Making extra money

I feel your pain--I'm on SSDI and SSI as well.  I'm fortunate to live in an area that has one of the lowest costs of living in the country--Indianapolis, Indiana.  I used to have a lucrative career as a freelance writer for a website--I made about $140 a month.  I've found mystery shopping to be a good source of income--I got my start with Field Agent and have branched out.  I'm fortunate enough to be able to work part-time in a restaurant, but that incurs the risk of losing SSI.

@layitlo I understand your frustration. There are so many things out there that people promote or they have a minimum threshold to cash out. I use quite a few different things to earn here and there but as you said, many of them require a minimum.

I will definitely keep an eye out and let you know if I come across anything that is better.

One thing I have done a bit has been Amazon Mechanical Turk. It is definitely not going to make you rich but it each a way to earn some extra money in your spare time.

I read their FAQ and it looks like they do have a holding period on the money you earn of 10 days after you open your account. But after that 10 day trial period is over you can cash out once per day I believe. It is kind of like doing surveys in that it doesn't pay all that much but it would be a way to get a little extra cash quicker.

If you drive, depending on where you live, Survey.com has a merchandising app where they pay people to do tasks at stores. I believe they have a minimum of $5 to cash out but you can easily earn this doing one task.

The tasks are generally as simple as checking the item stock at a store and straitening it up and occasionally you have to restock the item. The jobs vary but you do get to pick and choose the jobs you want to do.

I live in Fargo, which doesn't have a ton of jobs but still over the period of a couple months I was able to earn around $300 just by doing small tasks in Fargo and the surrounding area.

They say they pay out twice a month once you cash out but I cashed out and got my money the next day.

There is also a similar app called Observa, but they have a lot less tasks available than Survey. I did however complete one task with them and received the money in my PayPal for the task at the end of that day.

I will keep my eyes open for anything else that might work for you but for now I hope these help!

Thank you, where I live is kinda affordable but after paying all the bills there isn't enough. I have a bad back and can't handle standing to long or sitting to long. I have more bad days then good days. I haven't looked into freelance writing before. I'm not sure I'd be to good at it. I do little things here at home but it's not been enough. Going shopping sounds like fun but haven't found anything real where I use their money and not mine. No one should have to do it that way. So far everything I find has been a scam or nothing but hot air.

It's not just about the cash out amount. It's more of it takes for ever to make enough to cash out. I mean most surveys are paying less the $7.25 per hour and expecting you to do an hour long survey for $2.00. At that rate it takes months to be able to making a penny. There's a group I've been doing it for and I've been with them for like 7 or more years and it takes forever to get anywhere with them. The amounts never go up either. I'm not trying to get rich but do need atleast $100 per week to be better off then what I am right now. I do work on computers but there hasn't been much coming in from it. I do it out of my home and even make house calls but so far it's only been a few people and regulars too. I'll look into the ones you mentioned. I just can't put money forward to be stuck waiting on reimbursement of the funds. I even tried doing the company decals on my car and get paid so much for just driving around with them on it. But they wanted me to pay for the decals including the shipping too. Tried that with a few of them and seen issues like that with other people too. They were all scams. If anyone wants you to work for them they will not ask for money to do so.

I do drive out here, I don't live in a big city. Wish I did sometimes. Thanks again for the info. I'm going to look at it today. 

layitlo posted:

I know it has been asked alot. But I would like to see more ideas for someone on ssi to be able to make spare money to get by on or even have a life after paying for all the bills. I have kids at home and after everything hardly anything left but food and gas and it's not enough anymore. I have right under $60 left till the 3rd or when ever it comes in. 

I do surveys but they have gotten stupid. All or most are based on points or they want you to do one for less then $2 for almost an hour. I know it's money I didn't have before but they never pay you right away. They get you where you have to have $30 to cash out. They even have it where they pay you a month later. Not to be ugly but that's just not good enough anymore. 

I have physical limits and can't do work I used to do. I can't do alot that I miss doing. I have one kid in high school marching band and one in middle school in cheer. I don't get enough help from any source and need a real answer. I keep seeing the same ones and have searched myself but it's not looking good. 

I hope I don't sound ugly in this post but I've been getting frustrated over it. After all it is just money but without money nothing gets taken care of. Thanks in advance for any help or info.

I hear you layitlo, and understand your frustration. Been through the mill myself over the last few years. Surveys and even writing jobs can seem quite fruitless, especially because one does not necessarily qualify for every survey or job right? 

Not always as easy to make some money online as is often suggested. I'm not quite sure if this will help. But I know of a way to publish an eBook in bookstores like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes at absolutely no cost to you. 

The publisher is called BookRix (just search your browser), they do however take around 30% of your sales to cover publishing cost. As for book covers and graphic design. You can access unlimited high quality royalty free images from Pixabay. And I also like using Canva for image editing and graphic design. 

Hope this helps, 

D

I used to do surveys too but they became too time consuming and the amount of points you get doesn't justify the time. But I use Ibotta  when shopping and I've made about $250 over a year and a half. I also use  Mypoints when shopping on line. Mypoints is great.

I use InstaGC, Swagbucks, and Prolific Academic to make a few hundred extra dollars per month. Prolific Academic is the only site I will do surveys on since they only give you ones that you qualify for. On InstaGC and Swagbucks I stick to things like watching videos, clipping coupons, signing up for newsletters, clicks, that kind of thing.

@Vanessa I've tried swagbucks but I don't get to order much offline so it wasn't very helpful for me. I'll look at them all today. Thank you for them.

Lucy posted:

I used to do surveys too but they became too time consuming and the amount of points you get doesn't justify the time. But I use Ibotta  when shopping and I've made about $250 over a year and a half. I also use  Mypoints when shopping on line. Mypoints is great.

That sounds ok. But if took that long to make $250 it's not worth it. People begging for money make more then that in a week from what I have been hearing. I need something better then that. With the way things have been going what I keep finding hasn't been worth doing. I don't want to be rich but I have to find better.

layitlo posted:

@Vanessa I've tried swagbucks but I don't get to order much offline so it wasn't very helpful for me. I'll look at them all today. Thank you for them.

Definitely join the Facebook group Swagbucks Swaggernauts. My earnings on Swagbucks doubled after I joined! So many helpful tips.

Vanessa posted:

layitlo posted:

@Vanessa I've tried swagbucks but I don't get to order much offline so it wasn't very helpful for me. I'll look at them all today. Thank you for them.

Definitely join the Facebook group Swagbucks Swaggernauts. My earnings on Swagbucks doubled after I joined! So many helpful tips.

I'll look into that thank you.

layitlo posted:

I know it has been asked alot. But I would like to see more ideas for someone on ssi to be able to make spare money to get by on or even have a life after paying for all the bills. I have kids at home and after everything hardly anything left but food and gas and it's not enough anymore. I have right under $60 left till the 3rd or when ever it comes in. 

I do surveys but they have gotten stupid. All or most are based on points or they want you to do one for less then $2 for almost an hour. I know it's money I didn't have before but they never pay you right away. They get you where you have to have $30 to cash out. They even have it where they pay you a month later. Not to be ugly but that's just not good enough anymore. 

I have physical limits and can't do work I used to do. I can't do alot that I miss doing. I have one kid in high school marching band and one in middle school in cheer. I don't get enough help from any source and need a real answer. I keep seeing the same ones and have searched myself but it's not looking good. 

I hope I don't sound ugly in this post but I've been getting frustrated over it. After all it is just money but without money nothing gets taken care of. Thanks in advance for any help or info.

Good evening.  I do part time from home and also am employed.  I am working on a project to replace my job.  If you are interested I can share what I do with you. 

Yes, I am kinda over doing the surveys too. It's time consuming and you don't get much $ out of it. Maybe someone knows of a legit home based business job board?? Good luck to you! I hope you find a great way to make extra $ to support your family. 

We actually have a work-from-home based job board on The Penny Hoarder! You can find it here @Lucy: https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/wfh/

Lucy posted:

Yes, I am kinda over doing the surveys too. It's time consuming and you don't get much $ out of it. Maybe someone knows of a legit home based business job board?? Good luck to you! I hope you find a great way to make extra $ to support your family. 

Thank you, They are not worth doing 60 minutes to make $1 it's crazy what they expect us to do and get paid hardly anything for it.

Ann Josiah posted:

layitlo posted:

I know it has been asked alot. But I would like to see more ideas for someone on ssi to be able to make spare money to get by on or even have a life after paying for all the bills. I have kids at home and after everything hardly anything left but food and gas and it's not enough anymore. I have right under $60 left till the 3rd or when ever it comes in. 

I do surveys but they have gotten stupid. All or most are based on points or they want you to do one for less then $2 for almost an hour. I know it's money I didn't have before but they never pay you right away. They get you where you have to have $30 to cash out. They even have it where they pay you a month later. Not to be ugly but that's just not good enough anymore. 

I have physical limits and can't do work I used to do. I can't do alot that I miss doing. I have one kid in high school marching band and one in middle school in cheer. I don't get enough help from any source and need a real answer. I keep seeing the same ones and have searched myself but it's not looking good. 

I hope I don't sound ugly in this post but I've been getting frustrated over it. After all it is just money but without money nothing gets taken care of. Thanks in advance for any help or info.

Good evening.  I do part time from home and also am employed.  I am working on a project to replace my job.  If you are interested I can share what I do with you. 

I would for sure be interested. Never hurts to look into new things.

Briana posted:

We actually have a work-from-home based job board on The Penny Hoarder! You can find it here @Lucy: https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/wfh/

Oh ok, thank you. I'll take a look at it.

I have connections with part time to full time work from home jobs. All are legit businesses with good names and growing majorly by the minute. You set your own goals, what you put in is what you get out. My friend owns and runs one of the businesses. She started at the bottom and worked her way to the top over the years, so she knows what it is like when in need so tries to help so many families out. The business gives out lots of bonuses. Gave away thousands of dollars, laptops and tablets over Christmas. If interested let me know and I can give you details for what I do.

Briana posted:

We actually have a work-from-home based job board on The Penny Hoarder! You can find it here @Lucy: https://www.thepennyhoarder.com/wfh/

Thanks Briana, I'll have to take a look at this one. Appreciate you sharing.

Tnol posted:

I have connections with part time to full time work from home jobs. All are legit businesses with good names and growing majorly by the minute. You set your own goals, what you put in is what you get out. My friend owns and runs one of the businesses. She started at the bottom and worked her way to the top over the years, so she knows what it is like when in need so tries to help so many families out. The business gives out lots of bonuses. Gave away thousands of dollars, laptops and tablets over Christmas. If interested let me know and I can give you details for what I do.

I sounds interesting. I don't have really big goals because if I make over a certain amount I loose the checks. It's not that I enjoy living off it. It's just I can handle doing what I've done before and I have to take care of the kids.

That's okay.  You can work at your own pace for what you need

layitlo posted:

Lucy posted:

I used to do surveys too but they became too time consuming and the amount of points you get doesn't justify the time. But I use Ibotta  when shopping and I've made about $250 over a year and a half. I also use  Mypoints when shopping on line. Mypoints is great.

That sounds ok. But if took that long to make $250 it's not worth it. People begging for money make more then that in a week from what I have been hearing. I need something better then that. With the way things have been going what I keep finding hasn't been worth doing. I don't want to be rich but I have to find better.

Hello everyone.  My part time that I do is simple and not time consuming.  Would share with anyone who would like to check it out.

Ann Josiah posted:

layitlo posted:

Lucy posted:

I used to do surveys too but they became too time consuming and the amount of points you get doesn't justify the time. But I use Ibotta  when shopping and I've made about $250 over a year and a half. I also use  Mypoints when shopping on line. Mypoints is great.

That sounds ok. But if took that long to make $250 it's not worth it. People begging for money make more then that in a week from what I have been hearing. I need something better then that. With the way things have been going what I keep finding hasn't been worth doing. I don't want to be rich but I have to find better.

Hello everyone.  My part time that I do is simple and not time consuming.  Would share with anyone who would like to check it out.

I'd be interested.

Tnol posted:

I have connections with part time to full time work from home jobs. All are legit businesses with good names and growing majorly by the minute. You set your own goals, what you put in is what you get out. My friend owns and runs one of the businesses. She started at the bottom and worked her way to the top over the years, so she knows what it is like when in need so tries to help so many families out. The business gives out lots of bonuses. Gave away thousands of dollars, laptops and tablets over Christmas. If interested let me know and I can give you details for what I do.

Please tell me more.....love to hear about this.

Thank You!

Hello Pennyhoarders!!  I am new here; just signed up and this is my second post. LOL  I am supposed to be completing an article on mystery shopping to assist folks. I will get back to it. I am multitasking today. 

@Tnol  I would love to hear more about your connections. I MUST earn money. I am currently marketing my businesses online as I've done off and on since 1996.  But, with Internet marketing you get out of it what you put in... you MUST market on a regular basis. For over 40 years, I showed up and worked others' dreams and was paid a salary, but those years are far behind me but I STILL need money!!  I don't have a car, and it is a priority... checking out some used ones, but still leaning towards a new one!!  

@Ann Josiah, I am very interested in receiving info from you. You may email me if that's permissible. I am a mystery shopper and an Internet marketer, and I can write!

I am interested in learning more about these. Please let me know.

I would like more information as well!

@Vanessa posted:

I use InstaGC, Swagbucks, and Prolific Academic to make a few hundred extra dollars per month. Prolific Academic is the only site I will do surveys on since they only give you ones that you qualify for. On InstaGC and Swagbucks I stick to things like watching videos, clipping coupons, signing up for newsletters, clicks, that kind of thing.

I think that I will try those sites because after 4 back surgeries and a total knee replacement sometimes I am stuck in bed for a few days at a time.  I have been wasting my time with games that claim to pay but they let you get close to the cash out amount and then it's multiple ads and Penny's.