One thing I have noticed as a fairly typical trend of SAHMs is the compulsion, need, desire to contribute to the family money bucket. Most of the ladies I know are like me...once strong independent female leads, now strong independent female leads that don't work (in the typical sense. We definitely WORK as SAHMs!!)
So, what do we do? Well, many of us get roped into those lovely pyramid schemes...or wait they're called multi-level marketing "opportunities". (Please take no offense here...I do not mean to offend) I get it. They seem very appealing and fairly convincing. However, I have a general rule...if i have to give you my money in order for me to try to make money it's a deal breaker. Not to mention the fact that I'd be selling to people I know...all of whom are pretty tight on money themselves or already wrapped up in the same scheme. I try really hard to be respectful of anyone who chooses to participate in this sort of thing. It's their choice, and they might actually be good enough to make a few dollars. I get invitations all the time to buy from my friends and I generally tell them no (because if I can't buy from everyone I like, I can't buy from anyone. I did the same thing with anything students were trying to sell to raise money for school or girl scouts or whatever. It seems only fair). Not to mention the fact that I find it very difficult to part with my money. There are some ladies that take it pretty seriously and spam my email and facebook page...that sort of thing just kind of pisses me off and makes me even less likely to buy from them. Believe me, if I had the money to share I would spread it around like the herpes virus! Why? Well, because I care about my friends and would want to do what I can to help them out. But, I'm in the same boat they are, so it doesn't really work.
Pyramid schemes are out for me. I just can't. So I've tried to find alternatives. Small contributions to our family budget while also allowing extreme flexibility. This has led me to discover a lot of very legit work-from-home opportunities actually, but few that provide the sort of flexibility I require as a SAHM of a 3-year-old. Thus, I have settled for (drum roll please...) survey taking! It is almost as boring and mind numbing as it sounds. But I can whip out a little survey in a short time while I'm not otherwise occupied, earning me $.50 here and there, sometimes more.
In the spirit of sharing with my fellow SAHMs I'll share some of my favorite ones and most "profitable".
Walmart Savings Catcher app: This is not an app in and of itself, but a component of the Walmart app (available on android (my preference ;) ) and whoever else does apps). This one is great if you frequent Walmart as much as I do. Scan your receipts and Walmart will pay you the difference if a competitor's price is lower than theirs on any given product. When you are ready to cash out you get a Walmart gift card/code and can use that again to purchase items as Walmart. (win win win)
MintVine: This is a survey site, primarily geared towards marketing research. I get a fair amount of surveys on here and there are plenty of ways to earn points. This one pays out in a variety of ways; gift cards, dwolla, or paypal.
YouGov: Another survey site, but this one has more than marketing questions. There are a lot of questions about current topics in the news and events going on. You can also connect with others (anonymously) in a social aspect and share your opinions on certain things. It's actually kind of fun (if you're a huge nerd like me when it comes to social issues and politics). You can kill a lot of time on this site if you let yourself. There are constant polls and surveys. The more you participate the more they get to know you and what they want to learn from you. Earn points and payout is on gift cards for a variety of companies, including Amazon (which is my second most frequented store so this works well for me).
OnePoll: This one I like, but has low payout. It might be because I'm not in the target pool right now as a consumer. But I don't get a survey very often so I haven't been able to collect a lot on this one. Payout on this one is via Paypal.
Google Opinion Rewards app: Survey app. These are usually very short surveys. Payout is in Google Play credit. I love this because it allows me to rent movies from Google Play for free once I have collected enough points. Right now I'm working on collecting points so we can watch Finding Dory!! The unfortunate thing about this one is that the surveys are few and far between. I maybe get a survey pop up about once a week, sometimes less than that.
iPoll app: Again, available in android and other. A survey app that can be very profitable depending on your commitment to completing surveys. They have it set up so that you can basically sit on there all day (if you can handle that) and constantly take survey after survey. Payout is in gift cards to various stores.
SurveyMini: This is another good survey app, but like some of the others, it doesn't pop up with a survey for me very often. Payout is store gift cards as well on this one.
So far, I've earned probably a total of about $10 give or take. I've only been doing them for a few days and I only do them if I have free time. So considering that, it's not the worst thing. It's better than making zero contributions to the family money bucket. There are a lot of other work from home opportunities out there that I never even thought about. Many of them require time commitment though, which makes it hard for me. However, when my son starts school next fall (sniff) it will at least open up possibilities for me if I am unable to get a job in human services related to my field of study. If anyone is interested in other ideas I would recommend that you peruse reddit.com/r/beermoney or reddit.com/workonline.
Best of luck to you all!!
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