I’ve decided to add a new category called Bored Money. Be forewarned that these are not an efficient use of most people’s time. But if you have a desk job or any job with some downtime and internet access (or are just bored), why not eek out a little money?
The first one I’ll talk about is MyPoints, since it has been around for a while and has always delivered the promised goods. First, you sign up and give up all your personal information. Well, that’s the idea. I actually have an entire separate alias for all these Bored Money sites. The only thing you have to get correct is your name and address (use a fake phone number, they never check). I also use a free Yahoo e-mail.
You’ll get ‘Points’ for filling out surveys. I recommend having lots of interests. Accordingly, you’ll get the equivalent of requested spam in your e-mail box. You click on a link in each of them, most of which give you 5 Points. I get about 3-5 a day. When you accumulate enough Points, you can redeem them for gift certificates to various places like Wal-Mart, Red Lobster, and JC Penney. You can also get Points directly on their website for signing up for trial offers, buying things through their shopping mall, or signing up for clubs or mailing lists. I only do the free stuff, though.
So what’s a Point really worth? I usually redeem my Points for a $10 Target Gift Card, which is 1,500 Points. A $10 Starbucks Card is 1,350 Points. So that’s 0.67 cents a points. Or 3.3 cents an e-mail. Like I said, not a very efficient use of time. But I keep on doing it, because it’s mindless and lots of times you can sign up for sweepstakes, etc. for extra Points. The points actually add up really quick if you pay attention to it, I get about $10-20 in gift cards every couple months. I’ve earned 25,000 Points since joining according to them, worth about $165, without spending a dime. No telling how much time I’ve wasted on it, though. Shrug.
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Bingo, I hit mypoints.com and erewards.com when I am bored at work. I am impressed you have earned so many gift cards – I have a ways to go to catch up. Can’t wait to see what other inefficent ways I can earn some money! Thanks.
Oops, I meant if you don’t pay attention to it above.
Yep – e-Rewards is another easy one.
I had mypoints since before the dot com bust and had freeride.com and others…I remember that was the thing and I literally got hundreds of dollars worth of free stuff. Now, it’s a lot harder with the economy and all. Oh well…
FreeRide was awesome! So many gift certificates from that… good times =)
Yeah, I actually was one of the winners of the daily 20,000 points giveaways back then. I was soooooo happy. I long for those days again…
I know this is an old thread – but I just starting reading through this blog.
I use mypoints as well – but I let the points accumulate to the 3500 level that is required for $25 webcertificate (which is a virtual mastercard). I don’t like getting gift cards, it’s always better to get the real money so you can use them wherever you like. If you get lots of points fairly often, you can pile up these webcertificates on top of each other in the same account, which is nice.
I too do MyPoints, but I now only redeem for $25 (or $10) Barnes&Noble giftcards. They can be redeemed online. I used to plan on redeeming for webcertificate, but I did one redemption and ended up with a webcertificate # that couldn’t be activated or used. Last time I checked, webcertificate appeared to have gone out of business, but MyPoints was still offering them as a redemption option (perhaps they bought a load of webcertificates and are trying to pass the loss on to their unsuspecting members?).
Just FYI to 2Million’s post.
E-rewards do not accept new members at this time.
how do i redeem my points into a giftcard
I have actully recieved to cash card yesterday because of myponts.
It pays to be a mypoints member.
try inboxdollars.com and sendearnings.com
Reputable…absolutely. Instead of points, you earn money!
I have been using mypoints for at least 5 or more years. I Probably have gotten well over $500 from mypoints over this time period. I lost track at about $200 about 3 years ago. My next mypoints goal is a $100 gift card from The Gap and I am only about 1000 points away! I should have that by next spring. The golden rule is that I NEVER buy anything I do not need. I also use the mypoints visa card which racks up point squick. I always pay off the balence asap so there is never a fee thus it is all free! My wife just marvels at all the free stuff I get. Thanks mypoints!
PS: webcertificates did go out of business and when it was up it would sometimes work and sometimes not work. I got out right before they went out of business and we got $225 off a $500 airfare to florida, cheap trip! Thanks again mypoints!
I, too, have been VERY happy with MyPoints- doing surveys in my spare time for the last 3 yrs.,(since I started counting(last 8 months) I have gotten the wife $70 in Starbucks cards, and am only a couple surveys away from another $25 one!-Harrispolls is another decent one-IF you want something on their rewards program!(if not, forget them Personally, I found sendearnings and inboxdollars to be a bust, because you only get 1-3 cents for redirecting 2 or 3 times-not worth it.
I have been a My points member since 1998. I have redeemed over 100,000 points. One thing I do to rack up the points is shop at Bestbuy.com, then go to the store to pick it up. I also use their gift cards to shop at Overstock. Doubles my value. Sometimes I mindlessly open the email while playing a game. I usually save my cards for summer vacation or Christmas. The extra money comes in handy.
I was a member of this site for 3 years but suddenly for some reason they wrote me a terrible mail and closed my account which had almost 2500 points ready to be redeemed. The mails was really pathetic and no firm reason was given before closing my account. I think they are going out of business.
Same with me and MyPoints – was a member for more than 3 years, my account was closed w/out any reason and, btw, on time when I was about to get my $50 rewards card..Is it new company policy?
here is another easy way to make points fast. All you do is download swagbucks search engine and you make points daily it takes 45 points only to get a 5.00 amazom.com gift card. Its easy and it works. i use it and i hide the tool bar cuz i hate to use up the space.