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6 Strange Ways for Guys to Get Paid to Go to The Grocery Store

The Penny Hoarder Staff

by The Penny Hoarder Staff

Never get in the way of an extreme grocery shopper.
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I’m not going to lie — there was a time when I ordered chinese food at least three nights a week and only visited the grocery store once a month.

Gross, I know. Laziness and convenience are appealing sins. However, I recently discovered something that has changed that completely:

There are companies that will pay you to go the grocery store. Seriously.

These are a little bizarre, but I’ve tried them all and they do work…

1.Take a Picture of Your Receipt

I know this sounds strange, but there’s actually a company that will pay you to take a picture of your grocery store receipts. 

The company is called ReceiptPal and at the moment, they’re only paying male shoppers for their receipts. Here’s how it works:

  • Download the free ReceiptPal app here. At the moment this app is only accepting male participants, so when you open the app for the first time, they will ask you to verify your gender. 
  • Every time you take a picture of a receipt, ReceiptPal will reward you with points that can be redeemed for gift cards. The more receipts you submit, the more you earn.
  • The ReceiptPal team aggregates your receipt data anonymously with those of other ReceiptPal members, and develops market research to help brands create better products.

You’re not going to get rich doing this, but it’s an easy to way to make some pocket cash each month.

2. Scan Your Groceries When You Get Home

Did you know that the Nielsen company will pay you to scan your groceries each week? Crazy, right?

Once you sign up to become a Nielsen Consumer Panel family, the company will send you a free scanner (like the one pictured to the left) or you can use your smartphone. Every time you go shopping, you simply scan the barcodes on the back of each product and send your data off to NCP. Pretty easy, huh?

If you want to give it a try, you can fill out an application here:

Sign up to be a Nielsen Consumer Panel family here.

As an active participant, you earn gift points which you can redeem for different types of merchandise.  You can choose electronics, jewelry, household items, and even toys for the kids. The longer you stay on the panel, the more opportunity you have to earn points towards prizes.

You also receive entries for the panel’s many sweepstakes.  Prizes include money, vacations, and brand new vehicles.  This is a great way to make your consumer voice count and be rewarded handsomely for recording your purchases.  You’re already going to the grocery store anyway, right?

3. Get a Free $10 From Walmart With This Trick

Have you heard of MyPoints before? They are a cash-back site that pays you to print coupons and shop online. We use them all the time at our house, because it’s instant way to save on everything you buy.

This month they’re offering a pretty sweet deal — spend $20 at Walmart and they’ll send you a free $10 gift card! It’s like getting an instant 50% off!

Here’s how it works…

  1. Sign up for MyPoints here (you just need to give them a name and email address)
  2. MyPoints will instantly send you an email to confirm your email address. You need to click that in order to get the free gift card.
  3. Lastly, you’ll need to purchase $20 worth of products on Walmart.com (you can buy groceries too!). My{oints will reward you with 1,750 bonus points which you can then redeem for a $10 Walmart gift card. Easy peasy.

4. Tell the Packaged Food Companies What You Think of Them

Did you know that the packaged food companies will pay you for your thoughts? These companies are hungry for data on what shoppers think of their products, so paid food panels are becoming more and more common.

Some of these panels are hosted online — sign up for sites like Ipsos Panel & MySurvey to participate. If you sign up for both, you should easily make an extra $15-$30/month (most surveys pay between $3-$4 each for 20 minutes of your time). Heck, sometimes I fill them out while I’m watching TV.

Larger panels are hosted locally — these usually require 2-4 hours of your time, but they pay up to $75. Here’s how to participate in a local panel.

5. Get Paid Extra to Use Your Coupons

Did you know that InboxDollars will actually pay you to print and use the coupons they offer on their website? Here’s how it works…

  1. Sign up for a free account with InboxDollars (just need a name & email address). Plus, they give you $5 free since I referred you.
  2. Navigate to the “Coupons” section. There you will find dozens of high-value coupons for everyday items like cereal and toilet paper. Select the ones you want, print them out, and use them in your store like a regular coupon. But here’s the kicker —- InboxDollars will pay you ten cents for every coupon you use.

Now, that might not sound like a lot of money, but I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Most of the coupons that you can print on their site are the same coupons you find in your Sunday newspaper or on Coupons.com. They’re actually put out by the same people. 🙂 So, it’s free cash for coupons you’re probably already clipping. And all those dimes start to add up after awhile…