MM tips and tricks.

als1982

Getting ready this morning I was thinking about how much extra cash I could have made or traveled for free years ago if I'd only known, which made me wonder... What ways to save, make side income or get things free that I'm still not aware of? 

Right now, here's what I know and do in addition to using coupons and sale stock piling: 

- Check evrewards.com for the best portal through which to make online purchases.  

- Use portals for all online and travel purchases, including United, Southwest, Ebates and MrRebates (when I had a Sallie Mae student loan, I also ocassionally used theirs).  

- Ibotta, especially for produce and wine (they used to have a Yellowtail rebate I used all the time)!  

- Surveys for miles, including Emiles, Erewards and Opinion Miles Club.  

- Check the Mileage Plus X app when we're out to dinner of shopping to see if we can pay that way to earn miles (my most common reception has been Panera).  

- Add all our cards to either Southwest or United's dining program to earn miles on direct spends at certain restaurants. 

What about you? Any tips and tricks to share?

als1982

Two more: I run Swagbucks videos on my phone all day at work to earn extra cash. (I have unlimited data, and use my computer to charge the phone.) And I pick up extra gigs through Gigwalk, Field Agent, Easy Shift and Zappidy apps.

csuave

We volunteer at fun events/concerts/parties.  We get to enjoy the event for free and give back at the same time.  When we get older and have more time we may volunteer usher to see plays for free.

We are subscribed to some movie blogs and to sites like WB screenings and gofobo to see movie previews at the theater for free.

cbee817

We mostly use: 

Ebates

Checkout 51 for groceries (although it's usually only $0.25/week off for fresh produce)

Coupons (usually for toiletries although our grocery store does send out coupons for food)

Cartwheel and Target card

Expedia for vacations

Amazon accepts my Citicard points and we have prime

BR luxe card for $ coupons and free shipping at all ON, Gap, BR

American Express card for groceries- triple points for that and I can use the points to buy a yearly amazon prime membership.

However, most of the extra money comes from work related things:

Travel for me ($75 to travel to our HQ about an hour away.... usually only costs me $15 in gas, $3.80 in tolls). I go 2-3 times/month.

DH does extra training after hours (paid $30/hr) for staff development

We get $1,000/year from my health insurance for logging in exercise, food habits, etc. 

DH gets $1,000/year for waiving his health insurance and being on mine. 

short+sassy

For online and travel purchases, I always check Ebates and MyPoints.  Those are my "go to" portals.  MyPoints is nice in that they will also send e-mails on a regular basis and most of their e-mails will give you 5 points if you click through to their advertiser's website.  There's often a special discount code also.  Although they pay in points, the points can be exchanged for a huge variety of popular gift cards (no shipping charges).  And I find the points they give for purchases are fair.  I earn enough points in a year for a $25 gift card, just by the free 5 point e-mail clicks.

I've mentioned this before, but I've been a mystery shopper for over 15 years.  On average, I'll earn $100-$300/month in fees, but that's doing it very part-time.  When I was more into it (and when I've been unemployed), I can earn over $1,000/month.

Gigs I pick up when I am unemployed also include merchandising and demos.  Merchandising is working for a contracting company setting up displays, organizing merchandise, sometimes stocking.  That kind of thing.

Demos are just passing out samples in grocery stores, warehouse clubs, etc.  Except I'd work through a contracting company.  In addition to okay pay, you also usually get to keep a ton of free samples.  The best paying demo jobs are passing out samples of liquor/wine.  However, for merchandising, people usually have to be available during the day, during the week.  So not something I can do when I'm working f/t.  For demos, although there are opportunities just at night and on the weekends, it is a lot of time involved and I've just found it to be too much when I work f/t.

I love participating in consumer testing/panels and mock juries.  This kind of work is, unfortunately, a lot more sporadic and "once in awhile"...but pays awesome when I can find it.  Especially consumer testing.  I'm already signed up with a few local companies and also occasionally find these opportunities on Craig's List.

LillibetteV

I would add the Google Rewards app if you have an android phone. My husband showed it to me and you get daily surveys that take literally 30 seconds or less to complete and gives you anywhere from 10-60 cents for most surveys. I usually use the credits to buy books through the Google Play store, but you can also use it for apps, music, anything you can spend Google credit on. I know I should go to the library, but I just don't want an extra thing to carry to work so I usually read on my phone on the train and this app keeps me from spending real money on books!

hoffse

This won't necessarily work for everybody, but I've recently discovered surveys.  I took a data room survey a few weeks ago.  It took 1 hour, and they paid me $200 for it!  It actually showed up in the form of a check, rather than a Visa gift card or something.  Anyway, I scheduled it during lunch, so I didn't even miss any billable time for it.  I'm going to sign up for more of those.

For travel hacks, I always look at Groupon, LivingSocial, etc. for wherever we are going.  Internationally, I usually search 2for1 deals or DaysOut guides, because they usually have some great discounts.  That saved us a small fortune in London.  I book train tickets the day they come out so I can get the cheap seats.  I rely on TA a lot for basic advice.

I try to use hotels.com when I'm booking hotels that aren't on points, because they have a stay 10 nights, get 1 free deal.  They average the cost of your previous 10 stays to figure out the value of the free night.  After my business trip this fall I'll actually have 3 free nights in my account, and I will be able to use them consecutively for a single stay.  If I book a hotel that's more expensive than my free night voucher, I'll just pay the difference.  It's a pretty great deal, because mathematically it's like getting 10% back every time you book through them.  They are also on ebates, etc. so I get cash back by booking through them as well.

We use Chase cards that collect ultimate rewards for most of our CC usage.  The UR points can be transferred to a bunch of travel partners.  I can transfer points for booking on United, AA, Southwest, Hyatt, etc. It makes it really flexible for us, because we are not airline or brand loyal when we travel.  It gives us plenty of options to check for whatever the trip/itinerary happens to be.

The UR points accrue really quickly.  I can get 5x points by buying gift cards through office supply stores.  So whenever I have a big home improvement project or I know I'm buying a wedding gift or something, I buy a gift card first to get 5x points on that purchase.  Then I go through a points portal to make the purchase online for in-store pick-up.  About half the time those portals will give me points or cash back when paying with a gift card (even though most of them say they don't).  Staples.com has a lot of electronic gift cards, so I don't even have to leave my desk to do it.

csuave

Is there a site I can use in conjunction with Priceline to get an extra discount/bonus?  American Airlines?

hoffse

Oh and I forgot to add - when buying gift cards I go through a points portal too.  I'm going to buy a $700 HD gift card today for the built-ins and some doors we are buying this weekend.  I'll get 5x points from Staples.com and 2x points by going through the Chase portal.  If I cashed out the points it would be 7% back.  But when transferring them to travel partners I can usually squeeze at least 2 cents per point, so it's really like getting 14% back on my HD purchase. 

hoffse

csuave said:

Is there a site I can use in conjunction with Priceline to get an extra discount/bonus?  American Airlines?

The airlines are pretty stingy with extra rewards.  Check the points portals though before you make a purchase on Priceline.  Ebates always has something for them and the others will too.  Sometimes they are restricted to certain types of bookings though.

I don't usually find Priceline's deals to be significantly better than Expedia, Orbitz, Hotels.com, etc. unless I am bidding.  I will only bid if I know a city well (like I'll bid in Nashville) because I'm pretty picky about location and such.

csuave

hoffse said:

csuave said:

Is there a site I can use in conjunction with Priceline to get an extra discount/bonus?  American Airlines?

The airlines are pretty stingy with extra rewards.  Check the points portals though before you make a purchase on Priceline.  Ebates always has something for them and the others will too.  Sometimes they are restricted to certain types of bookings though.

I don't usually find Priceline's deals to be significantly better than Expedia, Orbitz, Hotels.com, etc. unless I am bidding.  I will only bid if I know a city well (like I'll bid in Nashville) because I'm pretty picky about location and such.

We have used it for bidding cars and have been happy with the results.  Will link through a portal next time for more benefit!

smerka

I am not as much of technology user as you all. I write my grocery lists on old envelopes or ones I get in the mail and put coupons I will use directly in the envelope. I also started cold brewing my coffee. I like my coffee iced and this means I don't have to drag the coffee maker out each day.

hoffse

csuave said:

hoffse said:

csuave said:

Is there a site I can use in conjunction with Priceline to get an extra discount/bonus?  American Airlines?

The airlines are pretty stingy with extra rewards.  Check the points portals though before you make a purchase on Priceline.  Ebates always has something for them and the others will too.  Sometimes they are restricted to certain types of bookings though.

I don't usually find Priceline's deals to be significantly better than Expedia, Orbitz, Hotels.com, etc. unless I am bidding.  I will only bid if I know a city well (like I'll bid in Nashville) because I'm pretty picky about location and such.

We have used it for bidding cars and have been happy with the results.  Will link through a portal next time for more benefit!

Oooh bidding cars is smart.  I haven't used it for that before, but I might try that for our California trip.  I have a car rental reserved, but I can cancel it.

julieanne912

I'm not nearly as dedicated as you all!

The one thing I will do is, around the holidays usually, our grocery store will put any kind of gift card at 2x fuel points.  So if I buy a $100 gift card, it would be 200 fuel points.  If I have the extra cash, I will stock up on gift cards to places I know we'll go to, like Petsmart or Chipotle.  Every 100 fuel points equals 10c off/gallon so it adds up.  Since it usually happens around the holidays, it makes a couple of our gas purchases for our annual trek to Wyoming for Christmas a lot more affordable.

I also had the opportunity recently to participate in a market research study for household products.  The pay was $200 for 3 hours, but it was right in the middle of the workday downtown, and I had just taken a sick day and left early on another day, so I didn't feel right about taking more time off (even though the pay per hour is way more than my work rate).  But yeah, I get emails from this company that offer opportunities all the time for those, they'd be great if you have a flexible work schedule.

short+sassy

julieanne912 said:

I'm not nearly as dedicated as you all!

The one thing I will do is, around the holidays usually, our grocery store will put any kind of gift card at 2x fuel points.  So if I buy a $100 gift card, it would be 200 fuel points.  If I have the extra cash, I will stock up on gift cards to places I know we'll go to, like Petsmart or Chipotle.  Every 100 fuel points equals 10c off/gallon so it adds up.  Since it usually happens around the holidays, it makes a couple of our gas purchases for our annual trek to Wyoming for Christmas a lot more affordable.

I also had the opportunity recently to participate in a market research study for household products.  The pay was $200 for 3 hours, but it was right in the middle of the workday downtown, and I had just taken a sick day and left early on another day, so I didn't feel right about taking more time off (even though the pay per hour is way more than my work rate).  But yeah, I get emails from this company that offer opportunities all the time for those, they'd be great if you have a flexible work schedule.

Speaking of holidays...and I know this isn't what you are talking about...but many restaurants will have "Buy $100 in gift cards, get a $25 gift card free" types of offers.  If it is a place I know I go to often enough, I always take advantage and stock up on gift cards.  It is a double bonus when they are restaurants I go to for mystery shopping.  I get reimbursed from the company anyway, so the gift cards I pay for end up being free...and then I'm getting cash back for the actual free one.  Super sweet!

In my area, the market research forums usually have both day and evening times to go.  Though, one time, I could only get into the afternoon slot, so I left work 2 hours early.  Fortunately, I do tend to have a lot of vacation time stockpiled up, so I can take advantage when I get the opportunity.

Another time, I took an entire vacation day at work so I could participate in a mock jury.  I did make more at work but, by taking a vacation day, I still got my normal pay plus an extra $125.  I also went to a half-day mock jury that was on a Saturday.

When I was unemployed, I was in a THREE day mock jury for $350.  That was crazy long.  But it was a civil suit in the hundreds of millions of dollars soooooo, I guess the stakes were high enough to warrant that kind of expense.  And that $350 was sure a huge blessing at that point in time.

KatieCutie05

Ebates, Ibotta, retailmenot.com are my main ones. I've also gotten good deals on groupon with their 20% off local deals coupon they run occasionally. And I totally love Google opinion rewards if you have an android. Their surveys take me like 15 seconds and I get 15 to 45 cents per survey. Lately I have been getting 2 a day. I think I'm going to buy a book or maybe a movie I've been wanting.

short+sassy

KatieCutie05 said:

Ebates, Ibotta, retailmenot.com are my main ones. I've also gotten good deals on groupon with their 20% off local deals coupon they run occasionally. And I totally love Google opinion rewards if you have an android. Their surveys take me like 15 seconds and I get 15 to 45 cents per survey. Lately I have been getting 2 a day. I think I'm going to buy a book or maybe a movie I've been wanting.

Yes!  Retailmenot is my go-to place to find online coupons.

vlagrl29

I don't have a ton of free time so I just use Ebates, Checkout 51, Ibotta and Retailmenot.

brij2006

I use Walmart savings catcher a ton since it's the main place we have to shop at.  You scan your receipt through their app, they price match everything you bought with the local stores, and they give you a credit in the form of a gift card for that difference.  Been using it for 2 years now and I have $40 built up. 

Do mystery shopping to offset cost of a date night or car repair.

Use mypoints.com to print grocery coupons to use.  You receive points for every coupon used, then can turn around and cash those in for gift cards or merchandise.  It takes a long time to add up though.  Been doing it for 8 years and have cashed out around $200 total.

Non-technology ways I save money.  Have 2 raised garden beds that I plant things in, harvest, and freeze or can.  Also plant some items in pots as well because I usually overplant. Buy our beef and pork in bulk once a year from local farmers.  Make a ton of things from scratch to save on cost.  Breakfast burritos (bulk and freeze), cook and then freeze beans from dried (much cheaper and healthier than canned), make baby yogurt puffs and squeeze pouches, make and freeze soups in bulk, make and freeze applesauce (get apples from random people with apple trees, we just go pick), freeze a ton of vegetables (sweet corn from family friend who lets us pick it at the end of the season, shredded zucchini for recipes, asparagus from MIL's yard, tons of butternut squash from a client).  
Really, a lot of the cooking and freezing I do is just getting it out there to people that I enjoy doing it.  Especially elderly people.  They love to hear that someone young is still canning and freezing food to last through the year.  I was shocked at how many of my clients started bringing in bags full of butternut squash and zucchini once they heard I liked freezing and canning things. A church lady has an apple tree she doesn't like to pick in the fall.  The agreement is that I need to bring her a batch of applesauce and I can have as many apples as I want to come take off her tree.  Then it's less she has to pick up as well. Another church member had me over one Saturday for about 5 hours, and she taught me the entire process of canning a ton of vegetables.  That knowledge is invaluable, and she still talks about how much she loves sharing that knowledge with a young person. 

Few other ways, I make my own laundry detergent, hardwood floor cleaner, all purpose cleaner, and window cleaner.  Use newspapers from MIL for cleaning windows (instead of paper towels), have a compost for fertilizing the garden beds, we wash our cars instead of paying for a car wash, we wax our own cars instead of paying for a detail, cloth diaper, H does pretty much all our vehicle maintenance, we rarely turn on our AC unless it's going to be 90+ for more than a week straight.  

We're pretty frugal in a ton of ways.  I really don't like spending money and if I need to spend it, I try to find a way to spend the least amount possible.

short+sassy

KatieCutie05 said:

Ebates, Ibotta, retailmenot.com are my main ones. I've also gotten good deals on groupon with their 20% off local deals coupon they run occasionally. And I totally love Google opinion rewards if you have an android. Their surveys take me like 15 seconds and I get 15 to 45 cents per survey. Lately I have been getting 2 a day. I think I'm going to buy a book or maybe a movie I've been wanting.

Yes!  Retailmenot is my go-to place to find online coupons.

brij2006

Another thing to add.

Our weekends are spent doing a ton of this stuff.  We do not have cable so there isn't the temptation to sit down and binge watch a tv show. We don't sit on the weekends and when we do, it's to have dinner or maybe watch a Redbox movie in the evening.  

The biggest thing I've noticed is to be intentional about how you're saving.  I do a ton of research on how to make things from scratch.  We have 2 deep freezers for me to make things in bulk and freeze. I may take an entire weekend to cook a lot of this stuff, but it saves us a lot of money and we eat a lot healthier because of it.  However, we live a bit in the sticks.  There isn't ordering chinese takeout or pizza delivery if we don't feel like cooking dinner.  So having a lot of things frozen or canned, helps us to always have options. 

We are also very mindful about what we hire to be done.  House projects like staining a deck or washing the siding, we do some research on how to do it ourselves.  It may take us longer, but most times it is 1/4th the cost.