A good friend complained that I have shown him all sorts of ways to spend less money on things he buys regularly but have not shown any ways to make a little extra cash on the side. In response to his whining request I introduce

Cash Duck. I had considered writing about this web site earlier but some major changes took place about a month ago and I wanted to make sure that everything was running properly before I recommended it to anyone. Basically the way Cash Duck works is you go through and perfomr different task (take surveys, sign up for free offers, etc.) and you earn a certan number of feathers (just like points but since the theme of the site is ducks, well you get it). You can cash those feathers in for gift cards or prizes. The prizes change from month to month but the gift cards work like this:

400 feathers = $25 gift card
775 feathers = $50 gift card
1150 feathers = $75 gift card

As you can see the more feathers you cash in at one time the better the deal on the gift card. I counted aproximately 75 different stores from which you could request a gift card. My favorite is Wal-Mart so that I can get gasoline, food, or other needs. This allows me to do a few extra things here and there with my budget. The feathers add up pretty quickly since all the free offers are 10 to 15 feathers and there are always a good number of offers on the site. There are also offers where you can receive hundreds of feathers but they are usualy for limited time trials. Make sure you cancel before the end of the trial period or you will be charged. Also, always use a credit card (NOT A DEBIT CARD) so you can dispute the charges if you cancel in time and the company still charges you. So far this year I have earned a little over $700 from Cash Duck and I have found it pretty easy to get atleast 600 feathers per month without doing the limited time trial offers. You can check out the site and sign up here.