Surveys

When I have some extra time on my hands, I sometimes do surveys online. I do them mostly for fun, but some of them offer points that accrue and can be redeemed for cash or prizes. Some actually send me products to sample and give my opinion of. Things I have gotten include dog food, socks, razors, laundry detergent, cereal and frozen dinners. Some of the surveys will pay (usually $1 to $5). You have to get to these quickly, before they reach their quota of responses. Most say they are entering me in a "sweepstakes," though I have yet to win anything that way.

I have been doing all of the ones listed below for some time and would consider them to be reputable and safe to give information to.

These accrue points:

mysurvey.com
harrispollonline.com
globalopinionpanels.com

These don’t offer points, but sometimes pay money or send product samples:

surveyspot.com
greenfieldonline.com

If you sign up for any of these (especially the last two), be prepared to get your e-mail box full of them. I pick and choose the ones I want to do and delete the rest. Topics I am interested in, ones that offer me something or the amount of time they take (they usually tell you) are all factors that help me decide.

Cool Thing to Know: If you click on "Next Blog" at the top of this page, it will take you through randomly-selected blogs. A lot of them are in different languages. Kind of neat to be able to get a glimpse into people’s lives all over the world (even if you can’t read them) from the comfort of your living room.