The 2013 "Other Money" Thread! "What's in YOUR Wallet?"

[$avvy$hopper]

Hey Smartcanucks! Thanks for keeping those "other money" updates coming! Lots of great stories and tips over the last two months and now we have a fresh thread to continue the journey! Reserved posts below will soon contain the resource and tip summaries to maximizing our other money wealth and help others find them easily as well.

Cheers to a great start to 2013! Let's keep the "other money" wallet fat while enjoying the happy dances and chuckles as we leave the stores!

[$avvy$hopper]

Airmiles Reward Miles (Cash and Dream Rewards): Earn airmiles at participating retailers including Metro, Shell, Rexall. Bonus miles events are held at Metro and Rexall throughout the year and FPCs may count in your base total for bonus miles. Also, if you have a credit card like BMO Airmiles then you earn more miles based on your spending. I switched my airmiles account so that the miles earned go to "cash rewards" making it easier to redeem at Metro. Who doesn't enjoy free groceries?! You can still save miles for other "dream rewards" like high value gift cards, admission passes, movie passes, appliances and travel. The choice is yours!

Here are two threads that give lots of valuable info re the Airmiles program, the changes and impact on reward values:
http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/23424-s...-deals-canada/(Operabob's thread)

http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/266628-airmiles-best-practices-canada/

***Earn Airmiles when spending your paypal or amazon.ca cash!*** air miles shops.ca (no spaces when you search) features many online shops at which you may pay for your purchase via paypal; or when cashing out on amazon.ca/.com. If you login (requires your Airmiles card #) via air miles shops.ca before making your purchase you could earn at least 1 bonus airmile on your purchase, or bonus mile promos like 2x or 3x on a certain purchase level. Thanks to SCer alicia for this tip!

SDM Optimum Points: Free IS Good! There’s an SDM forum on SC just for optimum point junkies and boy do we make the most of that program! I continue to bring home tons of free stuff and it’s beyond compare to any other loyalty program I’ve subscribed to. Check out all the details, discussions and FAQs here http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/shoppers-drug-mart/

HBC points: Even with Zellers closed/closing and the recent changes to the HBC reward point values, this may still be a worthwhile program if you shop at the Bay and Home Outfitters. Check out the "deals" section for upcoming point promos and or notices of great sales/deals. Bonus point coupons used to be mailed/emailed to customers...not sure if it's still happening but if it is you'd find notices in the "coupons" section of SC.

PC Points: Upon signing up for my PC MasterCard last year, I received free cookies (yum!) and later received bonus point coupons that eventually gave me $40 in free groceries. For those who shop often at Loblaws stores (RCSS, No Frills, Loblaws) this can be a great program. I’ve redeemed for another $80 since signing up last year and with coupons you can really make that free monty stretch! You can sign up here http://www.pcfinancial.ca, but if you let a PC rep catch you in the store, you'll most likely end up with some other freebie including more bonus points.

Selling items via Consignment, Kijiji, Ebay et al: I have sold items at both a children’s and women’s clothing consignment shop. I’ve earned more than $250 over the past year and it’s a great way to empty your closets and make a little extra money on the side. I also purchased items from the children’s store and they gave me an extra 20% in-store credit. This $ topped up groceries, take-out nights and some fun money for each for the family.

I have not sold items on kijiji but other SCers have posted many amazing updates on their "another item sold" experiences. A little time and effort, but it may reap more $ for you in the end.

Gas points/cash: You're buying the gas anyway so be sure to also collect some points/cash for your efforts! Canadian Tire has bonus CT cash coupons (i.e. 8x ct cash when you buy gas), Esso/Shell/Petro give points (gotta have a rewards card). It all adds up! Most places will allow you to convert the points to a gift card, for others you can redeem points right away. SCers have also bragged of using their gas points/rewards to buy gift cards for other stores...sweet!

[$avvy$hopper]

Found Money: Scers have bragged their new-found wealth...collecting change found on the ground, in purses, coats, couches, shopping carts et al! In 9 months, coley3 had an extra $18 to spend - free to her and rwelsh has just bragged of having $500 in change saved up for something special! I didn't do so well with a "found money" jar last year but will give it another go...especially since I don't yet know what to do with these pennies!

Disney Movie Rewards: If you're a Disney FAN-atic, this thread on SC will keep you posted on the rewards available when you enter codes from DVDs etc. They also send out a monthly newsletter with 5 points without having to enter a DVD code. SC thread: http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/106759-...ad-canada-130/

Chapmans Ice Cream & Kids Club: Each calendar year, you can request a coupon from Chapmans. It's been a one-time only $5 coupon for the past few years now - on a good ice cream sale day, you may get 3 boxes free/nearly free! Contact the company at www.chapmans.ca

You can also create an account at: http://www.kidsclub.ca/fast/english/ to play games to earn points. Each game gives you 0-50 points which you can redeem for cool prizes; shipping is free.
Stuff You can get: Magnets, pens, notepad, pencil cases, highlighters, hat, t-shirt, coupon, bookmarks, cards, rulers, silly bands, lunch bags, apron. Stay in the loop@ http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/49071-c...thread-canada/. I believe you also earn a certain amount of points (35?) for logging in daily! You can have accounts for each family member - up to 6.

Mail in Rebates (MIRs):
A great way to try new products for free is to take advantage of mail rebates. Jeniana and SCers have been diligent to keep the community up to date on new rebate opportunities and the list is extensive!!! It all adds up...and fast! Check it out @ http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/104615-...ebates-canada/

Sobey Club points - You can use bonus points coupons to earn extra points. When you go shopping on 10% off Tuesday, first Tuesday of the month with coupons it is even better. The 10% off is removed before your coupons, so FPCs are then worth 110%.

CO-OP memberships: CO-OP memberships costs can range from $10-$30 and is a "once in your life" payment per CO-OP location (because they are each locally owned). Based on the CO-OPs annual income you will receive a dividend cheque based on how much you spent on each category of items that you purchased (a percentage of gas, grocery, etc). You can receive a dividend cheque once a year. For more info, check out the website for your local CO-OP.

Checkout51 - easy rebate program where you take pictures of your grocery receipt showing that you purchased the special items from that week. Once you get to $20 worth in your account then you can request a cheque. Only good for Iphones at this time- app download required. Check out the thread on SC http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/331678-...te-app-canada/ for more information and how to sign up.

FreshPoints - FreshPoints is a new mobile app that lets you earn points to redeem for rewards. You earn points in many different ways including scanning barcodes of products, rating products, and checking in at your grocery store. To find out more and create an account visit http://freshpoints.ca/. If you sign up with a referral code you will receive 150pts. Only good for i-phones at this time. Check out the thread on SC: http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/340412-...ts-app-canada/ for updates and finding a referral.

[$avvy$hopper]

Paid Surveys/Paid to Click et al: Many SCers are doing surveys though a variety of sites and are cashing out pretty regularly! Swagbucks and Clixsense are my top earners, with Neobux and Prizezombie pulling up the rear. Other sites worth checking out include Opinion Outpost (Paypal, USD) Toluna (Paypal, CDN), Legerweb (Cheque, CDN) and MySurvey (was TNS, Cheque, CDN), Ipsos iSay (Paypal, CDN). Visit the “Paid Surveys” forum on SC http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/paid-surveys-mystery-shopping-canada/ to see if one fits your life.

Product Testing and Focus Groups: This is another great way to earn quick cash for giving your opinion. Metroline runs focus groups and studies on variety of topics for companies. ACCE and Contract Testing gives you the opportunity to taste test products and fill out a corresponding survey on a computer. All facilities are well run and have good customer service, in my opinion. Payments range from $20 for 1/2 - 1 hour session up to $75+ for a 2 hour focus group/study

Check them out:
Metroline Research www.metroline.ca
- located in Toronto, some surveys/focus groups available in GTA but mainly T.O.
ACCE International (product testing, food mostly) http://www.acceintl.com/
located in Mississauga, bordering OakvilleContract Testing Inc (product testing, food) http://contracttesting.com/located in Brampton near Bramalea City Centre


SCENE points: Get 100 points per transaction (not per ticket; e.g, if you buy two tickets, do two separate transactions). Limit of 200 points per membership per day. Receive 10% off movie tickets on Tuesdays. New members will receive a 250 points sign-up bonus.

SCENEtourage: Create a group of 3-10 friend/family members and earn bonus SCENE points. Earn 50 bonus points when 2 or more members of your SCENEtourage see a movie together (max. 50 bonus points per membership a day). Members must use their SCENE card at the same theatre within a 1-hour period or online during the same calendar day. Bonus points will be awarded within 48 hours. There are also on-going contest promos for SCENEtourage groups.

PINS/CODES: lots of products have pins/codes on them for rewards including:

Pampers - Create an account at pampers.ca; check out the SC thread http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/132368-...thread-canada/ for bonus codes and/or bonus point offers from the rewards program. Trade the points earned from codes for toys, photo albums, gc's and lots more!

Huggies - Create an account at enjoytheriderewards.com; check out the SC discussion thread http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/81758-h...thread-canada/ for any bonus codes and/or point offers. Use points earned from codes to play games/enter contests. Prizes range from GCs, toys, even FPCs for diapers/wipes products!!

Stouffers & Lean Cuisine - Create accounts at stouffers.ca. You'll earn 250 points for every pin you enter; sometimes there's bonus codes or surveys you can earn more points from. Redeem for movie passes and GCs to stores like Loblaws, SDM, Walmart et al.

iCoke: Pin codes are under the cap and lead to many amazing prize redemptions. Check out SCers stories here...as well as any tips/promotion news: http://forum.smartcanucks.ca/146018-...ds-canada-317/. Hope you get a nice reward out of it!

[$avvy$hopper]

Okay, while I'm online here's some recent other money updates:

- I'm still using up my Tropicana FPCs won in last year's contest...saving $3-5 each time I need OJ...love it!
- Got a free $10 meal at Harveys thanks to my redemption on Swagbucks, and I'm close to another $10 e-gift certificate redemption...woohoo!
- Earned $20 for product testing a few weeks ago and just earned another $40 today!
- Earned another $20 from Clixsense over the last two weeks
- Enjoyed $20 in free groceries at SDM from promo cards (one was RAOK'd to me!)
- Treated the family to $10 in free Tim Hortons product thanks to SDM promo
- Enjoyed $15 in free groceries using $5 gas cards...3 more left!
- $20 in gas free from Petro thanks to recent SDM promo...saved an extra $0.75 with the fuel saving card
- $11 earned in "money on the card" rewards from Canadian Tire mastercard...used that to get stuff for the house!

Have I mentioned yet how much I love "other money"?

More updates to come! Can't wait to read more from everyone else...post away!

[Angela273]

I just went to SARCAN and received $95 for our bottles and cans. The best part is $83 of these were clear beer bottles that were given to us because some guys were going to dispose of them at our local landfill. Free money for us then!

[coley3]

I am part of a mail survey. I just received a check today for $150!!!! I was a monthly draw winner. Have been a part of this for 2 years and won for the first time No idea what I will do with that kind of money.
Also used up the last of my gas cards last night. I had small balances on 3 cards and 2 full ones. It was fun paying almost nothing for my groceries.

[scrapbookingoasis]

posting so it's in my subscribed list

I also collect lean cuisine rewards...although my last redemption has been well over 8 weeks and I am still waiting for them to "look into it"

[avrose]

I am a couple codes away from my next lean cuisine redemption, just used a $10 SDM card from the last one, almost enough for another $25 paypal payout on swagbucks, which pays for my netflix, along with my payouts from 2 survey sites I use the most. After the switch from HBC points I have enough for $10 off....

[coupon girl]

just cashed out a survey points for a 25.00 walmart gift card

[lilo0003]

I love this thread.
Yesterday I received 21.50 from check out 51. Since I joined DH & I have earned $81.50. I also got my MIR for Finish. Last week DS2 and I did a taste test. I made 20. And he made 15. He was soooo excited.

[$avvy$hopper]

Today my wallet got a nice gift...the $25 gas card from the CAA Facebook promo (ended in december 2012) just arrived and it couldn't have come at a better time.

I also got an amazing surprise in my email...stouffers noticed it's been taking me a while to get to my first redemption since the changeover (when lean cuisine and stouffers rewards were combined). Anywho, to my amazement I got an email that would award a bonus 1250 points when I entered my next pin!!! So I surely got out the store that day and got a box to secure the bonus. Then I used 2 of my last gas cards to buy 4 more entrees and now I have a $10 SDM gift card on the way!!! Other money earning other money...love it. And a HUGE thank you to Stouffers for the bonus bump!

[hogama]

I LOVE this thread! Gotta love FREE money!!

I took as many refundable bottles back last Saturday and got $17.90 back. That took up a lot less space then the bottles!! haha I also do the Stouffer's Rewards promos for SDM cards. ...and Swagbucks. ...and Gift Hulk. ...and Listia!

[Keykey]

Had a bad retail experience and got a $25 Gift Card.

Was not looking for anything but it's nice to know that my voice was heard and improvements have been made.

Helped with my budget this month also!

[Keykey]

Today my wallet got a nice gift...the $25 gas card from the CAA Facebook promo (ended in december 2012) just arrived and it couldn't have come at a better time.

I also got an amazing surprise in my email...stouffers noticed it's been taking me a while to get to my first redemption since the changeover (when lean cuisine and stouffers rewards were combined). Anywho, to my amazement I got an email that would award a bonus 1250 points when I entered my next pin!!! So I surely got out the store that day and got a box to secure the bonus. Then I used 2 of my last gas cards to buy 4 more entrees and now I have a $10 SDM gift card on the way!!! Other money earning other money...love it. And a HUGE thank you to Stouffers for the bonus bump!

Oh I hope that get that Stouffers email!!