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Online Surveys:  There are a myriad of companies that reward people for completing surveys.  Most surveys take from 10 to 30 minutes to complete; the time varies based on the number of questions and how quickly you can navigate through the questionnaire.  All you have to do is join a panel for one or more of the companies and you’ll start receiving surveys.  Most companies will have you fill out a profile questionnaire so they can send you specifically targeted surveys.  Each company rewards users differently from points to drawings to cash, and sometimes a mix of all three.  One thing to remember is that you should never pay to join a panel.  If a survey company is going to pay you money, there is no reason they should require money from you to join.

Because I used to work in the market research industry, finding this method of earning extra cash was pretty easy for me.  The key is finding the good companies.  Here are a few of the ones that I trust and that provide reasonable rewards:

 Greenfield is the first panel I ever joined.  My first experience was negative.  I earned points for magazine subscriptions, the choices were lame, the magazines never came, and I kept getting charged for the subscription because of some auto-subscription deal.  I’ve given Greenfield another chance and they are much better now.  They’ve moved to giving cash for many surveys, plus entries into drawings for a larger cash prize.  So far I’ve had no issues.

Survey Spot is the second panel I ever joined.  Survey Spot has been the most consistent company in my experience.  Like Greenfield they offer cash on some surveys and entries into drawings on all surveys (you can qualify for the drawings even if you are disqualified from the survey).  I don’t have much hope for winning a drawing, so I tend to only do surveys if they specify a cash amount (usually between $2 and $5).  I’ve never had any issues with this company.

E-Rewards is yet another company I use pretty regularly.  I was introduced to them by somebody I knew who worked in market research and my experience has been pretty good.  To join the panel you do need to have a membership with one of their sponsor companies; for example I was able to join because I have a Borders Rewards card.  The rewards are essentially points, they call them dollars but you can only buy from their ‘catalog’ of goods.  Most of the rewards are magazine subscriptions.  Unlike my first experience, I actually get the magazines and they do not auto-renew.  The selection changes, but for the most part it’s a good selection.  There are various other  rewards, like airline miles for a number of different airlines or borders bucks.

MyPoints:  MyPoints is a glorified advertising company.  You sign up and get points for reading email advertisements; all you have to do is click on a link to earn the points.  I get about 5 emails a day and I just click on the link and build up points.  You can also earn points by purchasing from a member site via the MyPoints website. The companies are reputable, like LL Bean, Barnes and Noble, and Old Navy to name a few.  I don’t buy much online and it takes me about 6 months of checking my email to earn a $25 gift card.  It’s not a big money maker, but the gift cards are easy presents for B-days and Christmas (nobody will ever know).

Mystery Shopping: I haven’t done any mystery shopping, but it is a legitimate business.  The basic premise is a company pays you to patronize their business and evaluate the experience.  You could be asked to visit a local McDonald’s and rate the service and food.  You will paid enough to cover costs if you are required to make a purchase, and often something extra for your inconvenience ($10-$15).  Mystery shopping has the potential of scams.  Recently a scam was exposed where folks were being asked to wire money using Western Union.  Any mystery shopping deal that promises high returns is a scam.  Mystery shopping is not lucrative!  It just takes the edge off a little.

Cha Cha:  I was recently made aware of a company named Cha Cha.  It’s basically a search service for folks looking for quick answers to questions, but they don’t have convenient internet access (usually somebody with a cell phone that can text).  Cha Cha offers positions called Cha Cha Guides to look up the answers to the questions that come in.  The pay isn’t a huge money maker ($.10 - .15 per response), but it’s consistent and is likely more interesting than a number of other options.  Cha Cha provides an estimate that most people will make in the $5-9 per hour range.

You won’t be rolling in the dough or hangin’ with Donald Trump if you use these sources, but it will provide a little extra cash.  With any simple task, the returns won’t be huge, but they’ll be legit.  When high returns are promised, that should be a major red flag.  Most of this work is low skill with many willing people; i.e. low demand (relatively speaking) - high supply.  Smart Money has a nice little article on “work-from-home” scams that’s worth reading.  While I use some of the companies above and have found success with them, it’s still important to do your own research to make sure that you are comfortable with the requirements.  This is not an advertisement for any of the companies, just a starting point on where some extra cash can be made and legitimate sources.

My favorite explanation of the current economic crisis.

Maxed Out’s James Scurlock and Elizabeth Warren on NightLine

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Inform Your Credit Card Company / Bank You’re Leaving

Before leaving on your trip - no matter how long or short it may be - give your bank and/or credit card company a call.  Inform them that you’ll be travelling and be sure to give them the dates you are travelling and to which countries.  This will prevent your card from being “flagged” for fraudulent activity.  If the credit card company sees your card suddenly being used in India - someplace you’ve never travelled before - then you could find your next purchase declined due to fraudulent activity.  Calling your bank or credit card ahead of time will save you time and frustration.

Fees, Charges, and Conversion - Oh My!

Something that many people do not know is that credit card companies like to take advantage of international travelers by charging them fees for using their card abroad - but it doesn’t stop there.  Not only will a company charge you a fee for using your card overseas, but they might also charge you a currency conversion fee.

International Fee: This fee is charged by most credit card companies for any purchase made internationally.  This fee, typically added to your purchase price, mean you could end up paying as much as 10 percent more for purchases made while abroad.  The latest fee rates I could find are:

Bank of America
• 3% for credit/debit card purchases
• $5 and 1% at ATMs; fee waived if using Global ATM Alliance machine

Chase
• 3% for credit/debit card purchases
• 3% of ATM withdrawals

Citibank
• 3% for credit/debit card purchases
• 3% at non-Citibank ATMs
• Will reimburse ATM fees if you applied for a checking account online

HSBC
• 1% for credit/debit card purchases
• $1.50 max for ATM fee

Wachovia
• 1% of credit/debit card purchases
• 1% of ATM withdrawal PLUS network fee

Washington Mutual
• 1% of credit/debit card purchases
• 3% of ATM withdrawal PLUS 1% charged by
Master Card and Visa

Wells Fargo
• 3% credit/debit purchases
• $5/withdrawal at ATM

Dynamic Currency Conversion Fee: A relatively newcomer to the fee-charging party, this fee allows a foreign merchant to convert your bill from foreign currency to U.S. dollars using their own rates (which of course are higher than normal). However, DCC is only used with Visa and MasterCard - American Express charges 2.5 percent per day for foreign transaction fees and they do not charge cardholders DCC rates. The fee for DCC ranges between 3–10 percent depending on the fee charged by the technology partner and the fee charged by the bank issuing the debit/credit card.

Conversion Fee: Your bank might charge you a 1 percent to 3 percent “foreign currency-conversion fee” for the service of converting the local currency cost of an international purchase into the U.S. dollar amount that shows up on your credit card bill.  How nice of your bank, right?

Find a Solution That Fits

Knowing now that using your credit or debit card could be costlier than you thought - what should you do?  You have a few options:

1. If time is on your side, consider finding a card or bank that doesn’t charge these ridiculous fees (Capital One seems like a good choice)

2. Consider using your corporate card - the user agreements are much different.  For example, my corporate AMEX card doesn’t charge me an international fee - so I’ve been using it for personal purchases as well.

3. Look into purchasing a pre-paid Visa or Mastercard in the country you will be traveling to.

4. Carry cash. It goes without saying that carrying cash is more risky than plastic - but the fee for taking out cash for a day’s worth of purchases might be cheaper than a 3% charge on each purchase with plastic.

The best advice I can give you is to invest some time preparing your finances before you leave.  Travel can be stressful enough without worrying about your money.

We’re close to actually purchasing the lens from Amazon, which has the best price at the moment.  At least that’s what I thought.  I did some searching with Google and found the lens for $850.  I’m always in the mood for a bargain and a chance to save some money.  And, $350 is not a bad discount to take.  Though I’m up for a good deal, something seemed a little odd.  The price at Amazon is actually quite discounted already.  The lens can easily go for up to $1800.  How was this company (Sonic Cameras) able to price this so much lower than even Amazon?  With today’s technological tools there’s little excuse for being a lazy consumer.  Before we even took the time to consider purchasing from this company, I decided to do some research.

What set me off first was the price.  It was just a little too low for me to trust it.  While I like a good deal, I’m suspicious when it’s too good.  The second thing that troubeled me was the company.  It wasn’t anything more than the fact that I’d never heard of them.  I’m very cautious about just purchasing something from a company I’ve never heard of.  At least with Amazon I have a history and they’ve developed pattern of trust.  The third thing that stuck out to me was that when I put the lens in the Gooogle search, it didn’t show up in the shopping results.  It merely came up as a sponsored link at the top of the search.  These may not necessarily be deal breakers, but they certainly caught my eye and caused me to do more research into the company.

My results were not good.  In fact I could not find a good review.  I even found a whole webpage called Sonic Camera’s Sucks.  I also read a number of reviews on sights like Rip-off Report and Yelp.  The big problem with Sonic camera’s turned out to be their tendency to pull the old bait and switch.  Many of the reviewers told stories about ordering an item and them being sold something different that was supposed to be better.  In some cases the product (usually a lens) turned out to be completely incompatable with their camera.  Others reported they experienced the upsell, where they were asked endlessly to add other items to the order.  Unlike most companies online, Sonic Cameras calls to confirm your order and get your information, though the primary reason appears to be getting more stuff onto your order.

The real point here is to be aware of where you shop online.  This is especially important with big purchases.  You should have sense of the price range of the product you’re looking for.  If it’s outside of that range, then there has to be a reason.  So either find out why, or go somewhere else.  Finding customer reviews of businesses is essential for businesses that you’ve never done business with and who don’t have an established reputation.  Reviews are helpful too, so that you know how to handle things if there is a problem.  Many reviewers offer very detailed reports of how they handled things and how well problems are resolved.  There’s no excuse for not doing your research and it’s better to learn from somebody else’s mistake.

It looks like we’ll be shelling out the the whole $1200 for the lens, but at least it’s from a retailer that we can trust.