Gas Gamble

I'm really not a gambler by nature. Actually, I kind of despise gambling. I don't like casinos, I don't play the lottery, and I don't buy scratch tickets, but ever since I read about the success of Online Offers over at Money Saving Methods, I've been meaning to give it a try.

What's an Online Offer? Basically, it's one of the ads for Free $500 Gift Card, Free iPod, Free XBox, etc. that you see all over the internet and probably flooding your junk mail folder. Of course, I've always ignored them, thinking they were a total scam (and I'm sure some of them are), but if you read about them on Money Saving Methods, you'll see that some of them are legitimate.

You're probably rolling your eyes thinking I'm in my own naive dreamworld, but I decided to experiment and document my experiences here. The first thing I did was pick an offer, and I obviously picked the $500 Gas Card. I followed the very detailed instructions on MSM's website, and while it was a bit cumbersome, the process hasn't been difficult at all. I can tell you that I was extremely nervous for the entire 90 minutes I was completing the 8 necessary offers, 2 Silver, 2 Gold, and 4 Platinum. I don't know why. It's not an extreme amount of money that I'm gambling with. All in all, if all goes as planned, my investment will be about $50 for the $500 Gas Card. Plus, I made sure to chose as many offers that I was truly interested, such as the Vista Print Business cards and some of the Jewelry offers.

Progress Report:

• Started Gas Card offer and completed all offers on 1/13/09
• 2 Silver Offers approved on 1/14/09

And now I play the waiting game. I'm not counting on this to work, so I'm not getting my hopes up and spending the money yet. I will believe it when I go to the gas station and the card actually works and reflects the $500 balance.

I will definitely update when any progress is made. :)