Ick! What an awful couple of days it has been. Yesterday and the day before we had gross hot, humid weather and massive long lasting thunderstorms that rolled through. Poor Cheyenne was losing her mind from fear of the thunder. It really hit hard last night too and I was just waiting for the power to go out, which would have really killed me because that would have meant no fans or AC! Our AC units don't do much to help the heat and humidity. Right now it's at the coolest it has been in here for the past couple days. And that's at 76 degrees. Last night we could not get the house below 80! It was so yucky! I think we need another dozen AC units to help out. Right now we have the portable one in the living room and the window unit up in the bedroom. I think the upstairs needs a more powerful machine to cool it off. Makes it so hard to sleep when you're dying of heat!

Today I had to run a few errands and thank heavens the Mercury has AC that works wonderfully! None of our other cars have working ACs in them. I ran to the bank to deposit Ron's paycheck and my unemployment check. Then I hit the post office to ship off a book and a DVD that were requested on the swap sites. After that I hit the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru for an iced coffee and a blueberry muffin. I didn't really want the muffin, but I felt bad breaking a $20 for just coffee. Silly me. From there I went to Rite-Aid and picked up father's day cards for my dad, step-dad, grandpa, and Ron's dad as well as a birthday card for my dad. Oh and I did pick up a Happy Father's Day from the Dog card for Ron, just to be silly. It was cute and amusing so I figured why not.

As soon as I was done there I came right home and back into the AC. I had the dogs out earlier and they did not want to be out there. I'll take them out again in a little while if it cools down a bit. They need exercise (and well, so do I to be honest. haha) but I don't want them overheating. Neither one seems to want to go in the pool. Although Cheyenne is funny. She'll put her front two feet into it and stick her head down under the water, but she won't go completely in. Rogue just wants nothing to do with it. She's curious, but won't get too close to try it out. Goofy girl. I was walking around in it for a bit yesterday and it does help. I like to push my chair right up next to it and dangle my feet in. It's only a kiddie pool so it's not like we can swim in it or anything. Although I'm always tempted to just plop down right in the middle. haha

My timing stinks. I should have waited to go to the bank for a few more minutes because when I got back and grabbed the mail I had a $26 check from one of my survey sites. Grr! So now I'll have to go again tomorrow or whenever to deposit it. Ah well. I also received my $50 visa from Boomertowne. Woo hooooo! I think that might call for a trip to the Outlets soon. haha. Anyway, speaking of these sites, I know a couple folks wanted to know where I get all my money and gift cards and such online. So behind the cut below I'll post the sites that I frequent. Feel free to ignore it and carry on to the next LJ if you're not interested. It's rather long and I still don't think it's complete. I'll have to keep updating it at the future, but these are the ones that I could come up with over the last week.



Gather:
Gather link
I've mentioned Gather MANY times, I know. But that's because it's one of my favorite sites. You post "articles" and photos and videos to earn points. However, you don't actually have to post those if you don't want. You can also earn points just by viewing and rating other people's content. I don't post nearly as much stuff as other people and often prefer to just rate and view and comment on others. However, with this week's triple points, I've been doing a bunch of all the above. You can trade points in for gift cards (Macy's, Home Depot, Borders, Omaha Steaks, among others...) or if you are active enough, they offer you an option to go onto a cash payment basis where you make money for your activity. (Paypal or via check). I haven't reached that level yet, but I'm thinking about doing so in the future. So far I've enjoyed the gift cards. I've claimed $200 in gift cards and I have enough to get another $50 now and then some.

Boomertowne:
Boomertowne Link
I've also mentioned Boomertowne quite a few times. It's another great way to earn gift cards and other merchandise. I've already made $100 in Visa cards since I joined (which I think was mid to late February if I'm not mistaken) and I'm real close to earning another $50 Visa. On this site you earn points in a variety of ways. You can read news articles, play games, connect with friends, post messages for your connections, chat in the chat room or on the message boards, read, post and rate jokes, quotes and recipes as well as tips. You can answer the trivia quiz each day and complete the scavenger hunt on the site. This helps greatly with the points. I can't even begin to describe all the ways to earn points on this site. If you do the max each day, you could earn a $50 Visa card in around 25 days or less. I don't do the max each day because I get sidetracked, but I know other people that do very well on this site and save for the $100 Visas. They do give credit for referrals if you get 5 of them, but that has to go through email. If anyone's interested in signing up, I'd greatly appreciate if you let me send you the referral email so I can get points. :-) Don't feel you have to, but I just wanted to throw that out there **edit to note: they've actually recently changed the points levels so people who joined after June 1st have to earn more points for the various items. I'm not sure what the new amounts are, because I'm on the old scale and can't see what the difference is. **

Inbox Dollars
Inbox Dollars Link
So far I'm just over $31 dollars earned on this site. You have to make $30 before you can request payment so I'm just about ready to do that. This isn't one of the better sites, and it does take quite a bit of time to get that amount, but it's something. Here you earn money by getting emails from this site that advertise for various items. You click on the email to read the information and that earns you a couple pennies per click. The site also has surveys that you can take to earn money faster. It also has games and other ways of boosting your money on the site, but I mostly stick to reading the emails and the surveys.

Send Earnings:
Send Earnings Link
Same exact thing as Inbox Dollars pretty much. So far I'm up to $17, but haven't been a member as long as I've been on Inbox Dollars.

MyPoints:
MyPoints Link
Another great way of making points that can be exchanged for gift cards. They ship quickly too! Probably one of the fastest to pay what you're owed. I've gotten quite a few gift cards already from here and have enough for $125 more (Although that's because the BzzAgent site transferred their points over, otherwise I'd be around $75). This is another site that gives points for clicking on the emails they send. They also have surveys and various other ways to earn points. When I'm shopping online for anything, I always check to see if MyPoints has a special offer for whatever store I'm looking at. If you click through from MyPoints, you earn points based on your order. But mostly I just read the emails and click those.

Freeride:
Freeride Link
Similar to MyPoints. I was a member ages ago and had forgotten all about it and just recently signed up again for it. So I don't have much advise in the way of how much you can earn or anything. I don't spend any time on the site itself, just read and click the emails and the points are going up nicely.

RewardTV:
RewardTV
Probably one of the most fun sites to earn points on. Each day you can go and take little quizzes on up to 5 TV shows that you watched the day before. Each question you get right gives you points. (Sometimes I just randomly pick shows if I haven't watched any tv and if I get any guesses right, that's more points than nothing!) They also have various surveys each week that you can take for points. The points can then be used on their Shopping Sprees for various gift cards or on their auctions where they have entertainment stuff for bid. Also they have sweepstakes and contests that you can win and get entered for automatically as well as some you can buy tickets for with your points. I've received a few gift cards from here as well as an X-box game. I don't play every day, but a couple times a week is enough to get my points going well.

My Cool Contests:
My Cool Contests Link
I'm fairly new to this site, but have already won $20 in cash! Mostly their contests are for little trinkets (stickers, t-shirts, bags, hats, etc.), but they do also award cash and so it's worth checking out. Free stuff is free stuff. I know one gal who has already won over 50 different times! There's no set limit to how many prizes you can win per day... just as many as entries that you have. You earn more entries for any referrals that you make, so if anyone signs up, please say that Vix531 referred you. I'd appreciate it! :-) I won my cash on the watch the ads contest they have. You watch 3-4 commercials on the site to see if you've won for the day. Also their daily giveaways you click the prizes and go through them to see if you've won. It takes maybe 5 minutes to go through them all. The bad part about the site is that you have to claim your prize the day you win otherwise you lose it.

Greenbackstreet:
Greenbackstreet Link
I won $40 on this site within the first couple weeks of joining. I must admit that I don't go back as often as I used to. I usually just go right to the "Game" part of the site and use up the spins for the day. You can also earn money back on any online shopping that you do through this site. They offer some good stores and good discounts as well as rebates for what you pay.

Daytipper:
DayTipper Link
Fairly easy money here, if you can think up interesting tips. You submit various tips through the site and if they choose yours you get paid. I think it's $1 per tip, so it's not big money, but if you post ten tips, that's ten bucks. I haven't been too active on here as of late, but did receive a few bucks in the past.

Moola:
Moola Link
I tend to forget about this site. You can earn money by playing games and taking advantage of various offers. I never quite got the hang of how to do well, but I know some people that have made good money off here.

Winster:
Winster Link
This is just a fun site! I joined years ago (literally!) and won a movie ticket, but then forgot about it and only recently went back. You play various slot games and earn points. People in the room with you are so awesome and they help each other out to get the best points possible. The points can be turned in for various items. I haven't really looked to see all they offer, but free stuff is cool, especially when you get to play such fun games for it. You get 200 free spins per day or you can buy a higher level membership. I just do the free spins and that's it.

Winzy:
Winzy Link
I've won a $5 Amazon gift card here. I haven't been back much at all. You do searches to earn points and can play a few games to increase your points as well. The points get entered into drawings to win various stuff and you can win instantly as I did with the Amazon card. Not my favorite of sites, but going back now and then is about all I do to keep the points moving and get myself some contest entries.

Survey sites below:

Lightspeed Consumer Panel:
Lightspeed Link
So far I've received $65 in various gift cards (Amazon, iTunes, Bath & Body Works, Applebees) since 5/2007. They also have cash (via PayPal) options too. All you do is take surveys and the points add up which can then be transferred to gift cards or paypal. This is probably one of my favorite survey sites because they seem to come pretty often, but not so often as to be annoying.

Zoom Panel:
Zoom Panel Link
Another site where you take surveys that they send you. They don't have gift cards or cash options, but they have really great stuff to trade your points in for. They have books and movies as well as electronics and home and garden stuff. Jewelry, tools, and other items too. I'm saving up now for the 5 gallon wet/dry vac. I'm almost there!

Global Test Market:
Global Test Market Link
I'm almost at $50 now, and had previously received similar amount. I didn't keep track of how much I've earned here, but I think last time I actually received $60 or more. They pay via check and the points add up really nicely. One of my favorite survey spots!

Survey Spot:
Survey Spot Link
I've received $108 since July of 2007 and have another $20 on its way to me. They pay via check. This site is pretty good, although some of their surveys don't pay. Some of them just earn you entries into their sweepstakes. I've never won on any of those so far, but I keep doing as many surveys as I can, but sometimes will ignore the ones that don't pay. They do tell you in the email for the survey they want you to take if it pays. Some are $3 while some others are $10. I believe that some of the surveys also end up sending you items to test if you qualify and then they pay you for completing the testing and taking a survey.

Your Two Cents:
Your Two Cents
I've earned $37 since May - 07. They also pay via check. They don't seem to send as many surveys as the other sites, but I like them anyway.

Opinion Outpost:
Opinion Outpost Link
I've made $52 since 1/2008. Great site for surveys. They don't send a whole lot, but it's enough to make a little extra cash. They pay by check also.

Opinion Square:
Opinion Square Link
I haven't been a member too long, but so far I've traded points in for dog treats. (I didn't want to be greedy and always get ME stuff.) I can't recall off the top of my head if they have gift cards too or just stuff, but I can look that up later if someone really wants to know.

i-Say:
I-Say Link
They just recently started offering points and such in exchange for the survey completion. They used to offer entries into drawings. Now you can earn points to trade for merchandise or gift cards. I have enough now to get a $10 card, but I'm saving for a higher amount.

MindField:
MindField Link
My current balance here is $8, but I've requested a couple payments in the past (via check). They allow you to cash out anytime you reach at least $10. I'm pretty sure that I waited for $20 the past couple times I cashed out just to have larger checks.

e-Rewards:
e-Rewards Link
I've received $45 in Borders bucks, plus a year's subscription to Star magazine for my grandma. And I have enough now to get another $30 in Borders bucks. They have good surveys, but their prizes aren't all that great. I love the Borders Bucks, but their other options are more along the lines of discounts instead of actual prizes. I have noticed that they've added a few things lately, so perhaps the prizes will get better.

Harris Poll Online:
Harris Poll Online
I'm really new to this site so I can't tell you much about it at all. Sorry! But I have heard great things, so I'm including it here.

My Survey:
My Survey Link
Can change points here for cash, charity donation or for various prizes and gift cards. Right now I have enough for $11 but I'm waiting to earn more. They allow you to cash out at $10.


I'm also a member of Pine Cone, but they don't accept new members very often. You usually have to happen across one of their ads online in order to get to the sign up place. If you ever seen one, JOIN! If I ever get a notice that they're looking for new survey takers, I'll be sure to post it. They pay $3 per survey. I don't get one a day or anything, but they come in handy now and then.


I hope this provides any info that you may be looking for. I'm here to answer any questions. If you want me to send invite links directly from any site, let me know and I'd be happy to do so. I don't even know if many of these have referral programs or not. I just want to pretty much give the info for you to use as you will. (Of course the couple that I did mention the referral stuff on, I'd love it if you joined that way, but I won't hold it against anyone if they just go and join it on their own.)

I'll tag this entry with both survey links and points links so that it's easy to find it in the future if anyone cares to do so. I'll try and add more as they come to me.

** editing to add 2 sites that are a bit different than the above, but figured I'd add them here anyway:

BzzAgent:
BzzAgent link
BzzAgent is a site that you get to test out items and then talk them up (or down) via word of mouth. You post reports on how you spread the word about the items. I've had some great stuff from here... various candies, Sonicare toothbrush, Glade Wisp Flameless Candles, Claritin Redi-tabs, and others. They've recently transferred previous points earned over to MyPoints and I haven't quite looked into how they plan to reward now or if all points earned will go to MyPoints. I just like doing it for the free stuff so the points were only a bonus to me.

OnlineBeta from Centercode
OnlineBeta link
This is another site that sends you items to test out. But this site doesn't want you discussing the items you've tested and so I can't give you examples here of what I've tested so far, but let's just say they're awesome! You test the features and report journal entries on how you've tested the items. You also report any problems or suggestions that you may have for the items and you also post on a message board any thoughts and questions. Great, great site! I've only been a member for a few months, but have had awesome experiences to date.