One Wage Family - A Family Money Saving and Earning Blog

My Money Goals for July and August

July 18, 2017 No Comments

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These are my Money Goals for July and August…

Pay off Next Account

I think I have a Next kids clothes addiction. I cant seem to stop buying cute clothes for daughter and telling myself she needs them when most of the time she doesn’t. Trouble is that when I signed up for a Next Account a few years ago, I instantly got given a credit account with a high limit and we all know that can be a slippery slope to overspending.. There has recently been a summer sale which I took advantage of and got some good stuff but now my balance is too high for my liking. I’m planning on gradually paying my Next balance off using money I earn online, hopefully I can make a large payment towards it this month.

Sell last of Summer Stuff on Ebay

I’ve been Ebaying non stop the past few months, mostly selling my daughters summer clothes from last year and even previous years. Its always a good idea to sell seasonal stuff at the right time which is why I have waited until now to Ebay most of it. I seem to have lost my Ebay mojo though as I was starting to get bored of the endless picture taking and listing so haven’t put anything on for the last 2 weeks. I still have more summer stuff to sell though so need to get it listed asap before everyone starts looking for autumn/ winter wear!

Sign up for Web Evaluator work

Web Evaluator work is amongst the best paying online jobs out there. You typically get paid above minimum wage and so this kind of work is very sought after. The application process can be quite long and difficult however and so you may not be accepted. Several years ago I applied for one of the main companies that hire people, Lionbridge but sadly did not pass the exam required to be accepted. I remember that it took me an age to complete the test which then put me off applying for any other Web Evaluator companies at the time. I keep meaning to try again as obviously I’m always on the lookout for more money earning revenues and the work even sounds quite interesting. I think I will apply to Appen Butler Hill and see how that goes..

Edit my CV

With my daughter starting school in September, it feels like I’m entering a new stage in my life. I have been a stay at home mum since she was born, mainly as I didn’t have a job to go back to anyway (pregnant in my last year of uni) and there didn’t seem much point with childcare costs. I’d always planned to get a job once my daughter started school so I guess the time has come! I know its not going to be easy to find a job as I’m ideally looking for something part time which seems to be a little harder to find and have been out of the workplace for 7 years now! I really need to figure out what exactly I’m going to put on my CV to explain the past 4 years of my life.

Cancel Unessential Direct Debits

I only have a handful of direct debits that I pay from my own bank account as me and my partner have a joint account where all the bills and other direct debits go out from. However I did have a couple that I could get rid of to save money. I think my weight watchers payment is going to have go as its £21 a month and is not really working for me as I’ve barely lost anything since January, although I haven’t been strictly following it as I seem to have no willpower! I’m also going to get rid of my Microsoft Office direct debit and solely use Open Office instead.

I think money making and money saving is going to be harder in July and August as my daughter has already finished preschool for the summer and so I have less opportunity to get things done in peace! We are also going on holiday for 2 weeks mid August so I only have less than 4 weeks to go about achieving my goals.

Save Money, Travel On a Budget

Center Parcs Europe in the School Holidays?

July 14, 2017 No Comments

Center Parcs Europe in the School Holidays?

Like many others I absolutely love a break at Centre Parcs! The parks make an ideal place to get away for a few days; located in beautiful surroundings and with so many activities right on your doorstep. It is no wonder Centre Parcs is so popular with families as there is so much to do for every age. However these wonderful facilities come at a cost and this is very much apparent in the school holidays when the prices sky rocket!

When it came to booking our August summer holiday back in 2014, the thought of going to Centre Parcs crossed my mind for just a second before discarding it upon realising how ridiculously expensive it would be. I should add that although we had a toddler at the time so would normally have avoided a holiday in the school holidays like the plague, we wanted to go away with my school aged step son and so like many other parents, we were bound by these dates. Not wanting to pay for the cost of flights, we deliberated on where we could go that involved driving only. We also wanted somewhere that had good facilities for our then 17 month old and the 7 year old, keeping the kids happy was important! Out of interest I decided to check the prices of Centre Parcs in Europe, thinking it would be almost as much I was pleasantly surprised to find it was significantly cheaper than Centre Parcs in the U.K. We weren’t afraid of driving abroad either as we had driven all the way to Spain and Italy, one and two years previously. Eventually we finalised the details of our August holiday; We would stay Friday to Monday at Centre Parcs Erperheide in Belgium and then drive to Germany where we would stay Monday to Friday at Parc Bispinger Heide. On the way to Belgium we would also stop in Bruges for two nights. Because European school children go back to school in August, prices go down towards the end of the month. We booked our holiday for the last week of August coming back a few days into September. Even with the cost of the ferry the holiday still worked out at about half the price of staying at a U.K Centre Parcs.

Center Parcs Belgium

Bruges is only a a 1 hour and 20 minute drive away from Calais and made a perfect place to stop en route to Erperheide. We stayed two nights in a self contained modern lodge which was essentially in the back of somebodies garden. Bruges is a beautiful city and although we only had one full day here, we had fun walking around the pretty streets and the kids loved going on a boat ride, exploring Bruges’s canals. We then headed off to Centre Parcs Erperheide located on the opposite side of Belgium but still only a just over 2 hour drive from Bruges.

Center Parcs Erperheide reminded me of every other Centre Parcs I have visited. Here you find all the usual offerings; a great swimming pool, market place, lodges nestled in a remote forest and many activities to choose from. We had chosen the cheapest option for accommodation and so stayed in their basic lodge and basic accurately sums up the description of it! The décor was bland but I suppose it still had everything we needed and was clean enough.

In the heart of Erperheide is the the Swimming pool aka the Aqua Mundo along with the usual restaurants and a shop. I was very impressed with the pool, it has lots of fake trees around it and was nice and tropical looking. There were several water slides which my step son loved. Unfortunately my daughter decided on the second day that she hated water and so the two of us spent a lot of time sitting by the pool, luckily there many playpens around to contain her in 🙂

The best part of Center Parcs Erperheide if you are going with children has to be the huge indoor play centre (the ‘Baluba’). As well as being basically a big soft play centre with lots of slides, there is also a mini go kart track and best of all a Lego area. At 17 months old my lazy daughter still couldn’t walk so could not use most of this facility however she loved the Lego area and playing with the large soft lego shaped bricks whilst chucking the actual lego everywhere! The play centre at Erperheide is definitely the best I have been to so far. There are also many other activities available at Erperheide although we didn’t end up booking anything. We found the kids were entertained enough with the swimming pool, play centre and the various outdoor playgrounds dotted around. Since our trip there is now a farm and pony centre which I’m sure the kids would have loved too.

I noticed that we weren’t the only British family either there, There were a fair few others that also had the right Center Parcs money saving idea :). Overall I thought Center Parcs Erperheide was a fantastic place for a family break, it had all the great things about Center Parcs for a much cheaper price. I Perhaps would have paid more for a slightly more luxurious lodge though.

Unfortunately I can’t tell you anything about the German Center Parcs Bispinger Heide as on the last night of our Belgium trip my partner broke his collar bone! He ended up getting a taxi to the local hospital which apparently comes recommended. With his shoulder and arm immobilised we decided to cut our European holiday short and head back home.

bruges accomodation — Our Bruges Accomodation

Lego area erperheide — Lego Area in the Baluba

Indoor go karts erperheide — Go Karts in the Baluba

Center Parcs Het Meerdal, Holland.

The following May, after deciding we would like to go away in the May school holidays we once again decided to look at Centre Parcs abroad. After some research we settled on Center Parcs Het Meerdal in The Netherlands, a 4 hour drive from Calais. Amazingly the price came to around £200 for a 3 bedroom lodge in the school holidays…Bargain! The reason it was probably so cheap is that there is no school holidays in May for European children so there was no increase in price for that week. Something to bear in mind.

Het Meerdal is situated in the Limberg region of Holland and the park sits on a large lake. It is apparently the first Center Parcs to have opened in Europe. Just like our experience with Erpeheide, Het Meerdal has a lot to offer families. There is the Market Dome which is nicely done inside with several restaurants. Here there is also a large attractive pool area with an awesome long wild west slide. Also located in the Market Dome is a soft play area and a mini golf course which we had fun playing. Outdoors there is plenty of things to do, there were a few great playgrounds and one day we hired a go kart for my stepson and walked around the lake. It was surprisingly quiet at Het Meerdal that week which made it quite peaceful and wasn’t a bad thing. For theme park fans there is an Amusement Park located next to Het Meerdal named Toverland which has many roller coasters and other rides. The kids weren’t really into rides then so we didn’t visit but there is a discount available to Het Meerdal visitors.

Despite choosing the cheapest accommodation again, the lodge was much better than the Belgium version and was surprisingly spacious inside. Again we thoroughly enjoyed our second European Center Parcs experience at Het Meerdal.

outdoors at het meerdal — Outdoors at Het Meerdal

crazy golf het meerdal — Indoor Crazy Golf

If you can brave getting a ferry or euro tunnel and driving abroad then I certainly recommend staying at a Center Parcs village across the pond. We found that the European Center Parcs offered all the same amenities as the British ones for a fraction of the price even in the school holidays!

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Get Paid to Review Websites with What Users Do and User Testing

July 7, 2017 No Comments

get paid to review websites, one wage family

Get Paid to Review websites – What Users Do and User Testing

Looking for another easy money making opportunity that pays better than survey sites? Get Paid to review websites! With the online companies What Users Do and User Testing you simply get paid to give your opinions on their clients websites (sometimes apps too). Using their platform they will record you speaking and verbally giving your opinions and answering questions that will appear on the screen. Some tasks will have only have a few questions and take around 5 minutes while some may be more in depth and take around 20 minutes. You will need to buy a headset with a microphone if you don’t already own one. Both What Users Do and User Testing are similar in how they operate and it is definitely worth signing up to both.

What Users Do.

What Users Do is one popular site for jobs reviewing and testing websites. What Users Do requires you to complete a practice test before offering you paid work. After signing up they will guide you through how to download the screen recorder and complete the test but don’t worry its very simple! Once accepted you will be paid £5 for each job which normally takes around 15-20 minutes. You will be notified when there is task available by email and you usually will receive between 3-5 emails per month. Payment is received via Paypal once a month.

User Testing

I personally prefer User Testing over What Users Do, mainly as there is more work avavilable. Like What Users Do, you need to complete and submit a practice test to join. With User Testing you login to your dashboard to see what tests they have available, I like to keep the site open when Im working on other things as you receive a ping to alert you to any new available ones. User Testing also sends an email to notify you of work however by the time you log on they may have gone. The tasks vary in length, there are many shorter jobs that pay $3 which only take a few minutes and just want your general opinion on the website in question, whilst the longer ones pay $10 and take 15-20 minutes normally. Some jobs require you to meet certain requirements so you will be asked a few questions to determine if you can go ahead. Receiving payment is very easy with User Testing as they will send the money to your paypal account after reviewing your recording, you dont need to do anything.

It can feel a little strange to speak out loud at first but it does get easier the more you do it! Just remember to try and keep talking and offer any thoughts you might have whilst also keeping the on screen questions to mind. Thankfully you can pause the recording at any time if you need to.

The only potential downside of this type of work is that you need to be in a fairly quiet environment. Therefore if you have young children around this may be too challenging! I learnt this when trying to complete a task and having to continiously pause everytime my daughter shouted “mummy”! (which feels like every minute of the day.) Even shutting the door didnt work as you could still have heard her banging on it, hence why I only undertake website review work while she’s at preschool now…

Getting paid to review websites is a great way to earn extra money from home and the pay is pretty good too. The work can be quite fun and you are also helping to improve websites and the good old internet 🙂

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How to get your Free Smart Meter – Advantages to Smart Meters

July 4, 2017 No Comments

So we recently got a Smart Meter fitted and I thought I would do a short guide to Smart Meters and how do get your own free Smart Meter;

What is a Smart Meter?

Smart Meters are the latest generation of gas and electricity technology created in a bid to improve energy efficiency. They have been featured in the news (and watchdog!) quite a bit recently as the aim is to have a smart meter in every home. By 2020 the government expects around 53 million smart meters to be fitted and nearly 7 million have already been installed. We are one of these households with a smart meter as we had our own installed last week. But what exactly is a Smart Meter you may ask? Smart Meters measure how much gas and electricity you are using and how much its costing you in pounds and pence. This information is shown on a the display on an in home device. You need a smart meter for both gas and electricity each and if you are a dual fuel customer this will be fitted at the same time, however you still only need one device as it will display both readings. If your gas and electricity are with different suppliers the smart meters will be installed separately by each company.

Advantages of a Smart Meter?

The main advantage of a smart meter is that it tells you the actual cost of the fuel you are using in almost real time. This means you will know what your actual bill is rather than being given an estimated bill. Another possible benefit to being able to see how much you are spending is that it may be motivating to make changes to reduce how much fuel you are using. Smart Meters also mean there won’t be any nasty surprises when its time for the bill to arrive.

Smart Meters offer convenience for customers as the data from their meters will be transmitted wirelessly to their energy company which will replace the need to give manual meter readings or have somebody to come to your home to read them. Readings will also apparently be far more accurate than doing it manually.

Smart Meters will give customers a better understanding of their energy usage. On the smart meter device display unit you will be able to see how your lifestyle impacts your fuel consumption which may lead to changes in habits and being able to make smarter decisions about saving energy and whether your current supplier is right for you.

With companies being able to see your data, suppliers will also have a better understanding of your energy use and therefore may be mean they can offer more innovative tariffs.

Are there any disadvantages?

The only possible disadvantage of smart meters I have come across is that there may be some compatibility issues for some customers although your supplier should be able to tell you if there is an issue. There is also of course the hassle of possibly needing to take a day off work for the installation.

How do I get my free Smart Meter?

Smart Meters are absolutely free (for us not the government that is)! To get your free Smart Meter you simply need to contact your energy supplier to arrange an installation. We have both our electricity and gas with First Utility so we contacted them who arrange a date to do the job which took around 2 hours.

Free Smart Meters with

We are quite interested to see whether having a Smart meter will actually make a difference to our energy usage and hopefully have the added bonus of saving us a little money 🙂

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My Favourite Survey Sites in 2017.

June 30, 2017 No Comments

My favourite Survey Sites 2017

Survey sites are a popular way to make extra money from home. You get paid to simply answer questions and fill in some basic demographic information about you self. Whilst they are easy and something anybody can do, they are usually low paid. There are so many survey sites out there but some that are not worth using in my opinion. Having tried out many survey sites I thought I would offer 5 of my favourite survey sites that I currently use in 2017.

Prolific Academic

Prolific Academic is easily my favourite survey site. The majority of surveys on offer are submitted by Universities and Academic researchers and thus tend to be more interesting than surveys on other sites. One great aspect of Prolific is that you never get screened out, once you have selected the study you are good to go. Prolific Academic is one of the best paying survey sites out there and you can cash out when you reach £5. There is now a small charge to cash out with PayPal or you can get paid via circle which is free. The only downside to Prolific is that surveys can fill up very quickly (you can see how many spaces are left for each survey) so you need to check regularly.

Panelbase

Panelbase is another good survey site that offers a decent amount of surveys. Payment is typically around £2 for a 20 minute survey and there are also many shorter ones for less pay. You can cash out once you have reached £10 and the money goes straight into your bank account.

Mintvine

Mintvine is a very popular survey site. There is a great amount of surveys on offer and most the time there is constant stream of them available. It can be very annoying when you get rejected for surveys but with Mintvine you receive 6 points for every screen out which is a little consolation. Mintvine also does a daily poll where you get 5 points for answering. To cash out you need 1,000 points which equals $10 (around £7.70 at present) and you can choose to receive this by PayPal or vouchers.

Pinecone

Pinecone is one of the higher paying survey sites paying a fixed £3 for every survey which takes about 15 minutes to complete. The majority of their surveys have the same theme and are about an idea for a new product and can be quite interesting. Joining the Pinecone Panel requires them to be accepting new people and for you to find a valid referral link which I have found here

Surveys are available by email invite only and there are no screen outs. You are also able to cash out after each survey completed via PayPal. Another benefit of Pinecone as they may occasionally send you a new product to try although the most exciting item I have received from them was bathroom cleaner! On the negative side there are not many surveys available and I typically only receive 4 a month.

Usability Hub

Not as well known as other survey sites, Usability Hub is a great site for very short and easy surveys. Each survey available gives you instructions where you are often simply asked to just pick your favourite design out of several options and then you may be asked to answer 1-5 questions which normally takes 1 minute or less. Each task pays 10 cents and you can get paid once you have reached $20. Whilst I usually only get to do around 5 a day and therefore it can take a while to have enough money accrued to cash out, the tests are so quick and easy that I find it worth keeping the site open in my browser. You can also choose to get a ping when a task is available which is useful.

Although some survey sites seem to work better for others, hopefully this post has provided some ideas on which sites may be worth signing up for. I have personally used and received money from all the websites mentioned without any problems. Survey sites remain one of the easiest ways to earn money from home and supplement your income.

Save Money, Travel On a Budget

Family Skiing on a Budget – Bansko Bulgaria

June 28, 2017 No Comments

Family Skiing on a Budget?

Skiing has always been something on my bucket list of things to try despite the fact I’m the least sportiest and coordinated person I know! I had always imagined going on a skiing holiday to be expensive what with all the equipment you need and my general impression of ski resorts were that they were all pricey places and only really for the more wealthy. However there are ways to go on a budget skiing holiday as I have discovered.

Our trip came about after my partner had a conversation with a friend at work about his upcoming ski holiday to Bulgaria. Interested by the idea, he decided to look into how much it would cost and was pleasantly surprised at how cheap it was! Firstly we went on to Ryanairs website and found that the flights from Birmingham to Sofia (Bulgaria’s capital) were just £14.99 each, one way, so in total for two adults and one child the flights were less than £100… for that price we couldn’t not go!

I had heard that Bulgaria was cheap country to visit and despite being a member of the E.U, Bulgaria does not use the Euro as its currency but rather the Bulgarian Lev. This is good news for us Brits in particular as we all know about the weak pound against the euro thanks to Brexit! Converting Pounds to Levs is simple as the lev is roughly double the amount in pounds so for example 10 Levs = 5 pounds.

During the planning stage of our trip we found out that there are two main ski resorts in Bulgaria; Borovets and Bansko, with Bansko being the biggest of the two. Both are within a 2 hour drive of Sofia and we opted for Bansko as it seemed to be the most popular. We found that accommodation in Bansko was also cheap and we ended up booking the 5 star Lucky Bansko Hotel for 4 nights for a total of £200.

So with flights and accommodation booked next on the agenda was to buy ski wear! We had booked to go on our trip during the second week of March and this is the perfect time to grab a bargain with March being later in the skiing season. We found that many ski items were on sale in the shops the week before we went. One of the best places to get cheap skiwear is Aldi! You have probably seen skiing stuff amongst the various random items Aldi has to offer and my partner managed to snap up a ski jacket for only £10! By march many people are selling unwanted ski and snow wear and so I managed to get a snowsuit and snow boots for my daughter off Ebay for very cheap.

Our flight arrived at Sofia very late and so we decided to stay at a hotel close to the airport and pick up the hire car the next day. We got a taxi to our hotel (Hotel Dream) 10 minutes away for 5 levs and the next morning we picked up the car rental. We had booked the cheapest car rental we could find, a company we hadn’t heard of and who didn’t have a desk at Sofia airport. We had to ring a number to say what time we would be there and once back at the airport we met a guy who showed us to a car parked up just outside the terminal where another man greeted us and went through the paper work. I did think this set up seemed a little dodgy however we did not encounter any problems with the car and received our deposit back with no issue. If you do not wish to hire a car then there are bus/shuttles that go from the airport to Bansko.

The drive to Bansko took about 2 hours in total. If you ever go to Bulgaria you will notice that the roads in the towns and villages are often a little worse for wear however there is a new motorway from Sofia to Bansko ( funded by the E.U according to signs) which is perfectly good.

We checked into our hotel and the rest of that day and the next were spent exploring Bansko and scouting out the ski hire and instructor options. There are many Ski hire shops in Bansko and many also offer instructor lessons either one on one or in groups. These are all located on or around Pirin Street, the main street around the Ski area, located next to the Ski Gondola entrance. The Ski Resort also has their own official ski instructors which you can book from their office by the gondolas and you will also found several instructors available on the slopes. For children there is a ski school for kids aged 4-7 named ULEN ski school which also includes ‘snow play’ as well as ski instruction.

We deliberated about paying for ski instructor which we probably should have done being complete beginners but it the end we opted to hire the equipment and have a go ourselves! We chose a small ski hire shop where the guy fitted us out and helpfully showed us how to get the skis and boots on and off and after watched several Youtube videos on the basics of skiing we were all set!

The first time we went up to the slopes we drove; there is a road that takes you to where the main ski slopes starts and the Gondola stops (Then you can get the ski lift to the higher slopes) and you can also park up by the beginners slope (where the kids ski school is located.) With it being March there wasn’t any snow in the town itself but as we drove up the road through the mountains we soon encountered snow which got deeper the higher we went 🙂

We also got the Gondola up to the top which takes 20 minutes and offers some amazing views of Bansko so it worth doing even if you aren’t planning on doing any skiing. The Gondola Lift costs 22 Bulgarian Levs for adults and only 1 Levs for a child for one up and down trip or you can get a pass for several days. Current prices can be found here.

Back to the skiing – It was soon apparent that I was not made for skiing! The three of us practised on the beginners area which only has a very slight slope to it but was still plenty scary enough for me. Me and my daughter only lasted a few hours before we called it a day but my partner carried on for another 2 days. We returned to the slopes the following day with a sledge for me and Cora and together we attempted going back down the mountain on the ‘ski road’. The beginning of the ski road starts out on a gentle incline which lulls you into a false sense of security that it is going to be the same most the way down however it does get steeper! My partner being on skis and still very much a novice managed to fall over several times so be warned that it may not be suitable for beginners!

Hotels in Bansko

We were staying at the 5 star Lucky Bansko Hotel which is situated a little further from the main areas of the town and is about a 20/25 minute walk to the Pirin Street Area. I would definitely recommend this hotel with the best attribute being the lovely spa. The Spa is very nicely designed and even has a separate childrens pool. We enjoyed relaxing in the spa every evening, perfect for after a days skiing (or none skiing in my case!). There is also a free creche at the Lucky Bansko for children aged 3-7 however we did not end up using it. If you are looking for a hotel with a creche then there is also the Hotel Kempinski which offers this facility.

Prices in Bansko

My research had led me believe that Bulgaria is a cheap country and in Bansko this is mostly the case. The further away from the Ski Gondola/Lift area you go the cheaper the prices in restaurants are. The old town is the best place for eating out on a budget where you can get a main meal for 8/9 Levs. The restaurants and bars around the Pirin Street Area were similar to UK prices and those on the actual slopes were unsurprisingly a little on the expensive side. There is a medium sized supermarket in the centre of Bansko which mostly sold imported products so was also no cheaper than back home. For smoker, Bulgaria offers very cheap cigarettes, you can expect to pay around £2.50 for a pack of twenty cigarettes.

Aside from skiing I wouldn’t say there was a whole lot to do in Bansko. We came across an ice rink however this was closed in March and the vast majority of shops only sell ski accessories or souvenirs. For children there was a few rides open and a small playground situated by the Ski Gondola station. Less than a 2 hour drive away is the beautiful Rila Monastery in the Pirin Mountains which we enjoyed visiting.

On the whole we enjoyed our skiing trip to Bansko. We had never been to a ski resort before so have nothing to compare it to however I would say it was an ideal place for family skiing on a budget.

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Get Paid for Transcribing with CrowdSurf

June 27, 2017 7 Comments

Transcription work with Crowdsurf

Today I am going to talk to you about another way to make money from home by transcribing audio into text. The site where this takes place is a not so well known site called CrowdSurf. By signing up as a transcriber with Crowdsurf you are paid to complete tasks where you typically transcribe 10-25 seconds of audio/video into written text. The pay for most tasks is 8-13 cents and while it certainly isn’t a well paid job there are some good points about doing this which I will explain later.

Getting Started

Crowdsurf Sign Up

To get started, things are a little complicated to begin with as you actually sign up with a different website called Work Market. Work Market is the company that will actually pay you (via Paypal) and where you will need to do a test to be accepted with Crowdsurf.

When you sign up you will need to use the same email you use for paypal. Once registered you will also need to fill in your paypal details under the payment details section of your profile and fill out your tax information where you will need your national insurance number. After you have completed these details you will receive an email inviting you to complete the test for Crowd surf which you must pass to be accepted.

You can either click on the link in the email or you should see an invitation to join the crowdsurf talent pool under the tests section on your work market dashboard. There are 18 questions and you need 75% correct answers to pass. However one of those 18 questions requires you to actually transcribe a video and this is worth 40% of the test so you must basically get this right to pass. The other questions are multiple choice. Before beginning the test you MUST read through the General Guidelines which tells you all about the rules around transcribing with Crowdsurf .

Once you have completed the test you will be told if you passed and given the correct answers. However the answer you give where you transcribe the video isn’t actually assessed immediately so if you if you fail that you may not have actually passed even if it says you did (I did say this site was a little complicated!).

You then need to wait for an email providing your login details (if the crowdsurf team have decided you have passed). It states this will take 5-10 working days to receive this email however I got mine after 11 days.

Completing Tasks

You will need to login to the Crowdsurf platform which is where you will do your transcribing. The platform is very simple to use, you simply click on tasks and then click on view to start receiving transcription tasks. It will start playing the audio/video and then you need to accept the task to begin working on it or you can skip it to receive the next task. If you accept you will listen to the audio and then type in the box. A spell check is provided before you are able to press submit.
The tasks will keep coming one after another but you can exit by going back to dashboard at anytime.

You need to ensure you are being as accurate as possible as you may get terminated if your transcribing is not up to the Crowdsurf standard. The first day I worked every task I submitted was assessed but after that only the occasional is assessed and the rest are approved straight away. The tasks that are assessed are scored out of 4 and feedback is often provided which is helpful.

The Pros

Despite the low pay there are some positives about working for Crowdsurf; the first is that you are paid very quickly! It normally only takes a few hours for Crowdsurf to send your payment over to Work Market. From Work Market you can then immediately withdraw to paypal (for a small $1 fee) with no minimum requirement and the money is normally in your paypal account within 24 hours. This means that you basically get paid the very next day for work you did that day which is great!

The other excellent thing about Crowdsurf is that there is ALWAYS tasks available. You will never log in and find there are no tasks available to do as there is always a constant supply of work to do so you can do as many as you wish.

The Cons

The downside of transcribing for Crowdsurf is the obvious low pay. You wont make more than a few pounds per hour although how much you work is somewhat dependent on how fast you can complete tasks, but the most you can make is probably going to be around £4 an hour.
The hourly pay is similar to many survey sites and I personally find this more interesting, I have transcribed all sorts of videos from T.V shows to political meetings and I’ve actually learnt a lot new things!

The sign up process can seem a little complicated but from the time you are accepted to Crowdsurf it is all straightforward and easy to understand

Hopefully some of you will find this post useful as another source to make money from home.

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How I made over £4000 with Matched Betting – Getting started with Profit Accumulator

June 27, 2017 No Comments

Matched Betting is just about the easiest and one of the most profitable ways to make money online.
It was a several years ago when I first came across matched betting being mentioned on a forum but after reading a bit about it, I concluded it was way too complicated for me. But I was wrong.

Last year I again saw some posts talking about Matched Betting on a different forum. Many people were discussing how they were using a site called Profit Accumulator, a membership site where you are given access to Tutorials, all the available matched betting offers, tools and a busy forum for support. Inspired by the money others were making I decided to sign up for the free trial at Profit Accumulator and I’m so glad I did. To date I have made well over £4,000 with matched betting just from picking the easiest offers.

What is Matched Betting?

I’m not going to go into detail about how to do Matched Betting as there is simply no need as the training videos on Profit Accumulator explain it simply with their videos and talk you through real life examples. Matched Betting basically involves taking advantage of promotions Bookmakers provide. Most Bookies offer sign up offers to new members and continue to provide regular offers to its members. Some types of offers are;

Bet ? And get a ? free bet.
Bet ? And get a refund if it loses.
Horse racing refunds
Casino bonuses
Accumulator refunds
Bingo offers

There is no gambling involved (apart from low risk casino and bingo offers if you choose to do these). You place a bet and then back it on a betting exchange (Betfair or Smarkets being the most popular) effectively cancelling each other out so you do not lose money whatever the result. The profit comes from using free bet you are then given.

Who is Matched Betting for?

Anybody! I was originally put off matched betting as I thought it was too complicated and that you needed to be good at maths. That simply isn’t the case as its surprisingly easy once you understand the basic methodology. Profit Accumulator also provides all the calculators you need to know how much money to bet so there are no maths to do yourself. I had never in my life placed a sports bet before I started matched betting but that was no problem at all. There are many people like me, stay at home mums and dads and those looking to supplement their income, all earning money easily with matched betting.

How do I get started?

All you need to get started is to sign up with the free trial at Profit Accumulator. With the trial you first watch the training videos where it provides a step by step guide to signing up and completing offers with two different bookies. From the trial you should make £40-45 profit.
You will need around £60/70 to start with although the more money you can use for matched betting, the faster you can work through all the offers and profit. I personally started with £200.

Once you realise how easy it is you will kick yourself for not starting sooner! If you want to continue with matched betting it is far easier to use a site like Profit Accumulator where all the offers are given to you rather than hunting them yourself. I found the forum there invaluable too if I needed any help. Membership is £17.99 a month and you can cancel at anytime.

I would also recommend using a spreadsheet to record the bookies you are signed up to, the bets you place and how much money you are making (Its nice to see it increasing!). I used a spreadsheet that had already been formatted for matched betting purposes which you can download here.

So thats it! I would urge anybody who is looking to make online to give matched betting a go as it so easy and can be very profitable! If you need any help and are not yet a paying member of PA you can still get help from others on the dedicated matched betting area on The Money Shed forum or comment below and I will do my best to help 🙂