So in my quest to make/save money while partially unemployed, I've stumbled upon some legit sites that offer random freebies that are just there for the asking. So, while like my post about online surveys earlier, you won't be making any huge monetary strides with these - every little bit helps, right? Here's some sites I've found that so far seem useful:
SavingsAndCoupons.com - you have to sign up for the links, but there's a pretty extensive listing of random items you can follow through and request.
Free-Product-Samples - a blog with extensive and somewhat frequent updates about offers.
Walmart's Free Samples - Walmart even has a listing of items.
StartSampling.com - a fairly good list of interesting offers.
Bargainist.com - updated every few days or so.
Shop4Freebies.com - updated daily.
FreeGrabber.com - updated daily, or close to it.
Now, you might be thinking, why bother? How is a few samples arriving at my door in two months gonna help? Well, as I mentioned above, this isn't a huge solution. But my thought process is, if I can save a few bucks next month by not having to buy a few necessities at the store, then that extra $10 or $20 might make all the difference. For instance, today I saw offers for medications (heartburn, cold remedies, digestive aids), household products (laundry detergent, dryer sheets, window cleaner), personal products (feminine products, colognes, shampoo, lotion), business supplies (flash drives, pens, sticky notes), and even food products (toaster pastries, sweeteners, health food snacks). So imagine that in two months you're still having a hard time finding work...but instead of having to go to the store, you at least have some samples to last you through until another week and your next paycheck arrives.
At least that's my idea, anyways.
Some recommendations:
1) If you already have a PO Box, use it. I'm not sure how much junk mail any one company might send, so at least keep it confined to somewhere other than your house.
2) Use a separate email addy. If you're like me, you already have one for those online surveys you're doing in your free time, so that might be a good place to send any potential spam.
And finally, to wrap up this entry - I'm on Twitter, now! Add @SHIKrants to your following list and be notified as soon as I get irritated and rant about something new.
Monday, January 18, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Eating My Words
So you know how I said in my post a few days ago about the Craigslist scams that I hadn't heard of anyone ever having to submit to a credit report in order for a job? Well, I have to retract that statement.
One of my friends just recently had a job offer REVOKED after the company did a credit check and found two outstanding accounts.
My friend, like many others, has some overdue bills. The economy is tough. People made stupid decisions when they were younger. Hell, some people just forget to write the checks every month. (In my case, thank God for automatic bill pay!) What I don't understand is...how does having an eight year old hospital bill affect your ability to do your job? I mean, I guess I could understand if you were working with money, giving financial advice, etc. But for a help desk technician? Really?!
Let me get this straight - you didn't hire him because he has bad credit. He has bad credit because he didn't pay all of his bills. He can continue to not pay his bills by not having a job...
...and then who breaks the cycle? The government? He can try to pay off his bills on unemployment, I guess, but I have a feeling most people would like to see their tax dollars better spent.
One of my friends just recently had a job offer REVOKED after the company did a credit check and found two outstanding accounts.
My friend, like many others, has some overdue bills. The economy is tough. People made stupid decisions when they were younger. Hell, some people just forget to write the checks every month. (In my case, thank God for automatic bill pay!) What I don't understand is...how does having an eight year old hospital bill affect your ability to do your job? I mean, I guess I could understand if you were working with money, giving financial advice, etc. But for a help desk technician? Really?!
Let me get this straight - you didn't hire him because he has bad credit. He has bad credit because he didn't pay all of his bills. He can continue to not pay his bills by not having a job...
...and then who breaks the cycle? The government? He can try to pay off his bills on unemployment, I guess, but I have a feeling most people would like to see their tax dollars better spent.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Bad Advertising is Like No Advertising...
I went to an open call for a job interview today for some part time work, and boy what a waste of time that was! After Google-mapping the directions, I found myself in a residential neighborhood a half an hour later - definitely not at the corporate office I was supposed to be looking for. After returning home and verifying the address, I attempted to call the number that had been listed with the job ad, and though it's well within office hours - it went straight to voice mail!
So hey, all you employers - the next time you spend all that time (and money!) on advertising for new employees - make sure you enable them to actually apply for the job. Thanks.
So hey, all you employers - the next time you spend all that time (and money!) on advertising for new employees - make sure you enable them to actually apply for the job. Thanks.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Returned Statement Fees, Returned
To follow up from an earlier post, I did indeed [finally] receive a reply from my bank about the returned statement fees that had been accruing in my account. You see, after the first month, I switched to e-statements...but then I noticed I continued to receive a monthly fee for returned mail! Fortunately, the bank admitted their mistakes and refunded the fees in full. Another score for the little guy.
Always remember - the only one looking out for you is you.
Always remember - the only one looking out for you is you.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Et tu, Craigslist?
As someone who is self-employed, I've always been a huge fan of Craigslist. But if you've visited the site recently, you've been bombarded with warnings about the recent scams plaguing the site. And if you're looking for work, you've been bombarded with the resulting spam.
I've spent a good deal of time over the holidays planning for upcoming work, and no matter how good I think I've become at spotting a phony posting, I'm still receiving about five spam replies a week, asking for me to buy my credit report in order to 'proceed with the hiring process.'
First of all, in case anyone is wondering, I have heard that occasionally some employers want to check your credit report, but I have yet to meet anyone where that's actually happened. Secondly, any company who is going to do that is going to do it themselves, and would probably have a business account with their preferred agency to do that very thing.
But moving back to the original problem - how to eliminate applying for bogus jobs? Unless Craigslist starts to implement paying for posting for all of it's cities, the spammers are going to continue to undermine the site. But there are a few things you can do:
1. If there is an actual email address posted, do a Google search for that email. Most of the spammer emails are showing up on a site called flakelist.org which maintains a database of confirmed spammers. If the spammer is relatively new, you can still spot a fake by pulling up multiple posts in different regions by the same email. Also, just a hint: firstnamelastnamerandomnumber@gmail.com is probably not real.
2. If the posting is using the Craigslist default emailing system, try grabbing a section of text and doing a similar Google search. But, by nature, these might be harder to weed out.
3. Help a brotha' out. If you determine a posting is illegitimate, then flag the posting as spam. If everyone helps monitor the site, maybe at some point these spammers will get tired and move on.
In the meantime, good luck in that job hunt.
I've spent a good deal of time over the holidays planning for upcoming work, and no matter how good I think I've become at spotting a phony posting, I'm still receiving about five spam replies a week, asking for me to buy my credit report in order to 'proceed with the hiring process.'
First of all, in case anyone is wondering, I have heard that occasionally some employers want to check your credit report, but I have yet to meet anyone where that's actually happened. Secondly, any company who is going to do that is going to do it themselves, and would probably have a business account with their preferred agency to do that very thing.
But moving back to the original problem - how to eliminate applying for bogus jobs? Unless Craigslist starts to implement paying for posting for all of it's cities, the spammers are going to continue to undermine the site. But there are a few things you can do:
1. If there is an actual email address posted, do a Google search for that email. Most of the spammer emails are showing up on a site called flakelist.org which maintains a database of confirmed spammers. If the spammer is relatively new, you can still spot a fake by pulling up multiple posts in different regions by the same email. Also, just a hint: firstnamelastnamerandomnumber@gmail.com is probably not real.
2. If the posting is using the Craigslist default emailing system, try grabbing a section of text and doing a similar Google search. But, by nature, these might be harder to weed out.
3. Help a brotha' out. If you determine a posting is illegitimate, then flag the posting as spam. If everyone helps monitor the site, maybe at some point these spammers will get tired and move on.
In the meantime, good luck in that job hunt.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Unemployed? Scrape by with Online Surveys...
In 'real life' I run a business and do quite a bit of freelancing, but over the last year finding work has becoming more and more difficult. Over the holidays, I finally played around a bit with paid online surveys. Like most people, I figured all of them were scams until a friend of mine mentioned she was actually making a little bit of cash in her free time with them. So, as usual, with a little bit of internet research under my belt, I gave it a shot.
Tip #1: The first thing you should know is, don't quit your day job. I read several good websites and blogs, and the 'full-time online paid survey professionals' generally agree that the most anyone can reasonably expect to make is about $200 a month. While that definitely won't pay your bills, that's still a nice dent. Hell, that would cover my health insurance each month. So instead of playing MindJolt games in the evening before heading to bed, I've been trying my hand at spending an hour or so each day, filling out surveys.
Tip #2: You gotta put in a LOT for a little reward. At least to start. First, you need to sign up for around 15 - 20 legitimate sites. (Legitimate = rated well by others AND not charging you for joining.) Second, each site may require anywhere from six to sixty pages of interest forms for you to fill out so that surveys can be best matched to you. Thirdly, you must establish a good history with many of the companies. Most companies will send you few surveys to start with, and once you have successfully and diligently responded to surveys with little to no reward - then you start receiving invites for the paying / points surveys!
Tip #3: Create a separate email account. While I've yet to receive any type of spam from any company, there are A LOT of surveys to sort out, and having a new email account is very helpful.
After a month, I've earned a bit of spare change, and would recommend the following sites currently based on my own experiences:
Global Test Market - surveys emailed weekly
InboxDollars - get paid $0.02 for each email you read
Lightspeed Panel - surveys emailed weekly
MyPoints - get paid to read emails, give reviews, and points on purchases (comment for an invite)
Toluna - surveys emailed weekly (comment for an invite)
(Why an invite? Help me stay employed, people.)
Anyways, so far so good - I'll post a new update every month or so and tell you if I'm, ahem, slamming my head into my keyboard yet.
Tip #1: The first thing you should know is, don't quit your day job. I read several good websites and blogs, and the 'full-time online paid survey professionals' generally agree that the most anyone can reasonably expect to make is about $200 a month. While that definitely won't pay your bills, that's still a nice dent. Hell, that would cover my health insurance each month. So instead of playing MindJolt games in the evening before heading to bed, I've been trying my hand at spending an hour or so each day, filling out surveys.
Tip #2: You gotta put in a LOT for a little reward. At least to start. First, you need to sign up for around 15 - 20 legitimate sites. (Legitimate = rated well by others AND not charging you for joining.) Second, each site may require anywhere from six to sixty pages of interest forms for you to fill out so that surveys can be best matched to you. Thirdly, you must establish a good history with many of the companies. Most companies will send you few surveys to start with, and once you have successfully and diligently responded to surveys with little to no reward - then you start receiving invites for the paying / points surveys!
Tip #3: Create a separate email account. While I've yet to receive any type of spam from any company, there are A LOT of surveys to sort out, and having a new email account is very helpful.
After a month, I've earned a bit of spare change, and would recommend the following sites currently based on my own experiences:
Global Test Market - surveys emailed weekly
InboxDollars - get paid $0.02 for each email you read
Lightspeed Panel - surveys emailed weekly
MyPoints - get paid to read emails, give reviews, and points on purchases (comment for an invite)
Toluna - surveys emailed weekly (comment for an invite)
(Why an invite? Help me stay employed, people.)
Anyways, so far so good - I'll post a new update every month or so and tell you if I'm, ahem, slamming my head into my keyboard yet.
A new APR of YourArmAndYourLeg%
Welcome back from the break in December! With the holidays and the 'real life job', I took a month hiatus, but I imagine I'll have plenty to gripe about 2010. With that said, let's welcome in the new year with a rant that is affecting many more than me, I'm sure.
I got two lovely letters in the mail a few days ago from my bank. One was informing me of new legislation that had passed that imposed limits on banks from arbitrarily raising APR's or minimum payments, which goes into effect in June 2010.
The other letter was informing me that my APR was being raised by over 300% in February 2010, unless I chose to protest the raise and close my account.
I hopped online and did a bit of research, and found I'm not alone. Many banks pulled this in the second quarter of 2009, and a second wave hit at the end of the year. I'll refrain from ranting on the idiocy of passing a law that essentially forced the banks' hands instead of restraining them completely (I do try not to get too politically involved here, for now), but I will pass along the tips I learned in my research:
Don't completely close your account. Go ahead and pay down or transfer your balance if you can, and for heaven's sake DON'T charge anything new to your card. Once you protest the APR hike, you can continue to pay down your balance at your OLD rate, so long as you don't purchase anything new. Once your card is paid off, leave the account open but unused. Every six months, make a small purchase and pay it off completely that month. This way, your credit rating is saved by still having the 'active' account, but the greedy bank gets nothin' from you.
In the meantime, I'm looking for a credit union.
I got two lovely letters in the mail a few days ago from my bank. One was informing me of new legislation that had passed that imposed limits on banks from arbitrarily raising APR's or minimum payments, which goes into effect in June 2010.
The other letter was informing me that my APR was being raised by over 300% in February 2010, unless I chose to protest the raise and close my account.
I hopped online and did a bit of research, and found I'm not alone. Many banks pulled this in the second quarter of 2009, and a second wave hit at the end of the year. I'll refrain from ranting on the idiocy of passing a law that essentially forced the banks' hands instead of restraining them completely (I do try not to get too politically involved here, for now), but I will pass along the tips I learned in my research:
Don't completely close your account. Go ahead and pay down or transfer your balance if you can, and for heaven's sake DON'T charge anything new to your card. Once you protest the APR hike, you can continue to pay down your balance at your OLD rate, so long as you don't purchase anything new. Once your card is paid off, leave the account open but unused. Every six months, make a small purchase and pay it off completely that month. This way, your credit rating is saved by still having the 'active' account, but the greedy bank gets nothin' from you.
In the meantime, I'm looking for a credit union.
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