I have a friend who is in dire straights, financially. Her husband essentially dumped her a couple of years ago, and at this point has had to get public assistance. She has debt and is worried about creditors taking any dime she has, and at this point does NOT have any sort of bank account.

Her nerves are shot, and she is hanging in there by a real skinny thread. I know that there are companies that pay by check, so she wouldn't "need" a bank account for either direct deposit or Paypal, and was wondering IF a Bank account is A REQUIREMENT to be able to get started in shopping.

I think it would be okay to not have a bank account. I have not seen any requirements for one. She does not need a bank account for PayPal. They will mail checks.

No bank account required, however she will probably be charged a fee to cash a check. If she is on government assistance she is considered uncollectable (I'm not an attorney so don't take my word for it). She definitely should call legal aid in her area for the debt part. They are extremely slow as they're all volunteer so the sooner she calls the better.

I would think that getting a cashier or clerk job at a FF or retail location would earn her more money on a regular basis. As most of you know, it takes awhile to become established in this business and actually make enough money to live off of.

If she is in such dire straits, does she own a computer/laptop/tablet and Internet access so she can input her reports? Public Wi-fi is not always available especially with libraries. Does she have some sort of cell phone with a photo capabilities or an actual camera or scanner to submit receipts and POV photos? There is A LOT more to consider besides having a checking account or not.

A bank account is not required, though yes she would be paying check cashing fees. She could set up a PayPal account and get their debit card to have her payments go onto.

But before I suggested she shop I would ask myself if I was really doing her a favor. She will have to come up with a little cash here and there to make purchases for which she will not be reimbursed until she is paid 2 weeks to 3 months later. She will need to be putting gas in her car to go do shops. She is going to need an internet connection and some way to photograph or scan receipts to attach to reports.

I agree with RESO that the more basic need is to get together with legal aid.

I do not have much cash myself to spare and I use gas station shops to get gas money to shop with. I like these as even though they require cash outlay, they are something I have to buy anyway. Use the Paypal debit card or a gift card to use the card reader. I also use the crowdsourcing phone apps (Easy Shift, Field Agent, Gigwalk, Mobee, etc.) to get fast pay shops to help the cash flow as well. The phone apps are usually lower pay but pay out usually next day to within a week. Grocery shops are great to get food and don't forget to use coupons (and those phone apps as well like Receipt Hog, Receipt Pal, Ibotta, Checkout 51, etc.) to help that reimbursement go farther.

Also, those AT&T audits are perfect when they are available as they take me about 30-40 minutes depending on how busy the store is, pay $15, and also pay quickly (within 3 weeks).

About the internet connection, the best thing is to get a laptop from a refurbished computer store and can use the wifi at a fast food restaurant (in my area, McDonalds and Burger King have great free wifi). Just get a drink for about $1 so you purchased something.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2015 06:23PM by lbw1000.

@ Watching the Wheels. Sorry to hear about your friend's situation. Has she considered filing for bankruptcy? I haven't but some family members have. They got their debts cancelled and gave them a chance to make a fresh start. As for digging yourself out of a bad situation, this may not be the best choice, as often you have to put up money up front and get paid back 30 or more days later. But no, a bank account is not required "per say", as a lot of companies pay through paypal. But you need a bank account to get that money transferred to you as cash.

I agree that generally speaking a bank account is not needed. However, certain MSPs may have only one option for payment - transfer to a bank account. Look out for any of those.

Good luck

Some of the stores like Walmart have paycards that will function like a bank account without actually being a bank account. The important thing is to carefully read the fees. I know when Walmart had Bluebird you could deposit checks to it at a Walmart with no fee a while ago.

On the subject of being able to collect a debt while on public assistance - they can't go after food stamps, or HUD housing. I've known a couple people where they tried to go after the cash assistance and they had to sue the person for a court order. If you owe the IRS there are exceptions. Other things like a bank account they would have to get a court order to forcibly debit money. However if there was collateral put on a loan they can take that.

She could have her payments deposited via PayPal and use their debit card, rather than needing to transfer to a bank account to access the funds. Of course, not every MSC offers PayPal, but a lot do.

Thank you SO MUCH FOR ALL THE RESPONSES! I THOUGHT that I had clicked on the email notification thingy. I really appreciate the info! There's something to work with!!!!

I don't honestly know if my friend could emotionally cope with a real job, right now. PLUS, she's got Medicaid, now with the public assistance, and NEEDS to get "caught up" with some doctor's visits. "I" don't know how a transition works from public assistance to work with regards to the medical end. She seems to be SO AFRAID of everything. I think that everything might need to progress in baby steps, for awhile.

Her ex royally screwed her over, and she has had an out of state gypsy existence for the past couple of years, plus a certain amount of time, in a psychiatric facility when she had become suicidal. She has her clothes and a few knick knacks. She had been married for over 20 years to a verbally abusive man, and is pretty thoroughly beaten down. Her ex also threw out everything that she had owned, a lot of which had been family items.

I'm personally thankful, that all of the above has put a little back of fight back into her, but, I'm not sure how much is in there. I've seen her a couple of times, and she's NOT in the right place, yet, to be able to cope with much. To be honest, I'm not even sure, if she has it in her to claw her way back.

She has a smart phone and access to a computer where she is living now. I did ask her if she would be able to earn any sort of income, and she told me that she would have to report what she earns to Social Services. She has access to a car part time, but doesn't currently own one.


I didn't know that you could do Paypal without a bank account, so THAT alone, could be a stepping stone, in and of itself. She's petrified of making ANY mistakes, and is also not seeing any sort of light at the end of "her" tunnel.

MY goal is to hopefully get a light going, that she can see. I just know that she has been there for some of my darkest moments, and it's my turn to step up to the plate and do what I can do.

Mystery shopping is not for everyone. It is for someone who is self reliant and motivated. I know when I was a stay at home mom, I missed being made to feel "important" outside of the home and it gave me purpose. That being said, I am owed $1000s of dollars at any given time just in reimbursements (I worked my way up to this amount) and oftentimes these checks don't show up for 60-90 days after the shop was completed. As you know, there are the $2 and $4 phone shops (woohoo!) she could do from most anywhere, but I wouldn't make her feel as though shopping will change her life at this point. At least not for some time when she can build up her credibility and relationships with companies and schedulers.
I wish your friend luck and hope she succeeds in anything she decides to do.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2015 03:48PM by ShopSouthTexas.

I'm not trying to give her the impression that shopping is THE answer. I do it as part time additional income because I'm not thrilled with certain aspects of it. I will also do certain reimbursement shops to save the $$ that I would need to spend anyway. My hat is off to those of you who CAN make it work as a full time gig.

I'm looking a it more from a perspective to get her any sort of an income stream, and a baby step push towards some level of normalcy. I doubt seriously that she would be able to cope with requests for editing on some of the more narrative heavy reports.

The whole Paypal thing seems very useful, right now.

@Watching the Wheels It honestly sounds to me as though your friend could benefit much more from professional help than from trying to become a shopper right now. Since you want to help her, I would recommend getting contact information for a local domestic violence shelter and legal aid (since it sounds as though they may still be legally married). The shelter will be able to refer her to other services in the area, such as therapy. If she is emotionally unable to cope with having a "real" job, a better option for her may be to try to apply for disability.

If you DO get her started, my suggestion would be to try picking up a Bluebird card from Walmart. I have one because Walmart was doubling Savings Catcher refunds for a while last year. It'll cost her $5 out of pocket at the register, plus $1 minimum to load the temporary card. Once it's registered, it can be used to receive direct deposits.

I'd also recommend that she start slowly, with maybe one company that offers shops she can directly benefit from, like grocery. TrendSource was the company I started with, and I've found their reports to be extremely easy even though the form includes a lot of narrative fields. She won't be able to use benefits to pay for items purchased, but could get other things like toiletries and household items that aren't covered.

Personally, if I knew her I would also refer her to Swagbucks. It's a fairly easy-to-use site that offers cash rewards (through PayPal) and gift cards for completing simple activities like taking surveys, watching videos, and searching the web. They have video activities that pay a few cents apiece for completing them, and a few apps for Android and iOS. I usually run the videos on a second computer when I'm entering reports, because it's easy to set them up to run by themselves and move on to the next activity when they're done. It might be a really easy victory for her.

ETA: I should have mentioned that getting started with Swagbucks doesn't require any financial outlay at all. They have plenty of free offers that can be completed, and the video offers just take time to complete.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2015 08:06PM by frugalmommy.

If she could get a schedule with the car, she might consider delivering pizzas. Don't laugh, you get your tips and, depending on the company, a fee for mileage paid in cash at the end of your shift.

ETA: She would need a bank account for direct deposit of her paycheck as most companies have gone to that route.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/27/2015 08:45PM by James Bond 007.5.

Swagbucks doesn't give out Paypal anymore. They do give out Amazon gift cards though so it helps for the stuff that you need to buy anyway.

@Kakita987 wrote:

Swagbucks doesn't give out Paypal anymore. They do give out Amazon gift cards though so it helps for the stuff that you need to buy anyway.

I just checked my Rewards Store and PayPal redemptions are available for $25, $50, $100, and $250. Are you outside of the US?