Review of Match.com & Flyby of Eharmony: A Frugal Gurl's Take

How did Frugal Girl find Lurve via Online Dating Websites?

A special three-flavored wedding!

I guess I lucked out! And I didn't pay a cent to meet my match, married now for four years (after a long courtship). Actually my DH didn't pay a cent to Match.com either, but more on that later. Anyway, THANKS Match.com! Well I have been recommending Match.com for years to all my single-n-looking friends, and thought I should write a review about it, and also Eharmony, who is Match.com's archrival in the online dating scene. Both claim to be The Number 1 Dating Site, with Eharmony adding 'Trusted' to their pitch. So here's my take on Match.com, and my flyby impression of Eharmony (gathered from user forums, comments and a few books: 

• The Ugly Woman's Guide to Internet Dating: What I Learned From 70 First Dates (by Rosemary Thornton who has an awesome website HERE)  
• Meeting Your Match Online: The Complete Guide to Internet Dating and Dating Services - Including True Life Date Stories (Tamsen Butler) and 
• Chemistry and Numbers: The Online Dating Guide (Steve Monas)). 

My experience with Match.com
I placed my ad / profile on Match.com in 2002. I wanted to broaden my horizons and meet interesting men and women from around the world. 

The sign up process was easy, and actually quite fun. I didn't pay anything, but waited for people to contact me (a privilege for which they had to pay haha). Match.com, with the various cool individuals who struck up friendly correspondence with me, was a breath of fresh air that helped me 'get out there' again after a horrible, horrible relationship. 

Interestingly, I received an email from this Dude who said he found my Match.com profile intriguing, and this email wasn't sent via Match.com at all! This very resourceful dude (now my DH), had figured out my profile name gracetabithalim might work as an email too, and had tacked on hotmail, gmail, yahoo and all the other email servers he could think of, in the email that eventually reached me. El-Cheapo meets Frugal Girl!  

Match.com has since fixed this loophole, and you'll need to fork out $35 for a month-long subscription or $17 a month for six months of dating matches (here's a 20% Off Discount special for my readers :p). The latter is a decent deal, because of their guarantee of an additional six months FREE if you haven't found that special someone at the end of the first six months. You can also try 7 days Free.


Eharmony?
I had a look at the website, and it's nicely laid out, easy to navigate. The personality test that you have to take when you sign up (I did that with the 7 day free trial) is erm... ridiculously thorough! Wow, half an hour into the thing and I was only 60% done. But ... I kinda like it! It's all very scientific, professional and calculated (and sure wasn't how I met DH hehe). And it pledges to match you up with people who complement you.

I think this would be the way to go for someone who hasn't had much luck dating because they keep picking the wrong type. For example, in Match.com, you get to select characteristics of the person you'd like to meet, so you could theoretically end up with your doppelganger if you are a control-freak who chose all your own fav traits.

In Eharmony, it appears that the step-by-step process (with Dr Neil Clark Warren holding your hand all through), guides you and your potential mate to wonderful discovery of each other. Forcing people to talk to each other about things that matter, at the very start of the relationship, is possibly why Eharmony is responsible for 5% of all US marriages (that's what their website says the Harris Poll found). Definitely for folks who have a serious eye towards marriage, I'd say.

The cost though is $60 for a month-long subscription, coming down to $20 a month for a year's worth of courtship opportunities.

Frugal Girl's Take
Back in the day, online dating was Taboo, and carried a sort of seedy stigma that the person was 'desperate' or 'damaged goods'. Online dating is pretty much mainstream now, and in my view, a very good way to meet a potential mate. 

The profile matching in Match.com helps narrow down the list of people that fit your selection criteria, so you can quickly scan and pick the ones that look the most promising, to start correspondence. And this is done in the safety and comfort of your home. Beats the bar scene any time! 

While Match.com worked fine for me, I think if I were single and seriously looking for a marriage partner, I might 'invest' in Eharmony. Then again, Eharmony's scientific-based matchmaking and hand-held communication process is a tad too unromantic for my taste hehe. So Match.com it is! (Try these links for a 20% Off Discount, or 15% Off Discount or a 7-day Free Trial at Match.com.

Review of Trilegiant's Autovantage, Buyers / Shoppers / Travelers Advantage and more: Pros and Cons

Summary of Post
My generally positive experience with several of these paid membership programs that have a notorious reputation and are usually rated badly by the BBB. Pros: Surprisingly good on their word and honor rebate requests promptly. It's possible to get money through their free trial subscriptions. Cons: Laborious, meticulous reading of Terms & Conditions, to know exactly what is being signed up for. Needs careful tracking of membership cancellation dates to avoid automatic subscription renewal and accompanying charges.

What's reviewed
Trilegiant's Autovantage, Buyers Advantage, Freeshipping.com, Great Fun (greatfunsite.com), Just for Me, Shoppers Advantage, Completehome, Privacy Guard, and Travelers Advantage. Also, Easysaver, Business Max, Nicole Saving Advantage (Nicolesavingadvantage.com) and Passport 2 Fun.

The length of my experience
I subscribed to all the above, on and off, since 2005. When I say 'on and off', I mean that I've mainly done the trial memberships, which are free (or cost $1), and mostly cancelled before the trial period ended. A pop-up window offering $20 for a free trial of their site is usually how I signed up. The offer comes after I've bought something else online. If I agree to the free trial (after reading the terms and conditions, which you should absolutely do, and make sure there's a phone number you can call to cancel), my credit card details that I used for my online purchase will be automatically given to the site, and it will automatically renew (be charged) at the end of the free trial.

Do they actually offer anything useful?
Actually yes. I used their services and explored their websites during my subscription period and most of them

Review of Vistaprint: Great for my small business

Summary of Post

My positive experience using Vistaprint for a small business venture, how you can order stuff for free, tips to maximizing your savings, and best of all links to all that free stuff! I have been a customer since 2009 and they remain my go-to site for hassle-free ordering of business cards, address labels, brochures, banners and heaps of other stuff that is perfect for promoting my small business. With a bit of planning and waiting for their free offers, I have successfully ordered Vistaprint products worth over $2200 over the years, and paid nothing (yes, that's zero, nada, zilch) except for shipping. 

Vistaprint BBB Scam Complaints Galore?

Before I sat down to write my review, I googled 'Vistaprint review' to see what other folks had to say about  Vistaprint , and I was kinda surprised. 

Some folks had had 'fraudulent' $14.95 monthly charges from unwittingly

Fatcow Review: Top notch web hosting service for the money

Summary of Post
Fatcow may not be the cheapest web hosting service provider out there but their customer service is excellent, and their 'punny' take on bovines is 'udderly' hilarious. I 'joined the herd' in March 2010 and set up my own website Fun with Bugs! in less than a day. The Fatcow help person (a real person!) helped me with questions that I had and was very patient and courteous to a novice like myself. Free domain name, a 30 day free trial (money back guarantee), and a user-friendly Site Builder were what I liked best about Fatcow for my small business.

My experience with Fatcow
I was intimidated by the prospect of setting up my own website and had put it off for way too long. I needed a simple website that would showcase my small business: bugs and the fun bug educational programs that I offered. I didn't have much to spend since

Review of E-Rewards Opinion Panel & Delta Skymiles Prizes

Summary of Post
E-Rewards is a legit survey site, but their E-Rewards Dollars are not the equivalent of real world dollars, because rewards offered are inflated in value. However, E-Rewards pays about $2.30/hr, which puts it on par with some of my favorite survey sites, but not as high as Toluna ($7/hr, read my review here). Customer service is excellent and reward redemption is hassle-free.

The above is the e-Rewards logo

About E-Rewards Opinion Panel
E-Rewards is a survey site that awards $$ for completed surveys, that can be redeemed for Delta Skymiles, Hilton Hhonors points, magazine subscriptions and discounts off purchases from a variety of retailers. Between $0.50 to $10 is awarded for a completed survey (longer surveys earn more), that's if you 'qualify' for the survey, which is determined in a short screening survey. Non-qualifiers are awarded $0.25, which is nice. The $ accumulated in your account during your membership year expires a month after your membership anniversary. Redemption is a painless process, and e-mail enquiries are answered courteously and promptly.

My Experience with E-Rewards
I signed up in March 2009 and was happy with my year-long experience. I received 105 survey offers, and qualified for 21 of them. About 12 surveys paid $4 or more each. So as of yesterday I had a gloat-worthy $100 sitting in my account. Oh yeah... Unfortunately, as I relate below, my $100 was not really worth $100...

A Closer Look at E-Rewards 'Rewards'
The rewards selection looks pretty good until you really scrutinize it. Many of the discount coupons require

Winnie Winster's Slot Social Review: An Update!

Summary of post
A follow up update of my previous review of Slot Social. After more than a year of membership in this unbelievably addictive website, does Winnie Winster still hold me under her spell?? Did I ever get enough points to redeem any prizes? Yes and Yes!

Slot Social Anonymous?
I am now the President of SSA, myself a recovering addict ;). Actually I'm the only member of SSA. ;) I don't know if all my Slot Social buddies are in denial, offering up excuses like "it's so much fun, and it's free!" and "I won a $10 Walmart gift certificate!". Am I trying to convince myself that Slot Social is a bad thing?... Well, I'm not succeeding, and life is too short to agonize over whether addiction to this wonderful social game is bad or not. So I quit! (I mean I quit as president of SSA :)).

Hey, wanna join Slot Social? (If you can't beat them, join them!). Click here to join, and soon you'll be among the millions of folks worldwide who've had their day brightened by this impossibly irresistable 'friends help friends' game.

My Prize
I had racked up the 1,000,000 points needed to redeem my $5 Amazon gift certificate, within the first two months of playing an hour a day. But I decided to hold out for the $20 Amazon gift certificate (a whopping 3,800,000 points). I'm now so close to my prize I can almost taste it. I have 3,363,975 points and they don't expire. So I'll bide my time and accumulate points while indulging my 'addiction'...

Ah Slot Social, what's not to love about it? :)

By the way, I've also compiled in one handy location, links with discounts and coupons to all the places where I shop online. Check out Where Gracie Shops!


xo Gracie

P.S. It would be AWESOME if you could click on any ad here - my sponsors give me a few cents per click. Thanks for supporting my blog!

Is Delta Skymiles Worth It For Me? More mileage out of my skymiles

I've been a Delta Skymiles member for over a year now, and also signed up for their E-Rewards program that's similar to some of the cashback sites like Cashbaq and Ebates, and I currently have 18,000 miles sitting my account waiting to be redeemed for something. How much does 18,000 miles translate to in dollars and cents? Can I get a plane ticket with it?

Delta's perspective
Well if I could sell my miles back to Delta, at the $0.028/mile rate they charge me for buying miles, my 18,000 miles would be worth a handsome sum of $504. Delta is having a "Buy Miles 50% Bonus" right now that makes it $0.019/mile, not that that affects anything since it's not possible to sell miles to Delta :)

Plane ticket worthiness?
According to the Delta Award Mileage Chart my 18,000 miles could get me a round trip flight to anywhere in the US. I might even make it to the Caribbean! Or so I thought. Their

Review of Lightspeed, Ipsos I-Say, NPDOR, Nielsen Homescan, Opinion Central, Toluna, etc

Summary of Post
A review of my year-long experience with these survey sites. I really liked some of them but there were some that I never got anything back for my time. Taking surveys isn't going to pay enough to feed the family - I ended up with less than $50 for my foray into the world of surveys. Survey-taking isn't for everyone, but many people enjoy it (myself included sometimes!). Read on then decide for yourself if you would like it...

What I did
I signed up for a bunch of the more popular survey sites around April last year and was an active participant for a year. Here's a signup call/blurb example: "Your opinion matters! Tell us what you think about the products and services we use every day, and have an impact on the future. Plus, we'll reward you with cash, gift certificates, and other great prizes for completing surveys! Click Here". I responded to all the survey invites that poured into my inbox. As I suggested in a previous post reviewing Mypoints, Inboxdollars etc, it's best to have an email account dedicated solely to survey emails. Expect between 1 to 10 emails a day from each survey site... Now although I responded to all the survey invites, I didn't 'qualify' for all of them. It was a drag sometimes having to fill in the preliminary screening info (e.g. ethnicity, income range) then being informed 'Sorry you did not qualify for this survey'...

What's reviewed
Programs offering cash or points that can be redeemed for gift cards, cash, stuff: Lightspeed Panel, Ipsos (Ipsos I-Say), NPDOR Sweepland, National Consumer Panel (formerly Nielsen Homescan Panel), Opinion Central, Opinion Outpost, Surveyspot, Toluna (formerly Your2Cents) and Zoompanel. For my calculations on 'worthwhiledness', I assumed 10 minutes per survey.

Thumbs up (listed from biggest pay/hr)

Review of Mypoints, Inboxdollars, Sendearnings, Pandaresearch and Memomail

Hey folks,
As promised here is the long-awaited, highly-anticipated review of my year-long experience with a whole bunch of cashback / points back programs. My other blogpost: "Review of Cashbaq, Fatwallet, Shopathome, Bigcrumbs and Ebates cashback rewards" received great feedback, with requests for more. So here's one more - my honest-to-goodness opinion on which programs I liked (the ones the paid!) and the ones I didn't.

Summary of Review
The programs were legit, and I actually got back slightly under $200 in cash (mostly), gift cards, and stuff. Pros: Got to try new products and services (and got $ for that), got some $$$ kickback for buying stuff online that I was planning to buy anyway. Cons: Was time-consuming, needed to read lots of Terms & Conditions fineprint and keep track of trial offer end dates. Some programs were more worthwhile than others, having a bigger payback for surveys or offers completed. For some, I haven't yet gotten anything back for my time spent - read on for the lowdown...

Review of Ebates, Fatwallet, Shopathome, Bigcrumbs, MrRebates cashback rewards

Summary of post
This is a review of some of the best cashback reward programs out there, helping you get money back for shopping online. In my experience, Ebates consistently comes out tops, followed by MrRebates, Fatwallet, Shopathome.com and BigCrumbs. However, you will benefit most if you sign up for all five cashback programs because the cashback percentage offered varies. (UPDATE: my previous review included Cashbaq  - a good program that went bankrupt in 2011. Now Ebates is actively recruiting former Cashbaq members by offering to pay whatever credit was in their Cashbaq account. I've updated the rest of this post to reflect this development).

How Cashback Reward Programs Work
In a nutshell, merchants pay these cashback sites (Ebates, Fatwallet and etc) commissions to send us to the merchants. The cashback sites then give us a percentage of those commissions. Most of the sites require you to click through a trackback link that brings you to the merchant's online store and complete your purchase asap. And better still, the cashback rewarded is stackable (in addition to) any discount

Get Paid $2 for your opinions at Reviewstream.com

Summary of Post: This post is for anyone who would like to make money for each (accepted) review submitted to Reviewstream.com

I stumbled across this paid review site Reviewstream.com last week that offers $2 for every review published. I'm usually cautious about investing any time into sites like these, but I figured that since I give my opinions and product reviews to other sites (e.g. Epinions.com and Amazon.com) anyways, why not make a couple of bucks for my time?

So I penned a quick review of my experience with United Mileage Plus' Restaurant.com point redemption (you can read it here), and