Barcode Butterfly

Yes, it's true!  Our house has natural gas, but another blogger I follow recently posted about a way to earn free (or at least reduced price) home heating oil.  The price of oil keeps going up and the consumer really has no control.  Well now, with this program you can earn points that can be exchanged for oil. Neighborhood Oil allows you to see your tank level on the computer, gives you the option of Auto Delivery, covers 83% of the US!  Points that you earn (by using the web and different activities you already do online) never expire and go with you when you move.  The best part?  It's free to join!  Even though I don't have oil, I signed up and earned points within a few minutes.  You get 100 points (equal to $10) just for signing up . I hope this saves some of you some hard earned cash in this economy!  Click here to sign up.

If you like shopping, have you ever thought about mystery shopping?  After my 2nd child was born, a good friend told me how she began shopping and getting paid for it.  Now, don't believe all those websites that tell you, you can make a full time income off this but there is definitely money to be made.  Here are some tips to becoming a successful mystery shopper: NEVER pay money to a company that promises you'll have access to thousands of shops.  There is at least one legitimate company out there who does ask for money but you can really find the information for free if you do the digging.   Make sure you only list the facts on your shopping reports.  The companies really aren't interested in your opinion but they do want to know exactly what happened when you conducted the shop. All shops have a deadline and it's your responsibility to get your report in on time.  If you do need to reschedule due to an emergency, make sure you call them....

I don't think you'll get rich from this program, and the company doesn't claim that you will, but it's a good way to make some extra cash and get rid of some old things.  No, I'm not talking about ebay with high seller fees.   This company allows you to scan barcodes using your iPhone or Android phone OR type in codes on their website.  They'll offer you a price for your books and on top of that they pay the shipping for you to send it to them!  They also buy college textbooks as well as used books.