http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/alzheimers-disease-may-be-infectious-study-suggests-10493032.html

Alzheimer's disease may be infectious, study suggests

Scientists stress it is not possible to transmit Alzheimer’s by living with or caring for someone with the disease

Disturbing possibility raises questions about certain surgical procedures

A study into people who died of a separate kind of brain disease after receiving injections of human growth hormone suggests that Alzheimer’s may also be a transmissible disease.

The findings have raised questions about the safety of some medical procedures, possibly including blood transfusions and invasive dental treatment, which may involve the transfer of contaminated tissues or surgical equipment.

The investigation has shown for the first time in humans that Alzheimer’s disease may be a transmissible infection which could be inadvertently passed between people.

Scientists emphasised that the new evidence is still preliminary and should not stop anyone from having surgery. They have also stressed that it is not possible to “catch” Alzheimer’s by living with someone with the disease.

However, the findings of a study into eight people who were given growth hormone injections when they were children have raised the disturbing possibility that Alzheimer’s can be transmitted under certain circumstances when infected tissues or surgical instruments are passed between individuals.

 Scientists emphasised that the new evidence is still preliminary (AFP)

Until now, it was thought that Alzheimer’s occurred only as a result of inheriting certain genetic mutations causing the familial version of the disease, or from random “sporadic” events within the brain of elderly people, said Professor John Collinge, head of neurodegenerative diseases at University College London.

“What we need to consider is that in addition to there being sporadic Alzheimer’s disease and inherited or familial Alzheimer’s disease, there could also be acquired forms of Alzheimer’s disease,” Professor Collinge said.

“You could have three different ways you have these protein seeds generated in your brain. Either they happen spontaneously, an unlucky event as you age, or you have a faulty gene, or you’ve been exposed to a medical accident. That’s what we’re hypothesising,” he said.

“It’s important to emphasise that this relates to a very special situation where people have been injected essentially with extracts of human tissue. In no way are we suggesting that Alzheimer’s is a contagious disease. You cannot catch Alzheimer’s disease by living with or caring for someone with the disease,” he added.

Read more: High costs have thwarted attempts to find a cure
Trial shows new drug could slow the progression of Alzheimer's
Alzheimer's: What is solanezumab – and how does it work?

The eight adults, aged between 36 and 51, all died of Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) after receiving contaminated hormone injections as children. But autopsies on their brains also revealed that seven of them harboured the misfolded proteins associated with the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. It is unheard of for people in this age group to have such proteins.

The scientists did not find the “tau” protein tangles associated with the later stages of the disease, which means the seven individuals did not have full-blown Alzheimer’s, although they may well have developed it had they not died of CJD, Professor Collinge said.

The study, published in the journal Nature, eliminated other possible reasons for the presence of these so-called amyloid-beta (A-beta) proteins and came to the conclusion that they were most probably transmitted as protein “seeds” in the growth-hormone injections.

Questions remain about whether these protein seeds could also be transmitted on surgical instruments used in other operations. It is well-established that the prion proteins behind CJD and Alzheimer’s stick to metal surfaces and can survive extreme sterilisation procedures such as steam cleaning and formaldehyde.

There is also the question of whether Alzheimer’s disease could be passed on in blood transfusions, given that animal experiments have shown this to be possible.

“It is not clear here that this is relevant to blood transfusions, and epidemiological studies have been done in the past looking for links between Alzheimer’s disease and blood transfusions and they have not shown an association,” Professor Collinge said.

The seven Alzheimer's risk factors

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“Certainly with vCJD, which is the form of CJD associated with mad-cow disease, there is infectivity found in the blood and there have been four documented cases in the UK of vCJD from a blood donor who went on to get vCJD, so it can occur,” he said.

Speaking at a press conference, Professor Collinge added: “Certainly there are potential risks in dentistry where it is impacting on nervous tissue, such as root-canal treatments and special precautions are taken for that reason... If you are speculating whether A-beta seeds are transmitted at all by surgical instruments one would have to consider whether certain types of dental procedures might be relevant.”

But in a statement issued later, Dr Collinge clarified that more research was needed before any conclusions could be drawn about any potential risks in current medical or dental treatments.

“Our findings relate to the specific circumstance of cadaver-derived human growth hormone injections, a treatment that was discontinued many years ago,” he said.

Read more: Scientists may have found potential cause of Alzheimer's
Finger-tapping tests could point to better diagnosis of Alzheimer’s
Ultrasound beams could help combat Alzheimer's, scientists believe

“It is possible our findings might be relevant to some other medical or surgical procedures, but evaluating what risk, if any, there might be requires much further research. Our current data has no bearing on dental surgery and certainly does not argue that dentistry poses a risk of Alzheimer’s disease.”

Between 1958 and 1985 some 1,848 people in Britain, mostly children, received growth hormone injections made from tens of thousands of homogenised pituitary glands derived from the brains of human cadavers.

The NHS switched to synthetic growth hormone in 1985 when scientists realised that pituitary-derived hormone could be a route for transmitting CJD. Up to 2000, there were 38 known cases of “iatrogenic” CJD resulting from growth hormone injections in the UK, but this figure is likely to rise further because of the exceptionally long incubation period of the disease.

Of the seven patients who had the early signs of Alzheimer’s, four had severe deposits of amyloid-beta protein, three had moderate deposits and one had traces.

Dame Sally Davies, the Government’s Chief Medical Officer, played down the significance of the research yesterday saying that it was a small study on only eight samples.

 The findings raise questions about some surgical procedures (AFP)

“There is no evidence that Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted in humans, nor is there any evidence that Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted through any medical procedure,” Dame Sally said.

“I can reassure people that the NHS has extremely stringent procedures in place to minimise infection risk from surgical equipment, and patients are very well protected,” she added.

John Hardy, professor of Neuroscience at UCL, said: “I think we can be relatively sure that it is possible to transmit amyloid pathology by the injection of human tissues which contain the amyloid of Alzheimer’s disease. Does it have implications for blood transfusions? Probably not, but this definitely deserves systematic epidemiological investigation.”

Doug Brown, director of research at the Alzheimer’s Society, said: “While these findings are interesting and warrant further investigation, there are too many unknowns in this small, observational study of eight brains to draw any conclusions about whether Alzheimer’s disease can be transmitted this way.

“Injections of growth hormone taken from human brains were stopped in the 1980s. There remains absolutely no evidence that Alzheimer’s disease is contagious or can be transmitted from person to person via any current medical procedures.”

What is a prion?

Alzheimer’s disease is now considered a “prion disease”. Prions, short for proteinaceous infectious particles, are misfolded proteins that carry the ability to trigger further proteins to misfold, leading to debilitating brain disorders, such as CJD in humans, BSE in cattle and scrapie in sheep.

Prions are unique in being an infectious agent without any genes, unlike viruses or bacteria. They are extremely tenacious, sticking to metal surfaces of surgical instruments and surviving the high temperatures and chemical agents that kill off infectious viruses and microbes.

Stanley Prusiner, of the University of California, coined the word prion in the early 1980s and his pioneering work on them led to a Nobel Prize in 1997.

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http://www.nextadvisor.com/blog/2013/11/06/top-7-credit-card-offers-for-those-with-excellent-credit/?kw=fbk_mtop7_cardcash_perkunrl_outrag2_621perk

Top 7 Credit Card Offers For Those With Excellent Credit

by Tasha Lockyer November 6, 2013

Updated: August 11, 2015

Do you have excellent credit?  If so, banks are actively looking to win you as a new credit card customer by offering some unprecedented deals.  Although banks have been more careful about acquiring customers with questionable credit since the 2008 Financial Crisis, they are now fighting harder than ever to win coveted customers with great credit. If you are in the excellent credit sweet spot, they are effectively giving you money (and a lot of it) to use their credit cards. These are the top 7 deals you can take advantage of today:

Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express: Blue Cash Preferred Card from American Express (a NextAdvisor advertiser) is such a great cash back card that I have one. Cardholders earn a spectacular 6% cash back at supermarkets (on up to $6K in purchases annually), 3% on gas and at department stores like JCP, Kohl's and Macy's, and 1% on everything else. Plus you'll get a $150 intro bonus after spending $1,000 on purchases with your new Card in the first three months – that's a 15% cash back bonus on the first $1,000 you spend! In addition you'll enjoy a 0% 15-month intro APR on purchases and balance transfers. There is a $75 annual fee, but depending upon your spending patterns this card should easily pay for itself and then some. If you want a similar card that has no annual fee, check out Blue Cash Everyday Card from American Express, which has the same 15-month 0% APR but lower cash back rates and a slightly lesser intro bonus.

Chase Slate: This card was designed with credit card balance consolidation in mind. It's the only card we've found with both a lengthy 0% introductory APR and no balance transfer fee. Its 15-month, 0% introductory APR on both balance transfers and purchases translates to interest-free payments until 2016. Plus, there are no balance transfer fees during the first 60 days of card membership. This is a big deal, as depending upon how much you plan to transfer, balance transfer fees can really add up. In fact, a $0 intro balance transfer fee can save you hundreds of dollars in fees, and the $0 annual fee is also a money-saver. So if you have excellent credit, you absolutely should not be paying any credit card interest. Get this card and transfer your balances.

Citi Simplicity:  Shopping for a special item for yourself or someone else? This card will let you make big purchases then carry that balance into 2017 without paying a dime of interest. Citi Simplicity (a NextAdvisor advertiser) features an incredibly lengthy 21-month 0% introductory APR for purchases and balance transfers. And there are no late fees, convenient if you sometimes forget to pay your bill on time, as well as no annual fee. The combination makes this card perfect for anyone looking to make a large purchase (or several purchases) or who is interested in transferring balances from other high-interest credit cards to this one. Either way it's a smart choice.

Capital One Venture Rewards Card:  Like to travel? This is the card for you. You'll earn 2 miles per dollar for every purchase, and a bonus 40,000 miles – equal to $400 in travel – after spending $3,000 in the first 90 days of card membership.  To use your miles, just book your travel and redeem your miles for a statement credit. You can make your travel arrangements however you'd like (by phone, online, using an agent, etc), fly any airline to any destination, and enjoy no blackout dates. Plus there are no foreign transaction fees, so you'll save money when you travel outside the US.  There is a $59 annual fee, but it's waived the first year. Overall this is a fabulous travel card and we highly recommend it.

BankAmericard Cash Rewards Credit Card:  If you're in the market for a great cash back rewards cards that also has a 12-month 0% APR, this is a smart pick.  Not only can you transfer over balances from your high-interest cards to the BankAmericard Cash Rewards card and pay zero interest for a full year, but you'll get the same 0% intro APR on new card purchases.  Plus you'll earn 3% cash back on gas and 2% cash back on grocery stores (for the first $1,500 in combined grocery and gas purchases each quarter) and 1% cash back on everything else. And the cherry on top is you'll earn an additional $100 cash back after spending $500 in the first 3 months.  This card really does have it all – cash back, an extra cash back bonus, a lengthy 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers AND no annual fee.

Citi Double Cash Card: The recently-launched Citi Double Cash Card features an effective 2% cash back on ALL purchases, the best we've seen for a card that offers a single cash back percentage on everything you buy. There are two steps two getting the full 2% cash back. Use your card to purchase the item(s) for the first 1% cash back. You'll receive the second 1% cash back after you've paid for your purchase(s), for a total of 2% effective cash back. As long as you're paying the minimum due each month you can take as long as you want to pay off your balance and get the additional 1% cash back (aka, 2% total effective cash back). In addition to this high cash back percentage, you'll also enjoy 15 months of a 0% APR on both purchases and balance transfers, giving you a little bit of a cushion to help pay items off. And to top it all off there's no annual fee and no caps on the amount cash back rewards you can earn.

Chase Sapphire Preferred: This is a rewards cards with lots of flexibility.  It starts off by earning you 2 points for each dollar spent on travel and dining out, and 1 point per dollar on all other purchases. That's followed up by a 40,000 point bonus after spending $4,000 in the 3 months – equal to $500 in travel rewards. Redeeming your earned points via Chase's Ultimate Rewards saves 20% off travel costs, enabling you to stretch 40,000 worth of points to $500 in travel. You can also redeem your points for cash back, gift cards and merchandise.

The best part is that you can transfer your points 1:1 to many frequent travel programs with no transfer fees, including United MileagePlus, Southwest Rapid Rewards, Hyatt Gold Passport and Marriot Rewards.  That means 1,000 points are equal to 1,000 partner miles/points, straightforward and simple.  This feature is likely to appeal to road warriors who are members of various partner programs, as users aren't limited to spending their points via Chase's rewards program. There is a $95 annual fee, but it is waived the first year.

TIP: If you're in the market for a new credit card but don't think your credit will qualify you for one of these cards, take a look at our top 7 cards for people with less than perfect credit.

Disclaimer: This content is not provided or commissioned by the credit card issuers. Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of the credit card issuers, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the credit card issuers. This content was accurate at the time of this post, but card terms and conditions may change at any time. This site may be compensated through the credit card issuers' Affiliate Program.

Credit Cards

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http://www.thepennyhoarder.com/ways-to-make-money-at-home/

32 Legitimate Ways to Make Money at Home

Listen – we all know the internet is full of “make money at home” scams, so we’ve scoured through thousands of different ideas to find you 32 legitimate ones.

These are all ideas that we’ve done before, so we know that they’re real and that you’ll get paid. Plus, I guarantee there are some in here that you’ve never heard of…

1. Change Search Engines

If you spend a lot of time searching online, you might want to think about leaving Google/Yahoo and make Bing your default search engine.

Why? Bing wants to pay you for your searches!

You can earn credits through Bing every time you make a search — credits you can cash in for gift cards to a variety of stores like Amazon, Toys ‘r Us, and Starbucks. I usually only make an extra $5-$10/month, but it all adds up, right?

2. Watch YouTube-Like Videos

The folks over at InboxDollars will actually pay you to watch videos! Now, most of them aren’t as entertaining as the Grumpy Cat series, but you’re getting paid – so who cares?

This works because the videos are sponsored by brands who need to get it in front of as many eyeballs as possible. Every time you watch one of their ads, they’ll credit your account with a little bit of cash.

Here’s a link to signup.

Melinda Seckington under Creative Commons

3. Rate Your Local Pizza Place

Awww…yeah! Who wouldn’t want $5 and a free large pizza? 

One of the companies that pays me to conduct liquor audits is currently looking for folks to conduct a quick review of their local pizza shop. As part of the assignment you’ve got to time their delivery service and quality of pizza.

It’s pretty easy to do and you can do it several times a year. Just fill out an application with Trendsource here and an Independent Contractor Agreement to get started.

4. Sell Your Junk Mail

I don’t know about you, but I get a lot of junk mail. My email inbox and my mailbox are both full of crap from different cable providers, credit card offers, car insurance, etc.

If you’ve ever wondered what you could do with all of that junk mail besides recycling it or sending it to your email’s trash folder, SBK Center has the answer. This market research company will happily accept your junk mail and email and, in return, give you Visa prepaid cards, which work just like debit cards.

(The SBK website states that they pay you in gift cards, but I contacted SBK directly and they confirmed that they have switched to Visa prepaid cards. It’s a great move because it means you can spend your hard-earned cash anywhere that accepts debit cards.)

Here’s more information on them.

5. Take an Online Survey or Two

Most of you know that I practically despise survey companies because of their low payouts. But, I make an exception to my “no survey” rule when I’m watching TV.

My calculus on this is that I’m not really doing anything anyway, so I might as well make a few extra bucks. I usually pocket an extra $50-$100/month with this method.

Here are my favorites…

Springboard Panel

Swagbucks

SendEarnings (this one gives you $5 just to sign up)

Harris Poll

*I usually recommend you join at least two survey sites, so that you have more options to choose from. That way you’ll also be on their list when the high-paying surveys ($10+) come around.

6. Download These Apps

There are a number of companies, including Google, that will pay you to install their app on your cell phone. And they’ll pay you for every month you keep them installed.

The apps collect data from your cell phone and help companies better understand web and mobile usage better — such as what times of day people browse, how long they stay on websites and use apps, and what types of sites and apps are popular (or not).

Here are my favorites (install all of them and earn $400/year or more):

– Smart Panel for iPhones –  If you install their free app on your smartphone, they’ll pay you $15 after only two weeks of it being installed. And they’ll continue to pay you $5/month. This one is for iPhones only.

– Nielsen Mobile Panel for iPhones – if you have an iPhone, the Nielsen company will pay you $50/year to keep their app on your cell phone.

– Google Screenwise Panel – Google will give you $8 seven days after you sign up and you’ll get an additional $2 every week after that. The “cash” rewards come in the form of a gift card (you can pick between Walmart, Papa Johns, Barnes & Noble, and a bunch of others…)

– MobileExpressions – this one can only be downloaded on iPhones. After you’ve installed it for 1 week, you get to play an instant rewards game for a prize (everyone wins something). I won a $25 gift card to Amazon, but some of the other prizes include iPads & Samsung TVs.

7. Rent/Sell Your Clothes Online

For some reason my closet is still holding on to the suit I wore to prom nearly 10 years ago. It’s never going to fit again, but some combination of laziness and sentiment has thus far kept it from landing on a Goodwill rack.

If you’re like me and have a closet full of stuff you don’t wear, what would you think about renting or selling your clothes out to strangers?

There are a few sites that make this possible including Tradesy, SnapGoods.com, Loanables.com, and RentNotBuy.com.

Rubbermaid Products under Creative Commons

8. Open a Bank Account

Update July 2015: This offer has now expired.

The folks over at Nationwide will give you $200 just to open a checking account. You don’t have to get rid of your current account either; consider this one a useful place to save money for your emergency fund, vacation, new car, etc.

And the Nationwide checking account is pretty awesome. Their interest rate is 3x higher than what most banks will give you, plus you can use any ATM in the world for free (6x a month). Here’s the promo link.

You’ll need to deposit $50 to get started and use the offer code 03110470 (you can withdraw your fifty bucks later)

To get the $200 bonus, you’ll need to set up an automatic monthly direct deposit of at least $200 into your E-Checking account. Your monthly direct deposit of $200 must be received within 60 days of opening the account. The account must remain open for at least 90 days to receive the $200 bonus. The $200 bonus will be deposited into your new account within 2 weeks following the 90 day minimum requirement!

9. Fix Google’s Search Results

I’ll make about $700 this month for cleaning up Google’s search engine. And Yahoo’s search engine. And Bing’s.

And the best part? Most of it is done while sitting at home in my pajamas. What am I doing? Let me explain…

Search engines use complicated algorithms to determine the results you see. For example, if you type “Steve Gillman” into a Google search box a half-million possibly-relevant web pages will be narrowed down using various criteria until a second later you see my smiling face. You’ll also see links to my personal website, my blog on the Huffington Post, and LinkedIn profiles for a bunch of guys who share my name.

But the search engines don’t always get it right…

They are full of errors, so they need real humans to look at the results and judge them for quality, relevancy, and usefulness. If you’re interested in this type of work, head over to this article to get more info on how to apply.

10. Become a Test Knitter

The knitting scene has changed since the late 90s. It’s no longer a hobby dominated by grandmothers churning out Christmas sweaters for the whole family; knitting is cool again and many young people are picking up the needles.

Lee Meredith of Leethalknits says that she finds most of her test knitters in her group on Ravelry, a site for connecting with fellow knitters and crocheters. Knitters can sign up for her master list of testers and be contacted when she has a new project. She gives her knitters the exact project requirements: the pattern, the size of knitting needles, yarn weight and amount, and any embellishments. As the testers knit, they leave her feedback in a shared Google document.

Knitters who complete the project by the deadline and provide feedback and corrections on the pattern instructions get a finished copy of the pattern plus around $20 credit to her virtual store. Large or complex projects, or those with unusually tight deadlines, earn the knitter additional credit.

Mackenzie under Creative Commons

11. Turn Your Grocery Receipts in For Rebates

You don’t have to cut back at the grocery store if you know the right tricks. Have you heard of rebate apps?

My favorite is the Ibotta app which works by giving you a cash rebate on your grocery store purchases if you take a picture of your receipt with your smartphone.

Many of the rebates are for things like steak, ground beef, bread and eggs. Plus, you can shop at your normal grocery store. There’s no need to run clear across town to save money.

Another good one is Checkout51. Download them both and sometimes you can get two rebates on the same item. 

12. Get Paid to Lose Weight

Let’s face – every year we all make the same New Year’s resolution to get in better shape. Well, this year you’ll have a little extra motivation if you’re getting paid for it. We’re fans of both HealthyWage and DietBet, two sites that will allow you to place a wager and earn cash when you successfully lose weight.

And if you’re already in great shape, another great idea is to start a boot camp at your local park a couple of nights week. Start with just a few friends – these camps tend to grow pretty organically once people see a group of people working out. Most boot camps trainers can earn $100/hour or more.

13. Sell Your Old Books

We’ve all got way too much extra junk just sitting around. Get rid of some of it and use the extra money for your Christmas shopping.

You could of course have a garage sale or sell some stuff on Craigslist, but one of my favorite ways to get rid of stuff is to use the Bookscouter app.

You scan your book’s barcode with your smartphone and Bookscouter will let you compare the payout of 20+ different buyback companies. Cool, right?

Once you’ve found the buyback company offering the most cash, you just fill out a little information about where you want your payment sent and prepare the books to be shipped. Most of the buyback companies offer prepaid shipping labels too, so there aren’t any costs associated with this.

14. Earn Up to $25/Hour as a Transcriptionist

Looking for a flexible job that allows you to work from home, requires little to no prior experience, and doesn’t involve making sales calls?

Yes, this kind of work exists: You could become a transcriptionist. This job gives you the freedom to set your own hours and, in many cases, work as much or as little as you want each week.

Here are a few companies that will hire you.

But, fair warning: the work is quite repetitive. You will have to listen to the same audio over and over again in order to be sure you have transcribed it perfectly. If repetition drives you insane, transcription might not be the line of work for you.

15. Test Websites

Like most of us, you’ve probably commented on how some websites are confusing and others excellent. Rather than complaining to your spouse or friend, how would you like to make those comments to the owners of the sites and get paid for playing critic?

I do just that, and you can, too. In fact, you can make $30 per hour as a website tester.

The company is called User Testing. Here’s what the process looks like: you’ll download some software and then when tasks are available, look over a website while your mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, and spoken comments are all recorded as a video. Afterward there might be a few questions to answer, but the whole process often takes 15 minutes or less. Cool, right?

16. Join an Online Focus Group

Ever wonder how the products you see on grocery-store shelves wound up there? Or who thought those TV commercials were a good idea? Somewhere between the concept and the final edits, it’s likely that a focus group was involved.

Focus groups vary in size and type, but most of them provide some sort of compensation — a check in the mail, a PayPal deposit or even a gift card. “The more formal the focus group, the more I expect to be paid,” says Sarah K., who’s participated in focus groups about bridal registries and sports nutrition products in the Los Angeles Area. For a longer session, she expects to make $100 to $200. “I’ll happily participate in a longer focus group if it pays well, is nearby and doesn’t conflict with any of my appointments,” she says.

One of my favorites is ProOpinion which is a focus group for professionals. Click here to visit their site and fill out the short sign up form to get started.

Here’s another great list of legitimate focus group companies.

17. Watch More Television

Alright, just hear me out on this one. It’s definitely possible to get paid to watch TV… There’s a new company called “RewardTV” that pays you to answer trivia questions about last night’s TV shows.

Do you know who they killed off on Game of Thrones last week? Tell them about it and they’ll pay you.

Did you know which contestant got kicked off “The Voice” this week? They’ll pay you.

You’re not going to get rich doing this, but it’s a fun way to make an extra $15-$20/month. Pretty cool, right?

18. Make an Extra $50/Week Working for Amazon

Have you heard of Amazon Mechanical Turk? Unlike other online sites that look for contract help, the Amazon Mechanical Turk service offers easy to accomplish tasks that can be completed by almost anyone with a computer.

From the articles and advice I’ve read from others completing tasks, the key seems to be just to jump in and quickly accept the next task you are qualified for. Don’t spend time hunting for the perfect task, just do them next, next, next, etc. While basic tasks may only pay $0.10 they are easy and quick to complete. It does not take long to complete a task in less than a minute so in an hour, with little experience, you can make $6 to $10 depending on how fast you are.

Amazon Mechanical Turk is not a get rich quick scam or one of those make massive income in your spare time ripoffs. But, realistically you can make an extra $50 or so each month.

19. Tell This Company What’s in Your Fridge

Believe it or not, this company wants to know what’s in your fridge…

Once you sign up to be on the Nielsen Consumer Panel, the company will send you a free scanner or you can use your smartphone. Every time you go shopping, you simply scan the barcodes on the back of each product and send your data off to NCP.

As an active participant, you earn gift points which you can redeem for different types of merchandise. You can choose electronics, jewelry, household items, and even toys for the kids. The longer you stay on the panel, the more opportunity you have to earn points towards prizes. You also receive entries for the panel’s many sweepstakes. Prizes include vacations and brand new vehicles.

20. Get Paid $50+ to Write an Article for These Sites

If you like to write, we found a few blogs that will pay you to share your thoughts. And there’s no limit to the number of articles you can submit, so this really is a nice side gig…

TheKrazyCouponLady.com – $50
This site accepts articles on a broad range of topics including style/fashion, couponing, family/parenting, and personal finance. The ladies guarantee that you’ll hear back from them within 7 days and will receive $50 via Paypal if they choose to publish your article. You can read all the details here

Listverse.com – $100
Listverse publishes nothing but lists. Their posts are all long lists (usually beyond 1,500 words long) containing at least 10 items, with an explanation of why each item deserves its place on the list. Read more details here.

ThePennyHoarder.com – $75
Got a crazy way to make/save extra money? We also pay our readers to submit articles and would love to have you contribute. Read all of our guidelines here.

Photo by LaMenta3

21. Sell Your SmartPhone Photos

If you have a smartphone and a photographic eye, making money may have just gotten a lot easier. Oh yeah – you’ll also need access to marketable scenery.

There’s a new app called Foap that allows you to turn your smartphone photos into cash.

Here’s how it works. You download the free app. You sign up for an account. You take a quality photo. You upload photo to Foap’s marketplace. Someone buys the license to your photo for $10. You make $5.

If your photo sells twenty times, you make $5 each time and end up with $100 in your pocket, all for about 5 minutes of work. Pretty cool, right?

22. Fix Apple iPhones from Your Couch

Dreaming of working from home during your terrible commute each day? Here’s a cool opportunity to work from home for a company you probably already love: Apple.

That’s right: You could be the next Apple At Home Advisor — an official Apple employee who offers virtual support for the company’s popular products, including iPhones, iPads and MacBooks, through the customer service program AppleCare. If you’re looking for more flexibility and the ability to work from home, this could be your chance to make that dream a reality!

You don’t need to live in a specific city to be considered for the job, though Apple is advertising through listings on job boards throughout the U.S. Instead, the company is looking for people with technical expertise who can work from home to get the job done to their standards.

Interested in applying? Check out the job listing here.

Photo by William Hook

23. Sign Up for Free Gift Card Promotions

Believe it or not, there are sites that will give you free gift cards just for signing up with them.

One of my favorites is Ebates, the cash-back shopping site. They’re giving away $10 gift cards if you sign-up as a new member and earn your first cashback rebate. You can choose either a $10 Target, Walmart, Macy’s, or Kohl’s gift card.

You do have to wait 30 days. But, it’s free money so can you really complain? 

24. Become a Teacher on Udemy & Google Hangouts

When you think about getting paid to teach what you know, what comes to mind? Putting up a poster in a local coffee shop and hoping for the best? Posting an ad on Craigslist?

Lucky for us, we’re no longer limited to our local area when it comes to getting paid to teach our skills. Thanks to online learning platforms like Google Helpouts and Udemy, anyone, anywhere, can teach anything.

If you think you don’t have any skills to teach, think again. Most of us are experts at something, whether it’s putting on makeup, baking brownies, or even making balloon animals!

Drawing a blank on what you could teach or help others with? Here are some ideas:

• Music lessons
• Photography lessons
• Web programming lessons or services
• Computer repair lessons or services
• Social media consulting
• Cooking or baking lessons
• Fitness instruction
• Nutrition consultations
• Academic tutoring
• Life coaching
• Style consultations
• Beauty consultations
• Gardening help

You get to set the rate for your lessons (most go for between $25-$50). And some people have been really successful at this – we just found a guy that’s made $500,000 selling his courses on Udemy.

Update 3/24/15: Unfortunately, Google just announced that “Helpouts” will be closing down on April 20, 2015. 

25. Sell Your Crafts on Etsy

Just because you don’t have a dedicated crafts room like Martha Stewart or Rosie O’Donnell doesn’t mean you can’t become a successful entrepreneur by selling your crafts online.

In the past crafters have had to slug it out at craft fairs and farmer’s markets, often meaning long hours and little profit. All of that has changed in the last few years as a number of online marketplaces, like Etsy, have opened that allow amateur crafters a forum to sell their goods.

In fact, we recently found a mom that’s earning $70,000/month on Etsy! Click here to read her story.

26. Sell Your Trash

Americans throw away approximately 266 million tons of trash every year and it turns out we might as well be throwing away cash!  There’s a reason dumpster diving has become so popular in recent years and that’s because things that you think are worth nothing often have value.

Anything from your empty wine bottles to old magazines can be sold online. Here’s a full list of the things in your trash that might be worth cash.

27. Sell Your Skills for $5 on Fiverr

Earning five bucks at a time may not sound like much, but those little sales can add up to thousands of dollars.

That’s the idea behind Fiverr.com, an online platform where users sell their products and services for $5 each. Fiverr says users create 4,000 new listings, or “gigs,” every day.

Gigs range from the standard data entry and research tasks to the truly out-there. For example, as I write this, sellers in the “Fun and Bizarre” section are offering:

• A piece of rare metal that will melt in your hand
• A prank phone call to anyone you choose
• Three balloons released into the sky with your message in them
• Your name written on two grains of rice
• A photo of you on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine
• A video of a woman pretending to be “crazy in love with you” — which has 253 buyers and a 98% positive ratingso far

You can seriously sell almost anything on Fiverr. Here are some more ideas.

28. Earn $100 By Helping a Company Name Themselves

Professional branders aren’t going anywhere, but for small businesses that can’t afford the million dollar price tag, there is a new trend called crowdsourcing that allows businesses to outsource the creative process to people like you and I through “naming contests.”

There are hundreds of naming contests on websites like NamingForce.com and SquadHelp.com. The way it works is that nameless businesses list a little information about their company and a prize amount for the person who can come up with the best name. The rewards are anywhere from $50-$500, with the average amount around $100.

For example, one company on SquadHelp lists that they are a company that buys used video games and that they will pay $80 to the person who can come up with the best name. A few of the submissions so far are “Cash 2 Gamers” and “Game Epix.” Think you can do better? Give it a try here.

29. Let Someone Borrow Your House/Apartment for the Night

I’ve used Airbnb to both rent out my apartment and stay in many others while traveling, and it’s a fantastic way to put your home to work for you. However, taking a few simple steps can make the difference between a great experience and a less-than-satisfactory one.

Whether you’re renting out a single room or your entire home, make the most of your Airbnb rental by following these tips. If you do it well, you could add hundreds or even thousands of dollars to your savings account.

Nicholas Wang/Flickr

30. Become an Online Tutor

Education is one of the world’s leading industries and by the year 2017 the private tutoring market alone is expected to top $100 billion.

Have you ever considered becoming an online tutor to make extra money?  Well, if you haven’t, you most certainly should.  You can make some serious coin by answering student’s questions, explaining your notes, and uploading tutorials.  That’s right, by sharing your knowledge, you can be rewarded handsomely.

Try marketing your services on a site like AceYourCollegeClasses.com where some of the top tutors have earned more than $10,000.

31. Become a Dog Masseuse 

We’ve talked before about ways to get paid to spend time with cats and dogs, but this is a new one: pet massage.

That’s right: some people earn money for massaging animals. It might sound a little strange, but apparently many cats and dogs enjoy a good massage as much as humans do.

If you like petting your furry friends, why not explore this option? With a bit of training you can make $50 per hour as a pet massage therapist. Here’s how to get started.

Jelly Dude under Creative Commons

32. Write Slogans for Major Companies 

Can you sum up a product in a sentence? Think of something funny — and not another joke about too many candles — to put on a birthday card? Make a point in few concise words?

If so, you might be able to make money writing slogans.

Companies sometimes need new corporate taglines, advertising slogans and jingles. Bumper sticker and greeting card makers want cute, endearing or funny thoughts to put on their products. When these businesses need help, they sometimes collect submissions from freelance writers or run contests that anyone can enter — including you!

Try one or more of these platforms to get started:

• Slogan Slingers helps companies create slogan contests in which their registered writers compete. It’s free to sign up as a writer, and the company claims you can “make up to $999 per contest (minus our small admin fee).”

• Get a Slogan is a “crowd-sourcing platform that brings in custom, creative and catchy slogans from a variety of sloganeers.” Companies come to them for help, and writers submit their ideas. It’s free to sign up, but you initially have only “qualifying” status. Once you obtain “qualified” status, you’ll receive $50 for each of your winning slogans.

• Freelancer.com has a section devoted to slogan-writing projects, which are sometimes run as contests. For example, at the moment a personal injury law firm is offering $150 for the best “unique and memorable tagline/slogan.”

Your Turn: Would you try any of these methods to make extra money at home?

Disclosure: We appreciate you letting us include a couple of affiliate links in this post. It helps keep the beer fridge stocked in the Penny Hoarder break room. 

Sent from my iPhone