Week two of the three week penny challenge involved more learning about the promise and pitfalls of certain cash generating methods than actual money generating, but I did come out slightly ahead. Here is what happened this past week:
Day 8: February 3, 2025
When I ordered those eyeliners, they wound up charged to my Paypal credit card account instead of coming directly from my Paypal balance. That turned out to be in my favor. All I had to do was wait for the charge to post, pay off the credit card with the balance, and then add back in my cash back of $0.48. It may seem silly to be happy about 48 cents, but I started with a penny 8 days ago, so anything more than 1 cent amounts to things going well.
Day 9: February 4, 2025
When I attempted this challenge before, Swagbucks denying me a $15 reward because they claimed I had a VOIP or prepaid phone was the last straw that made me just shut everything down. I am sad to report that this same thing happened again, this time with My Points.
This morning, I found an old My Points account I had forgotten I had. It was so old, there were enough points on there to redeem for $15. I went to redeem it, and received the same message. This time, I sent a message in to customer service and will continue with the challenge. But I am posting this as a warning to anyone else who needs to raise cash quickly. If you have a prepaid phone, or if you are a customer of Mint Mobile, companies like Swagbucks and MyPoints are now using that as an excuse not to give people the rewards they earn. I would have been $30 ahead of where I am now, if that new little policy had just not been implemented.
This is why I’m reporting on this particular penny challenge. I am aware that nobody cares what beauty products I use, whether or not I pay for them, or how much I pay. What you probably do care about is what you can do should you need to raise a small amount of fast cash or get a few things you can’t afford. Should you go looking for that with a general internet search, I would bet my last lingering $1.84 that you’d get a series of articles urging you to “just sign up for Swagbucks!” or “Use MyPoints” without telling you that you won’t get the reward if you have a prepaid phone. The only work around is to go through and ID verification process. If you have a prepaid phone and you do not want to give Swagbucks or MyPoints your ID, these sites/apps will not work for you
Day 10: February 5, 2025
Today I decided to kick today off with some encouragement. I added a dollar to the penny challenge stash by adding the debit card from my Sofi account to my Google wallet. SoFi Banking offers a few bonus dollars for simple tasks to anyone who signs up.
That makes the “penny” 3 eyeliners and $2.84 cents as of the morning of day 10.
MyPoints’ customer service resolved my issue. I had to submit a copy of my ID and verify that I was the holder of that ID on camera to have the phone number requirement waived, but I was finally able to order my $15 Paypal reward. I can expect to receive it in 2-3 days.
Should you try this challenge for yourself, NEVER show any company that is not an established, reputable company your ID. As far as I know, the only truly reputable points for surveys and web searches programs are MyPoints, Swagbucks, and InBox Dollars.
As day 10 draws to a close, the penny is now $2.84 with an additional $15 pending.
Day 11: February 6, 2025
Day 11 turned out to be a research and prep day. I did the interview to use the tutoring app. I still need to take the test, which I will do tomorrow after work. I might fail that. It doesn’t matter that it’s in a subject I have a Master’s degree in. I could fail a test that asked for my own name and subjective opinions. I am just that bad of a test taker. Anxiety overtakes me.
I am still waiting to hear back from the unclaimed funds and waiting for that $15 from MyPoints. The message did say it would take about three days.
Another bit of research involved looking for cheaper products. This wouldn’t do much if you were doing a penny challenge to raise cash for a project or to make a donation. But if you do this because you need something you can’t afford, looking for a less expensive item might help.
For cosmetics, it seems I’ve already done the money-saving hacks:
Pare your list down: I pared my list of products down to those that actually look good on me and work for me. Remember, today’s at-home beauty routines can be 2-3 bath and fragrance products beyond basic hygiene, 4-10 skincare products, then 12-15 makeup products. I have my list down to 1 fragrance product, 0-1 skincare products, then 2-3 makeup products. People go to salons for haircuts of course, but also color, texture treatments (like perms or straightening), extensions, and conditioning treatments. I’m getting a cut and color. Nails I’m skipping. Being almost half Greek eliminated the need for any eyebrow microblading.
Look for less-expensive brands: Before this challenge began, I used and sold Avon. I loved it, but if I can’t get the products free to me through selling them and using the commission for my own few items, I simply cannot afford it once they add on the $8.00 shipping fee. The prices are about what you pay in the drugstore, but it’s also pretty much the same product. Even if I just get the discount, that shipping fee makes it easier to just go to Walgreens or Walmart or Target. I haven’t sold in nearly a year, and not enough to earn commission in about a year and a half, so that’s faded away. Revlon and Bath and Body Works seem to be my new go-to brands, both much less expensive than high-end products.
Stock up when there are sales and coupons: That was done as part of the penny challenge already, and when it comes time to replace penny challenge items, coupons will be used if at all possible.
Day 12: February 7, 2025
My return to the tutoring app almost happened. I did pass the test and was accepted back as a tutor. My next step was to complete the orientation and accompanying open notes test. You had to score above a 90% in three attempts. I scored a 79% the first time. When I looked back over my answers, I saw that what I clicked on was not always being saved. I tried attempt number 2. I scored 90%. When I looked over those missed questions, I had the same issue. On the third and final attempt, I scored just under 90%, answering questions I got right before with the same answers. I have no idea what happened with that, but it means I won’t be using that particular tutoring site again.
On the good news side, that MyPoints cash came through. $15 of free money landed in my Paypal account today. The penny is now $17.84.
Day 13: February 8, 2025
Another failed attempt today. I applied for multiple store credit cards that came with a gift card. I didn’t get approved. All I generated was a mailbox full of letters telling me why I didn’t get credit cards. But just as a tutoring app may be an idea for someone else, getting gift cards for signing up for credit cards may be an option. Just make sure the credit card does not have any type of maintenance fee, and that you don’t use it in a way that generates interest charges.
Be very careful of gift card for sign up programs as well. I looked into downloading the Amazon photos app for a $15 store credit, but decided against it. I could only get the $15 store credit for spending $30. That isn’t a free store credit. That’s a coupon for the paid service. Coupons are only useful if you really wanted the item or service to being with. If not, you just wasted whatever money you did pay.
Day 14: February 9, 2025
Walgreens ran out of the products I was going to get with the funds raised from the penny, so I went searching and found that I am almost ready to complete the makeup portion of the challenge by ordering them on Amazon. They are much cheaper there right now.
In other news, I received word that I did in fact pass the orientation to use the tutoring app, and I should be able to use it soon. I am not sure if that’s going to wind up part of the challenge or if that’s going to wind up a future side hustle, if anything at all, as things seem to process pretty slowly and not too smoothly on my computer. If anyone is reading this for cash generation ideas, I suggest signing up for any of these side hustle apps, whether that be Uber Eats, DoorDash, GrubHub, or a tutoring app, well in advance of the time you might need to generate the cash. This will give them time to iron out any glitches that may happen.
At the end of the day, I have the tutoring app website saying I didn’t pass the orientation session, while representatives from the company are saying I did and should be able to start tutoring soon. We will see what happens in week three.
By Jess Santacroce, Writer/Editor: The 315
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