GUEST POST // A MINI GUIDE TO USING ONLINE SURVEYS

Hi, I'm Bex from Futures and I'm here today with a guest post for Louise all about making money from online surveys. I have been a participating member in a number of survey sites for over 2 years now and over that time must have earned around £400-£500 in cash or vouchers. Different sites offer different rewards so I am going to show you my top sites and tell you how you too can earn some money from them.

Pinecone : This is a very exclusive site and only sends out invites every now and then - however, when they are offering you £3 per survey which gets paid into your Paypal not long after, what's not to love? You don't necessarily pass the screening requirements for all of their surveys, however these are a nice little extra. PAYMENTS: Cash

Populus Live :  I never really took much notice of these until recently when I noticed people on the MSE forums talking about receiving their earnings from them. I had signed up right at the beginning of my survey adventures but had deemed the surveys too long for the cash out - you need £50 to withdraw. I decided to give them another go and cashed out on the £50 withdrawal within a matter of weeks- surveys range from £1-£4 and you do often find some of the same questions as the previous surveys but if you're willing to overlook this, this site can be a nice little earner! I am £3 away from cashing out again - already! PAYMENTS: Paypal, BACS

GlobalTestMarket : This site has recently changed - you used to be able to cash out at 1000 points for a $50 cheque which roughly works out at around £30. You still need 1000 points to cash out but there are lower rewards meaning you can take it in a Paypal payment and a voucher if you so wish. I haven't yet reached withdrawal since the change, however I have cashed out twice before and received my cheque swiftly. PAYMENTS: Paypal, Cheque, BACS, Voucher

Valued Opinions : I have probably cashed out the most from this and generally choose a Boots or Amazon voucher. Withdrawal limit is £10 and pretty easy to hit. PAYMENTS: Vouchers

OnePoll : I am yet to hit withdrawal on this site as I have only come to love it in recent months, however surveys are often and usually take a matter of minutes to complete. Payout threshold is £40 - I'm halfway there which isn't too bad! PAYMENTS: BACS, Paypal

Ipsos Access Panels : I have cashed out on this site numerous times in the past and it is only a £10 withdrawal limit. Surveys used to come thick and fast but have slowed down a little for me at the moment. PAYMENTS: Vouchers

The thing to remember when completing online surveys is to always be honest and to take your time. If the sites believe you to be dishonest or you are completing their surveys too quickly to be reading them properly, they reserve every right to deactivate your account. I like to put the money I earn into my savings and the vouchers I earn away for Christmas and birthdays - that way everyone benefits. If you want to be referred to any of these invites, leave your email in the comments and I shall send a referral link to you. There are also a number of various other survey sites available, you can find a list of them here. Also, don't forget to let the taxman know that you are earning money from surveys  - a few people have mentioned on the MSE forums that the taxman didn't seem too bothered as they were under the tax threshold - however, it is better to be safe than sorry.

Hope this helps!

30 Ways to save £1

At the moment, Money Supermarket are currently doing a campaign all to do with it being the 30th anniversary of the £1 coin and are collecting tips to find 30 ways to save £1. I think its fair to say that the majority of us are a little short on money right now - with it being almost impossible to get a job - let alone a secure one you actually like - everyone is suffering in their own way. Only working part time myself means I've got to keep an extra eye on my money and often have to miss out on treating myself until I can find a full time job. However, I think in a way I'm a little bit lucky because I can be quite thrifty when I put my mind to it. Here are some tips on how you can save some money which will hopefully go a little bit further.

Image taken from Money Supermarket

01.  Budget. Yes it's boring and everyone knows to do this anyway, but it can make a huge difference. Make sure you budget every purchase or try keeping a spending diary for a month. You can then see where you're spending more money than you need to, and can decide how much money you need to put aside the following month. You'll also be able to work out how much you can save or spend on treating yourself.

02.  Open up a saving account. Just making the effort to open one will inspire you to save, but do some research into the best one to get. Some offer high interest and some make sure you can't withdraw the money ones it's put in. This is ideal for those of you that are tempted to spend savings!

03.  ...and start saving - but realistically. Let's be honest, you're not going to want to put £50 aside every week, so you're not going to do it. But there are ways to build up your saving and different methods to save without even realizing it. Try putting perhaps £1 into your savings account one day, £2 the next, £3 the day after that...and building it up bit by it. Or try just putting aside perhaps maybe 25% of your paycheck each month. If it's the same amount next month, you'll soon get used to not having it to spend and won't think twice about it.

04.  Think about alternative ways to buy new clothes or items. Bootsales and charity shops are so cheap and it's actually a lot cooler to be thrifty and shop this way these days. The bonus is that if you buy something from a charity shop, the money goes to a good cause. You can always find tons of cheap books this way as well as lots of cool clothes that are one off and can be customized. However, saying that, if you're willing to look harder you'll also find top/expensive labels for sale in charity shops too.

05.  Have a spring clean and sell anything you don't want. Ebay, Amazon and bootsales are great for items you don't use anymore. At the end of the day what's the point in them sitting at the back of your wardrobe being unused when you can earn cash for them?

06. If you're quite savvy to Ebay, you can use this to your advantage. Offer your services to other people who may not know how to use Ebay or might not have the time - it's a great alternative to earning money if you're selling your own items anyway. You could also try going to bootsales and charity shops specifically to buy good quality items cheap and then selling them for more on Ebay to make a profit.

07.  Sign up to cashback websites. If you shop online anyway, websites such as quidco.com and topcashback.co.uk are the perfect way to earn some cash whilst doing so. Try setting your homepage to one website so you remember, and always search on them before you buy anything. Quidco also has a fab app like Foursquare where you can earn up to 10p for checking into a shop. It's not much, but it all adds up.

08.  Try some free trials. If you're going to remember to cancel your account before 30 days are up, cashback websites often offer cashback for a trial of websites like lovefilm or credit expert websites. It's a really great way to earn money without actually spending a penny. You can also earn smaller amounts like a couple of pound for signing up to receive simcards and things like that. 

09.  Survey websites are great too if you're willing to put the time in. If you sign up for a few different ones at a time like globaltestmarket.com, valuedopinions.co.uk and vindale.com, it'll all add up. Some surveys can be quite long and repetitive so perhaps set one evening aside a week to do them all, rather then every single night.

10.  Stalk twitter for different competitions. Almost every brand will run a competition every now and then and by simply retweeting a tweet, you could easily win a prize worth loads. If you don't use it, you can then sell it or save money by giving it to someone for their birthday or for Christmas. Christmas is a very expensive time of year, so maybe you could set yourself a challenge of trying to win all your gifts for this Christmas!

11.  Think of different ways to earn a little bit of money, like offering dog walking services or house sitting services. You can get a lot of money for just a little bit of work. Make a list of what you're good at, and go from there.

12.  Try and make products go further so you won't have to spend money replacing them so often. If you think a shampoo bottle is empty, try adding a bit of water in the little to get the rest out. Share one teabag between two cups of tea and things like that. The opportunities are really endless.

13.  Instead of eating lunch out every day, save money by making your own lunch at home. 

14.  Try mystery shopping - yes, it does exist! If you love going out to eat or shopping then often you can earn anything between £2.00 to £20.00 reimbursement for basically visiting a shop or a restaurant and just paying attention.

15.  Don't always go for top brands when it comes to things like food and drink. Try a shops own brand which is much cheaper, often you won't even be able to taste the difference.

Image taken from Google

16.  If you travel often, look around online and try booking train tickets in advance....or try booking an off peak ticket on the day. Tickets can be a lot cheaper in advance, but people rarely realize that if you're travelling off peak, sometimes it can be just as cheap - if not cheaper - to buy on the day. 

17.  At the end of each day or each week, empty your pockets and purse and count up all the loose change you find. You'll probably end up with a lot more than you thought - buying things like bus tickets or odd snacks from the shops will always leave you with lots of random change. And even though all the coins don't look like a lot, once you add it up you'll probably end up with at least a couple of quid. Put the change aside in a money box and within a month or two you could end up with loads of money!

If you're generally quite skint and could do with using the change for your next purchase, try just putting away bronze coins like 1ps and 2ps, and keeping 5ps, 10ps etc in your purse. You'll still end up with more than you bargained for.

18.  Search online for different deals. Lots of blogs offer posts about the best magazine freebies each month or the best deals shops are offering. There are loads of great Facebook pages that post these too.

19.  If you've got a big event coming up and want to go all out, try heading into Debenhams or somewhere similar for a makeover beforehand. This is great if you don't want to stress about rushing and it's also ideal if you don't want to pay out loads for products you're not going to use again like perhaps particularly out there shades of eyeshadow and lipstick.

20.  Going out is fun, but staying in with friends can be cheaper and a lot more fun. The options are endless because you can do so many different themes - you could have a movie night and stream films online for free instead of paying out loads just to see one film at the cinema, or have a dinner party instead of going out for dinner.

21.  If there's a film you really want to see at the cinema, go on a Wednesday (even if you don't have an Orange Wednesday's code I'm sure a friend will offer you theirs) - you can also get 241 Pizza Express with Orange Wednesday's codes too. Some cinemas do cheap days on a Tuesday, and rather then buying cinema food, sneak your own in (but be careful - I once snuck a Subway into the cinema and dropped it all down the side of my seat - talk about bad karma...)

22.  If you're only working part time, you're most probably entitled to some benefits - aka 'going on the doll'. Although it's not the most ideal situation, if you've worked part time in the past you've paid tax so there's nothing wrong with getting a little bit of extra help now. 

23.  Sell your unwanted gold. If you sat down and rifled through ALL your jewellery, I bet you'll find some old gold necklaces or rings you don't want. 

24.  When it comes to birthdays or Christmas, making homemade presents is so much cheaper and a lovely thought. Pinterest is great to look at to get your creative juices flowing and I bet you'll love creating something with your creative side.

25.  If you're really itching to go out and treat yourself to new clothes or beauty products, why not invite your friends round and have a pamper evening? You can try new products of theirs that you don't already have, get someone else to do your nails and lots of other things too. It also beats paying loads to relax at a spa.

26.  If you're a music addict like me, always always ALWAYS pre-order bands new albums rather then paying full price for them when they're released. It costs less and you get loads of great perks. Last year when I pre-ordered The Maine's new album I got an exclusive meet and greet ticket to meet the band (including the sexy lead singer/my idol John Ohh!) and this year I got the choice of one of two awesome tops and the choice of either an iphone case or one of their famous but now finally official logo necklaces. Yes, I just had to find a way to mention my favourite band in this post, didn't I? But really, if you're itching to buy your favourite bands new album, pre-ordering almost always saves money and gets you more band merch or other awesome opportunities too.

27.  Customise old clothes for summer or to just make them more stylish. If you've got loads of old baggy t-shirts, you can easily take them in and cut off the sleeves to make them into a stylish and more fitted vest top for summer. Grab some spare lace and sew it onto your shorts for a very in fashion look, or even just 'distress' old jeans to make them look worn in and a bit edgier.

28.  Look around for freebies. Tons of websites are dedicated to finding companies that offer lots of mini samples in the hopes that you'll purchase the items in full. Obviously you don't have to, but it saves money trying them out in case you wanted to buy them originally, especially if you find you don't actually like them. Also, you can probably use enough samples to avoid having to buy full sized items for a while like shampoo, moisturiser, chewing gum etc.

29. Try new things! If you're bored of doing the same thing with your friends all the time, you can go to free try out sessions for so many different things from dance classes to rollerderby. Think of alternative ways to spend a night out too, instead of going out clubbing, try going to see a local band instead which will be much cheaper entry, much cheaper drinks and you'll also discover lots of new music.

30. Finally...do this and share your tips with others! Moneysavingexpert are all about finding different ways to save one pound at the moment and if you're a blogger and have some tips to share, go ahead and post about it! Moneysavingexpert are offering £30 to bloggers that do so.

On their own, each of these tips may not look like much. But by simply practising at least a few of them regularly, you'd be surprised to find how much money you save or how much extra cash you might have to treat yourself at the end of the month! I hope this post helped and if you have any tips to share please do by commenting.

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Small steps to boost your income

It’s no secret that I sometimes struggle with money – with only working part time at the moment, in the past I’ve had to miss out on things I’ve really wanted to do simply because of lack of funds. Unfortunately the country isn’t in the best state at the moment ; it’s almost impossible to find a job these days and even when you have necessary experience, jobs are still few and far between. Luckily, since I first began university, I tried to find some other easier ways to up my funds a bit to help tide me by. Although none of my methods were necessarily as good as working full time, having some extra cash thanks to these small steps actually benefited me a lot and to this day I still use a lot of them. I’m looking for a full time job based more around my degree in the long run, but thanks to some of these ideas I’ve found ways to help tide me by during those times when I don’t get as many hours at work or actually really need the type of money I’d earn if I did have a full time job.

 Survey websites 

Survey websites are a great way to get some extra money if you’re willing to put the time and effort in. Putting a couple of hours aside each day to answer a few surveys will benefit you in the long run, but it’s definitely a method that requires a lot of effort if you want to start earning a lot of money. Most surveys offer between 50p - £2.00 for a 10-30 minute survey which means some bad points include the surveys can be quite boring and long winded, especially when you don’t see results right away. However, sometimes putting one day aside a week (or a couple of hours per evening) helps spread things out a bit and within a month you could earn quite a lot of money just for offering your opinion. There are tons of websites about, some offering cash paid direct into your paypal and others offering vouchers for websites such as Amazon and others. That’s just the basics – there’s a lot more to be said about the ways in which you can commit yourself more to this method – but I’ll be having a friend do a guest post on this soon!

 Ebay  
Ebay is an absolute godsend if you have the time and patience. I bet you’d find tons of clothes lying around your room that you don’t wear anymore – why leave them in your wardrobe collecting dust when you can sell them and make someone else happy? I put loads of clothes on EBay last month and earned about £200 and this was literally stuff I’d never even worn. Clothes with tags still on go for so much more and it’s always an idea to look into selling things on EBay as a kind of on the side business. You can buy lots of cheap clothes from boot sales and charity shops and sell them for much more than what you paid on EBay and a lot of people who don’t have the time to do it all actually pay other people to list stuff for them. You could also do this if you don’t have time yourself.

 Cash for Gold 

If you have any gold lying around, it will be worth a lot more using cash for gold websites as opposed to EBay or anything else. Jewelry from over the years just gets piled up and you’ll probably find you don’t actually want old rings/necklaces etc from old boyfriends that you forgot they gave you. Sell it on and earn some money out of it at least and if your ex was a bad boyfriend then it’ll feel even better selling it ;)

 Cash back websites 

I’ve already blogged about cash back websites before, but generally cash back websites are really beneficial if you do a lot of online shopping. It takes no extra effort on your part – simply set your home screen to the website of your choice and next time you want to buy something online, click onto the website via the cash back site and earn a percentage of what you pay back. Different websites offer different deals and some even offer freebies where you can earn a little bit of money each day just by clicking through to certain sponsors. Bigger buys = bigger earnings obviously, and things like phone contracts, car insurance etc can give you payouts of up to £100 or more.

 Competition entering 

Not all competitions offer cash, but some do and those that don’t offer great prizes. This is pretty straightforward too – you’ll find a variety of different websites dedicated to avid compers who post full lists of competitions to enter daily. Generally the smaller the competitions the more chance you have of winning – but don’t let that defer you. Some competitions offer top prizes of things like holidays, thousands of pounds and more – and after all, someone has got to win right?!

 Mystery shopping 

Mystery shopping isn’t as popular in the UK, but it DOES exist. I’ve yet to find a website that offers glamorous assignments like staying over night in 5* hotels and such, but I’ve recently gotten into mystery shopping myself lately and have to admit, it’s helped boost my income a bit! The best part is that it’s actually fun – you’ll find assignments for pubs and supermarkets and really all you have to do is visit a place and pay attention. Some tasks ask you to purchase items or food, which are reimbursed, and you also get paid for actually doing the assignment.

These are just a few tips that can help you boost your income just that little bit more. Although I wouldn’t say you could earn enough money to give up work completely, these are definitely ideal for students or people working part time like myself. A lot of them do depend on how much effort you’re willing to put in yourself but at the end of the day a lot of them are really quite easy in regards to how much you can earn! I hope this post helps!

'Free' Dominoes Pizza!

I just had to quickly blog about this deal! Topcashback.co.uk are currently offering £10 cash back for ordering through Dominoes, whilst Dominoes are offering 50% any pizza (as long as you spend £15) with the code FEEDME50!

Technically, depending on the size of your pizza you can get it completely free, once you receive the £10 cash back within 7 days. But the 50% code is only valid until midnight!

I ordered a pizza for tonight which only cost me £2 (I picked a large pizza for 14.99 but added garlic bread for it to be valid. With the code it was £12, £10 of which I'll get back). I don't have work tomorrow and, being obsessed with anything American, I've decided to stay up with my pizza and watch the Super Bowl :)

Don't forget the 50% code is only valid until midnight!

How to save money by entering competitions by guest blogger Vikki

Vikki from Victoria's Vintage has kindly agreed to do a guest blog about how you can save money and win loads of goodies by entering various amounts of competitions. As a self confessed money saver myself, I am always looking for ways to get discount codes, win goodies and save money. I often browse on websites like Money Saving Expert and in the process have found that competition entering is a legitimate working way to save money. Competitions don't always consist of 1 in a million chances of winning an exotic holiday aka something you think you have no chance of winning like most people do. As Vikki explains, by entering smaller low key competitions you are more likely to win. Many companies constantly post about these competitions on Facebook or their websites and often offer freebies whether you win or not. Lots of websites are also dedicated to listing competitions that you are very likely to win and as always everyone knows that you don't even have a chance unless you enter!

So I asked Vikki a few questions about how she wins so much, as anyone who follows her blog knows she is constantly winning freebies!

Do you have a method behind entering competitions?

I do generally only enter competitions that I want to win, or that I know my close family or friends would love. However sometimes I do end up winning the 'runner up' prize which isn’t so wanted! I enter competitions as often as I can. I used to do them everyday but they are very time consuming, finding them and entering all your details. I still do as many as possible.

           

What websites do you use to enter competitions?

I tend to use Facebook to enter a lot of competitions. You can often win prizes by 'liking' a status or photo on a company’s fan page. I also enter competitions from magazine websites etc. There are also websites that list competitions available but there are so many! If I’m after something in particular, I Google it. E.g. 'Clothes show tickets competition'.

            
            


Do you enter any comps any other ways such as offline?

I rarely do. But sometimes in stores they have leaflets, which I often pick up. I don’t bother doing any by post or raffles or anything though.

           

Some people complain that it's not fair entering competitions unless you REALLY want a prize, saying that if you're not going to use the prize you should instead not enter and give other people a chance. What would you say to that?

Yeah I agree. I don’t like to see people winning prizes, which are useless to them when someone else would adore it. For example, people entering competitions for children’s toys or baby items when they don’t even have a child. These prizes are often sold on for profit rather than being appreciated. That is why I only enter competitions that I would love to win. It’s also a waste of time entering for something you don’t even want! And it’s nice to be able to say that I LOVE all of the prizes I've won.

            
            


What's the best and worst prize you've ever won?

The best prize I have won is probably my trip to London. The prize was worth almost £1000 as it included transport, accommodation in Hyde Park for 2 nights, and 5* meals for 2 people. I had such a wonderful time! The most useful prize is my phone which I still use everyday. And one of my favourite prizes is my Cath Kidston Tea Set or Roberts Vintage Radio. The worst prizes are probably a 'emotional eating kit' whatever that is, and some coffee as I hate coffee! The weirdest was this creepy child’s dress up outfit. I have no idea how I even won that!

           

What advice would you give to people wanting to do this?

It takes a lot of time and effort, so don’t expect miracles to happen overnight. But don’t give up. Always look out for spam sites. And have a 'junk mail' email address separate from your normal account. Also I never provide my telephone number unless is it is a VERY reputable company. Also, always thank the promoter who offers you your prize

           

And finally would you say this saves you money? Even if you enter comps just for yourself, would you say that somebody like a student could finance their Christmas by basically winning all the presents they'll be giving away to their family?

Lol if a lot of time was put in, I’m sure some people do try and win their Christmas. But yes it has saved me a lot of money over the years, and it has allowed me to have treats that I would never be able to afford myself usually.

Thanks Vikki!

If you'd like to find out more about this money saving method then this forum here posts competitions and has guides on how to regularly enter and win! I would suggest checking it out and also following Vikki's advice. Create a separate email address for all your competition entries, even if you are only entering a few (you wouldn't believe the amount of junk mail you can get!) and remember you are more likely to win a small companies prize then a heavily advertised competition which has a lavish prize up for grabs. This method, much like using cashback websites or using survey websites can be time consuming and you are more likely to win the more effort and time you put into it. It's definitely worth putting one day aside a week to do this, or, if you prefer, an hour each evening. Good luck! 

Money saving - Guide to cash back websites

Hands up girls if you like to shop.

Now, (other?) hands up if you want an excuse to shop without feeling guilty?

Hands up…okay, hands down and read on if you’ve ever shopped or like to shop online at Debenhams, Asda, Marks and Spencer’s, Next, Very, New Look, Ann Summers, La Senza, Republic, Cath Kidson, Miss Selfridge…phew! And lets just say a lot more places then that!

What if you could shop at all these places and actually earn money for doing so? What would you do? Okay, don’t leave my blog assuming this is a scam because trust me, I bloody hate scams as much as the next person. 

Let me just begin by saying that as mad as it sounds, I’m going to ramble on about this for a while because it’s completely legit, takes no effort, loads of people do it! I felt like laughing once when people were amazed at how I got paid £12 for two cinema tickets. That’s right. I got two tickets completely free, and got £12 cash back for applying for them.

If you’ve never heard of cash back then you’ve been missing out on a lot. Cash back is my saviour! It even helps my relationship when my boyfriend demands to know why I’ve wasted more money on shopping online.

It works like this. You sign up to a cash back website, most of which are completely free. Some do take an annual charge from you, something like £5.00 which is taken from your earnings, not from you bank account. So you sign up, you browse, you find something to buy, you get cash back for it. It’s as simple as that.

You won’t get loads of money for each item you buy. But if you shop online often, it all adds up. You just have to remember to use the websites!

Cash back websites are becoming more and more popular because they’re so easy to use and can make such a difference in the long run. They are reported to be very popular among students and stay at home mums who already use the Internet to bargain hunt anyway! A lot of cash back websites also offer vouchers for their affiliate shops and often give away points for free.

It’s not easy, however, choosing the best cash back website to suit your situation, and its always important to remember you get back what you give. So, obviously somebody who has spare time on their hands to browse online and take time to earn the free points on a number of different websites will see more benefit from someone who shops online only from time to time. But no matter how often or to what extent you use these websites, you can earn money back.

There are two types of cash back websites. Those that offer money for your purchases right away, i.e. Miss Selfridge offers 5% cash back on quidco.com, which means 75p cash back from a £15.00 purchase, will be tracked. The other kind, is cash back websites that offer you points per purchase rather then money. These points can then be exchanged for vouchers or cash. An example of this is making a purchase through Ebay on pigsback ; pigsback offers 3 piggy points for each pound spent.

Quidco.com

Personally, my favourite cash back website to use is Quidco.com.

http://www.quidco.com/user/740882/89463

The link above is my personal referral link and will automatically give you £1.25 in your account upon signing up. If you wish to just go to the website without this sign up bonus then use

www.quidco.com

Quidco was formed in 2005 by married couple Paul and Jen Nikkel. The website promises 100% cash back and a 24 hour customer service response.

This is one of the most popular cash back websites used and it follows your basic cash back format. It will take £5.00 of your earnings once a year (this is what keeps the website running) but after that, all 100% cash back goes straight to you.

The website is very easy to use, you can search a store yourself or have a look through the different categories such as ‘Fashion’ or ‘High Street’, which means if your just browsing you can see a variety of different shops with different deals and different cash back values. Even better, the website has a tab called ‘Hot Deals’ which lists the shops with the highest cash back amount, and lists deals where you don’t have to purchase ANYTHING to receive cash back (i.e. deals like signing up to receive a free simcard or a free trial of an offer). Quidco.com also offers vouchers for different shops as well to save even more money!

Cash back is paid monthly, on the 1^st and the 15^th (working days) of every month. You can set up your payment account to only receive cash back if it is over a certain amount too which helps space out your payments if you’re hoping to put the money as savings!

However, like every other cash back website, you cannot expect to receive your cash back straight away. Each purchase has what is called a ‘Validation period’ which means the time between the purchase and when the money is ready to be paid. This is usually time used for the retailer to confirm you have purchased your product, or to confirm that you haven’t signed up for something then cancelled immediately to receive the cash back. Validation periods can take anything from a day to a few months, but your purchase amount will most usually be tracked within 3 days. So off course, with cash back websites, it is an ongoing thing and you cant expect to buy a product and get your cash back paid into your account the following day. But what’s good is that while your waiting for things to validate, you can continue to browse and shop and in a couple of months time you’ll see the cash piling up!

- Please note, although you will still have to wait for your purchase to be confirmed, quidco.com are in the process of changing the transactions so that once you make a purchase your cash back will be with you in three easy steps rather then the previous five – making it even easier to use!

You can be paid directly into your bank account or, if you’d prefer not to use your bank details, you can be paid with paypal.

Every purchase you make can be viewed under ‘Transactions’ which means if you do have a query by not being paid enough or not being paid at all then you can easily refer to where something has gone wrong and get it fixed quickly.

To conclude, Quidco.com works for me because it’s easy to use, it’s legit, it has a wide range of different shops and offers and it pays you straight cash rather then vouchers. I have had Quidco since March 2010 and have earned £50.67 from it so far. This is the only cash back site I regularly use at the moment, except if it doesn’t offer cash back on my shop of choice which is when I use another website.

Here is an example of my earnings.

Pigsback.com

Pigsback.com is also a fairly good cash back website which offers points instead of cash back, which can then be exchanged for vouchers.

http://www.pigsback.com/Registration/Register.aspx?ref=120209508

This link will take you to the page where you register, again, this is using my referral code, and you will earn 50 piggy points upon signup whether or not you use my referral code. If you’d prefer not to, simply visit

http://www.pigsback.com/registration/register.aspx

Pigsback was launched in the UK in 2005, and has also launched in Ireland and Canada. Pigsback prides itself on its ‘vibrant community’ where members often submit travel and cinema reviews, recipes and much more.

Pigsback is also completely free to sign up with and doesn’t require a sign up/registration fee, but does require you to validate yourself by receiving a text to your mobile phone. The website also offers, if you allow it, a subscription service where they will send out emails with the best deals and special links for extra points – these are not available unless you subscribe.

The site is quite good in that even if you’re not buying things you can still do what is called ‘daily clicks’ which is where you click on a page within the website to earn points. Pigsback usually has three or four daily clicks where you can earn 5 or 10 points each time, which all adds up in the end! You can also find on the website weekly and daily quizzes where you have the chance to win 3,000 points, which is immediately worth a £10 voucher. Points can be exchanged for vouchers for days out, travel and hotels, shopping vouchers and more.

You can see a variety of different ways you can exchange your points here.

However, long term users of the website have reported that it is not what it used to be with wrong answers being displayed for the quizzes, the same users winning points repeatedly, daily clicks reducing dramatically, and points not being awarded. Despite this, the website is good for value, is easy to use and also has a section dedicated to gaining points easily or with little or no spend. Since signing up in March 2010, I have earned 6,315 points, 3,000 of which were won in a competition. With these points I have gotten two £10 shopping vouchers.

Here is an example of my (latest) earnings - I could not view all pages/past transactions at once.

Topcashback.co.uk

Another cash back website which is considered to be one of the best is topcashback, and was voted the best cash back website on Martin Lewis’ Moneysavingexpert.com I personally do not have much experience with the website, but its said that topcashback, on average, pays the most cash back to you compared to others i.e. a higher percentage than other websites.

http://www.topcashback.co.uk/ref/member3675968404

Again, this is my personal referral link but you can go directly to the website here

www.topcashback.co.uk

The website is simple, and easy to use and also boasts a community message board where members discuss the best deals, offer help and which offers a guide to people using the website for the first time.

Topcashback was launched in 2005 and has since won awards such as the web user gold award. There is no fee to sign up and no annual fee so the website is completely free to use. Topcashback also offers a ‘Topup Cash back loyalty scheme’ where depending on how much cash back you earn that month, you will get more than 100% cash back – going up 1% the more you earn that month. So, again, like all the other cash back websites, you follow the same routine of browsing the cash back website, clicking through to the store from the website, buying what you want and expecting the cash back in your account soon.

It also has discount deals for various different shops, websites and much more! I won’t be posting an example of my earnings from this website as like I said I don’t use it often, but if anyone would like to see an example in a few months time then I will happy post one.

So, there you have it, the three most popular cash back websites on the web at the moment and how to use them. You’ll also find that when you earn cash back or points, every website gives you the option to donate this money to charity if you feel like doing a good cause while shopping too.

You just need to remember some basic rules about cash back ;

• You get what you give. The more you buy, the more money you’ll get in return, but progress will best be seen over a few months. Don’t expect a massive pay out immediately.
• Despite the fact that you’ve read this guide, read around too. You may find you only have the patience for one website and would like to find out what is best and some websites are best for different things.
• Be quick on the ball. You can find really excellent deals that are usually only available for a couple of days (sometimes you’ll find offers that have typos – i.e. someone has accidently typed a bigger cash back amount then they should have! This is completely legit and if you’re one of the first you will get the money but often a website realises their mistake quickly and removes the offer within hours). I’d recommend having a look at these threads http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2132075. This thread is a guide to the best offers available and you can even request a day to day guide on what you should be clicking on from what site each day to earn a steady £3.00 every day (at last check). http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=2892746. This thread lists all the click throughs for the pigsback website, so you can just check this thread everyday, click on the links posted and earn points everyday.
• Remember to always use cash back websites and shop around for the best deals. It may be useful adding the websites to your bookmarks bar to remind you to check them. Also have a look on a few before you make your purchases as some sites may offer more cash back then others and some offer discount codes too.
• If you decide to do daily clicks, clear your cookies before you go from one website to the next. This is because some websites have the same offers and may reckonize you as already having the offer/link clicked.

Although this has been a long post, this is pretty much the basics. As daunting as it sounds, you’ll soon get used to thinking to yourself ‘Ooh I wonder if I can get cash back for this from quidco.com’ and similar thoughts before you purchase. What’s surprising is that people who are unaware of what cash back websites are still consider it to be a scam, even though its clear to see that money is earned over time, rather then websites offering a large lump sum of money upon signup (which is usually a scam!). So remember to have some fun with it and let me know how you all get on. I am not an expert but if anyone has any questions to how it works or how to get started then just let me know!

And please let me know what you think of the guide, I've tried to make it as simple and basic as possible while trying to tell you about the important things you need to know.


www.quidco.com
www.pigsback.com
www.topcashback.co.uk