So two weeks ago I went home for the weekend and my sister was telling me that she had started to use Swagbucks. As part of my move to try to make a little money on the side, I have started doing surveys online. We discussed surveys versus searching sites. I had to admit that in the month I have been doing surveys I have not gained any rewards from them. I just can't qualify for enough surveys. The frugal, childless lifestyle is not what market researchers want to hear about.

So I signed up for Swagbucks. I began using it on April 5 and today, April 20, I just cashed in my first reward for a $5 Amazon.com Gift Certificate. I'm really impressed with how quickly the rewards start. Now I understand that I'm not actually getting any money from them so I decided to purchase something that would reduce my spending in other ways. I'm going to buy an herb garden kit. They cost about $15 with shipping and then I can grow fresh herbs in our window. This will save us money and add such lovely flavor to our cooking. Plus I need to nurture my green thumb if I plan to start a vegetable garden once we own a home.

So from all this I can confidently now show the swagbucks banner on my blog.

I just redeemed $25 in rewards on our credit card. It's going straight into the Home/Car Downpayment savings account. I didn't get a chance to talk to H about that yet. I'll talk to him about it on Saturday when we drive to see his parents.

I love our rewards credit card. I wish we'd gotten one sooner. In the past six months it has earned us $150. And we pay it off every month in full. I really want to close down our two old credit cards, but they are probably boosting our credit score.

I just signed up to participate in a Health & Sexuality survey. The survey is open to born-women and transgendered men and women. They are offering the chance to win ten $100 visa gift cards for taking the surveys. You can also get one or two $10 gift cards for participating in phone interviews. The survey is IRB approved (approved by an internal ethics committee) and will help with a dissertation. If you want to participate here is the link:

https://www.indiana.edu/~sexstudy/index.html

So I earned my first bit of extra money today. After a week of collecting cans, I turned them in for $.60. My husband kept smirking at me afterward, but I reminded him that it didn't cost us anything to collect and return the cans. In fact we got a lovely walk today in the beautiful weather.

I just recommended to a newly unemployed friend that he sign up for surveys. He could use the money, but even more he needs the stimulation and the sense of accomplishment.

I'm going to start a page to track the extra money I bring in.