how I save and earn when I shop and what not

via elephant journal
So...maybe I should've posted this BEFORE everyone started their holiday shopping. But...guess what...the day AFTER Christmas is also a huge shopping day. Tons of stores offering huge discounts to get rid of holiday merchandise and getting ready for spring. Yup...spring. So here are a few of the main ways I earn rewards and save money when I'm spending my hard earned dough.

Target - I think it's safe to assume that most people love to shop at Target...if you don't...well...I don't...I don't even understand how that's possible. ;) First off, I suggest applying for the Target DEBIT card. (I won't go into my feelings about credit cards right now.) The Target Debit card comes right out of your checking account and you automatically save 5% off your purchase when you use it to pay. Not a lot, but it's still something. Next download the Cartwheel app to your smartphone. There are all kinds of discounts on items you're already buying. Last, check out coupons.target.com for more ways to save. I often find that there are coupons for things that also have a discount on Cartwheel.

ShopKick (phone app) - Because I work in a mall this app really comes in handy. You get kicks when you walk into stores, scan items (and sometimes do a short survey) and if you want you can link the debit/credit card you shop with most to earn kicks when you shop (in specific stores). Kicks can be turned into gift cards or other items. I like to use this app a lot when I'm at Target. There are always a lot of items to scan at Target. I tend to turn my kicks into Target gift cards. (It makes me feel better about shopping there and I feel like I'm not really spending my own money.) The rewards are loaded right onto your phone. I currently have enough kicks for a $5 Target gift card, but I think I'm going to keep on saving and shoot for a $25 gift card or maybe something else. (By far my favorite way to earn rewards because it's as simple as walking into a store, which I do quite often, especially Target.)

Mr. Rebates and ebates - Both sites offer a percentage of cash back for your purchase when you shop online. They also list current coupons and promotions so you don't have to waste time searching the internet while you're shopping. I check both sites when I'm shopping because sometimes one site has a higher percentage of cash back than the other. I prefer Mr. Rebates though because you can let your cash back build up and cash out when you want to (provided you've waited 90 days), where as ebates cashes you out quarterly and only if you've got at least $10 in your account. Also, when you refer someone on Mr. Rebates you get a portion of their cash back when they shop.

Gift Card Granny - Sometimes someone doesn't know you that well and they give you a gift card to a place you don't shop and you think...what the heck am I going to do with this? You're gonna sell it...usually for less than the actual value on it. Gift Card Granny finds all the gift cards that are being sold online and tells you what the value on the card is and what it's selling for. Great for online and in store shopping if you can find a good deal on a gift card for a place you already know you're going to shop at. I'm thinking about updating my TV so I'm watching Best Buy gift cards. Even if I only save a couple of bucks, it's better than nothing.

Wrapp (phone app) - This app lets you send your friends gift cards. They offer a lot of free gift cards. There does appear to be a limit on how often you can receive free gift cards from certain companies. I have a friend that I trade H & M gift cards with when they become available for us to send. They also do occasional promos when they add new companies and I've received free $5 gift cards for etsy as well as Godiva.

ibotta (phone app) - This app pays you when you buy certain products, eat at a specific restaurant or go to see a movie. You look for offers, complete a couple of tasks and then after you complete your purchase you follow the instructions and submit a photo of your receipt. After your purchase is verified they deposit cash into your ibotta account. You can cash your account out to PayPal or use it on gift cards. This app is still fairly new for me. It's pretty simple to use though. I've made one purchase so far and have $2 sitting in my account.

Jingit (phone app and online) - Watch an ad, answer a few questions and earn some change. Literally. Each ad you watch earns you about 10 to 15 cents. Not a lot. And there aren't currently a lot of ads to watch. I log in about once a week to see what's new. They do offer check ins as well that pay 25 - 50 cents. Stop by a particular store and scan the listed item. Easy to do while you're grocery shopping. Last time I checked I had $2 saved up.

mystery shopping - Stores and restaurants pay you to evaluate their service. I wrote a huge post about this this past summer, so I won't go into much about it here. I haven't done a lot of mystery shopping lately because I've been busy with the holidays and I haven't found any that I was very interested in. My favorite shop though was getting paid to walk 3 laps around the mall to see if any of the kiosks workers would approach me. Easiest $10 I made all year long. I look forward to being eligible to do that shop again.

There are a handful of other ways that I earn extra cash, but I'll save that post for another day. I think this is a good start to start lining your pockets with vacation money. Hey, maybe that's what I'll do with the extra dough I earn next year. Sounds like a good plan.

What are some of the tricks you use to save money? Or ways that you earn a little extra dough?


reading - The Sigh of Haruhi Suzumiya by Nagaru Tanigawa This post brought to you in part by:  

mystery shopping, it's legit

So you've heard about mystery shopping, but you think it's a scam. Well...there ARE scammers out there, but there are A LOT of legit companies that will pay you to mystery shop for their clients. Legit mystery shopping companies won't ask you for money.


via
First things first though, if you're trying to make quick money, then mystery shopping ain't it. Most companies take about 4 - 6 weeks to pay/reimburse you. If you want to make extra money, eat out for "free" and have some extra time on your hands, then you should check mystery shopping out.

I've been mystery shopping for about 8 months now. Prior to the last couple of weeks I was only doing one or two shops every couple of months. I only knew about a couple of companies that hired mystery shoppers. Then a couple of weeks ago I was looking into mystery shops regarding my current place of employment and discovered that there are hundreds of companies that hire mystery shoppers and have completed 10 mystery shops just this past week. If I've done everything correctly I will have earned $110 and be reimbursed for 4 meals.

Some of the shops I've completed are calling up a hotel to check rates and evaluating if they could successful get me to book a room (I was even given fake info to book the room), checking out a companies rewards program for a competing company, evaluating the food/customer service at a museum, evaluating a chocolate shop, sandwich shop, burger joint, casual dining restaurant, popular clothing shop, shoe store, electronic shop and a rent to own shop. And I've seen mystery shops for so many other things as well.

I've seen shops that ask you to stay over night in a hotel, call up a funeral home, call up a golf course and ask about wedding reception packages, popular fast food joints, test driving new cars, getting an oil change or tire rotation done on your car, checking out a fitness center, looking into a new apartment, cell phones, fine dining restaurants, seeing if a money wiring service will wire a large amount of money without the use of your ID and seeing if they'll take a bribe. ALL kinds of shops. I think there are shops for just about everything you can think of.

Okay, so if you want to give mystery shopping a go I suggest setting up a separate email address. I get multiple emails a day from multiple companies and it just makes it easier to sort through my email when I know they are all for mystery shops that are available.

Next, if you don't already have a PayPal account, set up a PayPal account. The majority of mystery shop companies pay via PayPal. If you've already got a PayPal account add your new email address to your account so that you don't have any problems getting paid. The mystery shop companies will send your payment to the email you sign up.

There are three types of shops: flat payment - you get a flat fee to perform the shop, reimbursement - you are reimbursed up to a certain amount to perform the shop (these are usually restaurants) and flat + reimbursement - you get a flat fee + reimbursement up to a certain amount to perform the shop. So you pay for anything you need to purchase/meals out of pocket and then your get your money back later.

SOMETIMES companies will offer a bonus. I find this happens when they need the shop done right away. I had a shop last week that was a flat $10 with a $20 bonus because it had to be done the next day. And the shop only required me to hang out in the store for 15 minutes and I didn't have to buy anything. That's $30 for about 30 minutes of my time (includes the time it took me to fill out my report).

After you set up a new email address (if that's the route you choose) head over to jobslinger.com and click on TOOLS on the left hand side and then SEARCH. Search for jobs in your area. Each of the shops listed will show which company is in charge of that shop. You will then have to register with that particular company to sign up for that shop.

Check the Job Boards of other areas with each company. Sometimes you'll find phone shops that are available and it doesn't matter that you don't live in that area. I've found quite a few of these phone shops with Confero. Also check your email a couple of times a day. New shops come up all the time and sometimes it could be a shop you really want to do and someone else could get to it first.

Alright, so here are some of the companies that I've shopped for and the types of shops I've done with them. I'm not listing any of the clients names though.

Advanced Feedback - this company is the first company I did a shop with and they paid the fastest at about two weeks. I shopped a sandwich place and have done several phone call shops to hotels. I was given fake information to use if the associate was able to get past my objection to booking a room.


Amusement Advantage - I've applied to do a shop with them, but haven't been approved yet. Most of their shops are amusement parks, they also have shops for bowling alleys, roller skating joints, aquariums and museums. A great way to do fun stuff if you're on a budget.


ICCDS - I've shopped with them the most so far. It takes me about 4 weeks to get paid. I've shopped a popular young adult/teen clothing store and a shoe store.

BI - This is a new company I've started doing shops for. I've completed two so far and will do a third this week. I've done a casual dining restaurant, a museum and will do a phone shop. If you're interested in this company send me your email address as I get credit for referrals. I've not gotten paid from them yet so I don't know how long it takes to receive payment.

JM Ridgeway - Another new company. I've completed two shops at gadget stores. No purchase was required. Both shops had a bonus attached to them. I've not gotten paid yet.

There are a shit ton more I'm registered with that have all sorts of shops available: Beyond Hello, A Closer Look, Reality Based Groups, Second to None, Intelli-Shop. I've started to limit myself to how many I register with a week so I don't get inundated with emails.

It's pretty much a part time job and could possibly be a full time job if you picked the right shops. I also think that if you're dating or married or just like to enjoy meals with yourself or friends that these are great for that. You can eat at all sorts of places for free and sometimes even get paid.

As I do more shops I'll try to share the companies I shop with and if you have any questions, please email me (you can find my email on the contact page). I'm not a pro, but I think I've learned quite a bit over the last couple of weeks. Also, if you want to see how I keep track of all my shops, let me know and I'll create a separate post for it. I hope this information helps someone.

reading - Bali Raw by Malcom Scott This post brought to you in part by:

strange dreams and my latest obsession

this photo has nothing to do with this post, but I want one of these. it's a pomsky
So yesterday morning before I was rudely awakened by a text message I was in the middle of a super long dream where I was pregnant. I hadn't had sex in 3 years, but some how I was pregnant. Also, before I woke up I was dancing around to Call Me Maybe and my friends were cracking up at me. Sounds about right.

It doesn't bother me that I was pregnant. I'd wanted to have two kids by the time I was 35 (don't see that happening...maybe one, not two at this point). It bothers me that I don't know who the father was and that I was pregnant without having had sex.

What does it all mean???

Okay, sorry about that. I've composed myself and now I can talk about my latest obsession...mystery shopping. I plan to do a more in depth post about this in the future, but for now I'm just going to say how much I am enjoying doing this. I've been mystery shopping since October/November of last year and have done about 8 or 9 so far.

I'm learning more and more about mystery shopping daily and have signed up with probably 20+ companies. There are jobs/shops out there for just about everything. Preschools, automotive shops, hotels, high end restaurants, fast food joints, banks, storage places etc. So far I've done phone shops for a hotel, eaten at a sandwich shop and shopped a couple of retail stores. There's a lot involved, but it's fun and you get to do fun stuff for free and sometimes even get paid.

I think it's a good way to earn extra money (you could probably make a couple hundred dollars a month if you set them up right) and if you're single/dating  it's a good way to go on dates and save money. Ha!

Anywho, yeah that's it. I'm off this weekend and have a couple of shops I hope to get assigned to me so I'll be doing those and if I'm not I'll be hiding out at home hopefully being productive. Hiding out at home is my new thing right now.

Okay, bye!

reading - The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan This post brought to you in part by: