With A Little Help From The Internet

I'm gonna go all youth-culture on y'all and just say: this economy, like, totally bites.

Things haven't been easy for us— Adam still makes peanuts at the factory, and now we're going to have to pay for 1) his tuition, 2) Christmas gifts, and 3) his application stuff (app fees, the $140 GRE fee, etc). And I still can't seem to get a nine-to-fiver. It could be worse: Adam had heard his factory was closing a line and was slowing production, but apparently (according to the local news) they're planning to build a new plant instead, so we're thinking he probably won't be laid off quite yet. Still, things aren't a barrel of laughs over here in Depressionville, Ohio, where the local GM plant just cut 1,200 jobs.

So I thought I might share a couple of my money-saving/earning tips and tricks:

1. You can get lots of free stuff on the internet just for being an interested consumer. Check out Smart Sampling to get free sample-size products delivered to your door; they also have some really great coupons there! If you've got a little bit more time to expend, you could always get rewards from online survey sites like Harris Poll, Valued Opinions, or Epoll. They'll give you gift certificates or free stuff just for filling out surveys about your shopping habits, political views, or personal preferences. For example, I've got a coupon for a free pint of Haagen-Daz ice cream coming from Epoll, and soon I'll have a gift certificate for Amazon.com from Harris Poll!

2. Comparison shopping is usually the best way to find a sweet deal. I usually use Google Shopping to compare big-ticket items, like the X-Box I'm going to get my husband for Christmas. And Gas Buddy can help you find the best price on gas in your area!

3. Of course, making some spare cash is always helpful to your economic situation, particularly during the holidays. Why not try your hand at writing?

I write for Demand Studios, where they'll pay for lots of different freelance projects: films, transcription, copyediting, and some other stuff. You don't have to be the best writer in the entire world— you just have to be able to write clearly and concisely. They really like it when people who have experience in a particular field try their hand at a couple how-to articles, and they pay $15 per article, so it's a pretty good deal.

I also write for Suite 101, a little online magazine that allows you to accumulate royalties from the stuff you put out there. You only have to write ten articles every three months, so it's totally easy to maintain even on a busy schedule.

What websites do you use to save or make money!