How do you keep track of your earnings?

[ambitiouz]

Hi everyone,
Since I active taking online surveys and have joined many sites, I was wondering how you all keep track of your earnings with each site, or basically how you stay organized with all the survey companies different payment methods, balances, etc. I know Lapislee and others frequently post your earnings with each site. I also like to keep a current total of my payments received, pending, unclaimed earnings, and total earnings. I was using a notebook but I would like an easier way to keep track since I am a member of many sites and will join more. I'm thinking about trying excel to organize everything. Any thoughts? thanks in advance

[paddysmum]

Hi everyone,
Since I active taking online surveys and have joined many sites, I was wondering how you all keep track of your earnings with each site, I'm thinking about trying excel to organize everything. Any thoughts? thanks in advance

I have 2 excel spreadsheets: one to keep track of registrations, and one to keep track of earning.

So far, my registrations sheet has just has names, but I may add password and login ids as I switch out passwords. I don't think I'm going to earn $600.00 with any individual company (I've earned $800.00 total since Jan), so I'm not adding any contact info or addresses at the time.

My earnings sheet keeps track of earnings by form: cash, check, paypal, gift card. I enter an item on the spreadsheet only when I request payment, and enter an "x" in the form column until I receive payment. Once I receive payment, I change the "x" to the dollar amount. I keep two totals: total requested and total received. I'm sure there are better systems, but this works for me.

[LapisLee]

Oddly, as meticulous as I am, I simply record the total amounts earned and received from the websites, except for the very few that do not keep track of your survey history and payments, such as ACOP, BuzzBack and Pinecone Research. When I receive a check or PayPal payment I write down the date, the company and the amount in a notebook and, so far, this has sufficed. I should probably also use a spreadsheet to keep track of my earnings.

I am also beginning to realize that it is probably pointless to sign up for more than about 40 survey sites, because the pool of surveys is limited and I am also finding that trial offer sites, no matter how legitimate and well-run, are more trouble than they are worth after the first cashout. I abhor all Sweepstake sites and really don't care too much for prizes or gift certificates other than from Amazon.

Soon, I will be working on a thread where I discuss tools, tactics and strategies that minimize time and maximize profits with regards to survey-taking. As I stated in the beginning of this forum, I believe it is possible to earn and receive $200-300 per month on a regular basis from 30-40 survey companies with as little as two to three hours of effort per day if it is done in a very effecient manner. I am not there yet, but I think that I have done as well as most after only six months. I remain skeptical of anyone claiming to earn and receive over $500 per month, on average, exclusively from paid online surveys; although I am certain that it is possible to earn that much, or even more, in one month occasionally.

[ambitiouz]

PaddysMum, that sounds like a good system you got going. I am creating a spreadsheet that lists the survey companies by name (columns), then by payment method such as points, cash, etc. Then i will be adding a column for received, pending, balances that have not yet met threshold to cashout.

Lee, I do believe that the more simple the record-keeping is, the easier it is to keep track. I wanted to try something other than paper to keep track because sometimes, i will forget all about a survey site and I'll have a balance just sitting there in my account and I forget to request payment. Yes, my goal is to make that amount each month with surveys, so I know I have to be organized to achieve that. You are right, 40 sites should be enough, although i've read sites that recommend joining at least 100 companies to get the maximize your earnings. What offer sites are you refering to? I think you are right in that they are not worth the trouble after the first cashout. I think I will be sticking to strictly survey sites.

[LapisLee]

I rue the day that I signed up for TikTik Cash. Reaching the $100 cash out point seemed difficult enough when I started, but now that I am at $86 it seems as though I have done every single trial offer that I consider safe. I am NOT going to do a Platinum, Gold & Silver offer just to cash out and Trend Micro anti-virus is blocking a lot of the sketchier-looking sites. I may have to resort to playing games!

I am also becoming less enamored with InboxDollars/SendEarnings as time goes on. The $30 cashout is a bit high, but the $3 'processing fee' is unforgiveable. I can see why they offer 'Gold Memberships' after your first $30 cashout, which allows your payments to be 'processed' after only a week instead of a month, BUT it is intolerable that they make you wait a month before EVEN sending your check in the first place. The Gold Membership is simply a carrot to keep you going for additional $30 cashouts, which appears to be taking much longer since I joined the Daily Survey Panel and OTX is now being offered by GTM and OpinionOutpost.

I am realizing that InboxDollars/SendEarnings are cannibalizing the OTX and other surveys from slightly better paying companies such as GlobalTestMarket, OpinionOutpost, Daily Survey Panel, GiveUsYour2Cents and others that offer the exact same surveys. It's ineffecient to belong to five or more companies that all feed from the same limited pool of surveys and at some point I am going to whittle down a few based on monthly earnings over time as opposed to total earnings, because I feel like InboxDollars/SendEarnings start out strong and get weaker over time. I have to stay with their mother company, Greenfield Online, due to their offering Invoke interactives, which make them worthwhile over the long run.

[ambitiouz]

I rue the day that I signed up for TikTik Cash. Reaching the $100 cash out point seemed difficult enough when I started, but now that I am at $86 it seems as though I have done every single trial offer that I consider safe. I am NOT going to do a Platinum, Gold & Silver offer just to cash out and Trend Micro anti-virus is blocking a lot of the sketchier-looking sites. I may have to resort to playing games!

I am also becoming less enamored with InboxDollars/SendEarnings as time goes on. The $30 cashout is a bit high, but the $3 'processing fee' is unforgiveable. I can see why they offer 'Gold Memberships' after your first $30 cashout, which allows your payments to be 'processed' after only a week instead of a month, BUT it is intolerable that they make you wait a month before EVEN sending your check in the first place. The Gold Membership is simply a carrot to keep you going for additional $30 cashouts, which appears to be taking much longer since I joined the Daily Survey Panel and OTX is now being offered by GTM and OpinionOutpost.

I am realizing that InboxDollars/SendEarnings are cannibalizing the OTX and other surveys from slightly better paying companies such as GlobalTestMarket, OpinionOutpost, Daily Survey Panel, GiveUsYour2Cents and others that offer the exact same surveys. It's ineffecient to belong to five or more companies that all feed from the same limited pool of surveys and at some point I am going to whittle down a few based on monthly earnings over time as opposed to total earnings, because I feel like InboxDollars/SendEarnings start out strong and get weaker over time. I have to stay with their mother company, Greenfield Online, due to their offering Invoke interactives, which make them worthwhile over the long run.

Yes, I agree about inbox dollars and send earnings. I still have a ways to go before cashout even with the $5 bonus, and I stopped doing their surveys because they only pay 50 cents when other companies pay more for the same survey. I'm so glad I didnt sign up with tik tik cash, the $100 min is outrageous. Offer sites are definitely less appealing after the first cash out.

[LapisLee]

Yes, I agree about inbox dollars and send earnings. I still have a ways to go before cashout even with the $5 bonus, and I stopped doing their surveys because they only pay 50 cents when other companies pay more for the same survey. I'm so glad I didnt sign up with tik tik cash, the $100 min is outrageous. Offer sites are definitely less appealing after the first cash out.
TikTik Cash sucks, but if I get the $100 payout this year I will unsubscribe with minimal complaint.

After taking all $1.00+ surveys I then do my surveys in this order:

1. Ampario OTX survey through YourFreeSurveys: $1.05
2. GiveUsYour2Cents: $0.70
3. Daily Survey Panel: $055 X 2 and $0.60 X 1
4. SendEarnings/InboxDollars (whichever is closer to $30 cashout first): $0.50 - $0.05 processing fee if you cash out every $30.
5. Greenfield: $0.00 with sweepstakes entry and chance at Invoke Interactives.

[eddieMX07]

Every since I saw Lee's earnings report on the YourFreeSurveys Blog (http://www.yourfreesurveys.com/wordpress), I wanted to make a file that kept track of all my earning but I only started my earning report by late June.

The only thing I use to track on my earnings is a Notepad document (txt). When I log in to a website, I note how much cash or points I have in my account. Sometimes I even copy and paste all of my survey history on a wps file (Microsoft Works Word Processor).

I also keep track of ALL the paid survey invites I receive. Here is an example of how I keep track of all the surveys I'm invites to...

7/3 10:04 PM (Disqualified but earned 10 points)
Survey #: 183899
Topic: Dog
Reward: 10 points
Length: 5 minutes

The first line is the time I received the email and next to it is where I put if I qualified for this survey or a message I was given to explain what happen after I completed the survey. The second line is the survey number or ID. Most survey panels give their surveys a unique number that can be found on the email invite or sometimes on the email link.

[schneiderman]

a giant workbook of speadsheets for each month.

I also have started one for what I earn daily so I can keep my eye on my goal.

[jash18]

Wow Eddie, you also keep track of the survey no, and the survey topic and date? I am too lazy to do that, all i do is keep track of money i might have earned, and which month i have completed the survey.

[paddysmum]

Wow Eddie, you also keep track of the survey no, and the survey topic and date? .


I find GMail useful for tagging email invites. I use labels such as "invites-Yes" "invites-No" "focus group invites-yes," etc.as backup for my survey earnings spreadsheet. I delete the "no" emails after a month or two. Tracking "no" messages can be used to calculate acceptance rates, and can help a survey taker decide which survey companies are a waste of time.

[eddieMX07]

Wow Eddie, you also keep track of the survey no, and the survey topic and date? I am too lazy to do that, all i do is keep track of money i might have earned, and which month i have completed the survey.

Yeah, I do keep track of all that information because you never know when a survey panel will fail to credit you will your incentive.

Here is another example of a more detailed entry of a survey I completed several weeks ago:

8/7 7:52 AM (Disqualified)
Survey number: 728855
Survey Hosted by: survey2.opinionworld.com (O15069ML)
Length: 10 minutes
Topic: New PC features
Reward: $3
Last Question Answered: Do you plan to buy a laptop in the next 12 months? No

The "Last Question Answered" line is where I record why I was disqualified.

[maplaver]

Yeah, I do keep track of all that information because you never know when a survey panel will fail to credit you will your incentive.

Here is another example of a more detailed entry of a survey I completed several weeks ago:



The "Last Question Answered" line is where I record why I was disqualified.

Wow... way to complicated for my taste... I just put in my spreadsheet what I have received and not what I have pending... otherwise is too stressful and that is something I don't need in my life right now!!!

[maplaver]

I find GMail useful for tagging email invites. I use labels such as "invites-Yes" "invites-No" "focus group invites-yes," etc.as backup for my survey earnings spreadsheet. I delete the "no" emails after a month or two. Tracking "no" messages can be used to calculate acceptance rates, and can help a survey taker decide which survey companies are a waste of time.

Wow, what a system!!! I don't waste my time with that (no offense, I'm ADD and OCD and cannot concentrate for that)... I erase the email invitation as soon as I start doing the survey and if I have problems later on, I almost never write to customer service because the answers I have received before are not helpful at all so why bother :rolleyes:

[LapisLee]

Wow, what a system!!! I don't waste my time with that (no offense, I'm ADD and OCD and cannot concentrate for that)... I erase the email invitation as soon as I start doing the survey and if I have problems later on, I almost never write to customer service because the answers I have received before are not helpful at all so why bother :rolleyes:
Actually almost 10% of my earnings are from emailing the survey companies on not compensating me properly, so that is about $100 since February.

[paddysmum]

I erase the email invitation as soon as I start doing the survey and if I have problems later on, I almost never write to customer service because the answers I have received before are not helpful at all so why bother :rolleyes:

I almost never write to customer service either, and for the exact same reasons. But earlier this year I won a $50 Amazon GC from Surveyspot's Instant Win Game, and it took SSI four:eek:months to send me the code. I may never have received it w/out my email invitation as proof.

[maplaver]

Actually almost 10% of my earnings are from emailing the survey companies on not compensating me properly, so that is about $100 since February.

Well good for you... I really don't care about email customer service at all!

[eddieMX07]

Wow... way to complicated for my taste... I just put in my spreadsheet what I have received and not what I have pending... otherwise is too stressful and that is something I don't need in my life right now!!!

Recording survey invites like that does have it's benefits. For example I have all the information need to cotact customer service if didn't receive an incentive. It also helps me identify who is hosting a survey. Test Spin has sent me a lot of surveys that are run by Greenfield Online. To know when you have been sent a Greenfield survey just look at the Survey ID. If it says GF in the front of the numbers, then you have Greenfield survey.

[maplaver]

Recording survey invites like that does have it's benefits. For example I have all the information need to cotact customer service if didn't receive an incentive. It also helps me identify who is hosting a survey. Test Spin has sent me a lot of surveys that are run by Greenfield Online. To know when you have been sent a Greenfield survey just look at the Survey ID. If it says GF in the front of the numbers, then you have Greenfield survey.

And why would I want to know who runs the survey? Just by looking at the style and colors of the survey page, I can tell by who is run which I don't care unless is OTX because they drive me crazy :eek:

[LapisLee]

Recording survey invites like that does have it's benefits. For example I have all the information need to cotact customer service if didn't receive an incentive. It also helps me identify who is hosting a survey. Test Spin has sent me a lot of surveys that are run by Greenfield Online. To know when you have been sent a Greenfield survey just look at the Survey ID. If it says GF in the front of the numbers, then you have Greenfield survey.
I agree with Eddie and I really like his system, but I am starting to suffer from 'Survey Burn-out Syndrome'. The last two months or so I received nearly $500 in checks and PayPal payments from surveys and I put it all down on my credit card, but I think that was the peak from the intitial surveys I took in February through May. August has been much slower and I have only received four checks for about $31 so far. Any slower and I will be able to go back to fingers as my accounting system... :(

[ambitiouz]

Eddie has a great system, it's good to know what exactly disqualified you so when you see it again, you can answer it differently. Mostly what I have done is similar to Paddysmum. I simply use gmail and tag the email if I completed it and qualified. If I didn't qualify I don't mark it. I have a folder just for surveys that I have completed. Lee is right, you never know if a survey fails to credit. Especially for those companies that take 4-8 weeks to credit. But I am finding that I get lazy in keeping my spread sheet up to date. I think it has to be simple for me or I won't keep it up. I at least like to know how much I have been paid and what I have currently, so I won't forget if I am close to cash out or not.

[maplaver]

Eddie has a great system, it's good to know what exactly disqualified you so when you see it again, you can answer it differently. Mostly what I have done is similar to Paddysmum. I simply use gmail and tag the email if I completed it and qualified. If I didn't qualify I don't mark it. I have a folder just for surveys that I have completed. Lee is right, you never know if a survey fails to credit. Especially for those companies that take 4-8 weeks to credit. But I am finding that I get lazy in keeping my spread sheet up to date. I think it has to be simple for me or I won't keep it up. I at least like to know how much I have been paid and what I have currently, so I won't forget if I am close to cash out or not.

I agree... that's why I keep it very simple: a spreadsheet of money received and no more :rolleyes:

[LapisLee]

Every since I saw Lee's earnings report on the YourFreeSurveys Blog (http://www.yourfreesurveys.com/wordpress), I wanted to make a file that kept track of all my earning but I only started my earning report by late June.

The only thing I use to track on my earnings is a Notepad document (txt). When I log in to a website, I note how much cash or points I have in my account. Sometimes I even copy and paste all of my survey history on a wps file (Microsoft Works Word Processor).

I also keep track of ALL the paid survey invites I receive. Here is an example of how I keep track of all the surveys I'm invites to...

7/3 10:04 PM (Disqualified but earned 10 points)
Survey #: 183899
Topic: Dog
Reward: 10 points
Length: 5 minutes

The first line is the time I received the email and next to it is where I put if I qualified for this survey or a message I was given to explain what happen after I completed the survey. The second line is the survey number or ID. Most survey panels give their surveys a unique number that can be found on the email invite or sometimes on the email link.
That's an amazing system Eddie and I think that I am going to start using a spreadsheet after my 'survey year' ends on January 31, 2009. I want to simplify my system in some regards and I will be dropping quite a few of the slower earning survey companies from my earnings report. I won't unsubscribe, but I just won't track survey sites that earned less than $20 last year. It's not worth it to me now.

Post #3, January 22, 2009

[DrSkeezix]

i use a single giant spreadsheet that keeps track of the name, url, type of site (surveys, paid e-mails, etc.), incentive (cash, gifts), a tally of cash/points and received cash. i use formulas to auto-compute these.

plus it's a good idea to keep track of the last time you did a survey, e-mail, etc in order to weed out those ones that never send you a invites.

after a while you should see which sites actually produce and which don't. get rid of the waste of time sites.

[maplaver]

i use a single giant spreadsheet that keeps track of the name, url, type of site (surveys, paid e-mails, etc.), incentive (cash, gifts), a tally of cash/points and received cash. i use formulas to auto-compute these.

plus it's a good idea to keep track of the last time you did a survey, e-mail, etc in order to weed out those ones that never send you a invites.

after a while you should see which sites actually produce and which don't. get rid of the waste of time sites.

wow... that sounds time consuming :eek:

[eddieMX07]

wow... that sounds time consuming :eek:

Holy smokes maplaver you're on a posting rampage today. Nine comments in one day... Guess your trying to reach the 500 comment milestone...

and yes that does sound time consuming...

[DAMO36]

I just use a notepad....not a very exciting way to kep track of my survey earnings but it does the job....

[maplaver]

Holy smokes maplaver you're on a posting rampage today. Nine comments in one day... Guess your trying to reach the 500 comment milestone...

and yes that does sound time consuming...

im not trying 2 reach a specific amount... im just bored in my native country ecuador :D

[rcs0926]

I keep a spreadsheet as well that includes multiple worksheets.