Welcome to the once a month blogger! The purpose of this blog is really to share ideas/thoughts/projects and maybe even a story or two!
I became a stay at home mom after having my second child. As a new stay at home mom I wanted a way to document the things I'm working on as well as share with anyone who might care to listen. I have gotten so many great ideas from others that I want to pay it forward in any way I can.
As for the name, "The Once a Month Blogger," Well, I have to be honest, that is extremely ambitious for me! I've had a personal blog site for about 6-7 years and have probably written on it less than a dozen times. My posts aren't likely to be long. I like to try to keep things as brief as possible!
As a warning, if you're looking for comic relief or inspiring literary genius...you won't find it here. But
I promise I will do my best to post once a month or more, even if only to briefly update you on a current project. Hopefully you can find something you'll like!
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
My 6 Favorite ways to earn a little extra as a SAHM
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!!
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