MyPoints

MyPoints.com is a website that gets paid by companies when they generate traffic on their website. MyPoints then passes on some of that money to those people that visit the website by giving them points for the websites they visit, which can be redeemed for gift certificates.

Generally, each website you visit generates 5 points, and a $25 gift certificate can be redeemed for around 3,500 points. It takes about 6 months to get that many points, but the time is well spent. You know which websites to visit from e-mails that are sent to you (it is wise use a separate e-mail address than your main one). I get anywhere from 2 to 10 e-mails per day.

Along with getting points for just visiting a website, you can also get points for shopping online through the links on their website and by filling out surveys. I don't to a lot of shopping through their links because fatwallet.com offer better discounts for shopping through their websites, but I do fill out a lot of surveys to get points. Just for attempting to qualify for a survey, you get 10 points. Then if you qualify to fill out the survey, you get 50-75 points. The surveys I have filled out range from asking about marketing campaigns for new products, to where I eat out and why, to what I like about my car insurance.

Here are some things to keep in mind when using MyPoints:

• Use a separate e-mail address
• Read the Privacy Policy of the websites you visit before giving them your e-mail address. A lot of times an e-mail will say that you get 5 points for visiting a website and 25 points for registering with them. However, most of those sites will sell your information to third parties. I usually get the points for visiting the website, but don't register to get the extra points.
• If you are shopping online, check to see if they offer points for linking to that website through MyPoints. Sometimes they offer points when other cash back websites do not.