Online surveys are something that I have been doing on and off for a year or so now. If I am honest, mostly off until I became unemployed! They can get a bit tedious at times but they really don’t take very long and are an easy way to make a bit of extra money.
There are a lot of survey sites out there so it might be worth doing a bit of research on them before signing up, the two that I use are Valued Opinions and New Vista Live.
If you have never used an online survey site, it basically works like this:
• You register your details and fill in a profile about yourself. (It is nothing very personal and you only have to answer what you want to anyway).
• You are then invited to complete online surveys. (You don’t get penalised for not doing them so you can complete them as and when you feel like it).
• Shortly after they are completed, your account will be rewarded with a payment which varies from £0.50-£5.00. (Generally I find they are around £1.00-1.50).
• When your account reaches a certain milestone you can withdraw the money.
It’s as simple as that!
With New Vista Live you receive a cheque once you have earned £50. It took me a while to get there but I recently made it so I am looking forward to receiving that!
On the Valued Opinions site you only need to reach £10 before they pay you, the difference is that you receive the money in vouchers. I have set my preference as Amazon vouchers but there are about 15 retailers to choose from, popular brands such as: Marks and Spencers, Boots, Tesco, John Lewis, Argos and iTunes.
They also seem to regularly issue new surveys, as my account has shot up to £5 in quite a short space of time. (Tip – Make sure you completely fill in the profile sections to get invited to take part in more surveys).
You aren’t going to get rich, and it is no substitute for having a job, but it is something that you can do whilst watching TV or listening to music that can earn you a bit of much needed extra money.
It is a good way to treat yourself without using money you can’t really afford. But my plan is to complete as many surveys as possible from now until mid-November (it takes around 28 days to receive your voucher after requesting it) and use my vouchers to buy some Christmas presents that I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to afford.
Time for me to take a survey I think…