what it is?
ebates pays you for shopping online. you can receive on average 1-4% cash back simply by clicking through this site to get to the store site. 

how does it work for me?
basically, i use ebates whenever i can. i don’t do a ton of online shopping other than on amazon.com and ebates unfortunately doesn’t offer any cashback for amazon (darn!). however, i do occasionally purchase things from target.com, gap.com or somewhere else. i’ve also recently noticed that they link to a lot of airfare websites, so i’m definitely going to use ebates the next time i buy plane tickets! when i hear of a good online deal or decide to order online, i simply go to ebates first, search for the store i’m using, and click on their link.

this creates a “ticket.” after i complete my order, ebates processes my cashback-it’s that easy!

disclaimer: ebates only processes payment 4 times per year and you have to have over $5.00 (not including your sign-up bonus) accrued before you get paid.

where’s the proof?
while i love getting that extra rebate, i still don’t shop online a lot, so the pay off isn’t as big for me. but i never refuse free money! i’ve earned $49.76 since june 2009.

another note: shopathome.com is a similar website. i also have an account here, but i prefer ebates by far. shop at home requires $20 in earnings before they pay although they do pay monthly if you’ve reached over $20.

what it is?
inboxdollars is basically an advertisement service. they send advertisements via email and you get paid $.01 or $.02 for clicking to confirm you’ve read the email.

how does it work for me?
each morning, after i’ve gotten through my swagbucks routine, i click on my inboxdollars toolbar where it tells me how many unread emails i have. rather than reading them when they come to my actual email inbox, i go directly to my inbox on their site. by doing this, i only check those emails once a day and it takes about 10 seconds to click through them all. i usually receive between 4-5 per day.

these emails are basically spam and i’ve become numb to subliminal messaging. however, i’ve never received any actual spam because inboxdollars doesn’t share my email. i only receive emails directly from inboxdollars and i simply delete them on the spot.

they also require that you earn $30 before “cashing in.”

where’s the proof?
while this is considerably slower-going than swagbucks, i still find it to be an easy and fun way to earn a little extra cash. since january of 2010 i’ve earned $55.24. because of the $30 rule, i’ve only cashed one check for $33.74 and have $21.50 in my account. i roughly spend a total of one hour on this throughout the year.

it’s free money week!

i’ve wanted to do this for a while, because i love free money, and i know most people do too.

so, this week, i’ll be posting on my favorite ways to get free money. 

i personally use and recommend everything i’ll be posting about so if you have any questions or concerns, just let me know. i’ve found that when you’re on a budget, these little extra sources of income can be so much fun!

disclaimer: i consider the money or rewards i receive from these programs to be free because they don’t cost me anything but time. all of these opportunities require some time, but most of them very little. these are all things i find enjoyable and fun on top of a fulltime job and keeping a home.

what’s even more exciting about free money week is that i’m giving away one free $5 amazon gift card every day!

after all, what would free money week be without free money?!

find out how to win an amazon gift card later today!