My 6 Favorite ways to earn a little extra as a SAHM

Since becoming a stay at home mom I am constantly looking for ways to earn a little extra spending money. I've tried a couple of survey places before but never really found it worth while.  Here are a couple of my favorite ways to earn a little extra.

Shopkick-
This is an app that gives you points (kicks) for walking in certain stores, scanning items in stores, and/or making purchases in stores. 

How it Works-
Open the app when you're walking in certain stores, like Walmart, Macy's, American Eagle, JCPenney, Sportsman's Warehouse, Best Buy, TJMaxx, etc.  I was able to spend just a few minutes walking through a mall and neighboring stores and earned about 800 kicks one day.  That happened to be on a weekend when they were giving higher amounts of kicks for walk-ins.  When you earn a certain number of kicks you can redeem them for gift cards.

How much are you likely to get?
This depends entirely on how often you go shopping, as the kicks for going into stores reset every day.  The rewards aren't huge, but every little bit counts.  For 500 kicks you can get a $2 gift card.  1250 is $5, 2500 is $10 and so on.  Check it out!


Bing Rewards-
This is the site I use least often because it doesn't have the best payout.  But if you already use Bing as your search engine then why not earn a little with something you already do?

How it Works-
Bing will give you a point for every two searches you do up to 15 points a day.  You can also answer trivia questions that will give you a few points.  When you get between 500 and 525 points you can cash out for a $5 gift card.

How much are you likely to get?
If you capped out on your searches every day, you could get a $5 gift card in about a month.


Swagbucks-
Now this is a survey site, but it's the only one I use.  I've tried InboxDollars before, but I had trouble with a number of their surveys disqualifying me after I had already spent 20 minutes on them.  I've had that happen twice with Swagbucks and each time they've credited me with the full amount of points.  With InboxDollars you also have to wait until you have $30 before they'll let you access any of the money.  I like Swagbucks because they are fair and you don't have to earn a ton of points before you can cash out on something

How it works:  
You earn points (Swagbucks) for certain activities.  Each point it basically the equivalent of $.01.  It's not a lot, but it can add up.  I've seen surveys range from 40 Swagbucks to 2500 Swagbucks.  Most often it's between 50 and 100.  Again, it's not a lot, but it's something I can do any time of the day.

You can also earn a minimal number of points for playing games, watching videos and searching the internet.  I like that last one because I set them as my default search engine and then I get points for some of the searches I do.  It usually only comes out to around $.10 a day, but hey, it's $.10 for something that I already do.  It doesn't require any extra effort.

You can also earn by shopping online at stores you may already use.  For example, you can shop online at Walmart, Amazon or Target and earn anywhere between 1 and 4 Swagbucks per $1 spent.  They have a ton of retailers you can use.

They also have offers that come into your "inbox" that may give you a certain number of Swagbucks.  For example, I did needed to purchase ink for my printer recently and there was a deal that gave me 500 Swagbucks if I spent over $30.  The store I had to purchase from actually was a lot cheaper than Walmart (which is where I probably would have gotten it) and on top of it I got the 500 points.  That was basically the equivalent of a $5 gift card.

When you earn enough points you can cash it in for gift cards.  I personally usually get Amazon Gift cards, but they have a lot of retailers to choose from.  You can cash in for as few as 300 Swagbucks, which will get you a $3 gift card.

How much are you likely to get?
I've only been using this site for a month and I've earned about $60.  It will depend on how much time you spend and if you can find deals that will help you get points for merchandise you already planned on buying.

UserTesting
This company has you test websites for other companies to see how their websites function.

How it works-
If you sign up with them, you will have to first do a sample test.  This test won't pay anything, it just tests you to see if you're a good fit.  After that you'll have access to start testing websites.  They will post available tests on your dashboard and you'll answer a few questions to see if you'll be a good fit for that test.  When you do your first test you'll have to wait until the test is reviewed before you can do anymore.

From what I've seen since I started most tests pay about $10.   They take about 20-30 minutes each. They pay you via Paypal, so you must have a Paypal account that is in good standing.  You will get paid a week after you take the test.  You get rated on the tests you take and if your rating starts to drop you may not see as many tests show up on your dashboard.

How much are you likely to get?
You'll probably be looking to make around $40 a month or so. 


Ibotta
I actually just joined Ibotta, but I'm super excited about it!  I wish I had found it earlier.  You get money back from shopping!  What could be better than that?

How it Works-
I use it for grocery shopping.  It reminds me a little of couponing without the headache of couponing.  You can go shopping, buy all your normal stuff, and then come home and check your Ibotta app to see what rebates are available.  For example, I went shopping yesterday and came home and looked at the app.  There was $1 rebate for milk (any brand), $.30 for bread, $.30 for eggs, etc.  I spent about $70 on food and got $3.40 in rebates and you get paid within two days.  Not bad for not having to do any couponing and just shopping like I normally do.

How much are you likely to get?
Honestly, I haven't been doing it long enough to tell.  It would also depend on how much you buy and how often you shop.  I have a friend who's been doing it for about 3 months and she's gotten a little over $90 back.

They also have promotionals where you can also earn more money if you're part of a "team."
If you'd like to join, click on the link and sign up :)
https://ibotta.com/r/gravpxm


Selling Plasma-
This is by far my favorite, most monetarily rewarding way to earn money as a SAHM.  In Utah you can earn money by donating plasma.  I go to Biomat USA (Griffols).  The first five times you donate you end up getting paid about $275.  You can donate twice a week.  After the first five times, you start getting $65 a week.  It takes, on average, about 2 hours per donation. 
I, personally, hate needles.  But I do love being able to earn money while watching TV.  Granted, it's not for everyone, but for me, it's worth doing it to be able to be a SAHM!!

Tips on tiling backsplash with SimpleMat

I have to say, this task was a bit daunting to me, having never tiled before, but once we got the hang of things, it really wasn't so bad.  And we're so happy with the results!! 

We went to our local Home Depot and found some tile we like.  Looking back it would have saved us a ton of time to use the sheets of tile, instead of individual tile pieces, but it ultimately saved us money to do it this way, and we really liked the natural stone look. 

Here's out Materials list:

• Tile - We used 11 packages of 9 stones each (equal to 1 sq ft.).  Each pack was $4. - $44
• SimpleMat- We got the large roll 30 sq ft. - $50
• 3/16" spacers -$3
• rubber grout float- $4
• Sponge - $2
• Grout- 2 containers of 1qt alabaster premixed SimpleGrout- $11 each - $22

Total = $125

We borrowed a tile saw from a friend and he came over to help us get started.
Now, there are a ton of videos out there on how to tile, etc.  They're worth looking at.  This post is mainly a review of, and tips for using SimpleMat. 

We didn't want to have to deal with thinset since this was such as small project and using Simplemat seemed so easy.  Basically it's a super sticky glue-like backing to place your tile on.  It really does seem like it would be a great product in the right setting. 

Would I use it if I was to do this project over again?  No.  Here's why.  Because we did a diamond pattern instead of a square pattern, we had to make a lot of cuts.  When you cut with a tile saw the pieces get wet.  Water and SimpleMat don't mix well.  We found that if our pieces were even slightly damp they had a hard time sticking to the wall.  After the first few experiences we got out the blow dryer and we didn't have much trouble after that. 

If you're doing a project without a lot of cuts, it might be a good option for you.  I also think if we were to do another backsplash, say in our bathroom, and we were using the sheets of tile, I would probably give SimpleMat another shot.  I can see how it might be really easy and mess-free to use with the sheets.  

Quick Tips:

• Don't put tile on SimpleMat when tile is wet
• If you're set on using SimpleMat, choose a tile the is not too large or too heavy
• Sheets of tile, rather than individual pieces, are likely your best bet.
• Don't put it on your wall until you're sure it's where you want it.  If you try to peel it off you'll pull off paint too.

Amazing Baked Onion Rings!

Okay, so I made these a couple weeks ago and I haven't been able to stop thinking about them since!  They are A..MAZ..ING.  No joke.  You seriously have to try them.  And they're easy to make!!  I tried them two weeks ago and since then I have made them 5 times.  That's how much I love them.  And I don't feel guilty about eating them because they are healthy!  (Until I dip them in fry sauce with Siracha.)  There aren't many things that I think taste better than their fattening counterparts, but  I actually like these better than the greasy Onion Blossoms you get from restaurants!

I posted a picture of them right out of my oven (and it's a good think too, because they didn't last long!) and posted it on my personal Facebook page.  I got so many requests for the recipe I thought I'd share here too in case you haven't stumbled upon it on Pinterest.  The recipe is from the incredible Tiffany from "Creme de la Crumb."  Check out  her website for the recipe here.

Most of my food posts on here are mostly recipes that I've adapted from other recipes I've found.  Not this one.  Nope.  It didn't need to be changed.  At all.  I make it almost exactly as written.  The only thing I do differently is that I put the rings of onion in a large freezer bag, put the water in there, drain it, and then pour the flour mixture into the bag.  Zip it up and shake to coat.  It saves me a lot of time and I don't think it affects the flavor at all.

Star Spangled Banner

In preparation for Memorial Day and Fourth of July I wanted to make another banner.  So, out came my cricut!  I don't use it very often, but it does come in handy for projects like this. I scored some scrapbook paper at Joann's for 6 for $1 that I was planning on using as a flag banner for a cake smash, but I ended up using something else.  I decided this would be perfect for my star banner!  It's such a simple project and I love the way it looks, don't you?! 

I used 6 sheets of 12X12 scrapbook paper: 2 blue, 2 red and 2 white.  I used the "Plantain Schoolbook" cartridge (the one that comes with the cricut).  I set the size to 2 1/2" and chose the "fill page" option.  It cut 16 two and a half inch stars.  I did that for one page of each color. 

Then I did the same thing with the other three pages, except the setting was for 3 1/2" stars.  That gave me 9 stars per page. 

Then I used white thread and my sewing machine and sewed all the stars together.  It's that easy!!

My Little Pony Quiet Book - Shutterfly

I wanted to show you all a project I'm working on with another friend of mine.  I still have a few pages left to finish, but I think it's ADORABLE, so of course I had to share! ;) 

I made different size/shaped wings and cut out little pieces of felt to decorate.  I'll be updating the post soon with an attachment of the butterfly wings and decorations soon so keep checking back!