Email Aliases

I've mentioned before about needing lots of email addresses for special offers.  Well, here's a trick that I failed to mention.  Email aliases.  Many email providers allow for aliases to be created for an already existing account.  One such provider is Outlook, formerly hotmail.  You set up your account then do to the cog up at the top and choose More Mail Settings.  There you will find where you can create up to 10 email aliases.  This is an easy way to have more email addresses without all the work of opening up a new account.  As always, attempt to have variety in the names.

arrows show where you're looking for the cog and alias adding.

here you  an see how easy it is to create the new alias.

I hope this information makes it easier for you to earn more by having more emails with which to complete special offers.

Hosting a House Party

I got selected to host a House Party from Nerf!
What is a House Party you may wonder...  Well, House Party is a site where you apply to host a party.  You agree to have the party on a certain day, or close to it.  If chosen for a party you are sent a party pack to help you host the party for FREE.  This party is sponsored by Nerf and Cheetos.  So my party pack had five Nerf water guns, 12 bags of Cheetos as well as coupons and temporary tattoos for the guests.




If you aren't signed up for House Party yet, you really should check it out!  This is the second party I've hosted.  The other party was for a Hot Wheels toy.  Now before you sigh and say it's only toy parties, don't!  There are other kinds of parties as well.  Friends of mine have gotten SodaStream house parties, and yes, they send you the SodaStream machine!  Others have gotten coffee makers, books, food and health and beauty items.  Really, check it out!

free samples!

do you take advantage of all the freebies you can get online?  oh, I know what you're thinking.  you're thinking what's the point?  all you get are those little single use packets.  well, sometimes, yes, that is very true as shown by the picture to the right.  lots of one use packets are very helpful though.  they make great additions to your diaper bag, glove compartment or purse.  the main reason they send them is to let you try it out and if you like it, then you buy it.  most come with a decent coupon for your first purchase too.  but trust me when I say that those little packets are not the only type of freebie out there.

sometimes you get them in little bottles too.  those are good for several uses each and these too come with coupons for a future purchase of the item!  you can get everything from body wash and shampoo/conditioner to lotion, lip balms and deodorant.  these make great guest items or travel items.  I know I'll be packing some of these in my hospital bag for my upcoming hospital stay!

there are also the full sized stuff you can get!  full sized shampoo, face wash, lotion and all kinds of other things too.  like foods products, razors, baby formula, baby bottles and bath poufs too!  yes, every bit of this was free.  I paid nothing except the time it took me to fill out the forms for them.  no credit card info was needed or anything.  companies give out their stuff to get you to try it in the hopes you'll start using their product!  it's just that simple.  sometimes instead of a product in the mail, you will get a coupon for the item free at a store.  I have gotten several of those as well.  I currently have two for head and shoulders shampoo or conditioner, a 20oz coke product and a jar of baby food.  good stuff I tell you!

so what are you waiting for?  oh, I know!  the info on how to find the freebies.  well, in all honesty, facebook is the best source of freebie info out there in my opinion.  I follow a ton of "deal bloggers" that post freebies, giveaways and product reviews and things like that.  I am also a member of a group on facebook where we share freebies as we find them.
two of my fave freebie bloggers are FreebieShark and Coupon Clipinista.  there are tons of others out there but I like those two for their speed on posting about the freebies.  some freebies are available for days while others are limited to the first set number like 5000 so speed in knowing when they're available or going to be available is important.

so, get yourself a designated freebie email addy (yes, you really do want one of these) and start hunting your freebies!  then wait and watch the things just start rolling in.

setting goals

for me personally to make the best of the GPT life I set goals.  sometimes it's a daily goal.  sometimes it's determined by a certain amount needed or wanted by a certain time.  sometimes it's something else.  I always have some goal that I'm working towards or with the way I work, working to surpass.  I don't stop when I hit my goal, I try to hit my goal and go beyond it!

currently my goal is $3 a day across all my sites.  this is very easily achieved for me so I made it $3 a day across the sites I use to get amazon money.  I need to make that much to be able to make a diaper purchase before the baby arrives.  I also try to make at least .50 a day on the sites I use for paypal.  there are days I don't make that goal but there are other days where I crush it.

so you're thinking along the lines of $3 a day not being much.  well, when you think about an entire year, it's not really chump change either.  if I make $3 a day for amazon every day this year (I won't because of a hospital stay and recovery after having a baby), I will have made $1095 at the end of the year.  now let's talk about the .50 a day for paypal.  again, that sounds like nothing.  but in a year it's $182.50.  no, it's not a life changing amount but it pays for netflix and a little extra here and there.  so it's worth it!

so do you have a goal for your earnings on GPT sites?  maybe you want to work towards getting a kindle fire?  or maybe you want all your holiday shopping done for free.  it can happen and setting a goal, even a roundabout goal, can help you get there!

maybe you're not a goal setter.  maybe you're not sure how to go about it.  well here's how I figure out my goals.

I need $50 in three weeks.  so I divide $50 by 20 days (one day shy to give me wiggle room).  that means I need to make $2.50 a day for 20 days.  easy as pie.  now you want a long term goal?  how about you want $750 by december.  here's my figuring for that one.  divide your wanted amount, in this case $750 by 300 days (10 months at 30 days average) to get your daily needs.  again it worked out to $2.50 a day.  couldn't you use an extra $750 for holiday shopping?  yeah, I thought so!  of course that amount does not take in to consideration anything being used for the entire time so if you have other things you want between now and then you need to figure all that in too.

bottom line is that goals can be helpful.  it helps you to see that at the end of a set period of time you will have something substantial, not just a few bucks.  of course your goal might be to make $5 a month and that's okay!  just get a goal and get to making that goal a reality!

a tasking I will go....

so let's talk a moment about yet another way to earn on GPT sites - tasks.  what are tasks you may be wondering.  well, it's just that, it's a little job that you're asked to do for points.  they range from way too easy to way too hard for the points offered.  some of the tasks I've seen recently have been things like doing a google search and recording the results, tagging images, moderating images looking for violations (it's a mature task), topic relevance and things like that.  some are sooo easy while others really try your patience.  I tend to stick to the very easy ones because let's face it, I have four children that are also taking my attention so I can't focus overly much on what I'm doing while tasking so reading an article to rate the tag given to it is not gonna happen for me, at least while the minions are awake.

so, where do we find tasks?  they're available on most GPT sites.  the most common places to find them are under a heading that says "tasks" or "crowd flower" but they can also sometimes be found under offer walls like Matomy.  another place to find tasks if you find them to your liking is on Mturk.  that is a site that is linked to amazon and is nothing but tasks.  there are way more there than you will find on any other GPT site.  other GPT sites have only tasks from Crowd Flower but on Mturk there's tasks from other companies as well as private people looking for info, opinions and statistics.  these tasks will sometimes be a short personality survey or things like that.  in general they pay pretty well for the amount of time spent on them.

with Mturk, since you're connected to your amazon account, you can move the money right from there to your amazon account once you have $1 in your account.  the other payment option is to have it sent to your bank account.  tasks are moderated so it's not instant.  it generally takes a day for the task to be approved and you to get paid.  I have never had a task rejected that I did.  some tasks also offer bonuses for good work which is always fun.

I don't do tasks every day but I do them at least a few times a week.  it's a nice way to pad your amazon account or any other payment option you may be interested in based on where you do them.  yes, I tend to do tasks on Mturk more than any other site mainly because it pays more there and there are so many more options for tasks to be done.  I like variety and will hop around on which task type I do.  remember, I'm a firm believer in every little bit helps.

why I earn...

here's what I was able to buy just the other day.  it was paid for totally by amazon gift cards I earned from various GPT sites.  this right here is why I try so hard and use so many sites.  I know plenty of people are perfectly content to use just one or two sites and I totally respect that.  for me, I like the variety of many sites to earn from.  maybe it's just my inability to sit and do just one thing.  but whatever it is, it works out well for me as seen below.  I earned enough for that car seat in less than a month!

now I'm working towards the matching pack n play, high chair and double stroller.  I should have the pack n play before baby gets here as well as diapers, some clothes and feeding needs.  the high chair and stroller will probably come after the baby and that's okay!  oh and fyi the baby is due in March so I have a little time but only a little....

instaGC

so, we've talked about a few things so far but let's talk about my very favorite GPT site now.  sound good?  I think so.  now you need to realize that everyone will upon using GPT sites find one that they love above all others.  for me, it's instaGC and here are some of the reasons why....
do you see all those gift cards I was able to cash out in a rather short amount of time?  it's a mix of amazon, walmart and one $25 papa johns card to spice things up.

so now you're probably thinking "how?" well, it's simple.  I do offers and lots of them!  there are offer contests that give you points too.  I've placed in several of those.  right now they have daily contests for the holidays.  normally it's just weekly and monthly contest.

as you can see by the pic to the left, I've been in the daily winners circle several times recently.  all those points really do add up and really do help.

so why haven't you signed up yet?  oh, okay, I'll keep talking and give you some of the goods on the site.

some great features this site has that make it unique are the chat box, active mods and admin and the coolest is the  instant money you get!  that's right, you cash out for your gift card and you have it right then!  it's yours to use immediately.  a lot of them can be printed for use in store or you can use them online (some are online only).  also they have a huge amount of cards to choose from!  some I've never seen offered from another GPT site before, some available at many but here they're INSTANT!  they're constantly updating and adding more card types.  have a suggestion for a card?  then tell them and they'll usually get it out there for you!  here's just a few of the many cards available from them.

• amazon
• bed bath & beyond
• buy.com
• disney
• ebay
• gamestop
• iTunes
• kholes
• microsoft points
• riot points
• starbucks
• steam
• target
• ultimate game cards
• walmart
• whole foods
• wii points

and that is just a portion of them!  lots of choices.  awesome site if you're a gamer or have children who like to game.  awesome site if you're an amazon junkie like me.  awesome if you're a walmart or target fan.  it's just an all around awesome site.

you've got to try it out!  really, it's so worth it.  I have been able to get so many things for my family because of this site.  check it out and see if it's for you.  I promise once you get the hang of it you will not be disappointed!  really, come check it out.  I'm " itsthecaffeine " in the chat box if you need anything I'm happy to help you out.  if I'm not there, there's usually plenty of helpful people there.