review - surveys for money (or shopping cash)

any university student will know that finding a job is near on impossible. the question is, how are we supposed to shop without any money?

around six months ago, i signed up for a survey website, where you fill in short surveys for credit. i was very pessimistic about the process, thinking that i'd end up filling in a lot of surveys for very little return. the companies tend to send you emails when they have a survey available, and you can either ignore it, or go fill the survey in. i do around one survey a week, but i'm offered around five usually.

voila! last week i realised my credits had reached £14, which means i could order arcadia group vouchers (topshop, miss selfridge etc). pessimism struck again, and i didn't honestly believe the vouchers would arrive. but lo and behold, my letter box contained one shiny topshop voucher within two weeks. i'm delighted - i didn't spend a lot of time doing surveys and now i have a little extra money for shopping.

top 5 tips for survey sites

• avoid sites which request your bank details for payment. there are sites which alternatively send vouchers to an address - it's a much safer method of payment.
• qhen your balance reaches the minimum withdrawal amount (usually around £10-£15), take the payment immediately. receiving the fruits of your labour immediately is better than losing it if the website disappears.
• don't give out any information in a survey that you don't need to. sometimes surveys will ask for your salary intake or other personal questions - the majority have a 'i'd prefer not to say' option, so use it.
• always check reviews of the website you are using. type in the name of the website following by review into a search engine (eg valued opinions review) and find out what other people have said.
• don't expect high returns very quickly. unless you do every survey sent to you, it can take months to reach the minimum withdrawal amount. but think, 10 minutes a week will eventually add up to a little extra shopping.