While I had various headhunters looking for jobs, I scoured the newspapers and internet for a position. Nothing. While perusing the internet one day, I discovered a way I could make money while working from home. All I had to do was fill out simple surveys and they would send me a check! It seemed easy enough.

Cashcrate is one good company with good surveys. One of the things I like about cashcrate was that you can choose which surveys in which you can participate. There is a pull-down menu and if you wish, you can do only the surveys that are 100% free. There was no "catch" to this. Cashcrate even tells you exactly how much information you need to provide in order to get paid.

One rule in doing online surveys is to watch your phone bill. While most people are clever enough not to give out their credit card information online, not all of us read the "fine print." You certainly don't want to spend an entire day making $30 only to have most of it tacked on to your phone bill.

Of all the online survey companies I tried, I enjoyed using cashcrate the most. It was easy, fun and didn't take up a lot of my time. It's an ideal way to make a few extra dollars while staying at home.

The Click IQ survey company

Joining Click IQ takes about 15 minutes of your time. You need to fill out an extensive questionnaire regarding the household products you use, children in your family, occupation, etc. This information is collected to put you on a panel. When your profile is complete, you can view the number of panels you are eligible for.

Another positive aspect of Click IQ is the privacy issue. Since joining the site, I haven't received any spam mail, as a matter of fact, I haven't received many e-mails from them at all. Unlike some online survey sites that seem to flood your inbox every 15 minutes or so, Click IQ is very low-key. They will never provide your personal information to a third party and you won't be harassed by a series of unwanted telemarketing calls.

Click IQ is open to US residents only. They do not specify age, but request that you are the "decision maker" and in charge of the grocery shopping, so it's really not a site for young people, unless there are teenagers out there who actually do grocery shopping. This is about as rare as finding a paid survey site in which to make a living.