Traditional market research methods – such as people with clipboards on the street, or cold-calling by phone – have been largely superceded since the boom of internet surveys. Clients with a need for a product or service to be evaluated are increasingly turning to online market research companies.

The benefits are clear. Such companies have thousands of people registered who are available to answer surveys – WILLINGLY; time and effort is immediately saved as cold calling is not necessary. What’s more, the companies have mini-profiles of everyone on the books, so clients can target a specific group of people should they wish.

These willing individuals are people like you and I. So what do we get out of it?

The best survey companies offer rewards in the form of a cash payout. Payouts vary wildly, but typically lie around the $1-$3 mark for a 10 to 20 minute survey. More specialised survey niches – such as those targeting specialised IT professionals or frequent travellers on business – can be even more lucrative.

Participants are notified of surveys by email. It helps to check frequently as many surveys have a quick takeup; if you are a few days late you may find the survey is closed, having already received the required number of participants.

The number of survey invites you receive in a given week varies, and you will often find that after answering the first few “screening” questions you do not belong to the “target group” (and so the survey ends prematurely without you being paid). So to maximise your survey uptake, you should sign up to as many of these companies as possible!

Note that to avoid costly overheads on small transaction amounts (and to some degree to encourage loyalty), the majority of survey companies have a minimum amount your account has to reach before you can withdraw.

The golden rule to help you avoid any scammers is simple:

Some of the more established survey sites I can recommend are:

- Lightspeed (UK)
- Lightspeed (USA)
- Lightspeed (Australia)
- Greenfield Online (US/Canada)
- Opinionistic (UK)
- Ciao (UK)
- The NetPanel (US)

Have fun!

uSwitch.com is a website that lets you input the details of your current spend on things such as gas, water, electricity, broadband, phones, credit card and loans.

It’s basically a comparison engine – and a smart one at that. Based on the figures you plug in (have past bills to hand when you do it to make the results as accurate as possible) it will tell you if another company could offer you the same service for cheaper.

The trick is to resist the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” attitude. Typical people don’t tend to like change. But of course, that doesn’t apply to open-minded wannabe travellers like us!

I found I was already on some of the cheapest tariffs for gas and water, so unfortunately no savings there – but I managed to switch broadband suppliers, saving over £10 a month when the new supplier kicks in next year. Have a look and see what you could save: uSwitch.com (UK only)

Perhaps you’ve decided to cancel your satellite/cable TV subscription, saving you an extra £20 a month? Great! So don’t mope about missing your favourite show; instead, think how much time you’ve freed up for yourself. Instead of vegging out on the sofa flicking through endless channels, you could be reading about the countries you’re going to visit, or learning a select few language phrases.

Or perhaps you’ve put a halt on the drinking weekend sessions? Good stuff – not only have you immediately saved yourself hundreds of pounds a month, but also think of the health benefits – or if you can’t look that far ahead, think of the Sunday morning hangovers you’ll no longer have (until you start your trip, of course, and we all know hangovers are never as bad on holiday!).

The more benefits a money-saving lifestyle change will bring, the more likely you are to stick with it. So take a good look at the “luxuries” in your life, and ask yourself: are they really worth it?