Ever Heard of Market Research?

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I made the decision to stay home when Langston was born.

I wanted it more than anything!

I knew it would be hard, like other moms had told me, but what I wasn’t prepared for, was how hard it would be financially.

I try to be a generally happy, positive person and I’m the girl who’s always looking for easy ways to make money, but it’s tough.  I won’t lie.

In the past three years, we have had our ups and down, financially, and right now, we are in a rough spot.  I know the Lord will bring us through it and I have faith in Jeff to pull us out of it, but it makes me want to do whatever I can to help out.

Sure, I could go back to work, but now, the childcare costs would probably outweigh the benefits of the additional income.  Deep in my heart, and with much prayer behind this statement, I feel so strongly my place is at home with my boys.  However, as a girl who got her first job at 15 and had three jobs at one time right out of college, it’s hard to accept there’s not much else I can do to provide for our family, right now.

I have searched and searched for ways to earn money from home and I’ve learned how to save money on our groceries, spent a little time taking care of friends’ little ones, as well as selling some great Thirty-One Products.  I’ve even made a little bit of money through this little old blog of mine, surprisingly.  However, I haven’t found any money come easier than with market research companies.

It will never be a full time, or even part-time income, but it does help to pay an additional bill here and there.  And, we can ALL use that, right??

Right now, I am in the middle of a diaper study with Riverson.  I was provided with 16 days worth of diapers and after I return the used diapers and complete the necessary paperwork, they are going to give me $150.  Basically, they are paying me for changing my kid’s diaper and giving them the used ones.  So easy!

A few months ago, I qualified for a study that included inviting 5 of my girlfriends over to my house.  A moderator and her colleagues came over to ask us all questions about tuna!  Yes, tuna!  And, they paid my friends $75 for coming and me $150 for organizing it!  We even got a little swag bag at the end.

I’ve qualified for a taste testing study that was all about future flavors for tortilla chips.  Basically, they paid me $90 to eat their food, which was delicious, by the way.

The most memorable study I have taken part in was the shopping study.  There was a crew of 4 people who came to my house looking to find out more about my family and our eating/grocery shopping habits.

They took pictures of my refrigerator and pantry while asking me about my family’s favorite snacking foods.  We then went as a group (I was in my own car, of course) to Wal-Mart, where they asked me about different products and whether I would buy them at their current price or not.  At the completion of that study, I was given $200!!

There are many other studies, not mentioned, I have participated in while making an average of $100 each time.

I wanted to share some of the companies I have worked with and to let you know that these are truly legit.  They are not officed out of a hole in the wall location.  They are in professional office buildings with very professional staff.

• Delve
• Opinions Unlimited
• InspiredOpinions (a division of Schlesinger Associates)
• Fieldwork
• Murray-Hill Center

If this is something that interests you, go sign up to be in their databases.  If you qualify for a study, they will contact you and ask you some screening questions.  If you qualify after that, you WILL get paid.

Oh, speaking of that, one time I qualified for a diaper study but when I went to pick up my diapers, they told me they had qualified more participants than they needed, so they had run out of product before I got there.  They paid me $45 for making the trip to their office.  I was bummed about not making the $95 for the study, but only for a minute!  $45 for making a quick drive is fine with me.

****I get no benefit, whatsoever, for telling you about this, I just like sharing things with you that work for me.