The Free Money Experiment

Sign off

2007-06-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

Well, I haven't managed to post in a week, which tells me I just don't have time for this right now. On the up side Survey Team paid me $108 into my PayPal account, so this isn't a total loss. Anyway, back to making money the old fashioned way.

Day 16

2007-06-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

I just got $20.42 by opening a Virtual Bank money market account. Cool beans!

Here's the deal... you get a referral from someone who already has a Virtual Bank account (like me) and open an account for yourself. Interest rates are good (4.5% - higher if you have $50,000 or more, which I don't). Fund the account with at least $100 (I used $100 from the $6000 I got in the arbitrage deal) and you get $20. The person who referred you also gets $20. Fun all around.

So, where did the extra $0.42 come from? Well, Virtual Bank makes two small deposits into the checking account that you use to fund your new Virtual Bank account as a way to confirm that you are truly the owner of that account (similar to what PayPal does). Even though it's only $0.42, I'm gonna count it!

Email me at thefreemoneyexperiment@gmail.com if you would like a referral to get your very own $20 in free money!

Day 15

2007-06-04T13:36:00.000-07:00

As of May 31, I have $0.72 of genuine free money in my hands. Well, actually, its in my ING Savings Account. I deposited the $6000 from my arbitrage deal just in time to get an interest payment for May.

At this rate I should be rolling in free money just in time for the next ice age!

Day 12

2007-06-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here are some more details on yesterday's arbitrage transaction. I opened a Citi Platinum Select card and got a $7500 credit limit. As I mentioned yesterday, I pulled out $6000 and placed it in an interest bearing account.

Why didn't I pull the whole $7500? Well, you have to be very careful with these things. First of all, I was concerned that a "maxed out" credit card would hurt my credit score. Also, these 0% deals are very finicky. If I go over limit, pay late or do anything to upset the credit gods, then my 0% sweet deal turns into a 20% nightmare! Gotta play it safe.

Day 11

2007-05-31T15:27:00.001-07:00

I have now completed my first credit card arbitrage deal. I got a $6000 0% for 12 months, no fee transfer from Citi. Now its sitting in my ING account earning 4.5%, which should net me about $270 in free money. It will actually be a little bit less because I will have to make minimum payments on the credit card.

So, why did I complain yesterday that the credit arbitrage was a pain? Well, when I called Citi to make my balance transfer I was told that there would be a 3% fee for the balance transfer. Whoa! That's not the deal I signed up for. Fortunately, I had printed out a copy of the Terms and Conditions on my credit card agreement. I asked to speak with a supervisor and everything was straightened out. They made good on the deal, but had to be pushed into it.

Anyway, I also signed up for their version of credit insurance. Of course, credit insurance is a bad idea. It is an overpriced rip-off. On the other hand, once I get the $15 check for "trying out" the service, I can immediately cancel the overpriced insurance and I will be left with a cool $15 of free money. Sweet!

Day 10

2007-05-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm up to $44.50 in Approved free money in my Survey Team account. This is kinda fun! Hopefully I'll get up to $100 soon so I can actually get the cash!

I am working on my first credit arbitrage deal. Its kinda a pain, so I don't know if I'll do it again. We'll see...

Memorial Day Weekend

2007-05-26T22:08:00.000-07:00

Everyone have a safe, fun Memorial Day weekend. Remember to say a prayer for those who have given the ultimate sacrifice for our country and for their families.

Day 5

2007-05-25T20:49:00.000-07:00

OK, this isn't exactly free money, but free postage is pretty good. Go here to get 10 2-cent stamps from Dymo.

Day 4

2007-05-24T20:39:00.000-07:00

I flew to Texas today to visit my best friend and her new twin babies. Awww! So, not much action in the way of free money today, although my survey account now has $4 of confirmed earnings and $84 of pending earnings. I need to get up to $100 confirmed before I can get a transfer into my PayPal account, so I'm not counting this chicken, yet.

On my flight today, I did get to thank a young lady in military service as well as an older veteran, so today was a good day.

Day 3

2007-05-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

Whoo hoo! I got some free money today! A whole $5. I've tried online surveys in the past, but they are usually too much trouble to take seriously. Anyway, today I happened upon Survey Team and made $5 right out of the gate! I'll work on more later.

Right now I'm restricting myself to surveys that don't ask for your credit card number. Some have free trial periods and you have to call and cancel before the end of the trial to keep from getting charged. Since I want to keep this easy, I'll avoid those for now.

And, I'm not going to count the money until it is in my hot little hands. Right now it is in the "pending" account. I can't actually get paid until I accumulate $100. So, that will be my project for the next day or so.

Day 2

2007-05-22T10:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not exactly rolling in free money. So far, I've yet to get a single penny. I'm not worried, though. These things take time. Maybe I should send out some more ING Direct invitations today.

Since this whole idea came about while reading an article on Credit Card Arbitrage, maybe I should give that technique a try. If you're not familiar with the term, it describes a deal where you get a 0% balance transfer offer from a credit card, take that money and stuff it into a nice, safe, high yield savings account for the term of the 0% offer and then pull the money out of the savings account and pay off the credit card before the offer expires.

A word of warning; this should only be done if you have the self-control and discipline to carry it out. Never make a purchase on a credit card you are using for an arbitrage deal or you will end up losing money.

As part of this experiment I will also be tracking my credit score on a monthly basis to make sure I'm not doing any damage. My average from the 3 credit bureaus is currently 738.

Check in tomorrow to see how I'm doing!

Rules of Engagement

2007-05-21T12:54:00.000-07:00

Let's start off by defining free, at least for the purpose of this experiment. Well, I'm trying to get something for nothing, right? In this case, I want money for nothing! No selling, no working, nothing!

Nothing is pretty restrictive, however. I'll have to do something! Like the ING referrals in my first post. I had to send an email to 25 people. That's something. So let's try some ground rules.

1. No selling stuff. Sure, I could get some money by selling off things in the house, but that's definitely not money for nothing.

2. No working. As a consultant, I get paid for my time. Of course sending 25 emails takes time, but its not part of my traditional job, so that should be within the spirit of the experiment.

3. No seed money. As I mentioned in my first post, I thought about giving myself $100 to start off with. Some free money requires you to make some kind of deposit, but I decided I want to start off with zero. Once I've collected a bit of free money, I can use that to grab on to some of those offers that require a deposit - as long as I can get that deposit back before the end of the experiment!

So those are the rules. The only things I can invest are my time (as long as its not "working") and any cash I've already gotten for free.

Away we go!

Gotta start somewhere

2007-05-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

It takes money to make money, right? Well, I considered giving myself a little bit of "seed money" to start this experiment, but that would take some of the challenge out of it. If you know me, you know I love the challenge, so, there it is. No seed money.

So, how will I get my first bit of free money? Let's try ING Direct! I already have a savings account and checking account with them and they offer $10 for new referrals, up to $250! So, I'll be barraging my acquaintances until I get 25 people to sign up. Wish me luck!

If you want me to send you one of those emails to open up an ING Direct account, email me at thefreemoneyexperiment@gmail.com Not only will you be helping my experiment, but you will get a great account (4.5% interest) and a $25 bonus for yourself if you make an opening deposit of at least $250. Get some free money for yourself!