When my son was born in 2011, my husband and I decided I would leave my job working at our local children’s museum and stay home.
I was thrilled to be able to spend all day with our new little nugget, mooning over his teeny fingers and toes.
But the loss of my income was a huge hit to our budget. I started to become obsessed with figuring out how to stretch our dollars and also earn some money for our family from home.
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After some research, I learned about other stay-at-home moms who were taking online surveys to sock away gift cards for a debt-free Christmas.
I had never heard of these survey sites before. Still, I trusted these other moms, so I decided to give it a try.
I have to admit, I was pretty suspicious at first.
I didn’t even tell my husband about these surveys until I was taking them for a few months, because I really thought he would tell me they were a scam. But by the end of that first year, I had saved about $100 from taking these surveys every once in a while as my son was napping or at the end of the day. I was hooked!
Since then, I’ve probably tried almost every survey site out there. I’ve definitely found some duds, some that I really like, and a bunch in between. By focusing on the sites that are the easiest to use and have the highest dollar amount surveys, I’ve been able to increase my earnings to quite a bit and for the last few years, we’ve had completely debt-free Christmases, plus a little extra to pay for some household
Now, I’m sharing a list of my absolute favorite survey sites so you can start making a few extra dollars to add to your family’s budget, too!
Opinion outpost
Opinion Outpost is my absolute favorite survey site. The surveys themselves are fairly standard, but the minimum cash out is only $10, or 100 points, and the cash out time is almost immediate. Also, if you are a frequent user, Opinion Outpost will pay more per survey!
Branded Surveys
Formerly known as MintVine, Branded Surveys has a lot of high paying, but short surveys. They’ve recently gone through a rebranding and lost some of their bonuses, but I still like this site. Be aware that the payout time on Branded Surveys is quite a bit longer than most other survey sites.
Ipsos I-say
Ipsos is really well known in the survey world. They tend to have in-home product trial opportunities, where you can review products as part of a survey. I’ve gotten tons of hair products, toilet paper, diapers, even food and office supplies over the years.
Surveys On The Go
Entirely mobile-based, Surveys On The Go works with your smartphone to send you surveys about places you’ve been
Paid Viewpoint
At $15, Paid Viewpoint’s cashout is higher than most survey sites. But they often send out quick surveys to easily earn $.10. Their full surveys are usually a few dollars and only take a couple of minutes. I’ve also been offered video response surveys with Paid Viewpoint. Plus, their referral program is one of the most generous.
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is probably the most well-known survey site out there. It’s actually the site I started with. They are known for having additional ways to earn like games, bonuses, and videos to watch. I don’t use Swagbucks much anymore as I’ve found other sites that have higher-paying surveys, but if you’re interested in earning the most you can, check out some of the Facebook groups for users sharing tips on earning the most Swagbucks.
Swagbucks also has a very large signing bonus, sometimes as much as $10! If you’re looking for a site to start with, Swagbucks is a good one.
Here’s the thing about online surveys.
You won’t become a millionaire. You won’t earn hundreds of dollars a week. But you may be able to start putting away a good bit of money towards a debt-free holiday. I know it may seem like just pennies and dollars as you’re making it, but over time it adds up!
Don’t just trust this list of my favorite survey sites! If you’d like to do your own research on the best and most reliable sites, I would start with SurveyPolice.com.
They have an easy-to-follow rating system and lots of personal insights into the details of each site.
Do you belong to any survey sites? Which ones have you had success with? I love to hear other peoples experiences!
