Making Money Online with Prolific Academic

Surveys are part of the day to day of any self-respecting side hustler. Some sites offer too good to be true rates for your time, only to tell you 30 minutes in, that you"ve been screened out. All that time wasted for absolutely nothing. Prolific Academic is different. When you register, you fill in eligibility studies. This way, when there are surveys to fill in, they already know that you are part of their demographic. No time gets wasted!

Earning Money with Prolific Academic

Payments differ with each survey that you take. Don"t worry though; studies arrive thick and fast with occasional bonus questionnaires with extra cash attached. So it"s easy to build up your balance.

Completed Surveys

You have an allocated time to complete the tasks. If you finish it within the requested time and have no issues with it, then there should be no issues with payment. Once you have taken the survey, it goes off to the researcher to approve. If they see no problems, then your account will be credited. Approval can take anything up to 24 hours. The researchers can also decline your answers with no rhyme or reason. You can question this by contacting the researcher or appeal the decision.



Once you get used to the layout, it becomes second nature to copy your ID, note how many places are open in the study and how much reward is on offer for completion.

Payments

The threshold for withdrawing is £5 and is available via PayPal. This isn"t sent automatically to you, therefore, log into the Prolific Academic account, enter your cashout email address and request payment. Anything under £20 is subject to PayPal fees, so bear this in mind. Prolific Academic will pay anything over £20, so it"s well worth hanging onto the cash in the account until you reach this level.

Affiliates

Perhaps friends and family are also interested in joining? Then send them the affiliate link which you will find in your account, and as a bonus, 10% from whatever their first payout is. If they cash out £50, you get £5 and so on. So get out there and share that link with interested parties.

Overall

I think Prolific Academic is one of my favourite sites. It"s quick and easy to sign up giving you the ability to start earning straight away. Emails are sent to you whenever a task becomes available to you, so it"s super beneficial if you stay active online. Questionnaires are very easy to understand, and payment is fast.

 

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Update Your Wardrobe On A Budget

There are six wrinkled blouses on your bed, two black dresses on your bed, eight pairs of shoes in your wardrobe, and five pairs of jeans on your armchair, yet you say, “I have nothing to wear.” Does this sound like you? If so, it’s time to update your wardrobe.

With prices continually rising, it might seem impossible to update your wardrobe on a budget. Fortunately, if you work with what you’ve already got, stop splurging, and browse the clearance racks, you’ll be able to create at least five new outfits.

Organise all of your clothing by colour, and then sort them based on style

For example, after separating all of your reds, greens, blues, yellows, and whatever else, place the red tank tops, red t-shirts, and red blouses in their own sections. After you’ve finished, figure out what you need more of. As a general rule of thumb, you should have plenty of basics, including quality undershirts, tank tops, and t-shirts in all different colours. If your wardrobe lacks the basics, the clearance racks can be your best friend. If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to snag a few new t-shirts and strappy tops for less than £20.

Decide which clothes no longer fit you

Then decide which items you’re willing to throw out. If there is a pair of jeans that you can’t seem to part with or a little black dress that you know you’ll wear again, then visit your tailor and have them resized. It’s far cheaper to have items tailored than to go out and purchase a brand new ensemble in a different size.

Sell the clothes you no longer wear

Wash the items, take photographs, and post them on sites like eBay, on Shpock or on Vinted. Use the extra funds to pick up new pieces for your wardrobe.

Invest in timeless accessories

Silver and gold necklaces, hoop earrings, sunglasses, fashion belts, scarves, hair accessories, and neutral leggings can dramatically transform any outfit. For a casual look, pair a neutral coloured skirt with cowboy boots and an Aztec-patterned strappy top. Finish off the look with bold jewellery, like a rope bracelet or feather hair extensions. For a more professional style, switch out the sandals for brown pumps and cover the strappy top with a jacket. Add a chunky waist belt, and you’re good to go. Having plenty of accessories on hand will ensure that you never run out of new fashion ideas.

Shop at charity shops, or online at stores eBay

Don’t pay top money for a designer shirt when you can buy a second hand one for less. Shop around, and don’t be afraid to try local charity shops. If charity shopping is not your thing, check out clearance sales and look for discounts and promotions at your favourite shops.

Switching out your old wardrobe for fresh, new styles shouldn’t mean maxing out your credit card. Sometimes, the best way to vamp your style is by sorting what you already have and building on it.

 

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I Want To Bet. What Are Betting Exchanges?

Betting exchanges are sites that allow people to bet and lay bets based on the outcome of an event. It wasn"t until the end of the 20th century that they emerged, changing the way the public could place bets.



Betfair and Flutter were established first, with Flutter later merging with Betfair and then ceasing operation in 2002. Betfair is currently the largest betting exchange in the world today by market share. With BetDaq (also trading as Ladbrokes Exchange) coming a close second. Betting exchanges offer close to the same opportunities as regular high street bookmakers but with a few notable differences.

For instance, you can buy as well as sell the outcome of your bet. You can trade real-time throughout an event as well as trade-out to lock in profits or cut your losses (more commonly now with the arrival of cash-out).

Betting exchanges vs. traditional high street bookmakers

Revenue generation

One of the most notable differences between betting exchanges and traditional bookmakers lies in the way they both generate revenue. Betting exchanges make money by charging a commission/transaction fee which is usually a percentage of the total winnings of each customer/client on each event/market. Bookmaker operators generate revenue by offering their clients shorter odds.

Bet Restrictions

Unlike traditional bookmakers, betting exchanges don’t restrict gamblers for winning too much. You can place as many bets as you want with a betting exchange provided there is one or more opposing client who is willing to match your bets. But once you win too much, or take too many special offers online, you run the risk of being severely restricted or gubbed. No more free bets and boosts, no more money to make for you!

Winning odds

Betting exchanges usually offer better odds for winning than those offered by traditional bookmakers. Mainly because of their overheads, staff, cleaning, television licenses to watch the races/matches. But online betting exchanges allow more profiting options. If you know information like; a specific trainer has a poor record with racehorses on a particular track; such information is crucial. You can lay his runners as opposed to having to study a race and trying to pick a perfect back bet. Besides getting more options, better prices get generated at the exchange, especially on bets revolving around horse racing (I know the offers are usually more profitable). Plus betting markets are typically weak early in the morning (in regards to liquidity) which generally affects the profits you can get.

Backing and laying

Betting exchanges offer their clients/customers an opportunity back and lay the same bet. To make a bet work, you need a layer and a backer. Traditional betting usually occurs between a bookmaker and a customer where the customer backs (stakes on which outcome they think will happen and the bookmaker lays (bets that that specific outcome won’t occur). Exchanges, on the other hand, allow clients/customers to take the place of the bookmaker by enabling them to bet against the result. The Exchange don"t need to bet against your bet as other clients will do that then gets their profit from the % commission fee. Essentially the Exchange is then just the "middle man."

In-play betting

Betting exchanges allow gamblers to place bets in-play which merely means making bets when a match or race is in progress. Traditional bookmakers don’t enable in-play betting. In typical circumstances, betting suspended before a game or race kicks off or when something occurs (red cards, yellow cards, or something less predictable).

Arbitrage Betting

Betting exchanges offer arbitrage betting or arbs. Picking up an arb is generally frowned upon since you take advantage of the bookmaker"s oversight or error. Arbing is unlike traditional betting where you wait until the market makes a move in your preferred direction for you to make a profit.

Place Betting

Apart from the fact that you can be able to lay and back bets, betting exchanges also offer place-only markets. Such markets are perfect for horse racing bets as they allow gamblers to oppose or back a horse. Place betting, you don’t need to pick a horse and decide to back it to win or lose/each way. You can just back a horse "place only" or even lay the horse you don’t like for a place. With traditional bookmarkers, the only way to bet against a horse is to bet on the others running.

Hopefully, that"s whetted your appetite, giving you a head start to matched betting. If not, have a quick read of "5 Facts About Matched Betting Everyone Thinks Is True" and see if it changes your mind. You could be missing out on some easy money.

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Saving Money on your Household Bills

We"ve been talking about making money with 5 Smartphone Apps That Make You Money but how about saving some! We all hate the monthly direct debits or the brown envelopes, demanding attention and refusing to go away like unsolicited emails. But keeping an eye on what you use and staying on top of offers, discounts and bargains you can make a tremendous difference to your financial outlay.

Have a Light Bulb Moment

One improvement you can make is changing your lights. A regular incandescent 100w bulb costs on average 0.016p per hour to run. One 15w LED costs 0.002p per hour. Let"s give you that in layman"s terms. Leaving an incandescent light bulb on for 24 hours solid would cost you £142.89. The LED equivalent would cost only £21.43 in comparison. That"s an 85.31% difference in savings. Clock that up over a month; you can start saving for your holiday next year.

To have your lights swapped from incandescent to LED can be slightly costly (six halogen lights were replaced in our house to LED and cost us around £100) but the overall savings are enormous.  My poor mum would sigh in despair with me every time I"d walk out of the room and leave the light on, and now I know why! Don"t you love hindsight?

Turn the Thermostat Down

We"ve all seen the campaigns to turn the thermostat down 1 degree on TV, and as we"re all responsible for the energy we use, we need to clamp down on waste. There isn"t much difference between 21 and 22 degrees, so give it a go. If you have other people in the house, don"t make a fuss about doing it because alerting them to the fact will inevitably encourage complaints. Just do it quietly when you"re on your own for five minutes. We managed to take the thermostat down from 22 to 18 without much difference at all, so just one little degree adds up to a saving of around £80-£90 annually.

Buy Yourself A Bowl

When I was a kid, my Mum and Dad had a bowl in our sink. We"d throw the dirty plates in there all day then Dad would dutifully wash them all up and give them a quick rinse. Nowadays bowls are redundant as many people throw their cutlery and plates in the dishwasher. But dishwashers can add £60 to your bill over the year. So invest in a washing-up bowl. They"re not expensive, you can get one to match your kitchen, and it gives the kids something to do after dinner before their desserts.

Spend More Money = Saving More

OK, that kind of defeats the object of what I"m writing about, but when I say spend more money, I mean pay a little extra to gain a lot. Let me use this as an example. I won a competition about 5 years ago for a washing machine and tumble dryer. They cost £1000 at the time. They arrived with an extended 5-year warranty which included a like for like swap if anything happened. Both had been going strong, until a few weeks ago.  The heating element broke in the tumble dryer. As the warranty was still valid, we gave the manufacturer a quick call. Within a week, they had delivered us a brand new £500 machine. This new one can do everything and more. But if it were a cheaper item, the warranty may not have been extended and it undoubtedly wouldn"t have resulted in a brand new machine.

Buy a Big Bottle

No, you"re not drinking yourself into a stupor. You will be throwing your spare change in it at the end of the day. We bought a sizeable plastic bottle from eBay for about £15, but it just sat in our garage. When we bought it in, we"d empty our pockets out and everything under 50p would go in it. We emptied it a few months back and were staggered to have collected £154. Bank wasn"t too pleased as we gave it to them to get it changed but that sorted our shopping for the next month.  If you see one of those oversized bottles, grab one and start doing it yourself, I promise you will be shocked when you get round to cashing it in.

Have you got any household saving tips and techniques that you can share? Let me know below.

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