Want to make SM but getting frustrated

[Chloe'sMom]

I really want to make SM and my first month on sunshine I earned quite a bit - but I am getting FRUSTRATED! I seem to only qualify for a survey everyo ther day on Greenfield and I NEVER qualify on OTX - to the point where I don't even bother. My offers don't seem to credit half the time either. I only get about 30 minutes a night to do Sunshine rewards and this month I've only made about $13.00. Right now I'm sitting at $57.00 for the quarter. If September goes like August I won't be able to make SM :( Any suggestions or ideas?

~Amanda

[deana]

Amanda,
I am sorry to hear you have been frustrated. It can be hard when you have time constraints.... It definately does take time! Unfortunately it is also hard if you are only able to try for surveys at one time of the day..sometimes I have to keep trying several times during the day to finally get mine in. Fortunately I work night shift and I am around during the day to try several times if I do not qualify. If you do not qualify for the daily survey, is there anyway you can try back in an hour or so later that night??

My only advice to you about surveys is to keep trying.... sometimes I also have a bad streak with OTX and cannot get them. I keep trying those daily though because they are worth $.75. The offers can be frustrating at times...again, I have lucky spurts, and unlucky ones. Make sure you clear cookies before doing them, change gmail addresses once in awhile, watch for confirmation emails, and don't do too many in a week. Watch the automatic credit for me post in the forum to see what people are having luck with.

Finally...the best way to earn money is the shopping. My budget is definately extremely tight these days...so shopping for me is for the necessities or things I would buy anyway. Browse around...you will find some great deals! How about photo processing? I believe York still has a one time offer in the "offers" section (not shopping) that gives new customers a nice cashback ($6 I think?). I have also been trying a lot of the other developers in the shopping section. I have a note on my desk to take advantage of the coupon codes at kodak and photoworks before labor day. You can get some great cashbacks as new customers from these sites, and it is a great way to try out each of the companies and see who you like best. I also watch for coupons, sales and free shipping at many sites. I have gotten some amazing sales on drugstore items, ink cartridges for my printer, new shoes and cleats for the kids for back to school, etc. And then on top of the sales, I get my SR cashback. Have you tried the EBAY offer that is on the homepage? That is an easy one as well. I have also done the blockbuster offer and we have enjoyed having that service for about 8 months. We did have to drop our contract down to a cheaper monthly fee after a few months to work with our budget.

Good luck! Keep trying, keep looking for deals... And if you do not make SM, at least look at how much money you made while trying. (That was what I kept thinking when it was my first quarter trying for SM)

[jaime]

Do you do any shopping online? I get about 20% of my earnings from Shopping! I try to go through SR for any purchase I make! If I know someone is going to buy something big, I make sure that I log them in through my SR account. My friends are to lazy to sign up so I'll gladly take there credits!

The daily surveys can be frustrating! I went almost a whole month only qualifying for like surveys! Keep trying, I will try like 8 times in a day! Make sure you do all of the paid clicks and at least try for the scratch off everyday.

Do you do the offers? There were recently 2 pretty big credit card offers. All you have to do is use the card once. Hang in there. I promise you it is worth it!

[Chloe'sMom]

I have done some of the shopping but in truth we are on a tight budget so to buy just to buy makes no sense. I have gotten cash back on FTD when I ordered some funeral flowers, RedEnvelope for my SIL's bday, and I ordered Zoobooks for one of my nephews birthdays. So yes I've used them but I can't stand the idea of ordering something just to get the cash back ;) I have done the Snapfish offer but at the moment I don't have 30+ pictures I need to develop. :blush:

I guess I'll just keep plugging away until something good comes along. I want to do another zoobooks offer, maybe I'll have to do it in September.

~Amanda

[Magical JenK]

I'm not familiar w/the Zoobooks orders, but sometimes there are holds on credits until the 15th of the following month. So if you do something in September, it won't credit until October 15th...again NO clue if the Zoobooks are an offer like this, but just something to consider if you're trying to make SM. Good news though, if it is an offer that has a hold until the following month's 15th, you'll be that far ahead for the next quarter's SM!

And for the surveys, I know what you mean. OTX HATES me. I have DH do the Greenfield ones, but they can be hit or miss w/him too. I'm for sure guilty of shopping just to get the SR credit :o, but mostly it's stuff I DID want...just maybe not right then....

Good luck & what I always try to remember is "hey this is $xx.xx more than I had before"...every penny counts & while maybe you're at only $13 for the month, just remember if you weren't doing SR, you wouldn't have that $13!!

[faithhope]

the time constraint is tough to get around.... but I think you have done wonderful job being new to the site and all... I find I get better at doing offers as I read people's hints and tips... hopefully you can get your offer credit rate up by reading the posts and trying some of the suggestions for security settings on your browser or email addresses etc.

Keep doing the surveys...hopefully you can reach the bonus level and that will help.

If I've got the numbers right... you need 43 more credits...and there are about 35 more days...so your daily goal to make SM is 1.23 which is doable without time constraints... once you become a SM it is easier to keep due to the extra survey and the faster credits on shopping.

If it just isn't possible due to the time constraints, then you still have gained the credits toward your goal.

Good Luck,

[OhMari]

I don't know if you are on a time restraint in the morning, but maybe get up 30 minutes earlier and try the survey's in the morning. I tend to have better luck in the morning. If I don't get the survey's within those 30 minutes, I quit. I treat those 30 minutes like a job. Also, you will probably get a chance at the scratch off, being on early in the morning. I try to do at least one paid-sign up a day. Those alone can take 10 minutes. Set up a new gmail account for the paid-sign ups, so you can check, if you have to verify a e-mail or not. Check out this link.
http://www.sunshinerewardsforum.com/showthread.php?t=11430 You can find at least one sign-up a day, that members tried and get credit fast.
This quarter has been slow, but steady, don't give up.

[Chloe'sMom]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I usually don't try doing anything in the morning because I am not a morning person and usually just stumble into the shower and then head off to day care and then to work. I can't do sunshine at work so I'm stuck with the evenings when I get home. But I'll try a few mornings and see where I end up.

I've been having good luck the last 2 days - my daughter has been sick so I've been staying home with her. Got Surveys the last 2 days and off to try for one now.

~amanda

[jaime]

The My Picture town offer was a very easy .75! It took about 2 days to credit, but only took me about 3 minutes to earn!! :clap: Easy offers like this one come up pretty often, so keep checking!

[luvdisney00]

I love drugstore.com. You can order stuff that you already use and must buy somewhere, and get 5% back. Plus they have a first time users coupon, (I think it's 15%) and free shipping on an order over $50.00. You can get regular drugstore items at good prices and some stuff that I don't see other places. Oh and they also have bonus pointswhere they give you 5% back in credit to use on a future purchase (in addition to SR credit).

HTH, I order a few times a quarter to help me make SM.

[mollyeilis]

Having such a short amount of time is hard! I wouldn't be able to get any of the surveys I get, if I weren't able to check in all day long. So I really feel for you there!

I was going to mention what Magical JenK said, that with the bigger paid offers there will be a hold to next month. And if there is ANY shopping you want to do this month, do it fast, b/c of the 21 day hold on shopping credits. It would be awful to do a bunch of shopping to make SM this quarter, only to have it credit for next quarter. (good for next quarter, of course, but very very frustrating for THIS month)

Good luck!!!!!

[Claiken]

I really want to make SM and my first month on sunshine I earned quite a bit - but I am getting FRUSTRATED! I seem to only qualify for a survey everyo ther day on Greenfield and I NEVER qualify on OTX - to the point where I don't even bother. My offers don't seem to credit half the time either. I only get about 30 minutes a night to do Sunshine rewards and this month I've only made about $13.00. Right now I'm sitting at $57.00 for the quarter. If September goes like August I won't be able to make SM :( Any suggestions or ideas?

~Amanda

at least otx is an option for you. Canadians apparently cant use that either. (i just tried)