Good news for anyone who has the time to scroll through social media…you can make money!! They say that time is money, and if you can manage to find some free time for yourself, why not use to it make some extra money?
Online Surveys have become hugely popular over the last few years. They give companies a wide range of opinions from a large cross-section of the population, for a fraction of the cost of the previously common ‘in-person’ focus groups. And on the other side of the coin, the ease of answering a few questions in exchange for money, is appealing to those of us who fancy getting rewarded for the time we spend scrolling on our phones.
Now, there is absolutely no way that doing online surveys could replace an income, but it’s a simple way to supplement it and bring in some extra cash. Since I’ve started out on my savings journey, I’ve been researching all sorts of ways to not only budget and be wiser with what I already have, but also ways to increase what comes in each month. Online Surveys seemed to be a quick-win to start off with and in a short space of time, I’ve already reaped some great rewards!
There are many different companies out there doing online surveys, and though there are a lot more in the US, there are still plenty of choices for us here in Ireland. You sign up with an online company, provide some basic details about yourself (never anything personal or confidential), and you then have the opportunity to start taking surveys. Depending on the site, you either rack up points or cash, which can then be redeemed for gift cards for places like Amazon, Argos and Tesco, or you can use PayPal to simply have the money transferred into your account. Surveys can vary from questions relating to your grocery shopping habits or your preferred utilities providers, to sharing your views on advertisements and media campaigns.
Below are some of the sites that I have been using. I do recommend setting up an email address for surveys, as the many mails from each site do tend to clog up the mailbox. Not every survey will be a match for your profile, but I’ve found I’ve been eligible for at least 1 or 2 a day (sometimes more) on each of the below. I recommend saving each site to your browser favourites, or adding to your home screen if on your phone – makes it that bit easier to check for surveys regularly.
Opinion World
Here you earn points for taking surveys, which you can then redeem for a wide variety of gift cards – choosing from physical cards or online e-cards. Points vary per survey, typically depending on the length of time each is predicted to take; and my rewards have been between 50 points and 250 points per survey. There are plenty more ways to redeem, but here’s an idea of the points needed to redeem rewards with Opinion World:
| Opinion World | Argos | €5 | 500 points |
| Argos | €10 | 1000 points | |
| Argos | €25 | 2500 points | |
| One4All | €15 | 1500 points | |
| One4All | €50 | 5000 points | |
| Amazon | £5 | 585 points |
Swagbucks
Not only do Swagbucks have surveys, but you can also earn points by answering daily polls or watching videos. You earn SB (their points system) and can trade them in for not just gift cards, but actual real life money using PayPal. Surveys I have taken have rewarded from 20 to 100 points, with additional points even given when you don’t qualify for a particular survey. They also have a handy mobile app. Here’s a sample of the redemption rewards with Swagbucks:
| Swagbucks | PayPal | €5 | 899SB |
| PayPal | €10 | 1500SB | |
| PayPal | €25 | 4499SB | |
| PayPal | €50 | 8999SB | |
| Amazon | £3 | 480SB (currently on sale) | |
| Amazon | £5 | 700SB (currently on sale) | |
| Amazon | £10 | 1440SB (currently on sale) | |
| Amazon | £15 | 2160SB (currently on sale) | |
| Amazon | £25 | 3250SB (currently on sale) | |
| Amazon | £50 | 6500SB (currently on sale) | |
| Amazon | £100 | 14400SB (currently on sale) |
Irish Opinions
This is one of the few sites available in Ireland that I have come across that actually give you a monetary value for each survey. Though I have noticed a small few glitches with their site (needed to clear cache on more than one occasion just to get available surveys), the rewards are good. They do say that each survey can earn you up to €5, with most I have seen so far being a €1 reward each. The appeal for me here is that you can redeem gift cards for Tesco, which is a great way to boost the grocery budget. Here’s an idea of the rewards on offer with Irish Opinions:
| Irish Opinions | Tesco | €10 | €10 |
| Amazon | £10 | €12 | |
| Penneys/Primark | €10 | €10 |
https://www.irishopinions.com/
LifePoints
LifePoints is nice, in that along with surveys, they post some general lifestyle and motivational articles on a weekly basis. The surveys I have taken so far have provided rewards of between 60 and 90 points, also with an additional few bonus points if you don’t qualify for the available survey. They too offer a selection of online or physical gift cards, along with the PayPal option to transfer cash to your bank account. Here are some of the redemption rewards from LifePoints that looked good to me:
| LifePoints | PayPal | €5 | 625 points |
| PayPal | €10 | 1250 points | |
| Amazon | £5 | 730 points | |
| Amazon | £10 | 1460 points | |
| Amazon | £25 | 3649 points |
https://www.lifepointspanel.com/
Why don’t you join up with some of these online survey companies and start earning some extra cash for your budget, or perhaps some off-budget treats!