October Online Offers

Here is October's online offers post! For those of you who are new, I have posted extensive directions on how to complete these offers.

Please, you MUST read the previous posts (here, here, and here) I have written about these offers very carefully - also read the comments left on those posts as those serve kind of as "frequently asked questions" that I respond to as well. If you have any questions, email or leave a comment. It's better to ask the question than to do something you aren't sure of and have it result in an unsuccessful offer.

It is very possible to be successful with these offers! Remember, you can only earn $1,000 in prizes from each Ideal sub-company (i.e. Bullseye, 123, etc.) so choose wisely! At the time of the posting of this, none of the offers posted required referrals. Offers can change at any time so be sure to review the terms and conditions before registering! FYI - I am hearing of people getting disqualified because they did an offer that was $500 plus a T-shirt and then when they do another $500 offer with the same sub-company are disqualified because they have technically done over $1,000 with that sub-company as the T-shirt has value! Be careful with these technicalities!

I couldn't find many new offers this month. None of the offers below required referrals at the time I posted but the terms can change so check carefully. Also, some of the $500 offers are now 2-2-8 instead of 2-2-4 so please make sure to read your terms and conditions before signing up! Also, I am receiving some reader comments and emails that they are getting calls from telemarketers after signing up for some offers. I have never had this experience but did want to make everyone aware of this.

ESolutionsMedia
$50 Visa giftcard
$50 Visa giftcard and XXL Bag of M&Ms
PS3 Slim

Bullseye Media
$500 giftcard for USAir or American Airlines

123 Click
2 American Airlines airplane tickets

MarketLabs
Uggs Slippers
$100 Visa giftcard

eSolutionsMedia
$500 Kmart giftcard
$500 to Home Depot or Lowes

Jasper Marketing
$100 Target giftcard

Top Notch
$500 Visa giftcard
$500 giftcard - Visa, Chilis, TGI Fridays, Itunes or Ebay
$500 Visa giftcard
$500 Toys r Us giftcard
$500 Visa giftcard
$500 Visa giftcard and Twilight T-shirt
Nintendo DsI

September Online Offers

Here is September's online offers post! For those of you who are new, I have posted extensive directions on how to complete these offers.

Please, you MUST read the previous posts (here, here, and here) I have written about these offers very carefully - also read the comments left on those posts as those serve kind of as "frequently asked questions" that I respond to as well. If you have any questions, email or leave a comment. It's better to ask the question than to do something you aren't sure of and have it result in an unsuccessful offer.

It is very possible to be successful with these offers! Remember, you can only earn $1,000 in prizes from each Ideal sub-company (i.e. Bullseye, 123, etc.) so choose wisely! At the time of the posting of this, none of the offers posted required referrals. Offers can change at any time so be sure to review the terms and conditions before registering!

ESolutionsMedia
$50 Visa giftcard
$50 Visa giftcard and XXL Bag of M&Ms
PS3 Slim

Bullseye Media
$500 giftcard for USAir or American Airlines

123 Click
2 American Airlines airplane tickets

MarketLabs
Uggs Slippers
$100 Visa giftcard

eSolutionsMedia
$500 Kmart giftcard
$500 to Home Depot or Lowes

Jasper Marketing
$100 Target giftcard

Top Notch
$500 Visa giftcard
$500 giftcard - Visa, Chilis, TGI Fridays, Itunes or Ebay
$500 Visa giftcard
$500 Toys r Us giftcard
$500 Visa giftcard
$500 Visa giftcard and Twilight T-shirt
Nintendo DsI

Vocalpoint Sample!

I've mentioned Vocalpoint on here before but it's definitely worth mentioning again especially since they have a great new freebie you can get. Vocalpoint is a word of mouth community that is FREE to join. Periodically they will send you packages with high-value coupons and usually a FREE product coupon! They just ask that you tell others about the products. Recently I have received Kashi cereal coupons including a FREE box, a FREE Bounce dryer bar and Rice Krispies cereal coupons including a FREE box! Yay for all these great freebies!

Now you just need to sign up for FREE if you haven't already, then click "try and tell" and follow the instructions to get your FREE Secret Clinical Strength Deodorant. If you're already a member just log on and click "try and tell". With many of their campaigns they just send you the information and coupons in the mail, there is no need to sign up. But every now and then they run special campaigns that you need to sign up for and the Secret Clinical Strength Deodorant is a special one!

Thanks, Free Sample Freak!

Earn Money For Tweeting!

Do you Twitter? I know many of you do. I wanted to introduce you to a way to earn money by tweeting! There is a new application by Izea called "Sponsored Tweets". You sign up for FREE and based on the number of followers and other criteria are given a suggested price for your tweet. You can modify this upward or downward depending on your preferences. I kept mine as their suggestion but know someone who adjusted hers downward and has received many more opportunities than I have.Once you sign up, you will receive tweet opportunities via email. I have done a couple of sponsored tweets and found them easy and relevant to my blog. You are given the option to decline a sponsor for any reason. For one of mine, the sponsor had written the tweet and I just accepted it. The second one I had to write (within their guidelines) and the sponsor accepted it. In both cases, I tweeted about things that were relevant to my blog and I may have posted about anyway, whether sponsored or not. I indicated in both tweets that they were sponsored and in the interest of transparency and disclosure think this is the best policy.

Remember, this isn't a way to get rich, but is definitely a way to make a few bucks by doing something you may already do - Twitter! You can sign up here.

August Online Offers

Every day I am receiving emails from readers telling me they have been successful with the online offers I have blogged about before and asking me to post new ones. Right now, I am going to post a monthly online offers post where I will have links to the new Ideal offers I have found as well as the older offers that are still around and haven't expired. Because I didn't post in August and it's only the first of September I am going to call this post "August Online Offers" and post again in the middle of this month for September. I have posted extensive directions on how to complete these offers.

Please, you MUST read the previous posts (here, here, and here) I have written about these offers very carefully - also read the comments left on those posts as those serve kind of as "frequently asked questions" that I respond to as well. If you have any questions, email or leave a comment. It's better to ask the question than to do something you aren't sure of and have it result in an unsuccessful offer.

I have good news to share! I received my $500 Visa giftcard last week from the offer I started on July 8, 2009. My status changed to processed on August 10 and just 2 weeks later the giftcard was in my hand! Is this a foreign language to you? If so, make sure to read the instructions post and it will all become clear.

It is very possible to be successful with these offers! Remember, you can only earn $1,000 in prizes from each Ideal sub-company (i.e. Bullseye, 123, etc.) so choose wisely! At the time of the posting of this, none of the offers posted required referrals. Offers can change at any time so be sure to review the terms and conditions before registering!

Bullseye Media
$500 Visa giftcard
$500 giftcard for USAir or American Airlines
Bare Minerals starter kit

123 Click
2 American Airlines airplane tickets
Ipod Touch and $100 in ITunes money

MarketLabs
Uggs Slippers
$100 Visa giftcard

eSolutionsMedia
$50 in fast food giftcards
Choice of XBox 360, Playstation 3, Nintendo Wii, Nintento DsI, Playstation Portable
$500 Kmart giftcard
$500 to Home Depot or Lowes

Jasper Marketing
$100 Target giftcard
$500 giftcards - Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Chilis, TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut, Outback

Top Notch
$500 Victoria's Secret giftcard
$500 giftcard - Visa, Chilis, TGI Fridays, Itunes or Ebay
$500 Visa giftcard
$500 Toys r Us giftcard
$500 Visa giftcard
$500 Visa giftcard and Twilight T-shirt
$500 Visa giftcard and Got Milk T-shirt
Nintendo DsI

Inbox Dollars

Inbox Dollars is another get-paid-to site that I am a member of. I have been a member for a few months and find it easy to earn points just by clicking on the emails they send me to read.



They offer ways to earn points by taking surveys, shopping online and even playing games. There are also larger offers to complete that mean higher points. You'll get a $5 bonus just for signing up and you can cash out at $30.00. It seems like it will take a while at 2 cents an email (more for surveys and offers) but it actually isn't too bad - just click on the emails and you'll be on your way!

Use your separate "deals" email for this offer. You'll get a few emails every day to click on!

July Online Offers

For those of you who are new to my blog, you may have skipped over the online offers section - I admit, I was scared in the beginning too! It's not a complicated process to complete an online offer successfully but you do have to be detail-oriented and have good follow-up skills. I have posted extensive directions on how to complete these offers.

Please, please, please, I am begging you to read the previous posts (here, here, and here) I have written about these offers very carefully - also read the comments left on those posts as those serve kind of as "frequently asked questions" that I respond to as well. If you have any questions, email or leave a comment.

I just finished another $500 Visa giftcard offer. I started it on July 8 and completed the 8 required offers. I had to do 2 replacement offers on July 19 and then they approved on July 20. I printed and mailed my redemption certificate on July 20 and am now waiting for my status to go to processed and to receive my giftcard. Is this a foreign language to you? If so, make sure to read the instructions post and it will all become clear.

It is very possible to be successful with these offers! Remember, you can only earn $1,000 in prizes fro each Ideal sub-company (i.e. Bullseye, 123, etc.) so choose wisely!

MarketLabs
$100 in cosmetics
$150 giftcard to Lowes

Top Notch
$500 Visa Giftcard and Michael Jackson T-Shirt
$500 giftcard - Visa, Chilis, TGI Fridays, Itunes or Ebay
Beatles Rock Band
$500 giftcard to BabyGap

Bullseye Media
$100 giftcard - Gap, Spiegel, Charlotte Russe, Sunglass Hut

ESolutions Media
$100 Visa Giftcard and Game Jersey

123 Click
$100 Home Depot giftcard
$100 Bath and Body Works giftcard
$100 Victoria's Secret giftcard
$100 to Dollar Tree or Dollar General

Jasper Marketing
$250 giftcards - Olive Garden or Red Lobster
$500 giftcards - Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Chilis, TGI Fridays, Pizza Hut, Outback

It may be possible for me to find other offers so if there is another prize you are looking for, just let me know!

Online Offers

I have received several emails asking for me to post more I-deal online offers. I've been searching and the following are the ones I have found. These are all I-deal offers. Please read my prior posts here and here about how to do these offers. You can have great success with these but you MUST read and understand the instructions prior to beginning.

Remember, you can earn $1,000 in prizes for each I-deal sub-company (i.e. Top Notch, 123 Click, Bullseye, etc.) per 6 month period. You cannot do offers from the same parent company within a specific offer you are completing. If you have any questions after reading my posts and the comments below each post, please post a comment or send me an email.

Please read the terms and conditions carefully and understand that they may change. As of the time I wrote this post, none of these offers required referrals but that could change. Please read the instructions I posted previously and the terms and conditions of the offer carefully!

Top Notch Media

$500 Amazon giftcard
$500 Visa giftcard
$500 to Sears or Best Buy
Nintendo Wii
XBox 360 and Grand Theft Auto IV
Green IPhone 3G


123 Click
$100 in Maybelline or L'Oreal make-up
$100 towards detergent (probably giftcard)


Bullseye Media
$100 to Gap, Spiegel, Charlotte Russe, or Sunglass Hut

Marketlabs.net, Inc.

$50 Visa giftcard and 36 pack of Pepsi

$50 Visa giftcard and 26 pack of Mountain Dew

$500 Sears giftcard

$100 towards sneakers (probably giftcard)

More online offers

I have received quite a few emails asking me if I could post some more online offers similar to the Wii deal I posted last month.

If you're interested in learning more about these offers, please read my earlier Wii post (please note that the terms and conditions of the Wii offer have changed to 12 offers total with 2 referrals making it much more difficult so I don't recommend this one anymore). Another great resource is Carrie over at Money Saving Methods.

Please do not try to do one of these offers without reading the detailed instructions in my post and on her blog. Please also read the comments on my post and the terms and conditions on the first page of the offer. These offers are legit but can be tricky. I know many of you did the same Wii/Wii Fit offer I did and are now waiting for your prizes. Please comment or leave an email when they arrive! Pictures are welcome!

Remember, you can only do 2 offers (umbrella offers, i.e. $500 Sears card) from the same sub-company (i.e. Top Notch, Jasper, etc.) within a 6 month period. You cannot duplicate offers (individual offers, i.e. Netflix, etc.) from the same parent company within a 6 month period. Please do your research on whether or not specific offers are related as you may be disqualified if you don't.

Top Notch Media
$500 Toys r Us giftcard
$500 for school lunches
$500 towards toys and DVD's
$500 on kids clothes
$500 to Sears or Best Buy
$500 Visa gift card
$500 Amazon giftcard
Coach bag and wallet
$500 Visa giftcard

Bullseye Media
$500 to Gap or Old Navy
$500 to Lowes
$50 to Dunkin Donuts
$500 Visa or store giftcard
$750 in giftcards (1 store, 1 dining, 1 decorating)

123 Click
$500 in gas gift cards
$500 towards baby items
Samsung Behold phone
$500 to Sears, Best Buy or Radio Shack
$100 store or Visa giftcard
$100 in Maybelline make-up

Jasper Marketing
$500 in restaurant giftcards

ESolutionsMedia
$500 Kmart giftcard
$500 to Home Depot or Lowes

Nicole's Saving Advantage - $25 Target giftcard

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS OFFER IS NOW FOR A $25 TARGET GIFTCARD AND A $25 STARBUCKS GIFTCARD BUT YOU MUST REMAIN A MEMBER PAST THE TRIAL PERIOD IN ORDER TO QUALIFY FOR THE GIFTCARDS

I found a new offer for a $25 Target giftcard that seems pretty straightforward to do. It is called Nicole's Saving Advantage and says it will save you up to 90% on things you buy everyday.



It costs $1.95 to join (use prepaid card or virtual credit card number if you are worried about giving your credit card info.) and they will MAIL you the form to fill out to get the $25 Target giftcard. You fill it out and then MAIL it back. The trial is 30 days after which you will pay $9.95 per month.

I would advise to complete the paperwork for the giftcard right away since you have to rely on the mail for this one. If you are not a member at the time they go to process your giftcard they won't send it to you so you have to stay a member to receive the $25 giftcard.

If you get the giftcard within the 30 day trial and then decide to cancel, you've only paid $1.95 and received a $25 giftcard. If you stay for the second month and decide to cancel, you've paid $11.90 and received a $25 giftcard. A third month and you've paid $21.85 but received a $25 giftcard. Remember, though, sometimes you can call a company and ask to have your trial extended to try out the service a little more before committing to full payment of a month.

I have heard of people receiving their giftcard within the first 30 days but many not until after the trial has expired and they have paid for their first month. This offer is not as quick as the previous giftcard offers I posted about here and you may have to stay a member to get your giftcard on this one, just a heads up.

As with all online offers, copy and paste the terms and conditions for your records, keep detailed receipts and records, and calendar the your trial expiration a few days prior to the actual expiration to give yourself a little time to decide if you want to cancel or keep the service.

Sharebuilder through ING Direct - earn easy $25

I wanted to let you all know about a quick and easy way to earn $25. All you have to do is open a Sharebuilder 401k account with ING Direct by clicking here. It is FREE to open the account and there is no minimum balance to receive the $25!

Click here and fill in information to open an account.
Use Bonus Code 25WOLS
Successfully complete 1 trade (no minimum amount)
Receive $25 bonus in 4 weeks

I was hesitant to complete these kind of bank offers until I realized how easy the money is! This one doesn't even require a minimum amount or more than 1 trade. You can even open an account for each family member if you wanted to earn even more money. And who knows, maybe you'll like the account and keep the service.

The infamous $36.34 Wii and Wii Fit!

You probably read the title to this post and don't believe it. Well, it's true. I did this by doing an online offer. Now, I'm not the expert on these offers, but Carrie over at Money Saving Methods has done them for a while and as of September of 2008 she had made over $15,000 doing these offers. I was skeptical but I trust Carrie, so on December 29, 2008 I completed the 8 offers required for the prize and site I selected. I ended up receiving the brand new Wii and Wii Fit on February 20, 2009 so the whole thing took less than 2 months and around 3 hours or so total. The next one I do will take less time though, now that I am familiar with these offers.

You have probably seen these offers/banners before and said, "yeah right, that's not legit." Well, the ones I am highlighting here are legit. The parent company for these offers is I-deal though there are subcompanies such as Top Notch Media, Bullseye Media, etc. Once you do your first you'll be hooked - but you can only earn $1,000 per sub-company in a 6 month period.

You'll need a credit card (ideally one capable of giving you a virtual card number - look on their website or call customer service), a calendar, pen, and some patience but you can do it! Block off at least 2 hours the first day to complete all the offers. You'll want to get them done in one sitting.

Choose the prize you want. Here are a bunch of options below. All the ones in this post are I-deal parent company site with different sub-companies. Please be advised that sometimes a component of completing an offer is to refer people to do the offer as well. Those can get complicated (not to mention ruin friendships) so all the ones included here are DIY (do-it-yourself) offers with no referrals needed at the time of posting (terms can change so please read the front page carefully to see how many offers are required and whether or not referrals are a part of that).

Wii and Wii Fit - this is the offer I did (FYI: The terms have now changed on this offer and you need to do 2 silvers, 2 golds, and 8 platinums PLUS refer 2 users and have them complete the requirements)


$500 in gas gift cards to your choice - Hollister, Abercrombie or American Eagle

Unlocked Blackberry Pearl Flip Phone

$500 giftcard to Kohls

$100 in Restaurant giftcards (Chilis or Fridays)


$500 Ikea Giftcard


$100 Visa Giftcard and Game Jersey


$50 McDonalds giftcard


$500 Orbitz.com giftcard


Pair of Nikes (your choice of Air Zoom Kobe IV, Air the Six or Air Jordan Retro 15 LS

There are more so please email me if you are looking for something different and I'll look around.
Ok, so now that you have found the prize that you want, look to see how many "offers" you will need to do to get the prize. Offers are divided up into 3 categories - silver, gold and platinum. Usually for a $500 value prize, you will do 2 silvers, 2 golds, and 4 platinums. It may be less offers if there is a referral or two involved. Again, I did not include any referral sites here at the time I posted but these offers can change so be sure to CAREFULLY read the fine print on the first page - you should also open the terms and conditions and copy them into a wordprocessing document that you will use to keep track of this offer.

Set up a new free web-based email address for this - you will get spam from the offers you sign up with. Use this new email address for every offer you do.

Fill out the registration on the first page. Then you will get page after page of questions. If there is a "skip" click it, if not make sure to select "no" for each and continue. You'll finally to get the page that has silver offers on it. I keep going until I reach the platinum offers, then I work backwards. The platinum page will have the fewest and most expensive offers so if there's nothing on this page for you, pick a new prize and start over! You should figure out which offers you are going to do before starting to do them. Make a plan. This is a good time to research the offers you are doing. You are only allowed to do one offer per parent company. The sites don't tell you who their parent company is so you'll need to do some research. For instance, if a site looks similar and/or especially if the checkout page looks similar then they are likely from the same parent company.

Now you're asking what an "offer" is - offers are trials for things like Netflix, skin and make-up products, book clubs, etc. Each offer will have its own terms. Make sure to copy and paste the terms of each offer (including price of offer, how long trial period is, price of trial, price after trial expires, number to cancel, etc.) on the same document you used to copy the general offer's terms and conditions. Make sure to reference the first page to make sure you are doing the right number of offers under each category. Please make sure to read each offer's terms VERY CAREFULLY.

A helpful hint is to open an offer, wait a few minutes and then log back in under "check gift status" on the main page to make sure that the offer shows as "pending". Many may show as pending, don't worry. Each offer that you open should show as pending whether you complete it or not. If you have an offer open and it doesn't show as pending, close it out, wait a few minutes and start over until it shows as pending.

Another hint is to use a virtual credit card number for these offers. My Discover and Citibank cards have that feature available on their websites. Using the feature I am able to disguise my true credit card number by getting a virtual credit card number. Check your credit card company to see if this number is good for one use only or for one vendor only. Each company has different terms.

Sign up for offers that interest you. These companies are subsidizing the fabulous prize you chose so try the product and give it a chance - maybe it would make a great gift for someone on your list?

After you have completed the requisite number of offers, you play the waiting game (on pins and needles). With my experience, all of my offers had approved within 2 weeks. 2 of my co-workers just did one and they were also approved within 2 weeks. It is also common to have an offer or 2 not approve. If this happens, you need to do a replacement offer. Replacement offers generally credit within a day or 2.

Once all offers are approved and you "check your gift status" from the main page it will say that you have completed all offers and link to a redemption certificate. You must fill in and print this certificate as well as a W-9 form (these earnings are taxable) and send them in. I send them priority mail with delivery confirmation. I then wait until I see confirmation on the postal service website and give the company 2 week to process my redemption certificate and paperwork. If, after 2 weeks, your status has not changed, you need to email them with your delivery confirmation number. My status changed exactly 2 weeks from the date they received it and it said that my prize would arrive within 6-8 weeks. It arrived earlier than that, on February 20, via FedEx.

Ideal gives you 60 days from the date you first register until the date that everything must be completed and all paperwork mailed to them. Do the offers on the day you register as your clock starts ticking then. Keep track of all dates, company names, terms and conditions, cancelling instructions, phone numbers, etc. I found it easy to create a table (or spreadsheet if you're more Excel-literate than I am) with that information for each offer I did.

Whew, this has been a long post and I'm sure many of you will have more questions. Please leave a comment or send me an email through the "contact me" button on the left sidebar and I'd be more than happy to help. Please remember that organization is key to successful completion of these online offers! Good luck!

Online Offers

I am very new to online offers and just completed one and am waiting for payment. Online offers are those ads you see advertising free gift cards or a free game system that you probably never thought worked. They do work! Well, the legit ones do at least. I completed this offer and after following the requirements (i.e. signing up for various "offers") have qualified to receive my free Wii and Wii Fit which should be arriving in the next 6-8 weeks. I am going to hold off on posting more on this topic until my goods arrive and I can show them off.

First post!

This is the first post of my new blog, Nicole's Nickels, which will focus on freebies, samples, surveys, mystery shopping and other online money-makers. I will compile the latest and greatest and bring them to you in a convenient forum so you can earn and save money while at home. Many of you receive emails from me when I find products or samples I think you'd like. Sending all those emails was getting tiring so I figured I'd start a blog on the topic and be able to get my "deals" out to everyone. Please visit often - I plan to post at least one (1) time a day though with the amazing deals I have been finding recently it will probably be much more often. Please subscribe to the blog to receive notifications when I post an update and leave comments to let me know how I'm doing and how you're doing with my "deals".