"Beer Money" Methods

[CryingHawaiian]

Aside from credit card rewards and checking/savings account signup bonuses, are there any ways you accumulate small gifts/rewards with minimal effort?

Example: With Bing Rewards, I redeem about $100 a year in Amazon gift cards from their Rewards program for using bing.com to do 30 internet searches a day.

Any others out there?

[mindgap]

I started to use Fluz Cashback app to make some cash back money on daily buys. The guys just started the project so it’s not always smoothly running but so far I have had no problems. Good thing is that you can double dip through the app when using a rewards cc.

[H-Town]

Aside from credit card rewards and checking/savings account signup bonuses, are there any ways you accumulate small gifts/rewards with minimal effort?

Example: With Bing Rewards, I redeem about $100 a year in Amazon gift cards from their Rewards program for using bing.com to do 30 internet searches a day.

Any others out there?

My health insurance offers a reward program which pay me to be active, go to the gym, live a healthy lifestyle, etc. I have accumulated so many points, which I redeemed for various appliances and household items that I need.

Those types of program try to condition you to a habit. So be careful not to pick those that could do you harm.

[Thesaints]

30 searches x 360 days = 10,800 in a year. They are paying you less than 1¢/search.

[iamlucky13]

Since it is sometimes an option for me:
Overtime at work.

I probably over-complicate things a little bit, but I tried the promotional bank account gig once so far, and while probably worth it compared to my pay rate, I doubt it was a big gain considering the time spent:

• Reading the terms and user agreements
• Opening the account
• Setting up direct deposit (no thanks to my employer for making this more difficult than it needs to be)
• Setting up external account transfers and periodically moving deposited money to my main account
• Closing the account

[RickBoglehead]

30 searches x 360 days = 10,800 in a year. They are paying you less than 1¢/search.

This ^^^

To use Bing just to do 30 searches, earning less than 30 cents a day, is crazy.

[JoeRetire]

When I want beer, I just buy some.

[McDougal]

30 searches x 360 days = 10,800 in a year. They are paying you less than 1¢/search.

This ^^^

To use Bing just to do 30 searches, earning less than 30 cents a day, is crazy.

Not volunteering to do the math, but maybe $ per hour it's not too bad?

[jb1]

The things some of you do for money is ridiculous lol.

[RickBoglehead]

The things some of you do for money is ridiculous lol.

Does seem that way sometimes.

We do cashback credit cards, but don't apply for new ones and such all the time. MAY evaluate that in retirement if the numbers make sense. I did jump on Ally's promo a year ago, but that got up to $1,000 per person to move money. That's nothing to sneeze at.

I likely won't ever move brokerage money just to get bonuses, way too much work, not worth the complication. As we enter retirement in 2021, I want to simplify, and have more free time, not less.

[Jayhawk11]

(1) CC rewards

(2) make sure I'm getting all class action checks I should be getting ( https://topclassactions.com/category/la ... ttlements/ )

(3) I have my fitness tracking stuff (fitbit, strava, runkeeper) accessed by Achievement. They end up sending me like 50 bucks a year.

(4) various sign-up bonuses (most recent was a free Google Home for my already-existing Spotify premium membership... though I guess I can't convert that directly to beer).

[lthenderson]

I don't go out of my way to chase pennies. I would rather focus on other aspects of my life. But besides 2% cash back using my credit card, my local grocery store gives out gas credits for buying certain products which I already buy anyway and the gas credits are for the gas station chain where I fill up anyway. It generally saves me about $0.50 per gallon.

[deikel]

30 searches x 360 days = 10,800 in a year. They are paying you less than 1¢/search.

This ^^^

To use Bing just to do 30 searches, earning less than 30 cents a day, is crazy.

Do you have a better suggestion ? Menaing, if using bing instead of another search engine at equal quality results (if true), why not make some small money with it ? I easily do more then 30 searches a day for all kinds of things...but even if you wanted to game the system, how long does it take you to press the keyboard and return 30 times....

[deikel]

The things some of you do for money is ridiculous lol.

That is true for a whole lot of people, even at their regular work...

[deikel]

2% credit card for everything

nothing beyond that other then trying to save by comparing products before purchasing to maximize value- the rest seems too much effort for the effect, no coupons, no rewards or such

But I am interested in this thread, maybe I am missing out...

[Jack FFR1846]

tradeline sales
low balance forgiveness on credit cards
gas points and use of circular gift cards
free points programs everywhere. Airline, gas, restaurants, hotels.
apps
Paying attention to credit card offers. We've been getting 10% back from our sears citi card.

[ohai]

5% cash back on the Amazon Prime credit card is fantastic. Also, I went to Coinstar and got $85 for the change I had been accumulating. I know that's not extra money, but still seemed pretty rewarding.

[bloom2708]

Rakuten. Turn on the browser add-in. I use Chrome.

It notifies if you get cash back when you hit a site and make a purchase.

Bing Rewards is a good one. eBay bucks. I also find not drinking as much beer saves a lot of money and my health.

[flyingaway]

Aside from credit card rewards and checking/savings account signup bonuses, are there any ways you accumulate small gifts/rewards with minimal effort?

Example: With Bing Rewards, I redeem about $100 a year in Amazon gift cards from their Rewards program for using bing.com to do 30 internet searches a day.

Any others out there?

Use coupons from your junk mails?

[tesuzuki2002]

30 searches x 360 days = 10,800 in a year. They are paying you less than 1¢/search.

This ^^^

To use Bing just to do 30 searches, earning less than 30 cents a day, is crazy.

some folks don't value their time very well...

[tesuzuki2002]

The things some of you do for money is ridiculous lol.

[JimmyD]

2% cash back card to purchase everything

Sold a website a few years ago that earns money via Amazon affiliate links. The new owner never updated the code to his tracking ID for some reason, so I still get a hundred or so dollars a month from it

[hicabob]

Returning the beer bottles for the deposit.

[Bobby206]

I try not to kill myself for every last deal... especially when I have to jump through a bunch of hoops to get it.

Credit cards are easy but I just do the 2% as I am too lazy to switch to the B of A (with Merrill preferred). At $200k+ spend a year that's a lot of beer.

Smaller stuff I do some purchases (mostly hotel) through Mr. Rebates, Ebates, etc.... It's not a lot but it's probably a few hundred a year.

I take advantage of most easy bonus point options if I don't have to do anything extra. For example, for a couple years Uber or Lyft (I don't recall now) gave bonus Starwood points when you were staying at a Starwood property and did a ride share with them.

[stoptothink]

30 searches x 360 days = 10,800 in a year. They are paying you less than 1¢/search.

This ^^^

To use Bing just to do 30 searches, earning less than 30 cents a day, is crazy.

some folks don't value their time very well...

Depends on what you would be doing otherwise with that time. I do online surveys with paidviewpoint, probably takes me 5min a week (usually while I am eating dinner or something else requiring little attention), and I've earned $788.17 over the last ~5yrs or so ($137.90 so far this year). It's literally pennies at a time, but it's not like I'm wasting time that I would otherwise be using productively.

Otherwise credit card churning, savings account bonuses, etc. which is probably ~$1500/yr for me and of course using Rakuten for anything I buy online (probably $100-$200/yr for one mouse click when I purchase something).

[SevenBridgesRoad]

When I want beer, I just buy some.

Or garage brew some.

[packet]

(4) ... most recent was a free Google Home for my already-existing Spotify premium membership...

Thanks for that! Just got mine...

I had no idea... wish there were a (free) service to notify me of these sorta things...

Cheers,
packet

[Ice-9]

Here's mine:

(1) Cashback credit cards optimized - 6% on a few things with AMEX, 3%-5% on some other things with other cards, and 2% on everything else with Citi Doublecash - totals close to $2000 per year

(2) My work implements the Virgin Pulse app for health. For counting steps, reading health tips, monthly weigh-in and blood pressure check, etc, I get $85 each quarter, and they usually throw in an extra $10 somewhere throughout the year, so I get $350/yr

(3) GetUpside app - originally was just in our Washington DC market, but has expanded to several metro areas. Cashback for taking a pic of receipt and uploading when shopping at their partner gas stations, grocery stores, and restaurants. Mostly, I use this for grocery stores. This is the first year I'm doing this, and I'm projecting hitting $200 cashback before the end of the year. Can get paid via PayPal once you hit $15 cashback, so not a long wait for the cashback.

[JoeRetire]

When I want beer, I just buy some.

Or garage brew some.

I haven't tried that yet. Doubt it could be worth all the work, and I don't have a lot of free space in my garage.
There are some pretty good microbrews in my locale. For now, I'll probably stick with those.

[MotoTrojan]

30 searches x 360 days = 10,800 in a year. They are paying you less than 1¢/search.

Script it.

[Pu239]

Buying things I'd buy anyway on sale and in bulk is the classic way to "earn" money. There won't be an account and no one will send you money but time spent looking out for deals will help pay for beer.

[anon_investor]

I used to do online surveys, but they take up too much time. Now I just do bing rewards and ebates (think they changed the name) for extra cash back on online purchases.

[jdb]

When I want beer, I just buy some.

Yes. Certainly makes life simpler. Good luck.

[tesuzuki2002]

30 searches x 360 days = 10,800 in a year. They are paying you less than 1¢/search.

This ^^^

To use Bing just to do 30 searches, earning less than 30 cents a day, is crazy.

some folks don't value their time very well...

Depends on what you would be doing otherwise with that time. I do online surveys with paidviewpoint, probably takes me 5min a week (usually while I am eating dinner or something else requiring little attention), and I've earned $788.17 over the last ~5yrs or so ($137.90 so far this year). It's literally pennies at a time, but it's not like I'm wasting time that I would otherwise be using productively.

Otherwise credit card churning, savings account bonuses, etc. which is probably ~$1500/yr for me and of course using Rakuten for anything I buy online (probably $100-$200/yr for one mouse click when I purchase something).

I understand... I do a few survey here and there to earn and keep miles and points programs active... there are times that sitting on the toilet actually pays!!!

[Lalamimi]

5% cash back on the Amazon Prime credit card is fantastic. Also, I went to Coinstar and got $85 for the change I had been accumulating. I know that's not extra money, but still seemed pretty rewarding.

Coinstar gives gift cards and you don't have to pay the fee for cash refund.

[Lalamimi]

Ebates. Rakuten is new name. Sign up, go through their portal to store sites, get %. I have used them for years.

[stoptothink]

Ebates. Rakuten is new name. Sign up, go through their portal to store sites, get %. I have used them for years.

Looks like on Monday (11/11) many stores will be 11% back, 14% back with the Rakuten CC (which I have). I hope one of the stores will be discount tire as I have some snow tires in my cart.

[fortfun]

Aside from credit card rewards and checking/savings account signup bonuses, are there any ways you accumulate small gifts/rewards with minimal effort?

Example: With Bing Rewards, I redeem about $100 a year in Amazon gift cards from their Rewards program for using bing.com to do 30 internet searches a day.

Any others out there?

We rent our basement for 1k per month. That's our vacation money

Plus churn for pretty significant rewards. Not to mention bank bonuses.

I take on extra work assignments whenever I get the chance (teaching classes, in house subbing, etc.) Hourly data work.

[Thesaints]

30 searches x 360 days = 10,800 in a year. They are paying you less than 1¢/search.

This ^^^

To use Bing just to do 30 searches, earning less than 30 cents a day, is crazy.

Not volunteering to do the math, but maybe $ per hour it's not too bad?

The second you are given a dime, your instantaneous income spikes to 3 million/year.
It is rather hard to sustain that rate, though.

[3dream3]

My company offers 'perks at work' for online discount shopping. It works like ebates/rakuten in that you click through their site to get to the merchant's website and then earn wowpoints with each purchase... which then in turn can be used for money off/back for future purchases. It does take awhile to accumulate wowpoints but it's for merchants that I will be buying from anyway so why not get the extra points in addition to the credit card cash back. I usually save up the points and redeem them on things like concerts and live show tickets.

[BeerMoney]

BeerMoney here

Some bars/restaurants here offer rewards points/money off first and future purchases with an app called Thanx. There are probably others. Once you link your credit card you don't have to do anything else to accumulate the rewards.

Health insurance gives gift cards for doing things like taking a quiz, sending in your biometric results, etc.

Robinhood app gives you free stock if you invite other people.

Buying the big 24 packs of beer at costco is also much cheaper per beer.

[brandy]

(2) make sure I'm getting all class action checks I should be getting ( https://topclassactions.com/category/la ... ttlements/ )

Thanks for posting this. I've been thinking of getting new shoes at zappo's, and it turns out I should be eligible for the discount code. Not only that, it turns out I may also have about $60 in credit. If it's still available to me...
I've never even heard of this website.

[zeal]

I use Honey when doing online shopping. This Chrome extension/app searches the web for any promotional codes and tries them all to find the best deal on whatever it is you're buying. It also allows you to "save" an item so it will notify you of a price drop. On top of that they have some kind of points system too though I haven't really messed with it. We've saved a little over $20 YTD with the extension.

If you have UnitedHealthcare, you may be eligible for the UHCMotion program. I get it through work--the app links to an activity tracker/smart watch to track your steps and pay you up to $3/day for completing some goals. If you have an Optum Bank HSA, it will automatically deposit your earnings quarterly, so this money is tax free. I've been participating almost every day since mid-late January and have "earned" over $930 so far this year for walking that I already did anyway. If the program is still available next year, I'm planning to complete the goals every day to earn $1098 to go to my HSA, so that's $1098 less I need to contribute from my paycheck to max the HSA for the year... Pretty sweet.

My wife uses a couple Ebates-type apps, as well as the Target and Walmart apps since we shop there regularly.

I like apps like Honey and UHCMotion that save/pay you for things you were just going to do anyway.

[GiannaLuna]

tradeline sales
low balance forgiveness on credit cards
gas points and use of circular gift cards
free points programs everywhere. Airline, gas, restaurants, hotels.
apps
Paying attention to credit card offers. We've been getting 10% back from our sears citi card.

Do you mind expanding on some of these? what is a tradeline sale and are there risks involved?

What is low balance forgiveness on credit cards?

What is a circular gift card?

As a frequent traveler, I earn lots of points too, but there is always a cost associated with the acquisition. I suppose this falls under the category of "I was going to make the purchase anyway" , but i am finding now there are more cost effective ways of making the purchases that often don't earn points- YMMV.

[imbogled]

A poster board and a marker work pretty gosh darn well!

https://nypost.com/2019/10/02/viral-bee ... 3-million/

[whodidntante]

The things some of you do for money is ridiculous lol.

Tell me about it. Sometimes I join 7 am meetings or commute in bad weather.

[whodidntante]

I've seen a lot of good ones posted. Here's my contribution. I'm getting more and more selective but if someone wants to hand me a 10 dollar bill in exchange for trivial effort or $500 to demonstrate reading comprehension, I'm going to take it.

- bank account funding with a rewards card
- use rewards cards for everything if the value of points exceeds the fee
- take advantage of 0% purchase APRs
- 100% rebates
- buying stuff I know is underpriced for resell
- buying discounted gift cards to restaurants and shops I would buy from anyway, or discounted cards I can easily turn to cash
- avoid spending money on junk I don't need
- sign up bonuses and spending bonuses
- churning
- understand and exploit loyalty programs
- plastiq promos
- pay taxes with a credit card viewtopic.php?t=276677

OK that was more than a couple.

[Shallowpockets]

I get up early and instead of of breakfast I go to the local off ramp and hold my sign. I am not being dishonest. My sign says, I haven’t had any breakfast yet.
Usually I clear 0-$37 day.
When it is cold though my tongue often freezes in my cheek.

[CryingHawaiian]

There seems to be a lot of tongue in cheek responses to this, ^^^ literally ^^^ and figuratively, which is surprising considering the lean towards frugality on these boards.

For those questioning Bing rewards, it takes me ~90 seconds to do my daily searches, which averages out to around $10 per hour for a mindless task while watching netflix/listening to music. I guess to some people those 90 seconds could be better spent doing something else, but it works for me.

A new one that hasn't been mentioned yet is the app Podcoin. They give you very small gift cards for listening to podcasts through their app. The gift cards are so small that it's not worth it to me as I don't listen to that many podcasts, but figured it was worth a mention.

Edit: Looks like podcoin shut down a month and a half ago. I guess the business model of giving away free money isn't self-sustaining...

[epicahab]

When I want beer, I just buy some.

Or garage brew some.

I haven't tried that yet. Doubt it could be worth all the work, and I don't have a lot of free space in my garage.
There are some pretty good microbrews in my locale. For now, I'll probably stick with those.

I have yet to taste one beer that someone made in their house or garage that's better than what I can get at the store. I think you give up a lot without industrial-sized sanitation and consistency in brewing.