Ways to Save Some Money or Extra Cash in Your Pocket

I decided I would write another one of these type posts due to my other post still getting views. I have always tried to find ways to save money or make extra money on the side and I wanted to share some of the apps I have been using the last few years so you too can save or make some extra cash now!

The first app, but obviously not in any particular order is Qmee. This is an app that offers surveys which can be as short as 1 min or as long as 20 minutes. The thing that makes this survey provider stand out and makes them superior above others is that they will pay you directly to your PayPal or other accounts immediately upon completion of the survey. Regardless of how little or how much you have earned they transfer within seconds. Some places make you reach a level cap before cashing out, but not Qmee. Click(Qmee)

Gone are the days of clipping coupons...I mean who really has time for that nowadays, and besides I don't want to carry around a wallet stuffed to the brim with clipped coupons. It's the 21st century after all.

The first app I ever used for saving money on groceries was Checkout 51. It's not as easy to use as another app, but you can use both and save twice as much. Just search by either store name or by the type of product you are hoping to get cash back for such as crackers or laundry detergent, etc. It's simple just take a picture of your receipt using the app. You do have to reach a cap of $20 before you can cash out. Get (Checkout51)

Another couponing app I love and use the most is Ibotta. Ibotta seems to offer more deals than the previous app, as they will have generalized cash back such as any item deals which I try to take advantage of weekly. This one also has a $20 cap level before cashing out but it can easily be reached with all of the offers you will discover with this app. This works the same way as you have to take a pic of your receipt. Get Ibotta here!

Now I will mention a few other receipt scanning/pic apps I use but these each work in a different way as they are not searching for an item and or store apps. These work by simply uploading your receipt to get credits.

One of my faves of this type is Receipt Hog. This app gives you credits towards different levels of cashout plus entries into sweepstakes just by uploading weekly. Not just grocery, but electronics and clothing receipts too. This is one of my standbys I use on the reg due to how easy it is to use and how often you can get cash from it. It does take a few days to transfer to PayPal but it's like basically money for nothing. Get the Hog!

The other receipt scanning app I use is Fetch Rewards. This app works on the same concept as the Hog, but you upload grocery/convenience store receipts which translate to currency to be used to purchase gift cards. Some weeks certain bought items are worth more points. I have gotten SO many Amazon gift cards from this app. There is even a first upload bonus which you def should take advantage of. Get Fetch!

Another app that is easy to earn points towards gift cards is Shopkick. This app allows you to earn points just for walking into stores and by scanning products. Get the Kick!

And the last app I will talk about is a super great app in that I get paid for doing something I do anyways....play games on my phone! and no this isn't one of those download crappy games and get malware. Now this app offers rewards for legit games from your app store. Just make sure it is running in the background as you play to earn your rewards towards gift cards. I made the mistake of not having it on when I first started, and later learned it had to be on while I played. Download Mistplay!

I hope you earn lotsa cash back and plenty of gift cards. Not 100% sure but I think these apps only work in the USA, Canada, and the UK. But feel free to check out the links to learn more. Your Welcome and thanx for checking out my blog!

Review: A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess (Audiobook)

This is another book that I read as a teen and wanted to revisit it once again. I don't recall whether I had seen the film or read the book first, but it doesn't matter as they are both great. For those who haven't seen the film, I will link the trailer below. I did not know at the time that the American version of this book was shortened due to the publisher opting to only publish the first 20 chapters. I did not know until now that the rest of the world got the book in its entirety.

For those not familiar with this book it is set in a world where crime rates are extremely high due to not enough police to patrol the streets at night. Meanwhile, gangs of teenagers run rampant fighting amongst themselves or terrorizing any civilians caught out.

The book is written in a sing-song cockney mashed with Slavic/Russian mix that just has a charming way once you start to read it. For some who may not understand all of the words, you will quickly pick up what each word means after a while. For those where English is not your first language, I would urge you if you can read English to read this in its original text, as I do not know how well this would be translated to any other tongues.

The story starts out by the reader meeting Alex (the narrator) who is the self-proclaimed leader of his little gang of "droogs". He is only 15 yrs. old and surprisingly fond of classical music when he is not participating in the "ultra-violence" with his brothers. We hear a typical night for this group of thugs, and how they do this for fun, and money.

Of course, the main idea or moral of the story should I say is whether it is right or justified to control someone's behavior. Is it okay to make someone a "good" citizen even if it goes against their free will?

The American version just ends and wraps up nicely in my opinion. The reader discovers the consequences of taking away someones choice to be "good". But the original text as the author had wanted the book to be has a final chapter about Alex growing bored with being a hoodlum and wanting to settle down. I know in the scheme of things it just makes sense that eventually a young man will grow tired of things and want to grow up. 

I still really enjoyed this and rated it 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com. I feel that this is one of those books that every teen should read before they grow up. That is all I got for you. Below is a link to purchase a copy for yourself. I receive a small percentage of all sales. Thanx for reading, and take care. 

Review: The Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King (audiobook)

It's been quite a long time since I had read a collection of short stories by Stephen King. As a matter of fact, the last collection I read by him was Four Past Midnight, which I honestly didn't care for and was the last King book I read until a very long time later. For those who are curious Doctor Sleep the sequel to The Shining is what made me come back to his writings.

I decided to partake of this lengthy collection of short stories as an audiobook format, which clocked in around 12 hours total. I will admit it took me a few days to listen to it in its entirety, and can only imagine how long it would have taken me to read it out if I had stuck with the regular book or Kindle format instead. There were a total of 21 short stories in this collection, and I rated each individual story with a 1-5 star rating. Upon completion of the book, I averaged out the total and got an average rating of 3.23, which translated to a 3-star rating on Goodreads.com. I enjoyed the majority of the stories and rated them 3 stars. But only one was rated with a 5-star rating.

Batman and Robin Have an Altercation was the story that I rated 5-stars. I really enjoyed this one. It was about a father and son. The father who was a senior citizen suffering from Alzheimer's, and the son who came to visit him and try to keep him coherent. Not only was the phrasing that the author uses great, but the recollections of the father were pretty funny at times. I really enjoyed the ending of this one too. Road Rage D-bags is all I will say.

There were a few others that were nearly as good, such as Premium Harmony about a man who goes out with his wife on a shopping trip and things do not go quite as they plan. Another great one was The Dune about a site the gave premonitions of peoples upcoming deaths. The Bad Little Kid was a shocking one that at first I didn't think I would like, but it quickly grew on me as it went by. One of the last few stories Drunken Fireworks was a humorous tale about two families and fireworks competitions to see who could outdo the other.

Some of the stories I thought were not as good and felt that they were way too short to have any sort of meaning like Mister Yummy. This one involved senior citizens nearing their time seeing the most attractive person the had ever seen in their lives before dying. Kinda weird and creepy if you ask me. Or the Obits story about a guy who could kill someone by writing their obituary.

As I have said before the choice of narrator does either help or hinder a great book, and this collection had a nice selection of narrators. Yes, plural...narrators. I can only imagine the production cost to have made this into an audiobook. But they chose some great people to narrate individual stories.

Even though this got an average rating I still want to read some more of the author's books that I have yet to read. You see I thought he had lost his touch way back when I read Four Past Midnight, but maybe that book just wasn't for me.

 

Review: A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick

I have read a few of Dick's science fiction novels, but this one took me the longest amount of time to read. I know that a while ago I tried to watch the film adaptation of this with no success. I do know it starred Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder. Quite a few of Dick's novels have been turned into films. You would be surprised.

After watching the trailer and having read the book finally I just may have to re-watch this. But let's talk about the book and my thoughts on it. 

One reason it took me months to read this was the dialogue and subject matter of the first half of this novel. Of course for those who do not know this book is about a group of friends and drugs. With this being said it was rather hard for me to read through random dialogues about nonsense conversations between the characters of this book. I understand that they are on drugs, and I know from having seen a documentary on the author that he too liked to party. But ridiculous and meaningless conversations almost made me give up reading this book. 

It wasn't until almost a little over halfway through the book does it start to make sense. When the details of one of the designer drugs that they consume Substance D, is revealed to be very harmful to the user. Also, this is where some great thoughts on how drugs can alter and make people undesirable. I'm glad that the author writes at the ending about how this book doesn't have any real moral idea behind it but it was just to describe how bad drugs can affect people who choose to overindulge in them. He even has a list of friends and how they were affected by drugs. He stated that many of his friends were the basis for the characters of this novel. 

There was also a brief mention of a sub-plot involving one of the lesser characters, but it was never revealed in more detail. I think this would have made this book more enjoyable. 

So I decided to rate this 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads.com, and to be honest with those reading this I do not understand why this has been rated 4 or 5 stars by others. I don't know what I missed that was so great about this. But I do think I need a break from reading this author after having taking so many months to plow through this book. Maybe if I had read it faster and had gotten through the nonsense convos it would have been more enjoyable?