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Shared Oct 8, 2012 comment

10 Goals For This Week

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 8, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

So I really, really bombed my goals last week. I started the week with high hopes and then those high hopes were quickly dashed by lots of unexpected interruptions, more pressing life things, and just plain tiredness.

I was kind of embarrassed to even post this update, but I figured maybe seeing so few things crossed off my list would encourage some of you who may be feeling like last week was a blur, too! So here goes…

Last week’s goals:

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

1. Read 3 chapters of The Stolen Necklace aloud to Kathrynne. Read 3 chapters of Still More Stories From Grandma’s Attic aloud to Kaitlynn. Read 10 picture books to Silas. Read at least 3 chapters of A Way Through the Sea aloud to the kids.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

3. ~~Have a playdate with friends.~~

Personal Goals

4. Finish reading Whose Voice the Waters Heard, Greater, Fully Alive, The Promise of a Mother’s Prayers, ~~Return~~, and Now, Discover Your Strengths.

5. Finish listening to Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard.

6. Exercise at least five times.

Homemaking Goals

7. Finish 25 more rows of the scarf I’m working on knitting.

~~8. Make at least two new recipes.~~

~~9. Have a garage sale.~~

Business Goals

10. Write three posts for other sites.

Family/Marriage/Mothering Goals

1. Read 3 chapters of The Stolen Necklace aloud to Kathrynne. Read 3 chapters of Still More Stories From Grandma’s Attic aloud to Kaitlynn. Read 10 picture books to Silas. Read at least 3 chapters of A Way Through the Sea aloud to the kids.

2. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

3. Finish reading Whose Voice the Waters Heard, Greater, Fully Alive, The Promise of a Mother’s Prayers, and Now, Discover Your Strengths.

4. Finish listening to Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard.

5. Exercise at least five times. Start Couch to 10 K.

6. Get at least 7 hours of sleep every night (I figured out some of my tiredness is a result of just plain not getting enough sleep — so I’m aiming to do what I can to resolve that issue this week!)

Homemaking Goals

7. Finish 25 more rows of the scarf I’m working on knitting.

8. Make at least two new recipes.

9. Host a baby shower.

Business Goals

10. Write three posts for other sites.

How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!

You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.

Shared Oct 8, 2012 comment

This week’s menu

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 8, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Breakfasts

Homemade Instant Oatmeal Packets, Cereal, Toast, Eggs, and/or Fruit

Lunches

Lunch at Cracker Barrel
Snack-y lunch, fresh carrot/orange juice
Mac & cheese, veggies, fruit
Cheese Quesadillas, oranges, carrot sticks
Peanut Butter Banana Smoothies, fruit, veggies
Leftovers x 2

Snacks

Fruit/Veggies
Cheese/Crackers
Pumpkin Recipes
Hard-boiled eggs

Freezer Cooking

Pumpkin Recipes
Healthful Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Dinners

Dinner with extended family
Taco Soup, Bread Machine Buttery Rolls, fruit, veggies
Lasagna, green salad, fruit salad, muffins (leftovers from my birthday dinner that my mom made & sent home with us)
Steak, Twice-Baked Potatoes, steamed veggies, fruit
Breakfast for dinner: Pumpkin Pancakes, scrambled eggs, fruit
Meatballs, steamed veggies, Pumpkin Crescent Rolls, mashed potatoes
Dinner with extended family

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

Shared Oct 8, 2012 comment

7-Layer Pumpkin Magic Bars

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 8, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I was really hopeful about this recipe. I mean, I love pumpkin and I love Magic Bars. So combining the two should work well, right?

Well, actually not, in my opinion. It just tasted off. Like a flavor collision gone wrong. They were also a little too gooey (notice dripping bar in the photos?).

It might just be me, though. So if you try the recipe for 7-Layer Pumpkin Magic Bars, let us know what you think!

By the way, I know I said I was only doing a week of pumpkin recipes, but I found five more recipes I really wanted to try. So you’ll just have to bear with two weeks of pumpkin recipes. 🙂 If you don’t like pumpkin, don’t worry, We’ll be spotlighting apple recipes a little later this month!

Shared Oct 8, 2012 comment

Reader tip: Figure out what you’re good at & then create a job based upon it!

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 8, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Here’s an email I got from Patricia:

I am enjoying your series on how to make money to use for Christmas. I wanted to share about a job I have that “fell in my lap” because of my skills.

The job is working five hours a week as a children’s assistant. I was hired because of my volunteerism with my church. Our Children’s Director needed a “helper” because she was responsible for our After-School Center, our Infant and Toddler Child Care, and our Children’s Church. She couldn’t leave the church to run to the store to buy supplies! So I was hired as a “go-for”.

I go to Walmart to buy drinks, snacks or supplies we don’t order from a catalog. I took this job about eight years ago and am paid $15.00/hour. It is very flexible — I can work the five hours anytime I want and if I want to take off, I just work 10 hours the week before. I do all kinds of things around the church — bulletin boards, children’s worship bags, setting up for Sunday School (all supplies), and also some stuff no one else wants to do — like clean out cabinets and preview curriculum.

I want to encourage your readers who are looking for ways to earn more income to think of what they do best and find a way to sell it to someone as a job. You may even sell it to someone who never thought of paying for it before — like my church!

You may be a great cook: could you sell cakes or pies to a local restaurant? You may love crafts: could you put some on consignment? Do you have skills you could market, like I did? (You would not believe how many teachers have asked me to come do their bulletin boards for pay!).

Also. check into church childcare centers. Ours is always hiring. And if you work for a childcare center, you often get childcare free or less expensive than normal rates.

Lots of ideas are out there! Sometimes, it just takes the right person being in the right place. -Patricia

photo courtesy of Big Stock

Shared Oct 8, 2012 comment

The Frugal Benefits of a Smile

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 8, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Heather of Creative Family Moments

We rarely go out for dinners or paid attractions, but when we do it’s because we have a coupon, deal, or special event. And when we do, I smile.

Not only at friends and people I know, though. I smile at everyone. Not like a “creeper” as my teenage daughter would say. Just a simple genuine smile that says, “Thanks for helping me.”

If we’ve never been to the particular venue (which is often the case when using coupons/deals), I always let the waitress or owner know that it’s our first time, cite the deal, and ask for their opinion on the best way to experience the place. In rare instances, I get a shrug. Most often, I get to hear what makes their place unique and find out their specialty. To me, this is part of the fun of going out.

I never really analyzed my behavior, until we celebrated the first day of school. I had a coupon for one large pizza at a location within biking distance. For a family of five, this isn’t much food but I promised the family we could eat more once we got home. It was a special treat, after all.

However, when the pizza was served to us, my husband pointed out that they gave us a much bigger pizza than a large. “It’s your first time!” the waiter explained with a smile.

Hubby sat deep in thought while the kids enjoyed their slices. “Do you realize that this always happens to you?” he asked. I turned to him. “What do you mean?”

He started citing instance after instance. Free appetizers, free desserts, free tours, free rides, amazingly attentive service, etc. “Businesses seem to go out of their way to make sure you get to experience the best of what they have to offer,” he concluded.

Thinking about it, I realized he was right! When I let businesses know how genuinely excited I am to experience their venue, most of the time (not all) I’m rewarded with a better experience than I initially imagined.

I didn’t realize the kids were listening until a few weeks later. We took the family out to a local burger joint after church (with coupons). My eldest daughter came to the table holding a giant basket of fries, much larger than the few fries each the rest of us had on our plates. She grinned. “I told the lady up front that you guys had been here before but that this was my first time.”

It was true. And they just made sure my soon-to-drive daughter will be a loyal customer for years to come. So remember to smile!

Heather blogs at Creative Family Moments. With plenty of embarrassing moments and funny kid quotes along the way, she hopes to inspire others to live a life of celebration as well!

photo source

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Shared Oct 6, 2012 comment

Turning Scraps Into Cash

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 6, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Guest post from Jan of The Nerdy Farm Wife.

A few months ago, my husband lost his job… a mere two days after I was laid off from my place of part-time employment. These two unfortunate events happened shortly after an eleven day power outage played havoc on our normal routine and budget, and wiped out our large supply of mostly home-raised foods stored in our chest freezer.

Talk about a scary time!

Being a man of action and not one to sit around and bemoan our losses, my husband immediately started the process of starting up his own masonry company and began securing small jobs that would payout within a few weeks. In the meantime though, we needed a source of quick cash in order to put enough food on the table to make it until income started trickling in again.

Fortunately, my brother just happened to be making his yearly run to the local scrap metal recycle center and dropped by to see if my husband wanted to ride along. We had vaguely paid attention to the fact that my brother collected soft drink cans every time there was a family function and had even laughed about the fact that he would rummage through the trash for them and how excited his four little girls would get when it was time for “beer can hunting walks with Daddy.”

Laughter quickly turned to admiration, however, once his 135 pounds of collected cans, combined with some ancient copper pipes, a few old radiators and an assorted pile of what could only be described as “junk”, ended up netting him almost $800.00, every bit of it paid out in cold, hard cash.

Inspired, we started scouring the house for items that we could take to the scrap yard, too! Our old stove had been sitting beside our shed, awaiting a trip to the landfill, which is where we normally took appliances once they were beyond repair. Into the truck it went along with our recently broken hot water heater, a badly bent aluminum badminton net frame, unusable scaffolding from my husband’s first home building business, a busted step-ladder, the frames from some ripped window screens and quite a few other odds and ends.

Our load, which was smaller and far less planned out than my brother’s, netted us $185.00. Not a bad pay rate for about five hours spent scouring the house and shed, loading the truck, driving to the scrap dealer, having everything inspected and weighed, getting paid and then driving back home with grocery money in hand!

To find a scrap metal dealer near you, try checking your phone book under “Scrap Metal Dealers.” What they accept will vary, but ours will take items such as: cast iron, motor blocks, air conditioner window units, radiators, broken appliances, copper pipes and wire, transmissions, anything aluminum, and car batteries.

So, check around your house for metal items that you no longer use. You just might find you’ve been sitting on an almost instant cash source!

Jan lives on a seven-acre hobby farm with her family and spends her days chasing chickens, homeschooling the kids, and experimenting with herbs & local plants to make jams, soaps and home remedies. She blogs about these things and more at The Nerdy Farm Wife.

Shared Oct 5, 2012 comment

31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas: Become a Virtual Call Center Agent (Day 5)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 5, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to October’s series on 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas. In this series, I’m highlighting simple and legitimate ways you can earn extra cash in the next three months for those of you who could use a little extra cash to help you pay for Christmas — or just for your living expenses if you’re in a tight spot right now.

If you’ve found a great way to make extra cash before Christmas that doesn’t require an outlay of cash upfront, please email me your tip. I’d love to hear it and possibly share it during this series!

The following is a guest post by Alaina Forbes from Telecommuting Mommies:

The holidays are a great time to get hired as a seasonal worker working as a virtual call center agent. Often times, there can be an opportunity to stay on with these companies after the holiday season, or at least return the following holiday season.

What Is a Virtual Call Center Agent?

Working as a virtual call center agent requires answering incoming phone calls that are routed to your home phone. Many of the virtual call center companies assign you to one specific client in order for you to become comfortable with that specific script and product.

Calls are mostly customer service based calls and may include helping people with their accounts or orders. Clients range from pizza delivery stores to credit card companies.

Some clients are more sales focused, and a few virtual call center companies also conduct outgoing calls. Read as much as possible about the company and the job description before applying and then choose one that you know you will feel comfortable doing.

What Equipment is Required to Be a Virtual Call Center Agent?

To get a job as a virtual call center agent, you must own your own computer and each company has specific technical requirements that your computer must meet. In most cases, as long as your computer is not ancient and you have a decent amount of memory, you won’t have too much of a problem meeting these requirements.

Almost all companies also require that you have high speed internet and a land line phone. Cell phones are not usually acceptable, and a headset is usually required in order to type and talk at the same time. You’ll want to check out the individual requirements on each company’s website before applying to be sure that you can meet them.

Are You An Employee or an Independent Contractor?

A handful of companies, including Teletech and Alpine Access, will hire you as an employee, but many take you on as an independent contractor. These two options lead to a lot of variables between companies.

How Many Hours a Week Do You Have to Work?

Being an independent contractor typically means less commitment as far as how much you are expected to work. Most allow you to log on and schedule yourself for shifts with only a very minimum number of hours required to stay on – sometimes as little as a shift a month.

Because of this, they usually have a lot of contractors employed in order to ensure they are always staffed, and this can make getting enough shifts more difficult depending on how much you want to work. Independent contractors are usually allowed to work for more than one virtual call center, so you may need to sign up for multiple companies in order to get steady work.

Conversely, companies that hire you as an employee will usually have a non-compete agreement and will not allow you to work with another virtual call center while employed with them. They may require you to commit to certain shifts each day of the week and work a minimum number of hours depending on if you are part-time or full-time.

This guarantees you plenty of work but may not have the flexibility some people — moms especially — may need. Evaluate what you really want out of this before applying. Can you commit to working full-time? Or do you just want some extra pocket money?

How Much Will You Get Paid Per Hour?

Another variable between companies is how the pay is calculated. Some call centers pay by the hour. These are usually the ones that hire you as an employee.

It is not uncommon, however, for some to pay by the minute of talk time – so if you happen to get a slow shift you may not make as much money as you were hoping. During the holidays this is usually not a problem, and most companies that pay by the minute make an attempt to not overschedule in order to keep everyone busy. You just want to be fully aware of all of these variables before you accept a position.

What Companies Are Hiring Virtual Call Center Agents Right Now?

VIP Desk is currently hiring for a number of positions with November training classes. They are filling both part-time and full-time home-based concierge positions, as well as what they call “brand ambassador” seasonal positions.

Convergys is filling multiple positions for both full-time and part-time customer service agents for multiple clients.

Teletech is hiring for their part time customer service and season customer service positions.

LiveOps is hiring for their emergency roadside assistance call center team.

Transcom, West, Alpine Access and Working Solutions are all currently accepting applications.

Another option is applying directly with some of the companies who are now hiring their own virtual call center agents including 1-800-Flowers and U-Haul.

Have you worked as a virtual call center agent before? If so, tell us about your experiences!

Alaina shares her twelve years of work from home experience at her blog Telecommuting Mommies. She also opens up her personal life as a homeschooling, blogging, work at home Mom of four at The Maestro Mom. Follow her on Twitter at TelecommuterMom.

Shared Oct 5, 2012 comment

Frugal Photo Friday: Kids and Bath & Beauty

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 5, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to Frugal Photo Friday! This month, I am partnering with Rebekah from SimplyRebekah.com. Each Friday we are sharing pictures of simple ways that we save money. This week’s themes are kids and bath & beauty.

We love the library! In fact, my kids would go there every day if we could!

We invest $25 per year to get the Gold Card to our local library so that we can have unlimited holds (they usually cost $0.25 per hold) and this is probably one of the best $25 we spend all year. Thanks to our local library, we have all sorts of adventures through books, make precious memories while cuddled up sharing a book together, and learn many new things each week — all for practically free!

{You can see the chapter books we’ve read aloud this year so far here. We also go through dozens of picture books each month, plus the girls and I check out lots of books to read independently.}

Cooking together is a such a fun way to get things done, while enjoying being together at the same time. Plus, I’ve found that it can double as math practice for youngsters: we count the cups and teaspoons of ingredients as we put them in and talk about simple addition and subtraction.

{Pictured: Making Homemade Pumpkin Spice Lattes with Silas.}

Who says you have to buy expensive toys to have fun? Our kids love playing with boxes, creating with paper, and pretending their playset in the backyard is their spy team headquarters. A little imagination and creativity can provide hours of free fun!

{Pictured: The Paper Doll Chains we made for our Early American History study recently.}

Kaitlynn made a picnic for us to enjoy outside on the deck while we worked on our homeschool lessons one day this week (she even put a fresh flower she’d picked on each of our trays!). Free Vitamin D, fresh air, and memories all while getting lunch and lessons in = score! 🙂

Um, I’ve got pretty much nothing on the bath & beauty part as that’s not really my cup ‘o tea. Unless you count the fact that I don’t use shaving cream or that I only have six mix and match outfits. 🙂

Head over to SimplyRebekah to see the savings that Rebekah is sharing today.

Now it is your turn to share the simple ways that you save. Share your link below or on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #FrugalPhotoFriday. All of the link-up details and themes for each week can be found here.

Shared Oct 5, 2012 comment

Reader Tip: Earn gift cards by clicking on emails!

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 5, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

While you might not be able to earn a gift card in time for Christmas, Katherine emailed in this simple way you can earn a few gift cards every year:

I use My Points to earn points towards gift cards by clicking on emails. My Points sends a few emails each day, which each get you 5 points for clicking through.

I have mine auto-directed into folders in my email and take about 5 minutes to click through them once a week or so. I have been a member of My Points for 6 years and I have earned several $10-$25 gift cards each year. Definitely worth the time investment for me! -Katherine

(Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)

Shared Oct 4, 2012 comment

31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas: Amazon’s Trade-In Program (Day 4)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 4, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to October’s series on 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas. In this series, I’m highlighting simple and legitimate ways you can earn extra cash in the next three months for those of you who could use a little extra cash to help you pay for Christmas — or just for your living expenses if you’re in a tight spot right now.

Want to earn some Amazon gift cards to help pay for Christmas gifts? You definitely must check out Amazon’s Trade-In Program. Here’s what reader Chelsea said:

Last week, I discovered Amazon’s trade-in store, and ended up having almost $400 worth of credit between six textbooks! After researching what the books were worth, I found that Amazon was offering me a very fair price. I was able to ship the books for free and quickly received the credit in my account.

Besides textbooks, Amazon also accepts electronics, movies and television series, video games, consoles, and accessories for trade. I would highly encourage MoneySavingMom® readers to check out this program. Paired with free shipping and price matching, the store credit could really come in handy. -Chelsea

Here’s how Amazon’s Trade-In Program works:

1. Gather Up Extra DVDs, Books, Video Games, and/or Electronics

Go through your home and find any DVDs, Books, Video Games, or electronics you no longer need or use.

2. Search For the Product on the Amazon Trade-In Store

Do a search on the Amazon Trade-In Store to see how much Amazon will pay you for a Trade In. If the price seems fair, click through to verify the condition, title, and price.

3. Print Your Shipping Label

Follow the steps to print the postage-paid shipping label. You can choose to go with free UPS shipping (you’ll need to drop your package off at the nearest UPS location) or shipping via the U.S. Postal Service (you can give your package to your mail carrier or drop it off at the nearest post office).

4. Ship Your Item

Ship out the item in a timely manner. Once it has been received by Amazon, they will check it to verify that it is eligible and in the condition you promised. Items considered to be not acceptable will be returned. Return shipping is free, but you will not receive any Amazon.com Gift Card amount for the returned items.

5. Once Your Item is Approved, Get Your Amazon Credit!

After your item has been received and approved by Amazon.com, they will issue your Amazon credit. You can use this credit to purchase anything on Amazon.com. I’d suggest hanging onto it and letting your credit build until you are ready to spend it on Christmas gifts!

It’s that simple! Here’s what Lydia from Five 4 Five Meals emailed into me:

Earlier this year I cleaned out our entire DVD collection by “selling” them to Amazon. In exchange for your DVDs they give you a gift card based on their resale value.

I made around $100 and decluttered our house. The bonus is you don’t pay shipping, Amazon does. -Lydia

Have you used Amazon’s Trade-In Program before? If so, I’d love to hear what your experiences — good or bad — have been with it.

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Shared Oct 4, 2012 comment

4 Pumpkin Recipes You Should Try

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 4, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

We had our one-day, four-family garage sale today. And while everyone pitched in and helped a lot, I’m still wiped out tonight… so I’m skipping baking something with pumpkin and am instead going to share four pumpkin recipes I’ve posted here before. Enjoy!

These Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins are a family favorite and one of the most popular recipes I’ve ever posted. If you’ve not tried them before, you really shouldn’t wait another day to whip this recipe up.

Switch out the sweet potatoes in this smoothie for pumpkins and you have a delicious Pumpkin Smoothie — perfect for fall!

Looking for an amazing scone recipe? Go make a batch of Pumpkin Scones. These are hands down the best scones on the planet, in my opinion. SO good!

These Pumpkin Carrot Cake Muffins freeze well and make for a nutritious and yummy breakfast or snack.

Have you made anything with pumpkin this week? If so, tell us about it — and share the link to the recipe, if you have one.

Shared Oct 4, 2012 comment

Ask the Readers: Is it worth it to be in a direct sales business?

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 4, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Today’s question is from Rachel:

I am thinking about becoming a rep for Thirty One products in order to make a little extra money. However, when I contacted some of my friends about whether they would host a party, many declined. Has anyone been successful in one of these direct sales lines? How do I go about lining up people for parties? Or should I just forget it and do something else? -Rachel

Do you have a question you’d like to ask Money Saving Mom® readers? Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

Shared Oct 4, 2012 comment

Reader Tip: Make money with Teachers Pay Teachers

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 4, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Natalie emailed in the following tip:

I know many of you have some experience with education — either a degree in education, a job in the education field, or homeschooling your own children. If this sounds like you, then I’m excited to tell you about a great way to make a little extra money on the side: the growing teacher-created materials websites, Teachers Pay Teachers.

This website allows teachers/educators to post lesson plans, tests, worksheets, activities, clip art, room decorations, etc. for other educators to use (either for free or for profit). You must post at least one free sample item, and then after that, you may post additional items for a fee.

For example, if you have lessons that have worked very well in your classroom, a homeschooling lesson that was a hit, or you just really enjoy making clip art, you can simply upload a computer file (Word document or PDF) to your Teachers Pay Teachers account, or you can choose to list physical goods to ship out to buyers.

You may start with a basic free sellers account, which allows you to keep 60% of your earnings, minus a transaction fee. Or there’s a paid account option, where you pay a set fee for the year, but keep a larger percentage of your sales. There is also a section where people post requests for items and what they are willing to pay.

I am a school speech-language pathologist, and have been posting some of the items I created to use with my students. I’ve had my Teachers Pay Teachers account since August and even with my basic seller account, I will receive a check at the end of September for a little over $100! -Natalie

Shared Oct 4, 2012 comment

Do It Yourself: Homemade Nursing Balms

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 4, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

TheNerdyFarmWife.com shows you how to make three different homemade nursing balms.

Do you have a fun and frugal DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

Shared Oct 3, 2012 comment

31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas: SuperPoints (Day 3)

Published: by Crystal Paine on October 3, 2012 | This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to October’s series on 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas. In this series, I’m highlighting simple and legitimate ways you can earn extra cash in the next three months for those of you who could use a little extra cash to help you pay for Christmas — or just for your living expenses if you’re in a tight spot right now.

If you’ve found a great way to make extra cash before Christmas that doesn’t require an outlay of cash upfront, please email me your tip. I’d love to hear it and possibly share it during this series!

Update on November 8, 2012: Unfortunately, it looks like Superpoints is no longer in operation, per a notice posted on their site.

I’ve been hearing a lot about SuperPoints recently and I finally jumped on board with them after getting an email from Carrie who blogs at Recipe For Life who said she’d earned $100 from it in the last year, mostly just by logging in and spinning the SuperPoints button every day.

I signed up and discovered that it’s similar to Swagbucks, except instead of earning Swagbucks by online searching, you earn points with SuperPoints by spinning the SuperPoints button. You’ll randomly be awarded points when you spin. I’ve been awarded an average of two points each day by spinning.

In addition, there are many other ways to earn — from clicking on links that they email you, taking surveys, watching videos, printing coupons, completing offers, or referring friends. You can cash in your points for Amazon gift cards, Paypal money, and many other rewards.

How Do You Sign Up for SuperPoints?

Just click here to sign up for SuperPoints. Once you sign up, just click on the link in your email to validate your account, and you can start earning points.

How Do You Earn Points?

The easiest way to earn points is by clicking on the SuperLucky button. When you first sign up, you’ll automatically get five clicks per day. However, if you take a minute to update your profile with your name, email address, and some other basic information, you’ll up your daily SuperLucky click limit to 25.

I earned 12 points just by doing this while we were watching the debate tonight. This might be something fun to have your kids do every day!

You can also earn points by clicking on the daily email that they send you. The daily email will typically award you between 2 and 25 points.

Plus, just like Swagbucks, you can also earn points by completing offers, watching videos, or referring friends. You’ll also have an option to unlock more earning opportunities when you refer more friends.

How Much Can You Earn?

By just clicking on the SuperLucky button and clicking on the daily email each day, I think you should come fairly close to earning a $5 Amazon gift card every other month, with the potential to earn more like $10 to $20 per month in Amazon gift cards if you refer a few friends who are active with SuperPoints (you’ll earn 25 points for every friend who signs up through your link and then matching points up to their first 1000 points earned).

What Can You Cash In Your Points For?

You can cash in your SuperPoints for Amazon gift cards, Paypal payments, restaurant gift cards, or even electronics. 600 points will earn you a $5 Amazon gift card. 689 points will earn you a $5 Paypal payment. However, please note that if you do not have any active referrals, you won’t be able to cash until for gift cards until you have a higher number of points.

Do You Need To Have Referrals To Really Earn Anything?

If you have a few referrals, it will help you unlock some additional earning opportunities and make it easier (and quicker) to cash in for gift cards. So I’d encourage you to invite your friends or post about it on your blog or social media outlets. If you have a few dozen active referrals, you can likely earn significantly more.

Have you tried SuperPoints before? I’d love to hear about your experiences with it and any inside tricks or tips you have.

(Note: The link in this post is my referral link. Read my disclosure policy here.)

Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List

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Breakfasts

Lunches

Snacks

Freezer Cooking

Dinners

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What Is a Virtual Call Center Agent?

What Equipment is Required to Be a Virtual Call Center Agent?

Are You An Employee or an Independent Contractor?

How Many Hours a Week Do You Have to Work?

How Much Will You Get Paid Per Hour?

What Companies Are Hiring Virtual Call Center Agents Right Now?

1. Gather Up Extra DVDs, Books, Video Games, and/or Electronics

2. Search For the Product on the Amazon Trade-In Store

3. Print Your Shipping Label

4. Ship Your Item

5. Once Your Item is Approved, Get Your Amazon Credit!

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How Do You Sign Up for SuperPoints?

How Do You Earn Points?

How Much Can You Earn?

What Can You Cash In Your Points For?

Do You Need To Have Referrals To Really Earn Anything?

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