I have been writing for a blog at Today.com. They don’t pay a GOB of money, but the niche I’ve chose (Natal Astrology) is one I enjoy writing about and the income helps. They also pay a small referral fee, so should any of you sign up using the link above, I’ll get a $5 bonus. They pay $1.00 for the first 100 words of the first post of the day. This way alone, you can earn up to $31.00 in the first month. They also pay $2.00 for 1000 unique page views. I started writing for them October 20 (one month ago today) and have earned a total of $16.17 for 13 posts and 1564 unique page views. They don’t allow you to add Google Adsense, but they have allowed me to add Entrecard (helps the page views).

My understanding is that after the first month, they adjust your flat rate based on how well-written and how popular they expect the blog to be after the first month. Therefore, I should expect to see a fluctuation of some sort pretty soon. I’m feeling hopeful.

Another means of additional income and/or blog traffic (in the case of the blog at Today.com, blog traffic equals additional income!) is from Turnip of Power | Social Networking’s article “Almost Free Traffic From Project Wonderful.” So far, I’ve only signed up one of my blogs to Project Wonderful and have earned only $0.30. However, since many of the ads run for relatively cheap (until outbid), I can use that $0.30 to advertise on other blogs. His article even tells you how to automatically bid on sites for next-to-nothing. It’s a great article, so be sure to check it out.

Finally, I’ve discovered BlogExplosion. You earn credits by viewing other blogs in the network which you can exchange for traffic sent to your site(s). The discovery is pretty recent for me and I haven’t invested much time in it, so I have yet to see a substantial inflow from this.

I did register my Beautiful blog with the Commentluv contest and won $25 via paypal by leaving a comment on another registered blog. Check out the Commentluv contest and you could be a winner, too!

In conclusion, it is obvious to me that one cannot make any amount of quick dough from the above sites. Perhaps one might be able to make substantial bread from some of them with, say, a site that generates a lot of traffic (via AdSense) or with an investment (via a site like IsabelMarco).

In my next post, I will discuss ways to make cash online via sites like Pay Per Post, wherein a blogger writes reviews and places links on their blog, usually for a flat rate. Stay tuned!

This tutorial will help you find great deals, stretch your hard-earned bread, and live on less so you can save more dough. See some great deals in action at my site!

Recommended Sites for Newbies/Instructions:

If you are new to this idea, here are a few resources to help get you started. These sites break down how to use coupons and sales to your advantage.

Couponing 101 @ afullcup
CVS for newbies @ iheartcvs
CVS Q&A @ moneysavingmom
Walgreens 101 @ fromwagstoriches
Walgreens 101 @ moneysavingmom
Forum just for newbies @ hotcouponworld

Recommended Sites for Deals:

These sites are almost exclusively about posting great deals and savings. There are a wide range of stores covered. You should check them often! This is where the bulk of my savings comes from. I plan my entire shopping trips based on these ladies postings.

iheartwags
fromwagstoriches
iheartcvs
becentsable
the”cent”siblesawyer
attentiontargetshoppers
fiddledeedee
babycheapskate
moneysavingmom

And of course you can check out my weekly post of all the top deals for the week on Mondays. I collect all of the great deals and steals posts into one big categorized post. Come visit me @ Mommy’s Got Green.

Stay on Top of These Forums:

They contain weekly ads and coupon match-ups. If there are any printable coupons the links are provided as well. They also contain excellent tutorials on playing the grocery game you will want to read up on.

afullcup
hotcouponworld
slickdeals

Where to get coupons:

1. Subscribe to your local paper. This is probably the easiest option.
2. Buy the Saturday preview papers in stores where available. CVS sells these. Make sure that the coupon inserts are actually in them.
3. Ask around for extra copies from friends, family members, church members, etc.
4. At the store. Most stores keep their coupon booklets at the front or at the register. You will also find tearpad coupons and blinking dispensers of coupons to take advantage of.
5. Printable coupons. Some stores will not accept printable coupons because of their abuse so check and make sure yours does. You can find printable coupons all over the web, but here are some of the most recommended sites: coupons.com, fwtr printable list, redplum.com, smartsource.com, couponbar.com.
6. Write to your favorite brands and request coupons. Let them know how much you love their brand and ask if there are any coupons you could have.

• For a list of current newspaper coupons available and previews for the upcoming week visit taylortownpreview.com.
• For instructions on making a great coupon insert stash check out erica’s method at iheartcvs.com.

Gift Card Deals:

A few weeks ago Target started deals in which you bought x amount of items and you would get an x amount of money in gift cards to Target. These deals are included in weekly posts on the blogs above. I treat them like the Extra Care Bucks (ECB) program at CVS and roll them to pay for future gift card deals at Target.

Toys R Us has begun to do the same thing with a few sales. The most recent one I can remember is a $25 gift card when you buy the Lego Batman game on any system. I got my $20 gift card from the promotion a week earlier for buying Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. The gift card generally expires a month after you receive it. If you plan well, you can keep using the gift cards you earn into future gift card deals.

How I Do It:

Coming soon, a guest poster will share some really spectacular ways to save money and earn rewards while at the grocery, drugstore and big-name chain stores. I’m very excited that she has agreed to share her secrets with us.

Also, I will follow up on the 11 Ways to Make Dough Online post with a review of each site including how much I have earned, so please stay tuned for that post, as well!

-tata

There are a number of sites out there that can give you great pointers on improving SEO. Assuming you haven’t already, Google it and you will come across a plethora of informative articles, webtools that will test your site for SEO, help you get a more targeted audience with keyword optimization/relevancy and so on.

One of the best increases of traffic that I have encountered is through Entrecard. I give a more thorough review of it over at I’m Beautiful Like Me.

Perhaps more importantly to SEO is building backlinks. There is a special place in my heart for Commentluv and the I Follow Movement. While I personally haven’t seen a huge increase in traffic via these great methods, they have given me the opportunity to reward my readers and commentators with links to their respective sites.

I have decided to compile a list of weblogs that use both Commentluv and have removed the no-follow attribute to add to both of my sites in hopes to help my fellow bloggers build links, increase their traffic and - with a little luck - make them some bread! I, for one, prefer reading blogs and leaving comments on blogs that reward me by following me back to my site! Please note: special preference will be given to Entrecard members.

Please start right here by leaving a comment including the URL of your blog(s) within the comment.

***I will personally check the blogs,
so if you are not a Commentluv user
that also removes the “no-follow” attribute,
please save us both some time and don’t bother -
I will remove you from the comments and
NOT include you in the compiled list.***

URLs will be accepted until November 1, 2008. Final list will be posted in full no later than December 1, 2008.

In this post, I’ll be going over a lot of these sites, including which ones were a huge waste of my time and some that can earn our household a decent amount of income per month.

I divide these types of sites into two categories: for publishers and for anyone.

Please note that all the sites I review pay via PayPal unless otherwise noted.

For Publishers

Publishers are people who author their own website. If you have a blog (even a free one!), you are a publisher. Most of these money-making sites request you to place adverts on your site and there are a number of different ways one can make bread with these companies.

1. Google Adsense: Perhaps the most well-known program out there for publishers, Google Adsense ads pay either by cost-per-click(CPC) or cost-per-thousand-impression (CPM). It is easy to place Adsense adverts onto your site, however, there is no definitive payment system. The general consensus about the web is that you will earn better for a site with good content and high traffic. The minimum pay-out is $100, which may take a long time for some publishers to achieve.
2. Ask2Link: Like Google Adsense, you are required to place adverts on your site or blog. However, the code is tricky to get onto the site, as it doesn’t show up immediately (may take 2 hours to show up as active in your account at Ask2Link, too). Just keep checking their site to ensure your site changes from Inactive to Active. But the minimum pay-out is $10 and you earn 50% of the final price of the ad sale. Even better, you set the price of your advertising space, so if you have a high-traffic site or high page-rank/Alexa rank, you can adjust your price accordingly! That’s pretty amazing. It gets better: the referral program is off-the-chain:
   
3. ViralBlogAds: Again, you place ads on your site. I have signed up for this, but have been unable to find any definitive amounts I’ll be paid for those ads. The minimum pay-out with VBA is $25. As for their referral program - you earn 15% of all referral earnings for LIFE.
   
4. Freebies4Webmasters: Place code on 3 of your URLs to earn £10 for the first month and £5 each additional month. That translates to roughly $17/$8.50! Further, you receive an additional £10 incentive for referrals! I haven’t yet put their ads on this site, but I have put it on my other site I’m Beautiful Like Me - and have already been paid! See for yourself:
   
5. Matched.co.uk: Like Freebies4Webmasters, you can earn an easy £3 per month for displaying one ad per page up to 5 pages per site. There is a sign-on bonus for joining right now of £5 which will be paid at the end of the month-long run of the ad. There is an additional £5 bonus for each referral! I’m currently waiting to be matched with an advertiser.

For Anyone

The following sites pay you to view advertisements for a certain amount of time.

1. Hits4Pay: You can earn bread for reading email adverts. Register, select a few categories of interest and when you are matched with advertisers, you will be delivered an email alert. Sign on to your account, read the email, spending at least 60 seconds viewing it and instantly earn $0.02. They have a two-level referral program, which means that you earn $0.01 for all your referrals earnings as well as $0.01 for all their referral earnings. This is one of the best referral earning potentials I’ve seen in this type of online money-making! There is currently a $10 sign-on bonus and a $25 pay-out minimum.

   

2. Isabelmarco: Earn bread for viewing advertisements online. Register as a free member and earn $0.01 by viewing a 30 second ad. Free members don’t have the same opportunity as premium members to earn well: fewer ads to view, for one. The referral rate of a free membership is $0.007. Premium members earn $0.015 per click and $0.01 per referral clicks. Premium membership is $9.00 per month or $70.00 per year. Pay-out minimum is $9.00.

   

3. Opinion Outpost: Earn “Opinion Points” redeemable for bread by completing surveys. Register, fill out lengthy profiles to increase your chances to receive surveys. The surveys are for targeted demographic groups and will be assigned by the way you answer the questions in the profiles sections. The bad news is you will likely earn slowly. The good news is that this won’t be much of a time-suck passed the lengthy profiles you fill out. 10 Opinion Points = $1.00 and the minimum pay-out is 50 points/$5.00. Referrals earn you $1 with an affiliate minimum pay-out being $20.00. Pay-outs are mailed by check and take 6-8 weeks for delivery.

   

4. MySurvey: Earn points redeemable for dough by taking surveys. The surveys you receive are based on interests you select while registering, so you will likely only qualify every once in a while. The good news is that this won’t be a huge time-suck. The bad news is you will very likely earn slowly. Surveys vary in point value, typically 20-100, although up to 1500 points, depending on length and content. Points are valued at 1,000 = $10.00 with the minimum pay-out at $10.00. There are a lot of sweepstakes and contests happening right now, too. Currently, just by signing on I am entered to win $100. Another contest is for completed surveys - for every completed survey, you are entered to win one of ten $100 prizes in the month of September. There are several other sweepstakes one is automatically entered into happening right now. The referral program awards you 150 points per referral.

   

5. Survey Savvy: Earn bread for taking surveys. Register, fill out lengthy portraits to increase your chances to receive surveys. Since surveys are for targeted demographic groups, you may not receive many surveys. The minimum payout is $1 and will arrive by check 4-6 weeks after requesting payment. Referrals are two-level here, as well. This means that you receive an incentive for all surveys completed by your referrals as well as your referrals’ referrals. Invitations to surveys detail the incentives for the survey.

6. Inbox Dollars: Earn dough a variety of ways with this money-making service. There is a $5.00 sign-on bonus happening right now. You can take surveys, play games, read emails, try new products, shop and more. There is a $30 minimum pay-out. I took a couple of surveys, read an email and checked out a new product in which I already had some interest. I’ve currently earned a total of $9.27. Referrals will earn you 10% of their earnings.
   

Not for me, thanks anyhow

A few of the sites I signed up for are not a good way for me to earn any amount of money.

1. Getpaidtonight: You are paid something like a quarter ($0.25) for completing “tasks.” These tasks include signing up for those too-good-to-be-true offers (you’ve seen them before: “Free 3G iPhone* after completing 2 Silver offers, 2 Gold offers and 4 platinum offers”). Not for me, thanks anyhow.
2. There are a number of other (probably really great) sites out there that do not offer to pay via PayPal or check by mail. I’m not personally interested in signing up for additional PayPal-like sites to earn a few extra dollars. This may change in the future.

If you participate in any of these or similar programs, I’d love to hear about your experiences. If I’m missing out on a great program, by all means let me in on the secret! I’ll be happy to use your affiliations, too.

If you decide to join any of these programs using one of my referrals, first of all, thank you! Best of luck to you in your bread-making endeavors. By all means, let me know how things are going for you.

I will be updating monthly about earnings. Wish me luck!

-tata

I was inspired to start this blog by some bloggers at Entrecard. I came across a number of sites while making drops that are all about money - some about making it and some about saving it. I read a number of them talk about great programs out there where they have made X amount of dollars/pounds per month and frankly, I want in on some of that action!

I read a number of other blogs (pre-Entrecard) that have money-saving tips, as well. There is  a can’t-quite-put-my-finger-on-it feeling that there is something that is missing from those blogs, though.

Since my husband lost his job last July, things have been crazy tight. Luckily he is back to work now, but I would like to contribute in any way that I can so that - Heaven forbid this happens to us again in the future - we have some other sources of income.

My husband and I are blessed to have this amazing financial chemistry between us. We are very like-minded about when and where it needs to go and very honest about our spending strengths and weaknesses.

That said, we have absolutely no savings at this point. This is something we both hope to change - and soon!

We spent the last two years eliminating our debt. The only debt that remains are school loans which are currently deferred, as I am unemployed and he is currently still in school. Now is the time for us to focus on saving a chunk for rainy days that are certain to come.

I am personally not very good at saving money. But in my defense, I am very good at spending it pretty wisely. I am an old-school bargain hunter. And I can be pretty frugal, too: I am not opposed to recycled furniture or clothing, cloth napkins, homemade laundry soap, and a number of other ways to save a buck. I’m proud to say that many of these alternatives are also very good for the environment!

So this blog gives me a place to be accountable for my money habits, as well as hopefully being a new source of income for my family.

In the weeks to come, I will talk about a lot of things. Here’s a sneak-peek:

1. Checking out some money-making programs online. I’ve spent the better part of the past few days checking them out, joining and even earning. I’ll go over the better (read: better paying) ones.
2. Freebies sites and blogs. Where and how I have gotten some really great, legitimate freebies that don’t spam up my inbox.
3. Saving time and money at the grocery store. Clipping coupons is a good way to save money, but it’s a real time-suck. I’ll talk about some decent alternatives.
4. Evaluating Freecycle, Cheapcycle and Craiglist. These sites have boomed over the past couple of years. Are you taking advantage of them? Should you?
5. Save money at the pump. The price of gas is causing a lot of families to crunch their budget even tighter. Some tips to help you get more for your money.

I hope you will tune in by subscribing to my feed!

Finally, I would like my readers to know that

• *I run a very strict No-Follow FREE (I DO Follow!) blog: if you leave a comment with a link to your site, it will follow back to your site.
•  
• *If you write your own money-making or money-saving blog, I’d love to link you in my Blogroll and perhaps feature you as a guest writer. Please send me an email with your interest to my email address:
•  
• 

Best wishes to you in your financial endeavors!

-tata