Interstitial Income: Survey says? Get paid!

Survey says? Get paid!

A while back, I posted about being a consumer panelist. Today’s post is along those same lines, in that these are a couple more ways I make money on the side via consumer-intel activities.

While none of these things are going to replace my (or anyone’s!) day job, they go a long way toward padding my disposable-income budget. The way my work days are structured, it is easy for me to complete these activities during wait-time/down-time. Likewise, when I’m home for the day and needing to decompress, these are brain-fuzzle things that I do that require very little concentration — and the bonus is, I get paid to do them!

(Ain’t nobody payin’ you to scroll through Facebook. Just sayin’.)

If you, also, would like to get paid to chill on your phone (or your tablet or whatever), read on. 🙂

SURVEY JUNKIE

I think this sight is aptly named, given the somewhat addicting nature of seeing your points compile from completing surveys. *laugh*

Survey Junkie is a consumer panelist site with a simple, user-friendly format. As you can see from my member dashboard page above, the surveys available are shown in little pop-out squares and show you not only how many points they are worth (1 point = 1 cent, so 280 points = $2.80) but also approximately how much time they will take to complete. When you first join, there are a lot of ‘about you’ type surveys (that you get paid for!) so they can tailor your dashboard to give you a higher percentage of survey options you qualify for. Disqualifications are still pretty normal, but of all the panels I’m a part of, Survey Junkie definitely has the highest match rate.

You can also see how well this pays:

As of the end of last week — which is when I took this screen shot — I had a current points balance of 2,035 (which translates to $20.35). My lifetime accumulative points, circled in red on the right, is 27,740. Which means I’ve gotten $277.40 worth of rewards out of this site since I started it in February. Doing the math, that’s over $50 per month.

That’s $50 per month I can spend on Amazon or buy myself coffee with; I can cash out via Paypal or choose from a number of gift cards — I’ve done both — and I get additional bonuses when I participate in their occasional survey sprees (think: complete three surveys per day for five days and get $5 extra — that kind of thing).

Not bad, right?

There is also a direct bank transfer option — I just remembered that when I took this screen shot:

Basically, when you want to redeem, you click Redeem Now (see previous illustration) and then click which way you want to redeem. They send a verification code to your email to make sure it’s really you. When you copy-paste that code into the verification box, your money/gift-card is sent instantly.

Easy, peasy.

SURVEYS ON THE GO

SOTG is an app — as opposed to the other panels I’ve discussed that have direct websites — and while the earnings are lower and slower than Survey Junkie, it’s a slow-and-steady-wins-the-race kind of experience. You don’t have to log in regularly or check your dashboard. The app alerts you when there is a survey for you to take and you can see in real money what you’re making (as opposed to points). When you take a survey worth $2.50, you see $2.50 become available in your cash-out balance.

One thing SOTG does is real-life product reviews. So if you are down for that kind of thing, you may get sent products to test. The payout for each product differs, but pretty much they {1} send you a product for free (that you get to keep) and after {2} you test it and complete surveys about your product experience, {3} you get paid.

Personally, I’ve tested two household products and one personal care item so far.

To the tune of $58.

In addition to completing their smaller surveys.

When you reach $10 of accumulated earnings, you can cash out. Similar to Survey Junkie, SOTG pays immediately upon redemption and you can choose from a short list of gift cards or opt for a Paypal payout.

I started SOTG the week of my birthday (mid-March) and so far have gotten over $100 in rewards.

Not bad, eh? 😉

Is it worth it?

You tell me.

I mean… I just gave you my real numbers, right?

Combined with my averages from Crowdtap and Swagbucks (which I talked about here, in case you missed the link earlier in this post) — as well as the additional brand-focus panels I’ve become a part of under those umbrellas — I’d say this nets me a total of $150 or more per month, depending on how much of my down-time/wait-time I use to do it.

So again: It’s not going to replace my (or anyone’s!) day job.

But $150 is nothing to sneeze at. 😉

The Fine Print

This is not a sponsored post!

These are just things I do that have helped somewhat cushion the blow of having reduced income. (My household income was down $25K in 2020 from the year before — no joke. COVID-19 and the resultant business restrictions played havoc on my finances.) It’s never going to replace a “real job” but I’ve seen a pretty reasonable return on just a little bit of effort.

There are no referral links in this post. If you visit my previous post on this topic that discusses my experience with Crowdtap and Swagbucks, there are (labeled!) referral links imbedded in the text.

Crowdtap and Survey Junkie are open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. Swagbucks is open to multiple countries; do your homework if you want to know if it applies to Where You Live, but for sure it’s available to the U.S. and UK. SOTG is available to U.S. residents only.

WARNINGS:

If your coffee addiction is not fund-able via survey-taking, you might really have a problem.

Please do not drink and survey.

If you feel you are at risk for over-imbibing in surveys, please immediately shut down your electronic device and go have a wank.

ANY QUESTIONS?