I recently had some free time that I decided to spend engaging my curious desire to see if there really was a way to make some "easy money." I began by looking into the websites that required a small investment to access their programs. Each of the ten companies I researched either received an "F" by the Better Business Bureau or had not yet been investigated by them. I wasn't about to divulge my financial information to prove whether or not these companies were secure, which could perhaps subject my credit card to a myriad of charges, so I decided to look into surveys that promised a profit with no investment required. After much time visiting several sites, I found a program boasting that it was recommended by the Better Internet Bureau and the user could make an extra $50-100 a day just by enrolling in the few survey programs they recommended. The website claimed to have conducted their own research, stating that if you followed the instructions on the program it linked to, you would reap the benefits. All I have after several hours of research is a sore butt, tired eyes, and minor amounts of money or points in several different survey groups that are too little to be redeemed and an increasing amount of SPAM. Thank goodness I used a separate email account as the initial website recommended.

Most of the sites (particularly those with the "5 star ratings") require you to purchase a product or submit to a "free" trial that you would inevitably be charged for after the trial was over unless you are extremely vigilant about making sure you un-enrolled before the trial period ended. If you submit to several of these said "surveys," imagine how many various products you would need to keep track of in order to prevent LOSING money!

Other sites require all your personal information so that several other companies can solicit you by phone and email. Soon after visiting these alleged survey programs, your email account will be bombarded by several offers claiming that you have won various products. This is due to the fact that several of the "surveys" are merely scams to get you to state what you're interests are so they can cater their offers and "free gifts" to things they think you'll enjoy or want to know more about. Once you click on the announcement, you will soon discover that you are required to invest in more products or free trials in order to receive your "free gift." Often several annoying pop-ups are also linked to the sites and it takes several minutes to get them to completely disappear (simply clicking the "X" in the corner doesn't work). I didn't bother to risk the time or money to discover whether or not a gift is ever rewarded, but I would be interested in finding out.

Though there are some valid websites that do not require the user to spend any money or buy any products, there is a great deal of time required, the compensation is scant, the availability of paid surveys limited, and most of the time you can't redeem your money until you have a significant amount saved, which, in my experience, takes several weeks or months to accrue. In addition, these surveys that do provide some form of valid compensation without obligation to buy a product or submit to a "free trial" generally don't inform you as to how much time is required to complete the survey before you begin, and often they can be extremely time consuming. For example, one website asked me to take a survey and, after I agreed, they informed me that I would need to watch an hour long TV show with advertisements and then complete a survey that ended up taking several minutes to finish. My compensation was a mere $.50 for a survey that took close to an hour and a half to complete and this particular website required you to have at least $30 before you could redeem any of your acquired money for cash. $.50 for over an hour's worth of work is not worth the electricity I spent taking the survey. I have not yet found a free survey program in which one can make an extra $50-100 a day, though several of the sites claim to have frequent cash drawings and each survey you complete is supposed to increase your chances of winning. I have yet to win a cash drawing.

These websites that claim to give cash for surveys often include testimonials or link to sites that claim they have researched and validated the program. Don't fall for it. If you decide to test these out for yourself, be sure to set up a separate email account as was recommended by one of the programs I visited. Otherwise, you will be subjecting your regular email account to a great deal of SPAM. In my estimation, you would be better served by turning off your computer and saving some money on your utility bill and getting a part-time job. If you're under 18 and looking for employment, you can generally get working papers from your school nurse. Save yourself the time and annoyance of solicitous calls and emails.

Now I definitely didn't research every site out there and if you have had a more positive experience using either a free site, or even one that requires a small investment, please let us know about it. We'd love to hear about your personal experiences, both positive and negative.