Paid Online Surveys: 7 Ways To Make Money Without Wasting Time

Want to make money with paid online surveys?

Time rich during COVID-19?

States are under mandatory stay at home orders.

Social distancing will last at least until May.

We all want to survive these strange times.

Paid online surveys get a bad rap, but they are like all other frugality tips we talk about here.

False advertising lead many people to think they can make hundreds a month with surveys.

This is just not true.

Unless you quit your day job for pennies, surveys will not give you hundreds a month.

Under normal circumstances, I think most people can make between $20-$50 per month with surveys.

That is about how much people get with Ibotta and other activities anyway.

However, during COVID-19, maybe you can make a little more if you are at home all day.

Again, Adding Pennies is not about increasing your income.

It is about putting some extra money in your pocket in small ways that can add up big when combined.

No one activity we review here will allow you to quit your day job again.

So, surveys are a frugal tactic like all others again.

One of the things that I hated about surveys in the past was the amount of time they took.

Without a couple of tricks, your whole day can be wasted.

If you lost a lot of time to surveys, it might not be free money at all.

I did surveys years ago and recently started them again.

I have learned some new tricks that will save you time and frustration.

In case you don’t know, (before COVID-19), I had a full time job and ran three businesses.

Time was tight and not a second got lost.

I can save you time and frustration.

So here are some things you can do to earn some spare change from surveys without wasting time.

7 Tricks To Do Paid Online Surveys Without Wasting Your Time

1. Put A limit on your time

With the normal schedule I had above, I would give about 30 minutes a day (when I had time) to surveys.

Of course, during COVID-19, I have more free time.

I do an hour in the morning and one in the evening on surveys.

I think this may be intense for some people though.

It helps me learn things for my readers.

Maybe it isn’t a lot of time if you are home like me all day during COVID-19 though.

Whatever time you dedicate to surveys, keep to it.

I am forced to be at home.

My day job was with the school system and schools are closed for the rest of the year where I live.

So, I have a whole day at home now.

If you still have a full time job and work from home, maybe you want just an hour a day or less though.

Again, I liked only 30 minutes a day during my normal work week.

When I was busy, I did not even do that though.

This usually got me one survey a day.

Surveys are only fifteen to twenty minutes, but you have to include disqualification time explained later.

I would not suggest it be too much time though because then surveys can steal your day, and that defeats the purpose.

2. Know that disqualification will occur

Plan to have disqualification as part of your time.

Disqualification is when you answer the demographic questions that must be answered before each survey and find out that you don’t qualify.

That is usually two to three minutes wasted each time you are disqualified.

You can be disqualified multiple times before you get to a survey that fits your demographic.

The average survey is ten to twenty minutes again.

So if you are going to give an hour a day to surveys, maybe expect about 15 minutes of disqualification.

RELATED: Online Surveys: Worth It or Waste Of Time?

3. Go for the highest rewards

Right now, I use Swagbucks for surveys.

I get money doing other things on Swagbucks, so it combines my money.

Look for my “Swagbucks Guide” later.

I have found more ways to make money besides surveys with Swagbucks

Here is a recent list of survey choices on Swagbucks:

• 10 minutes for 50 SB ($.50)
• 20 minutes for 75 SB ($.75)
• 20 minutes for 100 SC ($1)

Of course, I took the later one that paid one dollar.

After all, surveys on average are between $1-$4 per hour.

You want to only go for the high ones if possible.

RELATED: Swagbucks Review: Can You Make Money With Swagbucks

4. Don’t spend your whole day doing surveys

Surveys can steal time as I said earlier.

If you know this, you can guard your time.

Do not waste a whole day on surveys again.

It is not worth it.

I add this as a separate point because I have been there and done this before.

5. Know what you realistically will make with paid online surveys

Again, the average is $20-$50 per month.

That comes out to $4-$12.50 per week and maybe $1-$2 per day.

Again, this is not bill paying money, but spare change.

For giving up thirty minutes or an hour a day of surfing social media or watching television, you have some spare change at the end of the month.

6. Sign up for more than one survey site

At one point, you may not have enough surveys.

Therefore, you should sign up for more than one site.

Make sure to earn your sign up bonus too.

I know it is a pain to earn different sign up bonuses, but you will be happy you signed up for more than one later.

Again, when there are not enough surveys on one site, you have other choices for your thirty minutes to a hour a day.

7, Fill out your profile completely

Many people omit filling out their profile completely.

It is understandable when sites add a hundred questions.

The more info they have though, the less disqualification.

So, fill out your profile completely

Update it if need be too.

4 Sites to Sign Up For Paid Online Surveys

These are the sites that I use.

I have not tried others.

From what I read on other blogs though, these are the top ones by general consensus without any scams.

It is best to sign up for all four, but I listed them from best to ok, so you can try the ones I find work the best first.

Sometimes, sites run out of surveys again.

I listed the positives and negatives of each one, so there are no surprises.

1. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is the first one I suggest.

First, it is a conglomerate of survey sites, so it simply has the most surveys.

Second, you can earn SB (their currency) from other things like shopping online, so your money can build up.

Again, I will have a guide to Swagbucks soon since I have learned more new ways to make money with the site besides surveys.

Read this post here to see how many ways you can make money with Swagbucks.

I used to prefer Survey Junkie for surveys because you need to build up to $25 to cash out with Swagbucks.

Survey Junkie only requires $10.

Swagbucks only requires $5 or $10 to cash out now though.

It worked ok even when they required $25 though because you make money with so many other things on Swagbucks.

Sign up here

2. Survey Junkie

As I said earlier, this used to be my favorite site before I combined other things on Swagbucks.

They only do surveys, but they do it well.

I still do both Swagbucks and Survey Junkie, so this is a close second place.

I think I get disqualified less on Survey Junkie.

Sign up here

3. My Points

My Points is owned by the same company as Swagbucks.

They have a weird currency that I never really got used to, but if you run out of surveys, it is another good choice.

Sign up here

4. Inbox Dollars

This is fourth because it takes $35 dollars to cash out.

That is a very high threshold.

If you run out of surveys though, it is still a good option.

You can do other things on Inbox Dollars like Swagbucks and My Points too.

Sign up here

Summary

Surveys have a bad rap, but they are like all other frugal tactics we discuss on the blog.

Some people are offended by hearing $1-$4 per hour as the average for surveys.

However, for giving up an hour a day of watching television or scrolling through Facebook, you can get some spare change.

Under normal circumstances, I tell people that they will make only $20-$50 per month doing surveys (with the top of that range pushing it).

Anything more than that is usually not worth your time.

However, since people are time rich during COVID-19, I think it can be slightly more.

That is nothing like those ridiculous false advertisements that promise $500 per month, but some spare change.

I know those advertisements because those were all I saw when I first started out with surveys.

That was far from the truth.

Guard your time with surveys.

Without leaving the comfort of your home, you can make some spare change during these crazy times where people may be unusually rich in time.

If you have not signed up for any of the surveys sites, here they are again:

1. Swagbucks Get $3 for signing up after 300 points plus $10 after spending $20
2. Survey Junkie
3. My Points Get $10 gift card after spending $20
4. Inbox dollars Get $5 for signing up

I hope this saves you time and frustration.

I also hope you and your family are well and in good health.