As Jake is going through nursing school right now money is a little tight so I found a few ways to make a little extra money outside of my full time job. Don't get me wrong - these things individually will in no way supplement a full time income, but they are good little penny pinchers and really add up over time. Jake used to tease me about this all the time but now that he sees how much money we are making/saving from these things he thinks it's great too. Just through scanning items, taking pictures of grocery receipts and doing a few quick activities on these websites/apps throughout the year we were able to pay for all our Christmas and birthday gifts. (This includes cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and our family of 5!!) I've thought about posting this for a few months but always stopped myself because I thought no one would find it interesting and didn't know if it was really worth documenting, then I realized how many blogs and websites I investigated before I found these solid few that worked really well for me. I decided maybe I should do the same for someone else who might be looking for some options. I am no expert and I'm not being sponsored in any way but just wanted to share a few things that I have tried out that really help to supplement our income for anyone else looking for options.
Plasma
Jake donates plasma 2x a week and makes $25 at the first donation, $30 at the second donation and there is always some sort of bonus for donating a certain amount of times in a month. On average - we make about $250 a month through plasma donations. It usually only takes him 1-2 hrs total (drive time, wait time, donation time), he has been doing this off an on for years!! Plus, you get bonuses for referring people, bonuses for it being your first time, and there's tons of random giveaways and perks. (Jake won an iPad while we were dating through donating plasma.) There are tons of locations for donating plasma, Jake goes to the Grifols Biomat in Orem off University and State. I once tried to donate plasma and threw up... I still got paid for donating even though I didn't make it through a full donation, we decided it probably wasn't worth it for me to try that any more. The first donation takes a little longer because you have to be screened but once you are screened its usually pretty quick.
Office Building Cleaning
Once a week Jake and I clean my office building and it maybe takes us 30 minutes tops. We take the kids and they run around while I empty garbages and Jake cleans toilets. (I got the easy part!!) He also cleans an office building in Orem every night. If you know someone that has a small business and is willing to pay to have their office cleaned it's a really easy side job that provides pretty good money.
Bank Rewards Programs
All banks have some sort of free rewards program whether it be cash, gift cards, trips, presents, etc. Our bank gives points for each dollar you spend and they can be redeemed on their website. We have used this multiple times for gift cards to restaurants and stores.
Coupons
I never thought I would be a crazy coupon lady but I totally am!! I'm not so ridiculous that I buy like 200 toothbrushes and it only costs me $1, I only use coupons for things that I was already going to buy anyway. Trust me, when I first started using coupons I went crazy and bought a ton of things I didn't even need just because I had a coupon and totally thought it was a great deal even if it wasn't. I have started to restrain myself and use coupons when they actually benefit me, even if that means I sometimes meal plan based on my coupons. :) They are so easy to use and it's become more of a game for me, it's rewarding to see how much money I can save. I mostly get my coupons off Swagbucks (which I will go in detail about further down) or use coupons that come in the mail or are at the stores. There are TONS of coupons websites. I tried to look at several and use those coupons too but it quickly became too much for me. Many blogs are dedicated to couponing that teach you how to find coupons, how to use them to get the most bang for your buck, how to read them properly, etc. It's a full time job - seriously! I know I'm not expert in this area but I do what I can to save here and there.
Shopkick
https://app.shopkick.com/r/1zmn9S
I showed this app to my sister-in-laws over Thanksgiving and was so happy that were as excited about this app as I am!! You literally make money for walking into stores and for scanning items in the store - THAT'S IT!! I make it a game with my kids sometimes and let them help me find items and scan them - they love it too! It's so easy and quick, I use it every time I go to the mall, grocery shopping, and sometimes I will just drive by the store to get a few extra points. You can also submit your receipt if you buy certain items to get a rebate. Great app!
Swagbucks
http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/KarlieMitchell
This site has several options of different things to do to earn money, it also has an app you can use as well. You can play games, watch movie trailers and other video clips, take surveys, shop on other sites and still get points back, download different things for points, clip coupons, sign up for free trials on products, and so much more. Whenever I have downtime at work I will take a few surveys or watch some video clips on my phone to get a few extra points. You can even run videos in the background while you are doing something else and still get points. You have to check out the website to see all the stuff you can do but it's great. It can sometimes be time consuming but I have still gotten several giftcards from this site through minimal effort.
These last 2 are grocery shopping apps - once again, I went crazy when I first downloaded them and bought a ton of stuff just because it was on rebate, but I've learned how to use them better now so that it benefits me more. These apps seem more rewarding to me than couponing for some reason - I think it's the fact that you physically get money back for them in a lump sum instead of just seeing the price on your groceries drop a few cents each trip. It's great!!
Checkout 51
https://www.checkout51.com/account/offers
On this app you can stop at any grocery store and redeem the rebates that are listed on the app. It's great because you can go to any store, but they only have name brand products and sometimes the deals aren't as great on this app as on others. They also mail you a check instead of getting an instant giftcard or money put in your account. Still great, just not my absolute favorite. You have to get a minimum of $20 to cash out, and when you first sign up they give you a $10 bonus.
Ibotta
https://ibotta.com/r/mcjlvib
On this app you can stop at certain stores to get certain rebates. This app often has rebates that are items I would absolutely buy no matter if they were on rebate or not. IE: any brand of milk and you get a 25 cent rebate. Super great!! The turnaround cash back is also super quick. You also have to get a $20 minimum to cash out but if you use the app regularly that comes pretty quick. I have recently hit a hold up with online grocery shopping and this app which has frustrated me but I'm hoping they find a solution.
That's pretty much it for the side "jobs" we have to save a little here and there. To wrap the post up and give you a little motivation I thought I'd share a success story - I went shopping for diapers a few months back and noticed that they were on rebate $4.00 off on Ibotta, $2.00 off on Checkout 51, and I had a coupon for $2.00 off - diapers ended up only costing $2.00!! It was so great! Anyway... hopefully this post helped someone out there. :)