That’s what I wanted to know. If you’ve ever read an article on “How to Make Extra Money” or “How to Make Money from Home”, you’ve inevitably seen taking online surveys listed as a viable option. I read one such article last year and decided to give it a try. After all, it wouldn’t cost me anything and I could do it from home in my spare time. Perfect!
I proceeded to sign up at every survey site I could find and the survey invitations started rolling in. I dove in accepting every survey invitation that was sent to me. Here’s what I learned:
- I didn’t qualify for many of the surveys. When you start a survey the first set of questions are screening questions that determine if you fit the demographic they are targeting their products or services to. It may take you a few minutes of answering questions before you are told you don’t qualify.
- When I did qualify and complete a survey, often the reward was entry into a sweepstakes. I wasn’t interested in drawings, I wanted cold hard cash.
So after about a month I deemed the whole thing a big waste of time and canceled every single survey account.
But I kept seeing those articles saying taking surveys is a great way to earn extra cash. Ok, maybe I would try this again but apply what I learned during my first foray into the world of survey taking. But first, I had to set some criteria:
- Cash only. I consider taking surveys for entries into sweepstakes or for points that can be redeemed for over-priced merchandise a waste of time. If I was going to do this again I would only do it for cash compensation.
- It has to be a productive use of my time. I need to be able to qualify for surveys without spending a lot of time wading through surveys that I will ultimately reject me.
With this criteria in mind I found FocuslineSurveys.com and decided to give them a try. Here’s what I like about them so far:
- They pay cash. You can cash out using PayPal or donate your earnings to charity.
- Instead of sending email invitations to surveys they have a dashboard that tells you what surveys are available, how much they pay and the percentage chance that you will qualify for the survey.
I’m qualifying for more surveys now but there are still instances where I get pretty far into a survey only to be told “I don’t qualify” or that the “participant requirement has been met”. That can be frustrating. But all in all it is going pretty well.
In order to ensure I’m making the most of my time I’ve imposed some restrictions on my survey taking.
- I only take them in my spare time, like when I’m watching tv.
- I limit the amount of time I spend on surveys. I don’t want surveys to interfere with other activities like this website or managing my household.
I’ve been taking surveys with Focusline Surveys since late January and have earned $118. I estimate that with the parameters I’ve set for myself I can earn about $100 a month. That may seem like a small amount, but considering I only spend 30-45 minutes a day and have no overhead costs it’s not a bad deal. And there are a lot of things I can do with an extra $100 each month, like:
- Buy diapers
- Save for a vacation
- Fund a hobby (like cooking classes, gardening supplies, boat gas for wakeboarding)
- Contribute to my son’s college savings account ($100 a month invested over 18 years with an 8% return will grow to over $35,000 in 18 years)
- Pay down debt
I’m still in the very early stages of what I consider The Survey Project so I’m not prepared to say this is a viable long-term option for earning extra income. I will continue to take surveys and update you once a month on my progress.
Hi, I’m Cathy! I’m a former career-driven professional turned stay-at-home mom. Living on one salary has its challenges, but it is possible to live the good life while spending less. Cool to be Frugal is all about how we’re thriving, not just surviving, on a single income.
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I like the case study approach here rather than just saying YES it can earn… I had great luck with a company called Pinecone Research when I lived in England but it involved them sending me a lot of stuff to test so I had to stop that when I moved away.
I’ve tried out a few survey sites and had little luck. I did make a few bucks with Pinecone Research (and I got to test out a few products too) but overall it was a big waste of time. But I never tried FocuslineSurveys so maybe I’ll give them a shot and see what they’re like.
And I think most of the time when you see someone raving about making $75 or $100 an hour taking surveys it’s because they’re an affiliate trying to get a commission when you sign up or buy something. I think $3 to $5 per hour is a lot more realistic.
PS – Keep up the good work blogging! I know you’re new but you’re off to a great start.
Thanks SMT!
I just received a check in today for $25.00 from Knowledge Networks. I’ve been with them a couple of years and they pay quickly and the points for cash add up somewhat frequently. Another one I belong to is e-rewards.com. I use the points I acquire from them to “buy” points for free hotel nights on the Hilton Honors site. When they add up enough my family and I use the points for free hotel nights. That pays for the biggest part of the weekend trips out of town we take few times a year.
I also am on MyPoints.com. It can take a while for the points to add up, but if you do shop online as I do occasionally, and go thru their site to buy the points can addup quickly. I let those points add up and when I want to buy something off of Amazon I trade my points in for one of their Amazon certificates. That is how I’ve paid for most of the books and movies I’ve purchased this year.
My family and I also enjoy doing them for the products we get to home test. I once got paid $50.00 to test a few tissues out of 6 different boxes I was sent! We have also recieved free food, shampoo, dog food, personal products, snacks and many other things to test.
I also belong to SurveySpot, HarrisPoll, MySurvey, and SurveySavvy.
I have had great experiences with several survey sites. Pinecone once paid by check, and a bit more than they do now, by PayPal. The money deposited there pays for my monthly music download fees and I have not had to replenish the account. I also complete Zoom and Harris Polls. I have traded my points for gift cards to Target and Amazon, along with gift items. For me it has been worth both the time and rewards. I belong to lots more panels. Some pay cash, others points (that are converted). I think the way to make it worthwhile is to complete as many surveys as possible as often as you choose. Some times I complete lots and when I am busy, I just delete the emails. Mostly, I learn more about products on the market, whether I would purchase them or not.
i am a bit skeptic about paid online surverys, they pay but it is very very low.*”:
Interesting, I haven’t heard of that site in all my time online. I like you, have the same issues with survey sites. So far, my best experience has been with Pinecone Research because they pay per survey in cold hard cash, there’s no minimum payout, they pay almost within a day or so of completing the survey, etc.
I have just joined GlobalTestMarket after hearing a lot of good things about them, but I see they’re also based on a points system that needs to be accumulated before you can redeem for cash. That might take a while. We’ll see.
Either way, I’m going to check out the site you mentioned and see if it’s worth a go!
Thanks.
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