Question / Discussion How I earn over £300 a month - without matched betting!

[HomeDad]

Thanks for sharing this I'm sure it will help me on my adventure.

 

[Andrew]

Excellent guide, just started following it.

Do you find that a lot of the apps crash and have problems? I had issues uploading things to Street Bees last night.

VYPR is crashing a lot at the minute. Never had any problems with street bees though

 

[Bella83]

Thanks for this.
I currently use vypr and streetbees a lot. I've not had much come up on roamler but still have a way to go to get to the PayPal cash out threshold.
I don't have an iPhone but it's interesting you suggest buying a cheap one. I'll see how I do and then consider it.
Thanks.

 

[Andrew]

Thanks for this.
I currently use vypr and streetbees a lot. I've not had much come up on roamler but still have a way to go to get to the PayPal cash out threshold.
I don't have an iPhone but it's interesting you suggest buying a cheap one. I'll see how I do and then consider it.
Thanks.

If you get lucky on ebay you can pick up a 5s quite cheaply Good Luck!

 

[nicki]

Thanks for this thread. I'm going to have to have a good read through, and possibly look at getting myself a second phone & another number lol

 

[Andrew]

Thanks for this thread. I'm going to have to have a good read through, and possibly look at getting myself a second phone & another number lol

Hope it helps

 

[Andra]

Thank you for the guide . I am new at this and is very helpful for me.

 

[SomePeopleCallItAnarchy]

Locally I only have any luck with BeMyEye and Streetspotr. It's like there's a 15 mile circle around me with only the occasional job inside, and beyond that jobs all over the place. I've also had the occasional problem with staff asking me not to take photos in store, which makes for a wasted journey.

VoxPopMe is appealing for how little time you can put in to make a few pounds, but a lot of the jobs specify that the videos you submit can be used publicly, for example in facebook posts. I've found myself deliberately tripping over words and being overly critical of products just to try and lower the possibility of them ever sharing them publicly. If it was text based I'd be a lot more comfortable, but I suppose that's less valuable to them.

Anyway, this is a great thread with some good suggestions I'll be sure to try out. Thanks.

 

[MyMarvellousMoney]

Hello beginners!

A few months ago I was just like yourselves - aware that the internet could offer money making opportunities but not really sure how to capitalise on them. I spent my first few weeks feeling around in the dark, signing up for 100s of sites that promised to make me money but in reality they required me to click on links, view adverts or fill out mind numbingly boring surveys for often a few pence at best!

That's when I stumbled across the money shed through a reference on @katykicker s blog. Using @Jon s excellent earning money for beginners toolkit as my bible I was able to pick out the bits that worked for me and leave the bits that didn't.

Anyway I've written below a few tips based on my experiences to add on to this. I'm happy to answer any questions that you have either in the comments below or via message if you'd prefer.

First things first - get a smartphone with a lot of data allowance and a portable charger. You're going to need it! And don't worry about the cost of the initial investment in it - I promise you'll soon make it back. I have an Iphone 5S that copes adequately with everything thrown at it - you can pick one up on ebay with a warranty for a £100 or less. You can tether it off an android phone or vice versa so that you can run both as well (about £50 will buy you a decent android phone - getting one capable of running one of the latest versions of android is a must).

As Jon says in his beginner's toolkit access to a laptop or desktop computer is also vital - it doesn't have to be the latest tech but I'd recommend investing your first £300 in one if you can! I would also suggest getting a multifunctional scanner/printer as well - my method of getting this was to complete enough boring surveys until I had sufficient amazon vouchers earned to pay for one - there was a cashback deal on mine as well so I got a printer and money (pay attention to amazon's daily deals page and you'll be surprised at what you can find!).

Ok. So now you've got the equipment but where do you start? Below is a recount of my experiences and the sites I find that pay the most.

1. Paid to click sites (e.g. clixsense) - unless you have a large following of people you can refer to these sites I wouldn't bother. The amount of time you spend clicking through things for little reward is insane. There are better ways to earn money. Of course if you have a large number of people you can refer to them then do it - there are many people who earn a decent amount through referrals but my advice is if you're just starting out don't bother with these! I also include inbox pounds and swagbucks in these categories - there are people who swear by these sites but I think they're too low paying for the amount of effort required.

2. Paid survey sites - there are loads of these about! Many people earn referral bonuses for persuading people to sign up to sites but the truth is a lot of them are very boring and pay a pittance. I've signed up for dozens of sites but the only ones I find worthwhile are the following!

a. Populus live - actually pays you a decent amount for completing surveys and as long as you do the surveys quickly enough screen outs (where you get part way through a survey and then it chucks you out as there's enough people in your demographic who've already completed the survey, having nicely wasted your time) are rare and also happen very quickly at the start of the survey. Notifications of surveys are sent by email so make sure you have your email account set up to push notifications to your phone so that you can complete the survey asap. Cash out is at £50 which sounds high but I tend to get through £20-£25 a month on this site so it's good for more than a couple of hundred pounds a year.

b. Prolific academic - this site is brilliant. I've only been screened out twice and on one of those occasions it was because I hadn't read the instructions properly. The surveys tend to pay well but I would suggest getting a circle account (prolific can help you with this) to receive payments and cashing out only when you've hit £20 as although you can get paid into paypal the evil paypal corporation (I don't like them very much!) take commision on your payments. Circle don't! Surveys tend to be around some interesting subjects as well. I tend to earn £20 every two weeks from this site so about £40 a month. I'd also recommend keeping your computer on and setting it to auto-refresh on prolific so that you get to spot surveys as soon as they appear as spaces are limited!

c. Panelbase - this is one of the mind numbingly boring survey sites that I normally ignore. However, I include it as a recommendation for two reasons. Firstly the surveys tell you in pounds and pence how much you're getting paid for completing them so you know what a pittance you're earning, rather than using some seemingly random points system. Secondly they pay direct into your bank account so there's no messing about with paypal or amazon vouchers. Because I find it a bit boring I only tend to take £10 a month from this site, however when I was using it more regularly I was earning £25 a month from this site.

d. Pinecone research - a lot of people swear by this site. I can attest that it offers a reasonable rate of pay (in line with populus), however I don't get many surveys from pinecone. It's worth about £6 a month to me but others in different demographic groups e.g. with kids may earn far more.

e. Mintvine - I was in two minds about whether to include this or not. I don't find the surveys that interesting and sometimes the rewards are poor, however I do like the fact that it offers a daily poll which gives you points and on some surveys if you get screened out you can earn points. Like Panelbase it's one I don't use that often. With a determined effort I can clear £10 a month from this site.

So that's surveys (there are other ones you'll hear about which I'm happy to share my experiences with but wanted to pick my top 5 for you!).

From those 5 sites alone I earn a minimum of £85 a month. More if I put some effort in! With a bit of effort I think it's fair to say that £100 a month is achievable.

3. Smartphone apps - I love my smartphone. It's a device that exists purely to make me money! I have several apps on my phone that pay for me my opinon, to do mystery shopping or store audits. The top apps I have are as follows:

a. Task360 - iphone only app that offers money for things like mystery shopping, market research, billboard checks and store audits. Some of the tasks can seem a bit daunting at first but if you look at the task360 thread in the earning money online forum there's plenty of hints and tips there to help out. I'm lucky that there's not many (if any) users near me so this app gives me £50 a month. It updates daily so it's worth checking a couple of times a day at least. Pays direct into your bank account as well!

b. Field agent - this was quiet for months with no tasks on it at all. However, recently it's picked up and I had £20 of tasks from it last month (I'm lucky enough to live a few minutes walk from a supermarket). I can't say if this trend will continue but if it does start picking up then this could be a nice little earner. Now offers payment into bank accounts which is good.

c. Roamler - similar to the above two this offers money for performing mystery shops or store audits. I'm lazy so I don't do all of the tasks it offers in my area but if I did I could be looking at over a £100 a month. Cashout is via paypal, commision is charged on anything less than £20 though so don't withdraw until you hit £20! I tend to go for £20 a month on this one (I usually have a roamler day where i pick up work in the area to hit this and combine it with tasks from other apps or work for mystery shopping companies).

d. Bemyeye - this is another one that's been a bit quiet of late. When I first got it I was earning an easy £25-£30 a month but now I'm on about £10. Worth getting though as the tasks are relatively straightforward. I also like the fact that it offers payment into your bank account as an option.

e. Streetspotr - similar to the others but there's a lot of fast food checks on this app. I hate doing the fast food checks so tend to avoid them. If I didn't it'd be good for £30 a month. As it is I tend to get £10 a month from it.

Special mention goes to appjobber, clic and walk and streetbees. All 3 pay into paypal and jobs are few and far between on them where I am. However, worth keeping these apps as often jobs can be in the same locations as tasks you're performing on other apps or somewhere that you're doing a mystery shop. I'd say these give me £10 a month if averaged over the year.

So there's at least another £25 a month for you. But where does the rest come from? Find out in part 2! (which is just below).

Really really like this post - so insightful as I am having difficulty with MatchedBetting to be honest and just can't seem to make heads nor tails of it! I know loads of people manage to make thousands with it, but it's good to know there's some simple practical stuff that can be done. I'm definitely going to give some of these a go

 

[DadsDoItRight]

Thanks for the info really well-written post.

 

[Jayro152]

Part 2 -

4. Mystery shopping. I love doing this - there's a post on the boost your income section of the green site (run by a chap called Martin if that's enough of a clue for you!) that lists all of the current mystery shopping companies. As a beginner I'd recommend signing up for a company called Marketforce while you learn what you're doing. They don't pay as much as other companies but they hold your hand every step of the way. When I'm dedicated I can clear £30 a month through marketforce. My advice though would be once you've done a few shops with marketforce sign up for some of the other companies. If you sign up for enough of them it's entirely possible to earn £300 a month plus in my area just through mystery shopping (I've done it so I know it can be done!!). I combine mystery shopping with performing some of my app tasks and working it round a full time job so I average between £125 and £15o a month from it. It's vital to have a printer for this as some of the tasks can have a lot of instructions so I always review them just before performing a shop to make sure I've covered them - much easier to read a piece of A4 paper than a phone screen!.



So that's your £300 all earned. I worked out the other day that for the amount of effort I put in I'm getting about £12 an hour doing all of the above so it doesn't need to take over your life for you to get a reasonable income doing many of the things you'd probably do anyway (like shopping!). I find it keeps me active and gets me to go places and talk to people I wouldn't normally meet so it's a positive experience.



Finally as a Brucie bonus one other thing I do is usertesting. There's a couple of sites I'm signed up for that offer a reasonable rate of pay for the work you do. You do have to go through an audition first and you need a webcam on your computer but they do give you the opportunity to see a practice audition.



a. Usertesting.com - an american site that pays via dollars into paypal. Gives 10 dollars for about 20 minutes work and you do have to keep logged into the site (or the app) to check for tests. With dedication I can clear 60 dollars a month from this site, although usually I do about 40 dollars a month.



b. Whatusersdo - I think it's about £5 here for 20 minutes work although my mind has gone temparilly blank. Pays into paypal and is British based. Pretty similar to usertesting.com excpet for the fact that test invitations come via email so like with populus you need to keep on top of your emails. I find that this is good for £10 - £15 a month although I got £30 in my most focussed month.



c. utest.com - this is a site for the big boys where you get paid for spotting bugs in websites such as broken links. You get invited to test websites but the pays not guaranteed as it's dependent on you breaking things (unlike the first two sites which asks for your opinions about sites that are still being developed). I get 4 or 5 test invites a day on average and it's not too badly paid. With dedication I suspect this could be something that could offer £300 a month if you have the skills needed. I don't and so am selective about the tests I do. Nonetheless I find it good for $50 a month.



So there you have it. A current guide to earning £300 a month without gambling a penny! And all you need is a smartphone or two, a computer, a paypal account and a bank account. I invested up front in these items (to some consternation when I told people on the green site what I was doing) but had largely covered my costs in the first month. Follow the above suggestions and I'm sure after 3 months you'll be earning in excess of an extra £3600 a year. That's a holiday for all the family or secondhand car!



One final tip from me. At times after doing your tenth survey in a row or having endured yet more poor service in a shop which you're going to have to write about later you may feel like giving up. The best way to keep motivated is to set yourself a monthly earnings target and push yourself to achieve it. Join in the monthly earnings challenge (the september one has just started!) and report how well you're doing to others. It's what keeps me going.



Good luck all!


Andrew

Thank you so much. That was super helpful!!

 

[Jayro152]

Thankyou so much for the prolific academic recommendation. I made £9 in under 24 hours. I love it too because it’s differnt types of surveys. Feel like I’m getting the hang of this now!

 

[ljwhit]

Thanks for this - really useful for me as I do some matched betting but don't like the idea of having loads of bookmakers accounts, so was looking for other things to try and these seem perfect!

 

[Thrifty Mum]

I really enjoyed reading this post. It's good to see it all broken down too. I've just downloaded a couple more apps that I didn't have so hopefully have some success with them

 

[Byz]

Thanks for this - really useful for me as I do some matched betting but don't like the idea of having loads of bookmakers accounts, so was looking for other things to try and these seem perfect!

Hi ljwhit, hour for hour, Matched Betting is the most profitable way of making money online. I understand your reservations as I’m only just getting started myself. But by starting small you can build a reasonable amount of money in a short amount of time. I realise it’s not for everyone but please don’t be put off as the help I’ve received here has convinced me to take the plunge with a couple of no-risk New Customer Offers. Best wishes, Byz

 

[ljwhit]

Hi ljwhit, hour for hour, Matched Betting is the most profitable way of making money online. I understand your reservations as I’m only just getting started myself. But by starting small you can build a reasonable amount of money in a short amount of time. I realise it’s not for everyone but please don’t be put off as the help I’ve received here has convinced me to take the plunge with a couple of no-risk New Customer Offers. Best wishes, Byz

Thanks, to be honest the more I look into other things the better Matched Betting is looking!

 

[Louisandrews]

Brilliant guide will definitely be following these tips.
Mystery shopping sounds like a fun option

 

[homie]

The problem isn't doing these things, it's having these things available to do. I've been trying to earn an extra £10 a day this month and am finding availability of jobs and sensible paying surveys the biggest problem. Mystery shopping has been particular quiet for me so far this year. The only thing there seems to be abundance of is the Global Test Market type surveys paying 50p for a 15 min survey which I can't be bothered with.

 

[Andrew]

The problem isn't doing these things, it's having these things available to do. I've been trying to earn an extra £10 a day this month and am finding availability of jobs and sensible paying surveys the biggest problem. Mystery shopping has been particular quiet for me so far this year. The only thing there seems to be abundance of is the Global Test Market type surveys paying 50p for a 15 min survey which I can't be bothered with.

Loards of costa coffee checks on roamler at the minute - how much coffee can you drink? Haha.

 

[terryb61]

finding it really hard to do the task based jobs, stuck in my job for 12 hours a day then when it gets to the weekends and i just can't be arsed ha