Endorse: Earn Cash Back for Everyday Shopping

I'm excited to tell you about a new way that you can make a little extra money on your every day purchases. But I'll warn you, it's just a teeny bit complicated. Not terribly, but a little- so read carefully.

Okay, now that you know that, how would you like to earn 2%-10% cash back for getting groceries at Walmart or Kroger, splurging on coffee at Starbucks, enjoying a date night at Outback Steakhouse, or shopping at ROSS or Old Navy? Or what about getting 10% cash back for purchasing Huggies, Cool Whip, Orange Juice and more? If this sounds good to you, then you'll want to check out Endorse.

So what is Endorse?
Endorse is a new Facebook app that rewards you and your friends for buying the products you love. By using Endorse you can "endorse" your favorite products and get paid back for buying those products with your friends whenever and wherever you already shop—online and offline. The more friends you have and the more loyal you are to your favorite brands, products, and retailers, the more everyone earns.

How does it work?
After you create an Endorse account, simply click the "Endorse" button, shop as your normally would and then submit your receipts (as proof of purchase) in the envelope Endorse provides you. Once your account reaches $25, you'll automatically receive a check in the mail.

Anything else that I should know?
* Your cash back is calculated AFTER coupons and tax. And any coupons that are "unidentifiable" such as CVS Extra Bucks will be counted towards the eligible Endorse product.
* If 5 friends endorse a product you endorse, you will get the product absolutely free! (That's why it would be great if you use the links below. =] )
* You can earn cash back on both in-store and online purchases.* You have 90 days from the purchase date to submit your receipts for credit.
* You must Endorse (click the Endorse button) the product before shopping at the store or purchasing an item. What I'd recommend doing is Endorsing items you think you might buy or before heading out on a shopping trip, simply check to see if any of the items you plan to buy are items that you can Endorse.

Want to give Endorse a try? Click on the following links and "Endorse" the stores you normally shop at:
* Walmart
* Target
* Dollar Tree
* Starbucks
* Applebees
* Olive Garden
* Bed Bath & Beyond
* Subway
* Panera Bread* Michael's
* Carter's
* Children's Place
* CVS
* Rite Aid

Or "Endorse" products you buy:
* Gold Medal Flour
* Cool Whip
* Huggies Diapers* Pampers Baby Dry
* Honey Nut Cheerios
* JIF Creamy Peanut Butter
* Crest Toothpaste

CVS Advisory Panel

Not too long ago I learned about the CVS Advisory Panel. Not sure what rock I've been hiding under, because the Advisory Panel has been around for a while, but somehow I don't remember ever hearing about it.

Anyway, if you shop at CVS at least occasionally you'll definitely want to sign up for the CVS Advisory Panel. In exchange for doing occasional surveys regarding CVS products and services, you'll get Extra Bucks emailed directly to you.

Just today I got an email request to do a survey about some programs CVS is thinking about rolling out. The survey took me less than 10 minutes and as "pay" I got a $5 Extra Buck coupon. Not bad pay in my opinion!

Are you a CVS Advisory Panel member? What has your experience been like?

Making the Most of Swagbucks

Since I joined Swagbucks in Nov. '09 I've earned $135 (twenty-five $5 Amazon.com gift cards and $10 via Paypal directly deposited to my bank account). Swagbucks has fast become my favorite way to earn online, partly because it is so super easy. So what are my tips for making the most of Swagbucks? Read on to find out the ways that I've tried to maximize my earnings:

* Download the Swagbucks toolbar. Seriously, if you do nothing else, at least do this one! I didn't download the toolbar for a long time and when I finally did it I realized how much earning I missed out on because without the toolbar I'd forget to use Swagbucks. Basically what it does is download a toolbar that will allow your search engine to be Swagbucks instead of Google or whatever search engine you were previously using.

To download the toolbar, go to "Toolbars" and follow the instructions. Oh, and at least several times a week they release a free Swagcode on the toolbar too.

* Use Swagbucks for ALL of your searches including sites you visit everyday. For instance if I want to go to Ebay or to my blog, The Thrifty Frugal Mom, I'll simply type that into the Swagbucks search engine. No, I don't win something every time, but it sure has increased my search engine usage and I win more as a result...and it only takes a couple of extra seconds.

* Follow Swagbucks on Facebook. From time to time they give out free Swagcodes which obviously help you earn more.

* Follow Swagbucks on Twitter. Same story as Facebook, you'll have the chance to get more free codes.

* Follow the Swagbucks blog. At least once a day they post a free Swagcode.

* Add your birthday to your Swagbucks account and you'll get 50 Swagbucks as a birthday gift. To do this click on "My Account" and then "Account Details".

* Refer your friends. When the person you refer using your unique referral code wins Swagbucks, you will too! You can earn up to 1,000 matching Swagbucks for each referral. I haven't gotten many referrals, but the couple I have do help me earn a few extra Swagbucks. To find your unique referral code, go to "Promote" on the Swagbucks website.

* Take the Daily Poll. Simply go to the Swagbucks website and click "Earn" then "Daily Poll". I don't visit Swagbucks specially just to do this, but if I happen to be on the website I'll often take the extra couple of seconds and take the poll.

What tips do you have for earning Swagbucks?

Swagbucks: 60 Free Swagbucks for New Members

If you haven't signed up for Swagbucks yet, now is the time. From now until 12/31/10, you'll get 60 FREE Swagbucks for signing up.

What is Swagbucks? It's a free search engine kind of like Google. The great thing about it is that each time you search the web using Swagbucks, you have the chance to earn "bucks" which you then can trade for things like gift cards from Amazon, Starbucks, Target and more. My favorite thing to redeem my Swagbucks for is Amazon gift cards. I've gotten so many great things for free thanks to my Amazon gift cards earned through Swagbucks.

Here's what you need to do to get the 60 FREE Swagbucks:

* Sign up for a FREE Swagbucks account
* When signing up enter code JoinIn2010 into the "Swag Code" space on the blue bar (code is case sensitive)

Arquest Diaper Survey

I originally posted this back in January, but thought it was worth posting about again. I have done at least 6 or 7 surveys for them and have found them to be very easy to do, taking little time and they have always paid without any hassle. I highly recommend this program!

For those of you with children in diapers, I have a great program to tell you about. You can get paid to sample diapers. Seriously! There is this company called Arquest that pays you do to diaper surveys and they are super easy. I recently did one and got paid $10 to do the surveys (which took maybe 15 min.) and also received around 70 diapers free!

If you want to do a diaper survey and get paid $10 plus get free diapers, simply call 1-888-diaper2 and if you have a boy dial ext. 634, if you have a girl ext. 646. You will then be prompted to leave your name, your child's gender and the diaper size that you want to try and your phone number. Sometimes you'll have someone call you back immediately, but most often it will go up to several weeks. I think I waited three to four weeks before I got the call that they had a diaper survey opening for my son's size, so be patient.

And just in case you are wondering I was not asked to do this promotion nor did I get paid in anyway to tell you about this. I am just telling you because I think it is a great way to save and I know how you all love to save!

Magazines.com: How to Get $5 Cash

Okay, this has got to be one of the easiest ways to make $5. Head over to Magazines.com and create an account. Once you've done that, go to their home page and enter your email address into the little box on the left hand side bar that says "Get Insider Savings". This will then put you on their email list.

The next step is to wait. Since you are on their email list you will get occasional emails from them. Watch for ones that say something about a $5 gift card. These will have a gift card code in them that you can redeem for cash. (You can also use it purchase items at Magazines.com if you really want to.) If you scroll to the bottom of the email, in the fine print it will say this: Redeem for cash at: www.magazines.com/cash. Follow the instructions provided. And it's as simple as that! Once you redeem them, you'll have to wait several weeks for the check to come in the mail.

I admit, at first I was a bit skeptical that this would really work; it just seemed too easy. But several weeks after I signed up for the emails I got my first gift card code and then a couple of weeks later I got another one. I redeemed them for cash and just this week I got my two $5 checks. Whohoo for an extra $10!

Five Tips for a Successful Yard Sale

Well, around here it's yard sale season again. In fact, my friend and I got together two weeks ago and had one ourselves. It's a lot of work, I'll admit, but to me it is worth it. What better way to make some money while cleaning house and getting organized?

Are you thinking about having a yard sale too? If so, you might find the following five tips helpful. I'll admit, I got a little long-winded, so you might need to skim read! :) These tips are things that I have found that have helped me have successful yard sales.

1. Advertise
This is a simple no-brainer in bringing in more customers. Make sure to do this at the beginning of the week at least if not earlier.

• One way is to place an ad in your local classifieds, however this usually costs from my experience. For some free ideas use Craigslist, Yardsalesearch, or Garagesalesource.
• Make sure to include your full address, not just Hillside Development, Brownstown. What if I don't know where that is? If people have your full address they can get directions online right to your place.
• List any unique items or items that may be of interest. For example: Lots of books, baby clothes, baby furniture, plus-sized ladies clothing, tea cup collection and more.
• Don't forget to post the hours and date(s) of your yard sale.
  

2. Show them Signs
A sign screaming YARDSALE will catch people's attention and attract interest even days before you have the sale. Keep it simple and make sure it is neat looking and attractive. The point is to catch people's attention not to distract them. If you care to, attach a couple of balloons to the sign as well.

• Post the sign several days in advance. For instance, I like to put my sign out the Sunday or Monday before the yard sale starts.
• Place it where it is very visible and also be sure to make it big enough that it is readable from the road.
  
• One of my friend's likes to put up a different sign the actual day of the yardsale. It simply says, Yardsale Today. That way if you are having a two day yard sale people don't assume by the second day that all the good stuff is gone. Not a bad idea I think.
• Another option is to post a flyer at your local grocery store, laundromat, garage etc.

3. Price things low to go
Maybe I am strange, but I detest yard sales that just have stuff sitting out with no price. I like to know what something costs without having to search out the person in charge to ask them. In fact I often pass up some things just because I don't feel like going to the bother of asking the seller. I am pretty sure that I am not alone in this either from hearing others talk. Yes, pricing takes a bit of time, but I promise you it will sell things for you too.

• Lay aside all sentimentalism. Remember, even if that fuchsia and orange flower arrangement is special to you because your great aunt Henrietta gave it as a housewarming gift when you bought your first home, it doesn't mean that I will think it is worth $5. Think how your customers will think. When you are pricing items ask yourself, "How much would I be willing to pay at a yard sale for this?"
  
• If you really want to get rid of things, keep the price low. Lots of 10, 25, and 50 cent items appeal to people. At my one yard sale I even priced some things 5 cents that I was sure no one would want. But guess what? They were some of the first items to sell! Remember the goal is to get rid of things...and making a little money is a fringe benefit.
  
• If something is new or is electronic and works well feel free to write that on the tag too. But remember, you can't expect to sell it for what you paid for it when it was new.
  
• Be willing to take a lower offer on an item. Again, remember the goal is to get rid of stuff. Another way of looking at it is that if you don't take the lower offer, you may not sell it at all and then you'll make nothing.
  

4. Organize your merchandise
I can't believe how many yard sales I have been to that don't do this simple, easy step. I doubt that I am alone when I say that I don't enjoy looking over tables full of a hodge-podge of items or digging through boxes piled full of who knows what. Very quickly I loose interest. I am much more likely to browse and spend more time looking at items if they are organized and "easy on the eyes".

• Put like things together such as all dishes, all home decor items, all electronics.
• If you can't lay books, CD's, and DVD's out nicely on a table then put them in boxes- but don't make the box so full that you can't flip through the items easily. If you have a lot of books, it is nice to also put all children's books in one box, all fiction in another, all non-fiction in another and so on.
• Hang as many clothes as you can. No one likes to dig through boxes full of unorganized clothes. An easy way to do this is to get to step-ladders and put another regular ladder through the two of them, creating a nice hanging spot.
• Organize baby and children's clothes by size. Again, no one likes digging through a bunch of unorganized clothes. If you have both boys and girls clothes of the same size, make a separate spot for each one. I like to put them either on a table or in a box with a clearly marked sign with the size and gender on it.
• Place bigger items on the ground propped up against the table legs BUT make sure that they are visible!

5. Greet your customers
You know how stores have someone greet you when you enter? Well apply this same principle to your yard sale. It makes people feel welcome and lets them know that you are open to talking to them about any questions they have about your items.

• I like to try to say hello and smile at people as soon as they walk up.
  
• Make small talk if possible too.

What have you found helps you have a successful yard sale?

BeRuby.com: Earn Money for Visiting Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, Gmail Etc.

Do you frequently visit Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, Twitter, Facebook, or CNN.com? If so, you will want to check out BeRuby.com because you can get paid to visit those sites!

How does it work? Simply sign up for an account with BeRuby.com, login to their site, then click through to Gmail, Facebook etc. and you'll earn a little bit each day.

You can only get paid for one visit per site per day, so no, you will not make lots of money fast with BeRuby.com. But if you just use it daily to visit the sites you already stop by, you'll slowly earn a little bit of money for doing what you already do.

Want to make logging into BeRuby.com easier? Download Roboform- it's the best thing since self adhesive postage! Just make sure you download the free version.

Johnson & Johnson: Product Testing Opportunities

Sign up for the Johnson & Johnson Friends & Neighbors Program and if you are accepted you'll be eligable to receive full sized products and give your feed back on them. In fact, from what Money Saving Mom posted, there's a good chance you'll even get paid for it! I love these kinds of programs!

Arquest Diaper Survey

For those of you with children in diapers, I have a great program to tell you about. You can get paid to sample diapers. Seriously! There is this company called Arquest that pays you do to diaper surveys and they are super easy. I recently did one and got paid $10 to do the surveys (which took maybe 15 min.) and also received around 70 diapers free!

If you want to do a diaper survey and get paid $10 plus get free diapers, simply call 1-888-diaper2 and if you have a boy dial ext. 634, if you have a girl ext. 646. You will then be prompted to leave your name, your child's gender and the diaper size that you want to try and your phone number. Sometimes you'll have someone call you back immediately, but most often it will go up to several weeks. I think I waited three to four weeks before I got the call that they had a diaper survey opening for my son's size, so be patient.

And just in case you are wondering I was not asked to do this promotion nor did I get paid in anyway to tell you about this. I am just telling you because I think it is a great way to save and I know how you all love to save!

Making Money at Home

I've always had a hankering for earning a couple of extra dollars, and so when I knew that I was going to be becoming a stay at home mom, I nosed around for ways that I could still earn money while being at home. That is how I discovered the wonderful world of drug store games, couponing, and ....survey companies. Yes, you heard me. Survey companies.

At first I was a bit skeptical. Do people really actually make money with these companies? I did some research and discovered that they do. So I dove in and tried it myself. I learned things the hard way- by trial and error- and made plenty of mistakes. But before too long, I was making a nice little side income without spending too much time doing it.

Maybe you are interested in making a little extra money. If so, I have compiled a list of the companies that I like and some of the important information about them. Feel free to leave me any questions you have regarding any of them. I'll be more than glad to try to help you out!

Oh and one more thing, if you are interested in joining survey companies, you seriously might want to consider downloading roboform to your computer. This little tool will speed up filling out all your personal information in those surveys you fill out and save you a LOT of time.

HCD Research
Cash Out: $10, paid by check
Survey Frequency: once a week
Referral Program: $0.50 for each referral
Sign Up Bonus: NONE

This is a fun company to do surveys with. So far, all the surveys I have done have paid 50 points, which is $0.50, and have taken about 5 minutes. I have found the surveys to be fun since they involve watching a short, informational video and answering approximately five questions. (I do know of others who get surveys with higher payouts than this.)

Surveyhead
Cash Out: $25 by Paypal or Amazon.com gift cards
Survey Frequency: multiple offers per day
Referral Program: NONE
Sign Up Bonus: $5

I enjoy doing surveys for this company because of the often high value amounts of the surveys. I also really like that you can see up front how long a survey will take and what you are going to get paid to do the survey. This makes it easy to decide it if it worth your time. You will receive some survey invitations by email, but I highly recommend logging into your account too as you will see all the surveys available to you there. All surveys are worth at least $1 and I have done some for $4, $5, and $10. Those go quickly though, so you need to be fast if you want to do them. Occasionally, when you opt to do a survey, you will do what is called a pre-screen survey and be disqualified. This is because they have already filled their quota for that type of participant. This can be frustrating, but they pre-screen surveys typically take less than 1 minute.

I cashed out several times with Surveyhead. It does take a couple of weeks for the money to be deposited into your Paypal account once you request a payout, but it does happen eventually. (The reason for this is that all the surveys that you did need to be "cleared" before they can pay you.)

You Data
Cash Out: No minimum, whatever you earned is automatically deposited weekly to Paypal
Ad Frequency: Several a week
Referral Program: Up to $1 per referral
Sign Up Bonus: NONE

This is another fun, fast way to earn a little money. Basically you get paid to view advertising- well actually it is usually websites and will typically earn $0.10 to $0.20 per advertisement. The really neat thing is that your earnings are automatically deposited into your Paypal account every Friday, not matter how much you have earned. The two downsides of YouData are that Paypal deducts a small fee when the money is deposited, so instead of $0.10 you might only get $0.07 and the other thing is that lately the offers have been pretty sparse, at least for me. However, I know of some other people that are still getting quite a few advertising offers per week.

One other thing you should know is that when you sign up, you will be asked for a phone number to text you a verification code. Don't worry though, you will not get any other texts or phone calls from YouData. And if you don't have text capabilities, call them and they should be able to give you a code over the phone. They did for me anyway. In fact if you have any questions or concerns, I have found the customer service very helpful and workable.

Swagbucks
Cash Out: Varies depending on what you cash out for. For 45 Swagbucks you can get a $5 Amazon.com gift card (probably the best offer) or for 70 Swagbucks you can get a $5 PayPal deposit.
Swag Earning Frequency: Depends how often you search, but typically at least one winning search a day
Referral Program: earn what your referral earns up to 100 Swagbucks per referral
Sign Up Bonus: 3 Swagbucks

You've probably seen me link to this before but I thought I would explain it more here. I LOVE Swagbucks as it is one of the easiest ways to earn a little extra money.

This site is a little different from the others that I mentioned in that you earn "swagbucks" for searching the internet. You can do this by either logging onto their website or by downloading their search toolbar. (I recommend the toolbar, then you can use that to search anytime you need it. It will simply take the place of the Google search bar if you have that.) You do not earn swagbucks for every search, but from my experience you will earn something for approximately every five searches. The usual winning is 1 swagbuck, but occasionally you will earn more than that at a time.

CashCrate
Cash Out: $20
Survey Frequency: Once daily, however there are also offers you can do as well
Referral Program: 20% of level one referral earnings, 10% of level two earnings & $3 when your level one referrals reach $10
Sign Up Bonus:NONE

You can do 2 daily surveys both of which pay $0.80 each. There are also a whole list of offers that you can complete for various dollar amounts. If you do the offers, be sure to use an email account where you don't mind getting spam, because you will get it. It takes a bit to learn how to do the offers successfully, but with a little bit of time and by frequenting the forum, you can do fairly well.

I don't devote a lot of time to this site, but when I have a couple of free minutes, I do a few offers and slowly the money adds up.

MyPoints
Cash Out: Varies on what gift card you cash out for
Offer Frequency: Several offers daily
Referral Program: varies, but I think it is typically around 100 to 200 points
Sign Up Bonus: NONE

This is another easy way to earn a little bit of extra money via gift cards. Basically you earn points by reading emails, completing offers, doing surveys etc. and then can redeem the points for a variety of gift cards. I typically just do the email offers and am able to earn a couple of gift cards a year.

This is not a huge moneymaker, but for the little bit of time and effort it takes, I think it is easily worth it. If you decide to sign up for MyPoints, I'd be honored if you'd leave a comment or send me an email so that I can send you a referral link. Someone might as well benefit if you sign up, right?

Pinecone Research
Cash Out: $3- the amount for each survey
Survey Frequency: once to twice a month
Referral Program: NONE
Sign Up Bonus: NONE

This is one of the best survey companies out there. However, part of being one of the best also means that they are an "exclusive" survey company and really limit their openings. In the last 6 months though, they accepted applications at least twice. The next time that there is an opening, I will try to let you know.

The great thing about Pinecone is that you get paid $3 for each survey and they usually take about 10 minutes to complete. And after each survey you get paid, no waiting for a minimum payout amount or anything. You can get paid via Paypal or by check. The other really neat thing is that sometimes you get offers to try out the product that you took a survey about. So not only do you get paid to do the survey, you receive a free product!


Some other companies that I have tried and not found worth it in my humble opinion are Memolink, Inbox Dollars, Ipsos, Dollar Surveys, and Mind Field Online. Either they took too long to have any real earning potential or else the surveys were very low payouts for the amount of time spent doing them.

There are also several other companies that I am checking out and as I find ones that are legitimate and worth taking the time to sign up for, I'll be sure to let you know!

PineCone Research : Accepting Applications

I don't know if you remember my mention of PineCone Research before or not, but it is a survey company that is very reputable and one of my personal favorites. They only accept applications periodically and it appears that right now is one of those times. If you are interested, I'd highly recommend signing up now, as these openings usually don't last very long. Sign up here.

Want to read more about it? Go here.

Are you interested in learning more about companies like PineCone? If so, you'll enjoy the post I'm working on for next week about the different companies that I do work for to earn a little extra money each month. Stay tuned to learn more!

CVS Advisory Panel

Have you joined the CVS Advisory Panel? If not, I'd recommend it. What does being a member of the Advisory Panel involve? Well, basically several times a year you'll receive anywhere from $5 to $15 in Extra Bucks for completing a survey about CVS products and services.

I have no experience with this, but from what I have heard from others this is an excellent program. Why have I not joined? Well, I'll let you in on a little secret. I actually am a CVS employee, which obviously makes me ineligible.

PineCone Research

Do you enjoy giving your opinion about things? Then you would probably enjoy PineCone Research. PineCone is one of the best survey companies that there is and one that is hard to become a part of in that they only accept new members several times a year and you have to be referred to be able to join.

I have been a member of PineCone for a couple of years now and love it. You get paid $3 for every survey that you do and can get paid via Paypal or by check. You get paid immediately, every time you do a survey unlike most companies who have a maximum amount that you must earn before you can cash out.

I receive surveys approximately twice a month and they almost always take less than 10 minutes. Getting paid $3 for 10 minutes is like getting paid $18 an hour- not bad in my estimation. And sometimes the company that is sponsering the survey will send you a product to test. So not only do you get paid to do the survey, you also receive a free item.

Sign up here to join PineCone, I don't think you'll be disappointed. And no, I don't get paid anything to tell you about this!

Money Earning Ideas

When I became a stay at home mom when our precious son Logan was born almost one year ago I had lots of mixed feelings. I was very excited about being able to stay at home and take care of my little guy but I also knew I was going to miss helping boost our budget by earning money.

Maybe that sounds funny to you, but I honestly enjoyed knowing that I was helping earn some of our income. Now before I go any further, let me say this. My husband has never pressured me into feeling like I need to work. In fact, he really pushed for me to just relax and stay at home and let the money earning up to him. But when Logan was born, I found I really missed feeling like I was helping out our budget by earning money and so I decided to throw myself into doing all that I can to be a thrifty, frugal stay at home mom. And as I did this, I was thrilled to discover some little ways that I could earn money while staying at home. I'd like to tell you about a few of them.

YouData
One of my favorite ways to earn a little money is YouData. Basically with YouData you get paid to view advertising- well actually it is usually websites. Typically you will get paid anywhere from 10 to 20 cents per advertisement. And the neat thing is that they automatically deposit your earnings every Friday into your PayPal account. When I first started with YouData I got lots of advertisements and would easily make several dollars a week. But lately it has slowed down and I was starting to get discouraged. But then about two weeks ago, YouData informed it's customers that they expect to soon be able to up the advertisements again. Apparently their customer base grew faster than they had expected and they couldn't keep up with getting advertisers fast enough.

When you sign up for YouData they will ask for a phone number to text you a verification code. Don't worry though, they will not call you again. And if you don't have text capabilities, call them and they should be able to give you a code over the phone. I have found them very helpful and workable.

Swagbucks
Another way that I have enjoyed earning a little money is through Swagbucks. At Swagbucks, you earn points for using their search engine. I simply downloaded their toolbar so that every time I want to use the internet to search for something I have the chance to earn Swag Bucks. I don't search that often, but I usually will win Swag Bucks once or twice a day. If you are lucky, you also might find Swagcodes on Facebook, Twitter, and other sites that you can redeem for Swag Bucks. You can also earn Swag Bucks by shopping at various stores listed on their website.

It's amazing how fast Swag Bucks add up. And when you have enough, you can redeem them for gift cards, cash, or all sorts of prizes. Swagbucks is so simple and is a fun little way that I have found to earn some extra money for us.

Surveyhead
I have been a member of Surveyhead for over a year now and really enjoy it. This is a company that pays you to do surveys. What I really like about them is that they tell you approximately how long the survey will take and what you will be paid before you do the survey. This is invaluable to me because then I can decide if it is worth my time.

Surveyhead often has high dollar surveys available. Just two days ago I did one for $4 that took me a little less than 10 minutes! And I did one several months back that earned me $10 and didn't take long at all. Several other neat things about Surveyhead is that they pay you through PayPal and you get a $5 sign up bonus.

The down side is that you can't collect your earnings until you reach $25. But, I have been amazed at how fast you reach that.

These are just some of the little ways that I have earned us money. I have several other programs that I do as well, but currently these are my favorite. I have earned several hundred dollars a year by doing these and similar things and enjoy that. I am in the process of testing several other programs to see if I like them and I will try to update you as I find more that I like and feel are worthwhile.

5 Tips for Having a Successful Yardsale

Thinking about having a yard or garage sale this summer to clear out some of those corners in your attic and basement? Go for it! Yard sales are a lot of work, I'll admit it, but they are worth it. What better way to make some money while cleaning house and getting organized?

This past weekend a couple of friends and I had a yard sale. We had a lot of fun, even though it took a lot of work to set up everything. I got rid of 3/4 of my stuff so I was pretty tickled- especially considering I had a lot of trinkety type of things. I meant to take some pictures, but go figure, I forgot!

Anyway, here are 5 tips that I have found that have helped me have a successful yard sale.

1. Advertise
This is a simple no-brainer in bringing in more customers. Make sure to do this at the beginning of the week at least if not earlier.

• One way is to place an ad in your local classifieds, however this usually costs from my experience. For some free ideas use Craigslist, Yardsalesearch, or Garagesalesource.
• Make sure to include your full address, not just Hillside Development, Brownstown. What if I don't know where that is? If people have your full address they can get directions online right to your place.
• List any unique items or items that may be of interest. For example: Lots of books, baby clothes, baby furniture, plus-sized ladies clothing, tea cup collection and more.
• Don't forget to post the hours and date(s) of your yard sale.
  

2. Show them Signs
A sign screaming YARDSALE will catch people's attention and attract interest even days before you have the sale. Keep it simple and make sure it is neat looking and attractive. The point is to catch people's attention not to distract them. If you care to, attach a couple of balloons to the sign as well.

• Post the sign several days in advance. For instance, I like to put my sign out the Sunday or Monday before the yard sale starts.
• Place it where it is very visible and also be sure to make it big enough that it is readable from the road.
  
• One of my friend's likes to put up a different sign the actual day of the yardsale. It simply says, Yardsale Today. That way if you are having a two day yard sale people don't assume by the second day that all the good stuff is gone. Not a bad idea I think.
• Another option is to post a flyer at your local grocery store, laundromat, garage etc.

3. Price things low to go
Maybe I am strange, but I detest yard sales that just have stuff sitting out with no price. I like to know what something costs without having to search out the person in charge to ask them. In fact I often pass up some things just because I don't feel like going to the bother of asking the seller. I am pretty sure that I am not alone in this either from hearing others talk. Yes, pricing takes a bit of time, but I promise you it will sell things for you too.

• Lay aside all sentimentalism. Remember, even if that fuchsia and orange flower arrangement is special to you because your great aunt Henrietta gave it as a housewarming gift when you bought your first home, it doesn't mean that I will think it is worth $5. Think how your customers will think. When you are pricing items ask yourself, "How much would I be willing to pay at a yard sale for this?"
  
• If you really want to get rid of things, keep the price low. Lots of 10, 25, and 50 cent items appeal to people. This last yard sale I even priced some things 5 cents that I was sure no one would want. But guess what? They were some of the first items to sell! Remember the goal is to get rid of things...and making a little money is a fringe benefit.
  
• If something is new or is electronic and works well feel free to write that on the tag too. But remember, you can't expect to sell it for what you paid for it when it was new.
  
• Be willing to take a lower offer on an item. Again, remember the goal is to get rid of stuff. Another way of looking at it is that if you don't take the lower offer, you may not sell it at all and then you'll make nothing.
  

4. Organize your merchandise
I can't believe how many yard sales I have been to that don't do this simple, easy step. I doubt that I am alone when I say that I don't enjoy looking over tables full of a hodge-podge of items or digging through boxes piled full of who knows what. Very quickly I loose interest. I am much more likely to browse and spend more time looking at items if they are organized and "easy on the eyes".

• Put like things together such as all dishes, all home decor items, all electronics.
• If you can't lay books, CD's, and DVD's out nicely on a table then put them in boxes- but don't make the box so full that you can't flip through the items easily. If you have a lot of books, it is nice to also put all children's books in one box, all fiction in another, all non-fiction in another and so on.
• Hang as many clothes as you can. No one likes to dig through boxes full of unorganized clothes. An easy way to do this is to get to step-ladders and put another regular ladder through the two of them, creating a nice hanging spot.
• Organize baby and children's clothes by size. Again, no one likes digging through a bunch of unorganized clothes. If you have both boys and girls clothes of the same size, make a separate spot for each one. I like to put them either on a table or in a box with a clearly marked sign with the size and gender on it.
• Place bigger items on the ground propped up against the table legs BUT make sure that they are visible!

5. Greet your customers
You know how stores have someone greet you when you enter? Well apply this same principle to your yard sale. It makes people feel welcome and lets them know that you are open to talking to them about any questions they have about your items.

• I like to try to say hello and smile at people as soon as they walk up.
  
• Make small talk if possible too.