How To Grow Your PayPal Tree

 I found this image here.

In the blissful world of Crunchy, money in your PayPal is twice as good as money in your hand.As much as I wish my funds were limitless, they are no where near that! However, I have found some creative ways to nourish my PayPal Tree and coax it into blooming some cash for me. If you want to help your PayPal Tree grow a bit too, here are some ways!

1. Surveys 
 I have worked with two survey companies: MindField and Pinecone Research. I much prefer Pinecone to MindField. Pinecone pays $3 per survey and each survey takes about 10-20 minutes. You'll be filling out questions about potential products and possibly testing them. I've never tested anything for Pinecone, but MindField is the same premise and I have tested many items for them, some of which are on the market now! (Pepsi Next and Round Saltine Crackers. Yummm.) However, you get paid less for MindField, sometimes only a dollar for a survey that takes 20 minutes, so if you have free time or really want to test new products, go for it! I have earned about $45 with Pinecone in 6 months-ish and $30 with MindField.

2. Ibotta
Ibotta ( http://ibotta.com/r/txseg )  is hands down my favorite way to grow my PayPal Tree! I have this in "app" form on my iphone and it is also available in the Android app store. Essentially, you purchase groceries from their featured list and receive a "coupon" for that item, anywhere from $.50-$5.00. But this coupon doesn't give you a discount off your total, instead it puts money into your PayPal account! You can also receive bonuses for the number of friends you refer. This month I earned $25 and I've earned $60.75 since I downloaded it in March. And even better, you get $10 right away just for signing up! I will mention that some of the stuff is..... not food I would buy. But, there is still some natural whole foods that you can buy, right now they have lettuce, eggs, and raspberries featured. And they're definitely moving towards natural, organic foods too. Yay! (It's not just foods, it's also hygiene products, medicine, DVD's, etc)

3. Buying Co-Op's
This is a new one for me and you have to have some money up front. I'm part of a Co-Op on Facebook that buys lots of baby stuff (cloth diapers, baby legs, amber necklaces, etc) and the last time I bought diapers I ended up getting more than I needed. So I posted them for sale on a Buy/Sell/Trade page at the "going rate" and was able to make back some of the money that I had spent on them. Actually, I spent $72 on 15 diapers and I sold 4 of them for $43, so that's pretty good. If I were to sell all of them at this rate, I would make (minus shipping) about $50-$70 profit.

4. Mystery Shopping
This one also requires a little money up front. I work with two companies to do mystery shops. It's not nearly as glamorous as it sounds. I've bought pizza, I've gone shopping at Hot Topic, I've browsed at Maui Nix, I've used a valet, and so on. It's random stuff, they ask a lot of questions, and sometimes you don't get paid to buy something. (You get paid for your time, usually $10 a shop, but not reimbursed if you make a purchase) It's not just easy and fun, BUT it is money! And they put it right into your PayPal! If you're interested in mystery shopping, leave a comment or email me and I'll share the companies with you.

So, there you have it. Four ways to grow your PayPal Tree so you can buy more diapers and wraps and sweet little wooden teethers and soap nuts and essential oils and whatever else your crunchy little heart desires. Go forth! Make money!

(This is a good time to tell you that I'll probably make $1 if you sign up with Ibotta or MindField via the links above. And I would appreciate it too. I'll write you a personal thank you note. Pinecone offers no incentive, but it's still great!)