The Branded Daily Digest

Tag: finance

  • Tips to Save Up for Your Next Vacation

    Tips to Save Up for Your Next Vacation

    It’s no secret that vacations are expensive. According to Business Insider, the average American spends $1,979 on summer vacations. If you already live your life on a budget, putting together this amount of money might feel out of reach, especially if you need to save for an entire family. Before you say goodbye to your dream of visiting Paris or Bangkok, consider creating a vacation fund for your next vacation. 

    Plan Out Your Entire Vacation to Set Your Funding Goal

    Before you start saving up for vacation by putting money into a jar or a savings account, you should establish a budget. If you don’t know how much your dream vacation will cost, how will you know how much you need to save?

    This is where creating a vacation fund becomes fun. Browse travel websites and start writing down what time of year you’d like to visit, how long you want to stay and what activities you want to do. Factor in the cost of flights, booking a hotel and even renting a car to determine how much your vacation will cost. Make sure to include a budget for gas if you plan on driving – otherwise remember to set aside cash for public transportation, food, tourist attractions and souvenirs. Once you plan out your entire getaway, look at the total price and set this as your vacation fund goal. 

    Now that you have a goal established, you can start saving up for vacation! 

    Open a Special Savings Account Dedicated to Vacations

    One of the first steps you should take in saving up for a vacation is opening a dedicated savings account specifically for your vacation fund. If possible, choose a savings account that offers a high-interest rate so you can make a few dollars here and there from interest. Having a dedicated savings account helps you resist spending the money in it. Simply deposit money and then forget about the account until you reach your goal. Don’t withdraw anything – using the money in this account only puts your getaway further out of reach.

    Direct Deposit Part of Your Check Into Savings

    If you receive direct deposits from work and your income currently goes directly into your checking account, talk to your payroll contact about splitting your direct deposit so part of it also goes into your savings account. If your income automatically goes into your savings account, you will soon forget that you even make this money in the first place. This is an easy way to save money without thinking about it.

    Set Aside Part of Your Tax Refund

    If you’re on track to receive a tax refund in the upcoming tax season, funnel part or all of your tax return into your vacation fund. Unless you need the money for essentials, depositing it directly into your vacation savings account will help you save up even faster.

    Use Money-Saving Apps

    One of the hardest parts of saving money is actually depositing it into your vacation savings account. Apps like Digit and Qapital automatically transfer money from your checking to your savings account based on an algorithm that determines how much you can afford to save without over-drafting your account. Qapital has a feature that can round up your purchases to the nearest $5 and deposit it into savings, or set a certain amount to move over only a weekly basis. 

    Work a Side Job

    If you already live on a budget or you’re willing to give up some free time, working a side job like taking paid surveys is an option. There are plenty of part-time and seasonal jobs out there to choose from. From becoming a server, bartender or barista to working at your favorite clothing store, you can choose a side job that will give you extra income and opportunities. Here’s a tip: When you set up your direct deposit, have each paycheck go directly into your vacation fund.

    Set a Budget

    Setting a budget for your household helps you save for a vacation – but it’s also just good financial responsibility. If you don’t already have a budget set, use an app like Mint or Goodbudget to determine your monthly budget. These apps allow you to set a budget for each category of spending from monthly bills to essentials like groceries or eating out. Play around with your budget to see how little you can live off. Once you determine your budget, you will have an idea of how much extra money you can contribute to your vacation fund every month.

    Learn to Work the Credit Card Reward System

    There are tons of credit cards out there offering rewards like cashback, hotel points or airline miles. If you learn to work the credit card reward system properly, you can use it to help fund part or all of your upcoming vacation. If you don’t already have a rewards credit card, do some research to see which one will give you the best return on investment. Most rewards cards have sign-up bonuses, so take that into consideration. To get the most out of your rewards card, use it to pay for everything in your life and then pay it off every month so you don’t incur interest charges. You’re essentially earning a free vacation by using a credit card responsibly.

    Rent Out a Room in Your Home

    If your home has a spare bedroom, a guest suite or granny flat – and you don’t mind a stranger staying in your home – rent it out on Airbnb, Vrbo or another property rental website and put the money you earn from it toward your vacation fund. Of course, make sure short-term rentals are legal in your area first! 

    Eat Out Less

    You can save a surprising amount of money by making your own meals. If you hate to cook, consider watching cooking videos online to brush up your skills. When you do eat out, you can save money by going during happy hour to take advantage of specials, or by sharing a meal. You don’t have to give up eating out – just be smart about it. Local publications may offer coupons for local restaurants to help you save even more money.

    Drive for a Ridesharing App or Food Delivery

    If you own a newer car with good gas mileage and you have a clean driving record, consider driving for a ridesharing app to earn extra money for your next vacation. Just a few rides per day can add up, and saving up for vacation will go by much faster. If you prefer not to drive with strangers in your car, you can still drive your car to deliver food using apps like UberEats or Postmates.

    Cancel Subscriptions

    Free up the funds to save for vacation by canceling non-essential subscriptions. Go through your bank statement and decide whether the money you spend on your monthly underwear subscription or fancy coffee is worth it. Do you really need a new magazine with recipes every month? Cancel any non-essential subscriptions you have and deposit the extra money into your vacation fund instead.

    Pick Up Freelance Work

    If you’re a writer, graphic designer, social media marketer, web developer, transcriber or have other useful skills, put them to use as a freelancer. Whether you want to find your own clients or apply for freelance positions at companies, just putting in a few hours per week of freelance work can really contribute to your vacation fund. Freelance work offers you the benefit of working from home so you don’t even need to leave your house to earn extra money.

    Get Paid to Take Online Surveys

    One last way to save up for your next vacation is by making money taking surveys. Branded Surveys gives you different surveys from Fortune 500 companies who want to complete market research. You earn points for each survey you take – and every 1000 points earns you $10. You can take the surveys on your computer or from your phone while you’re waiting in line. As long as you answer your surveys honestly, you can earn money to put towards your vacation fund.

    Saving up for a vacation is easy when you can get paid to take surveys on Branded Surveys. Sign up and create an account today to start earning money for your vacation fund!

  • 8 Ways to Get the Best Deals on Groupon

    8 Ways to Get the Best Deals on Groupon

    All of us have used Groupon at least once, probably for a random restaurant deal or upcoming event. However, was it a good enough experience that you used it again?

    Personally, I know there are times I’ve missed a line in the fine print or realized an expiration date snuck up on me. These are silly details I let myself lose money on, which led me to not use the site many times again…until I learned how to use Groupon at its best that is. 

    Here are the best ways to maximize savings on Groupons.

    Sell Unused Groupon Vouchers

    Let’s say you love good lasagne and buy a voucher for an Italian restaurant. However, after you realize you’ll be traveling a lot and won’t be in town. Instead of simply letting the voucher expire, sell it online to a daily deal market platform, like CoupFlip. In most major cities in the USA, you can buy deals and sell deals in a simple process. Here’s what you do:

    • Copy the URL from your deal and paste it into the form.
    • Right there and then, you’ll receive a buyback offer.

    And hey, while you’re on the site, you may see a deal you want to buy yourself!

    Get Social with Groupon

    With so many sites we are constantly checking and exploring, it’s understandable that we are not on Groupon every week. However, if you’re anything like me, you’re on Facebook at least once a day. Groupon’s Facebook does a great job of sharing new and popular deals. By following Groupon on Facebook, deals that may be a great fit will show up right in your news feed.

    Or hey, if you check Branded Surveys each week to read the latest blogs? Pop over to our Deals section while you’re here. We feature Groupon offers right in our Local Deals section!

    Don’t Limit Your City Search: Look at Nearby Towns & Attractions

    If you’ve programmed your own zip code and city in, that’s great. However, you might want to look at cities farther from your own. An hour away, there may be a mind-blowing deal on a hot air balloon ride or concert. And, if you’re driving a few hours to a major theme park anyhow, definitely make sure to go on Groupon first. You could save a seriously good chunk of change.

    Be Highly Mindful of Groupon Redeeming Details & Expiration Dates

    Certain Groupons can be difficult to redeem, so buying them is leading you into failure. For example, I once purchased a Groupon for a murder mystery dinner theater. I was really looking forward to redeeming my two tickets, which had an expiration date until I looked on their site and saw they were sold out through that expiration date.

    With this in mind, just make sure to check out the event, product or service website first before buying. If you see that everything is sold out? You just saved yourself buying a Groupon deal that wouldn’t have been possible.

    Refer Your Friends for Dollars

    Once you start seeing these saving tips kick into you gear, you may have so much enthusiasm for Groupon that you can’t help but share it with the world. For each friend you refer? As long as they spend $10 or more in the first three days, you receive $10. If you refer 4 friends, that’s already an extra $40 in your wallet.  

    Get Cash Back By Shopping Groupon

    Did you know your credit card may partner with Groupon? Use it or your favorite cashback site to get dollars back on each purchase you make with Groupon. For example, I like to use BeFrugal.com, which often offers great percentages on purchasing Groupon deals.

    Personalize Your Groupon to Show it What You Like

    The same way you watch your friends shop or order to see what they like, teach Groupon what you like by categorizing your deals into their proper genres. By adding certain restaurants, shops and such into “favorite” categories, Groupon will do a better job of guiding you to the deals that fit your lifestyle. I love water activities such as snorkeling and jet-skiing, so if an amazing deal for scuba diving certification pops up? It’s going to be an easy purchase decision I’ll be excited about.  

    Try Hopping on Groupon More Often

    The more time you spend on Groupon, the better feel and understanding you’ll have for it. You’ll come to see which deals pop up often versus the rare ones that are truly good specials. For example, I jumped on a deal for a Mexican restaurant near my home, thinking it’d save me money. When I arrived, I realized that the food was so reasonably priced, I had to spend more than I would normally have just to hit that amount I needed for the discount. When each burrito was only $7, I had to buy two drinks just to reach that $21 mark!

     

    Groupon is an amazing choice, but so are Amazon gift cards. Amazon sells a wide variety of goods, from pantry items to luxury items. Consider taking surveys for Amazon gift cards on your spare time.

  • Tips to Saving Thousands of Dollars

    Tips to Saving Thousands of Dollars

    $1,000 sounds like a lot of money, right? It’s months of groceries, a plane ticket or an obscene amount of McDonald’s ice cream cones. But think of it this way, saving just $83.33 extra per month adds up to $1,000 extra per year. And if you put even more away, then you’re well on your way to saving thousands of dollars a year. To make that money faster, here’s how to save $1,000 in record time:

    Cut TV time by half.

    According to the NY Daily News, Nielsen reports that the average American is watching 5 hours of television a day. I challenge you to do what I have myself: Cut down on that number by half, at least. Why?

    1. The more TV you watch, the more commercials you see.

      Advertisements expose you to products and services you then want to buy. The fewer commercials you watch, the less you’re exposed to want and purchase.

    2. TV = Energy costs.

      Powering your television requires electricity, which costs money. You’d be surprised how much a little energy conservation can help you in saving thousands of dollars a year.

    Try this: Turn off the TV for several extra hours each week and crack open a book or bring out a family board game instead.

    (There are many other benefits, as well. I’ve discovered that reading before bed gives my eyes a rest from bright screens, which helps me relax and fall asleep better.)

    Quit the bookstore.

    Perusing Barnes and Noble is fun but dangerous. With new books costing upwards of $18 to $30, buying even a few adds up to over $60 real fast. Instead of walking into temptation, hit the local library. Libraries provide vast amounts of books, CDs, audiobooks, DVDs and more for FREE. With so many options, you’re sure to find great material…without the credit card bill after.

    If you’d rather own the book, check out second-hand shops and Goodwills first. I’m often shocked at the level of selection and incredibly low prices.

    Switch to LED Bulbs.

    Using energy-efficient bulbs is not only eco-friendly, it’s bank account friendly. The less energy a light bulb takes, the less money it costs to keep it lit.

    Newer LED bulbs are more expensive initially, typically $5 to $9 dollars more than old-school CFLs, but save you money in the long run. Check out the data. LEDs:

    • Are good for 25,000 hours vs. the older CFL bulbs at 4,000 – 6,000 hours (meaning you have to purchase and replace 5 CFL bulbs across the lifespan of just one LED).
    • Essentially last 25 years.
    • They are healthier because they don’t contain mercury, while CFL bulbs often do.

    Limit your Redbox Renting & DVD Buying.

    Redbox appears cheap. At $1.50 a day for DVDs and $2 a day for Blu-Ray, it doesn’t sound like much, right? But the cost sneaks up. With so much on our plates, it’s easy to let several days pass before realizing The Lion King is still sitting in our DVD player.

    If you rent Blu-Ray, typically return within 3 days and rent once a month:

    $2 a day x 3 days = $6

    $6 fee x 12 times per year = $72 a year on Redbox fees

    As with the bookstore, check your local library for movies first and save that money.DVDs are wicked expensive. Plus, with so many streaming options, they’re easy to do without. Currently, subscribed to Netflix? Find a flick on there. Always make the most out of what you’re already paying for.

    Learn the top grocery store hacks.

    Grocery stores have been designed to trap you into spending your money. Here are 3 basic tips to hang onto yours:

    1. Always buy “off brands”.

      Safeway oats instead of Quaker. Kroger peanut butter instead of Skippy. According to Business Insider, the store brand grocery products are approximately 25% less expensive than the national brands. For example:

      Name Brand Products: $275 per month x 12 months per year = $3,300 a year
      Grocery Store Brands: (25% off Name Brand Price) $206.25 a month x 12 = $2,475 a year

      Savings per year: $825

      Wow. Save nearly $1,000 a year right there.

    2. Make a shopping list.

      When I sit down and make a grocery list, even just for 5 minutes, it makes me enter the grocery store with a purpose. As long as I stick to my list, I come out with groceries I truly need…instead of a freakish amount of sugar-coated cereals and circus cracker cookies.

    3. Grocery Shop on Wednesdays.

      Most grocery stores double up deals on Wednesdays, offering sale prices from the week before and the week to come.

     

    Learn more tricks for saving major dollars here and make more to save more money by taking high paying surveys online. Paid surveys are an easy way to make extra money. Sign up with Branded Surveys today!

  • 6 Apps That Can Make You Money

    6 Apps That Can Make You Money

    Think about the hundreds of decisions you make daily, plus the dozens of activities you are involved with every single day; running errands, buying food, paying bills, walking and taking care of pets, filling up your car with gas, answering emails, and so much more. They say if you’re good at something, then don’t do it for free, right? Below are a series of “easy” money-making apps that you can download and use for free on your smartphone, which can make you extra money doing all of the ‘normal’ or day-to-day things in life.

    Foap App – Cash for Your Custom Photography

    I love capturing images around my neighborhood, whether that’s a summer sunset or a cup of coffee from my favorite cafe. Why not earn money for these images? You can, with the app Foap. Foap is a site that enables anyone with a smartphone to upload photos and potentially make money from them. Large companies like MasterCard, Volvo, Malibu, and Garnier are the types of companies that will work with you and purchase one of your photos online, through this app. The Foap app works by empowering the user to sell their photography for another company to buy, then use.

    Here’s how Foap works:

      1. Download the app for free.
      2. Upload photos.
    1. Make $5 for every photo sold.
    2. Sell that photo as many times as you want; there’s no limit.

    Receipt Hog – Earn Cash for Your Receipts

    Imagine this: You’re at the grocery store getting ingredients for your favorite meal, and you’ve just paid at the register and, upon getting your receipt, the cashier hands you more money. Receipt Hog essentially does just that –  research companies want to see what items customers are purchasing and willing to pay for such information. So, through this app, you can earn cash, gift cards, or Amazon cards by shopping and taking a photo of your receipt.

    All you have to do for Receipt Hog is:

    1. Take a photograph of your receipt.
    2. The app processes the image.
    3. You receive coins for each transaction.
    4. With enough coins, you get to cash out with real money (or gift cards)

    Fieldagent – Make Money through Photos and Surveys

    Take on money-making missions with the Fieldagent app, where you’re paid money for doing simple tasks (such as taking photos of products, doing price-checks of products, secret shopping, and/or doing customer surveys), that actually add up to a good amount of money over time. An average job pays between $3 and $12 according to the website.

    One user, Marc Baskin, told me he made $180 in just a few months using this app. His tasks? Being a secret shopper at places he already shopped at. He “just took a few pictures of product placement in stores and answered a few questions. Really cool and easy app to use.”

    Marc mostly took tasks at national chains in his suburban neighborhood but saw even bigger opportunities with metropolitan areas like NYC. “There was once an audit of bars in NYC that paid something like $7 – $10 each bar and there were over 800 bars…” That’s potential for literally $1,000s of dollars for places that a person would normally visit while out socializing with friends.

    Here’s how the Fieldagent app works:

    1. Download the app.
    2. Find a task, aka a job listing, near you.
    3. Once accepted, you have 2 hours to complete it.
    4. Get paid upon finishing assignments.

    These responses offer real-time insights to companies and, in exchange, extra cash for you.

    GigWalk – Earn Extra Cash Through Secret Shopping

    Similar to Fieldagent, GigWalk pays users for completing tasks, such as secret shopping to review product placement, verifying product costs, and retail branding. Core GigWalk jobs include mystery shopping, retail and merchandising verification, taking pictures of products within their display cases, reviewing delivery services, and even testing out mobile apps.

    GigWalk offers really easy local tasks, such as:

    • Writing a review (like Yelp, only getting paid)
    • Taking a picture of a menu at a nearby restaurant
    • Verifying hours a business is open

    This isn’t exactly chump change, tasks can pay anywhere from $2 to $90.

    One Catch: It’s only in larger cities right now, such as New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco, but it’s steadily growing.

    Findyr – Task-Based Work in the US

    Unlike GigWalk, which is only in a few metropolitan areas, Findyr is a task-based app that’s all over the country. On average, an assignment on Findyr pays $7.50 per assignment. However, some companies will give bonuses as big as $50 for tasks – that’s a nice steak dinner right there.

    Findyr app users are paid to:

    • Take a photo of a supermarket product
    • Capture a video of a newsworthy event
    • Answer fast opinion surveys
    • Take part in contests and more

    VP of Marketing, Vik Panda, tells me he sees people on Findyr gain more than just money. Users discover new experiences and develop new skills, such as “regular people (who) hone journalistic skills when covering newsworthy events around them.”

    It also heightens city pride and knowledge. Panda says that “so many of us take for granted what is right near us, but with a little cash incentive, people now want to tell the world about everything cool their city has to offer.”

    App Trailers

    Do you enjoy previews? I know most people go to the movies for the feature film, but I secretly get a thrill watching the previews beforehand. There’s something kind of exciting about getting an exclusive sneak peek.

    With App Trailers, you actually get paid to watch trailers of new hot apps. Simply sign up, watch videos and start earning points that translate to PayPal money.

    Incorporate these daily tasks and apps into your everyday life, and you may be surprised at how much extra money you have within just a few months.

     

     

     

     

    If you prefer to make money on your computer, consider taking surveys for money. This an easy way to make money online, it’s also one of the most popular ways to make money. The best thing is you can take paid surveys anytime and anywhere you want. Then, one you have enough points you can cash out for cash or gift cards.