketing can (and may) go after its Golden Age.

1.Content Marketing is Evolving, but Truth is Still Key

Content Marketing is a growing field and while there have been many footholds and advances with native advertising and user generated content, the basic tenets still apply: truth, transparency and authenticity. Brands and publishers must strike a balance between what native looks like while making sure that the consumer is not confused. Meghan K. Graham, VP of Women’s Content at DEFY Media, said at the summit “In working with influencers, brands must strike a balance to get great, authentic content created.”

Brands should also continue to be strategic in the content they are creating. Jeff Jarvis, J-School professor, said brands shouldn’t make stuff just to make stuff and that while creating branded content is okay it should be transparent and clear that the content is sponsored. “If you have to have a link that says, ‘What is this?’ then you’re doing it wrong.”

2. Metrics Matter & They Will Get More Sophisticated

Measuring the success of content marketing campaigns has always been widely debated. What some brands measure as success, others see as just scratching the surface. Buzzfeed Data Scientist, Ky Harlin said companies should “measure everything, assume nothing.” Data should be aggregated around a number of consumer touch points and be qualified to ensure that it is accurate and actionable.

Aniq Rahman, President of Analytics company Moat, mentioned thinking outside the box as far as metrics are concerned. Things like scroll velocity, propensity for content to be shared and view-ability should be used more in efforts to prove the value of content.

3. Quality Content Means Giving Readers What They Need

Content is only as effective as the people that consume it. If your readers and potential customers are not interested in what you’re creating than it’s not effective content marketing. Getting an audience (and keeping them) is a difficult task but when you focus on retention with quality content and targeted messaging, it can be a seamless process.

Alexis Anderson, Director of Marketing at PureWow, said that “growth is not a hack” and that email marketing is key to their retention. Also getting to know your readers, their wants and needs through data analytics is key. Fashion site Refinery29.com has blog dedicated to data intelligence and how it influences their content creation and partnerships.

4. Look Internal for Great Storytelling Opportunities

While the common practice is to tell stories for customers and potential customers, several brands are telling their internal story. Microsoft and American Express OPEN have both employed Chief Storytelling Officers to craft and promote the company story and voice.

Ben Tamblyn, Manager of Storytelling at Microsoft said his job is to change the perception around Microsoft and to tell the stories of the thousands of employees doing amazing work. Content marketing is extending beyond external communication and branching into internal. It’s taking the place of traditional PR and leveraging tactics to tell more robust brand stories.

Content marketing is having it’s moment but in order for it to grow as an actionable and qualified marketing practice, content (and the industry) will have to take analytics deeper and make content more actionable for consumers. From the looks of all the amazing content, brand partnerships and data that is being generated, content marketing is poised to live well beyond its Golden Age.

How much do you pay for apps on your iOS or Android device? Do you know that you can earn real cash and rewards from using certain apps? Granted that you will have to work for it by carrying out tasks like grocery shopping or checking out a new line of clothing, watching trailers, taking photos, and meeting new people. Sound interesting?

Then, you really should check out these 10 apps that will earn you real cash and rewards (gift cards and redeemables). We’ve split the tasks from the rewards to help you figure out which app to try out first., but something tells us that you’d probably be checking all of them out. Some even help you to get in shape and to do your part for charity.

1. Field Agent
What to do: You turn into a field agent for some field work, carrying out small missions in your neighborhood. You’ll get instructions of what to do and where to go, places like your local shopping mall, grocery store, or any landmark. The jobs must be completed within 2 hours, and is on a first come, first served.

What you get: Each job is worth between $2 and $12 (paid via PayPal).

Platform: iOS

2. CheckPoints
What to do: You can earn points for checking in to a grocery store, cafe or shopping mall, scanning the items that you buy during these errands or even when you recommend a friend to join CheckPoints.

What you get: The earned points can then be redeemed for rewards like Amazon.com and Walmart gift cards, games, cool gadgets and more.

Platform: iOS | Android

3. EasyShift
What to do: Complete simple assignments (Shifts) such as taking photos, giving an opinion, or recording the price of a product. After you complete several tasks, you will be promoted and will then be able to unlock higher-paying assignments and other valuable perks.

What you get: Payments will be made via PayPal and can be processed within 48 hours.

Platform: iOS

4. App Trailers
What to do: Preview trailers about apps and earn points while you’re at it. Help the app makers improve their app trailers by sharing honest opinions about what they need to add to complete the trailer.

What you get: You get paid half a cent for each video you watch. For trying out a demo (of an app), you can get paid between 9 cents to a dollar. Joining via a friend’s referral code may give you a head start of 50 points.

Platform: iOS | Android

5. Iconzoomer
What to do: Take photos of what is asked in your assignment: your lunch, your drink, or the shoes you are wearing, and earn money for each snap. Share a comment about the snapshot (if you got a feedback you want the manufacturer the know, this is your chance), and that’s it.

What you get: Earn money for each completed assignment via PayPal or get free merchandize. There is also the option to donate to charity via Unicef.

Platform: iOS | Android

6. GymPact
What to do: Exercise at the gym and earn money. Seriously! Once you’ve made a week-long pact on GymPact, you get paid for every day you go, and you have to pay for every day you skip. Those who get to the gym to exercise get to claim their monies from those who didn’t!

What you get: You’re getting $0.50 to $0.75 per workout which must lasts a minimum of 30 minutes. And you get to follow your exercise regime, and keep fit and healthy.

Platform: iOS

7. Gigwalk
What to do: Be a Gigwalker and run special assignments for clients at a preset price. You could be asked to take photos of a place, hand out fliers, check out a new bistro or a new product, or even become a mystery shopper. You essentially become your clients’ eyes and ears simply by being at the right place and the right time.

What you get: Get paid from $10 to $15 an hour.

Platform: iOS

8. Shopkick
What to do: If you are a heavy shopper and love trends and bargains, earn ‘kicks’ just by being yourself with Shopkick. Find participating shopping places that allow you to earn kicks with every walk-in and/or purchase and you will be able to redeem rewards with the ‘kicks’.

What you get: You get a first look at items at the store (while earning extra ‘kicks’) even before an actual walk-in. Use your ‘kicks’ to unlock gift cards and products you can redeem.

Platform: iOS | Android

9. ESPN Streak For The Cash
What to do: Think you know your sports team? Then name your predictions for each game and make sure you get the longest winning streak of the month. To make it tougher, you have to make the call for 10 different sports and maintain your streak.

What you get: The longest winning streak for a team or a player will win a monthly grand prize of $50,000.

Platform: iOS | Android

10. Phewtick
What to do: Get Phewtick on your phone, meet up with someone, scan a QR Code and voila, get paid just for meeting people.

What you get: Earn points that you can cash out, or donate to Unicef or the Red Cross. And meeting new people for work or leisure.

Platform: iOS | Android

Four apps that give you free money
When you take your phone to the bathroom (don’t lie, everybody does it), or when you’re standing in line fiddling with it at Starbucks, what are you doing? Are you checking email? Sending a SnapChat? Playing Words With Friends? Or are you using it to make money?

That’s right—you’re wasting precious time playing Candy Crush when you could be earning cold, hard cash! (For the purpose of this rhetorical question, using your phone for work email doesn’t count as making money.) Here are four free, awesome, easy-to-use apps that will pay you in cash—sometimes gift cards—just for using your phone in everyday situations. So what are you waiting for? The only thing stopping you from making money is the fact that you haven’t downloaded these apps yet.

Swagbucks
Swagbucks is a popular online rebate site that asks its users to do a variety of tasks, like shopping online, taking surveys, voting in polls, watching videos, and searching the Web—to earn virtual currency, which can then be traded in for real currency. One “Swagbuck” equals approximately one cent, so you have to be a pretty dedicated user (Swagger?) to get money.

Complete tasks to earn points, which you then swap for gift cards.

That’s where Swagbucks’ app (free; Android and iOS) comes in. The app lets you perform many smaller tasks, including voting in the daily poll (one Swagbuck per day), completing trial offers, and searching the web through Swagbucks’ search engine. You can also watch videos (every ten videos watched earns you a couple of Swagbucks), but you’ll need to download Swagbucks’ separate, also free, Swagbucks TV app to do so.

With the Swagbucks app, you can track your Swagbucks balance and redeem your winnings for gift card rewards. I prefer the $5 Amazon gift card reward, because you get more money for your (Swag)buck: It costs just 450 Swagbucks, instead of the usual 500. The app also lets you enter in Swagcodes, which are time-sensitive secret codes that the company posts to its social networks throughout the day. The app, like the Swagbucks browser add-on, also alerts you to when new Swagcodes have been posted—and Swagcodes are typically only valid for a few hours, so this is actually a very useful feature.

The Swagbucks app isn’t how you’ll earn the bulk of your Swagbucks: You’ll do that online, mainly by taking surveys and shopping through Swagbucks’ “shop and earn” program. However, the app is a great way to supplement your balance, since most of the in-app tasks take just a few seconds to perform.

Shopkick
I’m going to go out on a limb and make a crazy assumption: When you’re visiting a brick-and-mortar store, you almost always have your smartphone with you, right? Well, what if you could earn money (or rather, “kicks,” which are points you can redeem for gift cards) just by having your phone with you when you walk into a store?

Shopkick rewards you just for walking into a store.

Shopkick (free; Android and iOS) rewards you for shopping—and the great news is that you don’t even have to buy anything. There are three ways to earn kicks on Shopkick: By walking into stores, by scanning product barcodes with your phone, and by making actual purchases. Walking into a store will net you around 100 kicks, and scanning items will get you anywhere from 20 to 50 kicks.

Stores include popular mall staples like Macy’s, The Sports Authority, Target, and Best Buy, and products to scan include anything from bags of Ruffles potato chips to Clorox wipes. Scans are not store-specific, and scannable items are mostly brand-name home supplies, so you could possibly just go around your house scanning things if you really wanted to. (I certainly did).

When you have enough kicks, you can exchange them in Shopkick’s rewards store for gift cards. A $5 Macy’s gift card costs around 1250 kicks, so one kick is a little under half a cent.

Ibotta
There are plenty of online rebate sites (such as Ebates and FatWallet), which reward you for shopping online. The way these sites work is by “referring” you to various outlets: You click on a link from their site to an online store you like, and the store rewards them with a kickback (a percentage of your purchase) in exchange for the referral. The rebate site then gives you a smaller kickback when you buy something, so you keep going through them to do your online shopping. The store gets free advertising, the rebate site gets money, and you get money—it’s a win-win-win situation.

Ibotta (free; Android and iOS) translates this win-win-win situation into the mobile/physical store realm…sort of. Here’s how it works: Ibotta offers rebates for things you purchase in a physical store. To get these rebates, you first have to unlock them using various methods, such as taking a poll, watching an informative video, or posting a Facebook status update about the product. (This is how the product-maker gets “free” advertising.) After you’ve unlocked a rebate, you can go purchase the product. Then, just take a picture of your receipt with Ibotta’s app, and your account will later be credited.

Seriously, it’s that easy. Ibotta’s offers are mostly store-specific, so you have to find the right product in the right store. Luckily, most of the products (and stores) are normal things you’d actually purchase without an incentive: Granola bars, cereal, milk, cleaning supplies, toiletries, clothing, and alcohol, to name a few. Some stores don’t even have product-specific offers—GNC, for example, will give you $5 if you upload a receipt that shows you spent $25 or more at their store.

Ibotta also offers bonuses, including “teamwork” bonuses. If you connect the app to Facebook, Ibotta will find all of your Facebook friends (who are using Ibotta and who have connected the app to Facebook) and place them on your team. When your team completes a challenge (such as uploading at least $10 worth of rebate receipts in a week), everyone on the team gets a bonus.

Ibotta pays you in cash, and most of the rebates are between $0.25 and $2. You can get paid via PayPal or Venmo (where you’ll get a $3 bonus), and there’s a $5 minimum to cash out.

Receipt Hog
Ibotta offers some of the heftiest rewards, but it’s also a lot of work: You have to unlock rebates, buy products, and then upload your receipts. But what if you could just skip the first two steps (which are the most work, anyway), and just upload photos of receipts? And get money for it?

Receipt Hog (free, Android and iOS) lets you do just that. It asks you to submit receipts from grocery stores or grocery-like stores (convenience stores, drug stores, dollar stores, pet stores, liquor stores, and supercenters) for market research purposes. (The company insists your data will remain anonymous.) Each receipt you submit will earn you coins, which you can then trade in for cash or Amazon gift cards.

The number of coins you earn depends on how much you spent: Receipts under $10 earn 5 coins, $10 to $50 earns 10 coins, $50 to $100 earns 15 coins, and more than $100 earn 20 coins. You are limited to three receipts per store per day, however, so no breaking down your $200 grocery purchase into 20 $10 purchases. Receipt Hog also adds a gamification element into the mix—as you feed your hog receipts, he grows bigger and earns bonus spins in the Hog Slots, which are virtual slot machines that give out coins and real cash.

When you have enough coins, you can redeem them in the rewards store for cash (paid via PayPal) or Amazon gift cards. 1000 coins gets you a $5 cash or card, so one coin is worth about half a cent—but if you wait for a bigger payout, Receipt Hog will give you a better deal (4500 coins will get you $30). Receipt Hog is great for lazy people who go grocery shopping—so, in other words, everyone. You don’t have to shop at a particular store or buy a specific product—you just have to take pictures of your receipts.

Every cent counts
Truth time: You’re probably not going to get rich by redeeming Swagcodes and walking into stores with the Shopkick app open and taking photos of your receipts. But these apps aren’t meant to replace your day job. Instead, think of them as productive time-wasters: When you have a few minutes, or even just a few seconds to spare, you can open up one of these apps and tick off some boxes. Or if you happen to be walking through the mall and a Macy’s is staring you in the face, you can walk three steps and earn three kicks.

Earning money cent-by-cent isn’t going to make you a millionaire, but it can eventually offset some of your everyday costs. After all, I’m typing this article on a $100 keyboard I bought using Amazon gift cards I earned through Swagbucks.

Over the last few years I’ve been gotten nearly a hundred emails asking me what I thought of survey sites and why I’ve never listed any survey sites on The Penny Hoarder.
Well, the truth is…. it’s just not my favorite way to earn extra money. Personally, I get really bored filling out online forms and I often find that with survey companies, I’m working for only $7-8/hour.
But, it is easy work and if you’re interested in this type of work, I’ve finally put together a list of the best survey sites.
Also, when you first sign up for a survey site they are going to ask you a number of questions about your background/household. And that’s because they need to know your demographics before matching you up with the correct surveys.
It can be a little time consuming, but my recommendation is to signup for all 9 survey sites at once.
And that’s because each survey site is probably only going to be able to match you up with 1 or 2 surveys a month. This way you get a ton of surveys to choose from each month.
Complete all of the surveys you’re offered each month and you could probably earn $50 or more each month.
Without further ado, here are the 9 best survey sites…

1. My Survey - This is my personal favorite survey site. With this company you earn points for every single survey you take- even those which you don’t qualify for (just by answering the qualifying questions)! So you will never waste time and effort on a survey only to discover you don’t qualify.
You can redeem your points earned for cash or prizes and every 1000 points equals $10. Sign up for MySurvey here.

2. Inbox Dollars - I’ve written about Inbox Dollars before because I’ve made some easy money signing up for trial offers on their site. But, they also offer several short, daily surveys that you can take.
If you take all four each day, you could earn an extra $730/year. Not too bad. Sign up for Inbox Dollars here.

3. Springboard Panel – As part of the Springboard Panel, you get to give feedback on a new ideas and test new products for extra cash. They reward you with points that you can use towards cash or gift cards.
Plus, once you join the site, you’ll be entered to win a $1,000 and can earn additional entries for each survey you complete. Sign up for Springboard here.

4. Pinecone Research -  They have a good amount of surveys, but what’s unique about this company is that you get paid cash after every survey you take. There’s no minimum to cash-out (pays via Paypal).
The surveys pay $3 for each one completed. Also, PineCone is especially looking for those that are 18-24 years of age demographic and people with Hispanic or African American heritage for the panel right now. Also, if they don’t accept you for the panel this month, try again in a couple of weeks. Sign up for PineCone here.
This is open to USA residents to apply.

5. MintVine - Take surveys worth between 150 to 300 points and once you’ve reached 1000 points in your account, you can redeem for a $10 cash payment.
Since this one has really low threshold for payment, you should be eligible for your first cash-out within a couple of weeks. Sign up for MintVine here.

6. SurveySavvy - This is another favorite because the minimum to cash-out is only $1 (pays via check). They’re also famous for contacting survey panelists for local focus groups in their area.
One of my readers was asked to participate in a focus group for 2 hours about food and she earned an easy $80! Sign up for SurveySavvy here.

7. SwagBucks – This is a definitely a reader favorite, because of the wide variety of ways to make extra cash beyond taking surveys. They are also famous for handing out free Swagbucks at random just for being a member.
You can redeem your Swagbucks for gift cards to a number of popular retailers, including Amazon.com. Sign up for Swagbucks here.

8. Toluna - This site offers you a bonus 500 points when you sign up and when you have earned at least 60,000 points, you may redeem your points for a cash rewa rd.
A lot of the surveys here are low-paying, but I still recommend signing up so you can be on their list for the big $$ surveys. Sign up for Toluna here.

9. CashCrate - This one is a lot like Inbox Dollars. They have both offers you can complete for cash and a daily survey for around 50 cents. Plus, they usually offer 1-2 daily surveys. Sign up for CashCrate here.

I’d love to hear your experiences with these companies in the comments below. Also, these aren’t the only survey companies out there  - just my favorites. But, I’ve written some tips about how to avoid survey scam here in case you stumble upon another site…
Good luck Penny Hoarders!

It seems like everyday I see a larger charge from iTunes on my credit card. Between mobile apps and music purchases, my phone ends up costing me quite a bit more than my monthly plan.
So…I’ve found a way to balance it out by downloading mobile apps that actually PAY ME to use them. I’ve put together a list of some of my favorites. Enjoy.
1. Nielsen Homescan

This app will pay you to scan your groceries. Crazy, right? Once you sign up to become a Nielsen Homescan family (yep, the same company that tracks TV ratings), the company will send you a free scanner or you can use your smartphone. Every time you go shopping, you simply scan the barcodes on the back of each product and send your data off to Nielsen.
If you want to give it a try, you can fill out the application here: Nielsen Homescan Application (you can’t download this one from the app store; you’ll need to visit their website first).
As an active participant, you earn gift points which you can redeem for different types of merchandise. You can choose electronics, jewelry, household items, and even toys for the kids. The longer you stay on the panel, the more opportunity you have to earn points towards prizes. You also receive entries for the panel’s many sweepstakes. Prizes include money, vacations, and brand new vehicles.

2. i-Say Mobile

This i-Say mobile app is one of the only legitimate paid survey apps out there. It’s actually a part of the Ipsos company, which might be a name you’re familiar with because they do a lot of the polling you see during presidential races.
I’ve heard some of the top-end surveys can pay up to $95, but those are rare and can take awhile to complete. Most surveys pay a buck or two and only take 10-15 minutes. Also, the i-Say app rewards you with points which can then be redeemed for Paypal or gift cards to Amazon, iTunes, etc. (example: 1000 points can be redeemed for $10 Paypal). Use the link above to fill out an application and then they’ll send you a link to download the app.

3. Ibotta

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite apps. The Ibotta app will pay you cash to take a picture of your receipts.
Here’s how it works:
1. Sign up for a free account with Ibotta (just need a name & email address).
2. Download the mobile app and then click on the “Rebates” section.
3. From here, you should see dozens of different rebates you can take advantage of. For example, right now the app is offering me 50 cents if I upload a picture of a receipt showing that I bought milk. And there’s another rebate for $10 if I upload a picture of a Best Buy receipt.
Now, you obviously don’t want to go out and buy a bunch of stuff you don’t need, but I think you’ll find tons of rebates for things you are already buying. Plus, you can stack regular coupons on top of the rebate, meaning some of you savvy shoppers will be able to get free stuff.

4. Media Research Panel

Media Research Panel is a smartphone app that helps media companies better understand how consumers use, view and share TV, social, digital and mobile media. Their app “measures activities conducted on a device, such as sharing, viewing, clicking, chatting, downloading and more. The app also listens for TV shows, and, using technology of Gracenote, Inc., identifies which TV shows was captured.”
If you install their app, they’ll pay you $5/month per device. And you can install the app on up to 3 devices. Plus they’ll send you a $5 bonus after the 12th week. (Totals $185/year)
Here’s how to do it:
1. Sign up for MediaInsidersPanel.com (you can’t download this one from the app store)
2. Install and activate the MI Mobile app onto your device(s).
3. Watch your e-mail for important information and instructions on next steps. Also, at no time is a member’s personally identifiable information ever shared or released publicly, nor will they ever interact with you via social media.
Here are the devices that they support: Android™ smartphones and tablets that run Android version 4.0 or greater, and are not rooted. They also accept the Kindle Fire HD, but not the first generation Kindle Fire. iPhone®5, iPad®, iPad mini®, and iPod touch® devices that run iOS version 5.0 or greater. ***You’ve got be a US resident, 13 years or older, and have a valid email address.

5. Field Agent

The Field Agent app will pay you to complete small tasks around town for their clients. The tasks are pretty simple: scanning barcodes with your iPhone, checking prices at your local grocery store and conducting field surveys.
Payouts vary and depend on the job and area that you are in. For example, as I write, a job is posted in Mission Viejo, California is looking for an agent to take 4 separate photos of products in the toothbrush section of the local Target. This particular gig pays 9 dollars.
And in Brooklyn, New York, a field agent can jump in to a local Toys “R” Us store, snap a shot of the $19.99 & under video game display and zip out a healthy $5.50 richer.
Remember though: you’re in this to make money; don’t bust out the plastic when you see a new Xbox 360 game nearby that you’ve been itching to buy. Field Agent job payouts typically vary between 2-8 bucks (payable through PayPal). Most of the jobs only take 5 minutes, so the real time involved is with driving to each location. Still with travel time and gas, you could easily make $10-$20/hour completing mini-jobs.

6. InboxDollars

InboxDollars has been around since practically the beginning of the internet, but they just came out with a pretty cool mobile app that will pay you to search the web, play games, and take surveys.
The app is totally free to download. Plus, they give you a free $5 just to signup.
Once you’ve accumulated $30 earnings (it’s possible to do this in only a couple of hours), you can request payment via check. It does take about 2 weeks to get the check, but I’ve successfully cashed out five different times now.

7. Receipt Hog

RecieptHog is very similar to Ibotta. You take a picture of your receipts and the “hog” rewards you with points that you can redeem for Paypal or Amazon gift cards.
The difference with this app is that you don’t have to shop anywhere specific, or buy anythings specific. You can take a picture of any of your receipts and the app will reward you with points. I like the fact that I earn points for shopping anywhere, but I also find that it takes me a lot longer to cash out with this app in comparison to Ibotta.
8. Bookscouter
The Bookscouter app is really useful when you want to sell your old books that are just collecting dust on the shelf. You scan your book’s barcode with a smartphone and Bookscouter will let you compare the payout of 20+ different buyback companies.
Once you’ve found the buyback company offering the most cash, you just fill out a little information about where you want your payment sent and prepare the books to be shipped. Most of the buyback companies offer prepaid shipping labels too, so there aren’t any costs associated with this.

9. ESPN Streak for the Cash

Think you know sports? The ESPN Streak for the Cash app will let you make predictions for upcoming games and then reward you with cash if you have the longest streak of correct predictions. To make it tougher, you have to make call for 10 different sports.
The person with the longest winning streak earns $50,000 every month. Pretty sweet!

10. Mobee

Have you ever tried mystery shopping? The Mobee app will pay you to go undercover in your local stores and rate the level of customer service and cleanliness, among other things.
Most of you know that I’ve done quite a bit of mystery shopping, so I was pretty excited to find this app. I found it really easy to use and the shops went pretty quickly, but I wasn’t too impressed with the payment amounts. For example, there was a Subway mystery shop in my area that was paying $8. That’s not a huge amount for a mystery shop, plus I had to buy a sandwich during the shop that wasn’t reimbursed. Regardless, it was like getting a free lunch, so I’ll take it!

11. SlideJoy – 12. ScreenPay

Both SlideJoy and ScreenPay operate on the same principal – download their app and they will serve ads on your smartphone’s lock screen. For this, you get paid a monthly stipend.
The SlideJoy app doesn’t specify how much you earn (it’s based off how often you look at your phone), but the ScreenPay app will pay you a flat fee of $3 a month, plus they’ll give you $1 just for signup up. These are both Android apps, so they won’t work on your iPhone or Blackberry.

Your Turn: Are you currently using any of these apps? What’s your experience been?