Want Free Food? (A Guide to Getting Free Fast Food!)

 

 

Money is nice, samples are great, but we all need food to survive! And while money can buy food, sometimes we don’t have money. So what do we do?

Well there are a variety of ways to get yourself a hot meal, but today we’re going to focus on the easiest (and most devious) way to get some grub! 🙂

*Warning, this is an article not for the weak-willed or extremely truthful types. You must be a snake in the grass!

“Hissssss~”

 

The trick is simple: you call a fast food location, ask for a manager, and claim you recently received a drive-thru order that was incorrect. You then ask if you may have the order replaced on your next visit to said establishment.

 

It sounds simple, perhaps too simple, but I assure you it works during those desperate days of starvation. So in this article, I will teach you the best way to use this method. The DO’s and DON’Ts of Free Fast-Food, if you will. 😛

 

 

1. First and foremost, you can’t get cocky. And you can’t take more than you need. Don’t try to order the whole menu. Just get what you’d normally get.

2.  You have to be willing to lie. As I stated before, this is not for those who are very truthful all the time. I’m the type of person that believes sometimes you have to cut corners and bend the rules in order to survive. And honestly, what is more important? Surviving? Or obeying society decorum?

For the bad liar, or the virgin liar, here are some tips to keep in mind:

a.) Imagine the lie is real, like you’re writing a story. Imagine the story in vivid detail, with benign details such as where you were going before you “stopped for food”, what time it was at (this is a very important point I’ll get to later), what exactly you got, what exactly “ruined” this “previous order”, how much of a hassle it is to not have the food you want and have to get it replaced on a later day (another note I’ll get to later as well), etc. tl;dr: You have to believe the lie. Create a vividly false memory and implant it in your head.

b.) Don’t get angry. Remember the saying, “you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.” Compliment the establishment, and the services they provide, while punctuating with the possibility that maybe you simply got someone else’s order. The more accommodating you seem, considering the assumed circumstances, the more creditable you’ll seem especially since you won’t have a receipt.

3. Don’t mention the receipt. Despite visualizing a million different “facts” to this story, you don’t want to blurt that all out at once. Simply mention the bare bone fact of the problem: my order was wrong the other day, and I was hoping to fix it. If they ask you for a receipt, simply say the drive-thru employee never gave you one. DON’T say you lost it: it makes you seem less creditable considering the store is taking your complaint entirely on good faith and word of mouth.

4. Take into account the stores shifts. Now, I’m not saying you have to stake the place out or anything like that–simply that when you call the store, and spin your deceitful story, don’t call the store at 4pm, saying you were there yesterday at 4pm. Because when you role up for that free food, it just might be the same person on shift, which could puncture holes in your story. While this might not always be the case, to keep the chances low, if you call at 4pm, say you got the food yesterday at 4am. as the person working at 4am is most likely not working the 4pm shift.

5. Also, don’t say you got the food the same day that you’re attempting to get the replacement meal. It’s best to say you got the food a day earlier, and the reason it took you till now to call is because when you “tried to call last night” to fix the matter, no one would pick up the phone. Plus, this is a restaurant “far from your home” so it didn’t make sense at the time to drive all the way back there; you can even note the only reason you stopped at this particular location is because it was on the way back from a venue you visited prior to your food run. Also, to make things more natural, you can also slip in a line on how you happen to be in the area where the store is located, which is why you’re hoping you could swing by and get that replacement meal now. You know, the whole ‘kill two birds with one stone’ scenario; makes it seem more casual and like you won’t really care either way if it goes through or not–which in other word: lack of desperation=more credit-ability.

6. Don’t order more than you usually would. You have to make this seem as real as possible. Don’t attempt to order the whole menu when the manager asks you what the order was. Simply order what you usually would. I know I mentioned this already, but I really cannot stress it’s importance enough; do not be greedy.

7. And last, but not least, stay cool. When you believe the lie, so will others. If the employees ask you questions when you arrive, simply say you spoke with the manager and they said they’d replace your meal. I know you might be wondering if this might actually work, as it seems too simple to just lie and get free food like that: but it’s true.  Fast food companies mess up orders, for real, so many times that they are use to these sort of calls. I wouldn’t suggest to hit the same location up more than once every 1-2 months, but outside of that so long as you stay calm, collected, and have a good story just in case you are asked some questions, then you’ll be good to go!

 

*Please realize this isn’t something you should do all the time, and we here at The Hovel Home, don’t want to see anyone get in trouble when trying this.  It’s for desperate situations, like starving when you have no food or money on hand. Here are two pictures below of food we’ve gotten from using the described method above. We have had 100% success rate with it, but we also follow the rules to a ‘T’, and have only used the method a handful of times over a year or so. So, again–only for when you’re desperate, does the Hovel Home advise trying this method. 😛

 

–

Be Safe Hovel Homers,

&

Good Luck /Happy Earnings!

🙂

 

 

InstaGC Gift Cards: The Difficulties to Expect (and how to avoid them!)

The facts on InstaGC Gift Cards!

Hey Hovel Homers!

Today I want to revisit InstaGC (original link here) and talk about some of the new things I’ve discovered while using more of the services this wonderful site offers. InstaGC is one of my favorite GPT websites (I’ve made nearly $700 since starting my membership in late January 2014) but recently I’ve discovered that using some of the in-store gift cards can be a bit of a hassle. In fact, it can be more than a hassle, it can be down-right horrible. The problem is that GPT websites, and the rewards they reap, aren’t well known to most people, or industries for that matter. Employees aren’t prepared to handle the trials and tribulations that apparently come along with entering such codes and validating such vouchers. (Note: All the sarcasm right here.) Nonetheless, InstaGC’s gift cards are as authentic and use-able as any other gift card, debit card, or cash is. The trick’s just getting the other party to understand that.

So, we here at Adventures of Alice have decided to make your life easier, hopefully, by preparing you beforehand for the, excuse my french, bullshit that you may deal with when using in-store InstaGC gift cards.

 

**I also want to add a small personal note, to apologize for my lack of updates as of late despite promising otherwise. Things have been very busy in the hovel home, as we prepare to embark on our newest adventure: HOW TO-Camping with Alice and Wyatt. This will be starting within the next week, so by then posts should become more regulated along with more interesting and original content on how to survive when you have nothing but a tent, some basic camp supplies, and a car. Should be a crazy trip, so we hope you’re looking forward to it as much as we are!** 

So, without further ado, on with the list of what to expect!

Click to be re-directed to the site!

1. Be prepared for employees to look at you as if you’ve grown another head when you present the gift card. 

“What are you looking at?”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned before, most people don’t know how a GPT website works(or even what it is, for that matter). That being said when using the vouchers, most employees won’t know how to key in the code. Do not let this deter you, and simply state that it is a gift card, and they should apply it to your check-out balance, as one normally would with a “regular” gift card.

 

2. The employee may still be unable to apply the code, in which case ask for a manager. 

“Attitude adjustment needed in aisle 12!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Most employees are use to just taking the form of payment, everything working smoothly, and moving on to the next customer. Be prepared to get a somewhat disgruntled employee, if they struggle with your gift card, but don’t let it dissuade you. You have to stand your ground. Your money, or credit in this matter, is as good as anyone’s! So, if it comes to that, ask for a manager who should be able to figure out the correct method in order to complete your transaction.

 

3. If aggravated enough with repeated failure, the employee may attempt to deny your gift card entirely. (Essentially, give up.) 

“How dare you deny me service!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When in doubt, make a scene. Making a scene, while possibly embarrassing, can achieve all sorts of things. (A whole separate article on that, coming soon!) This is money you earned, so don’t be afraid to act as if the employee is turning down cash! Granted, on an individual level, I have a bit of a temper so for my more timid readers this could be a challenge. But you must realize, when you’re swimming against the current, and doing things “out of the norm”, so to speak, you will face resistance.  Steel yourself for the challenge as much as you can and fight! for your right! to use InstaGC gift cards! 😛

 

4.  Last but not least, be prepared for a few annoyed customers. 

Tick-Tock, Tick Tock!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, due to the possible complications involved when using the gift card, and depending on how many registers are open you may have a bit of line building up behind you. This could include angry toe-tappers, impatient watch-checkers, or even the gutsy guy who voices his ill of you aloud. Again, don’t be discouraged. It’s not your fault the employee working this shift doesn’t know how to properly use that cash register-it’s the training of the companies fault! Everyone is in a rush, all the time, always thinking their problems are more important: so don’t let any negative criticism effect you when using your hard-earned InstaGC gift card! Whether it be from the antsy people in line, or from the aggravated employees–keep your cool, you’re doing nothing wrong. 🙂

 

-I decided to write this article after attempting to use many different gift cards (such as for Walmart, CVS, and Dunkin’ Donuts) and encountering the same problems no matter where I was or who I was dealing with. Perhaps not all the gift cards on InstaGC are as difficult to use as these three–I know that online codes such as Amazon’s gift cards work swimmingly, but the real difficulty seems to lie in vouchers one must present in store/face-to-face. But I haven’t used/tried them all, so maybe this is not always the case. Regardless, if you do come across any issues when attempting to redeem your credit-just remember the list, keep your cool (or lose it-if you have to), and make sure you leave that store with what you came for!-

Hopefully this information, if need be, helps you on your own hovel home adventure!

If you’ve had any experiences with these gift cards, or with InstaGC in general that you’d like to share, please don’t feel shy and leave us a comment down below! We love to hear how this is or isn’t working for you!

And, as always-Happy Earnings! 🙂

 

Homemade Mosquito Repellent

This nifty recipe for mosquito repellent is a good way to keep the bugs and the nasty chemicals in bug sprays off of you in these coming summer months! We here at Hovel Home don’t take credit for the picture, (credit to: http://www.survivingthestores.com) but we sure are inspired by this site’s thriftiness! Be sure to check them, and this cool idea out! 🙂

New Adventures Coming This Way!

Click to follow us on Twitter!

Slowly but surely, Hovel Home Adventures is shedding it’s old skin to make room for the new. What we mean, is that HHA is about to expand: we say it’s time to get down and dirty with out viewers, personally.

So in the next week or so, we’ll be uploading podcast and vlogs introducing the cast of HHA, as we spell out our new premise for upcoming posts and information. We want to live freely, and we know that you do too! While free might not be “glamorous” at times it sure does make us happy! Nothing is better than having the time to pursue your passions! 🙂

So, keep posted: we know we’ve only been showing sample offers as of late, but this is temporary, we swear! Samples are important but money is what matters when you live in a world like we do-so sit tight, gather up those free shampoo and lotion pack-lets, while we get ready to show you some new and improved Hovel Living!

-Alice

Cambly: The Downward Slope to Bad Business

 

I’ve been using Cambly for about 5 months or so now and while I think the idea behind their services and the opportunity as a WAH I.C. is fantastic, unfortunately the website falls short in many areas. For one, they do not have an tutor tutorials, or guides, or rubrics that a person can use once signed up, so essentially the ‘tutor’ will have to wing it. But on the other hand, the owners of Cambly do not want you to simply wing it, they want you to follow a set of rules they have for tutors except the problem is: the rules don’t exist on their website anywhere. 

So let’s say you’re on shift, or just sitting around with the Cambly website open. A student looking for tutoring pops up on the dash board. You go to click it, and the video cameras for you and the other student pop up. From there you begin an awkward staring contest where the questions “How are you?” “Good, you?” get passed back and forth a few dozen times. You attempt to step the conversation up by talking about other things, about where they live, or their name, or how old they are, how many pets they have (all the while hoping you don’t sound like an international stalker), etc. Unfortunately due to your student’s only knowing enough English to say “Hi” and “How are you?”, these new questions are met with confusion and a lot of “What? I don’t understand.” From here you attempt to awkwardly find other words or ways to show what you mean, but honestly it’s futile battle and without any prior teaching experience or knowing the first language of the student. 

Cambly doesn’t like this, doesn’t like when student hang up on you because they get frustrated and leave. And who could blame them? As a business owner myself, I wouldn’t like my customers hanging up and not fully using the service. But is this entirely the tutor’s fault? Google Cambly and you will find very few reviews or websites outside of the actual site itself talking about Cambly. Very few of those posts have positive things to say, and while I thought I might be one of the few to keep only positive comments in my blog, after an e-mail battle with one of the owner’s earlier this morning I can’t keep that positive feeling going.  

Cambly has a great idea; pair up students of a language with a native speaking in that language. Because both the owners apparently learned second or third languages while traveling in those countries so they want to bring that experience to others who aren’t traveling. But what Cambly has brought to the table doesn’t work on a social level: when I’m traveling in Paris or Tokyo or somewhere out of country, and I learn new words from native speakers, it’s because I had a pretense to talk to those said speakers. I was in a restaurant and I needed help ordering, or I was walking on the street and was lost, or I met someone at an event or park and we hit off personally first. The point is: Cambly doesn’t have a pretense for pairing a tutor and a student up, and without that pretense the process of chatting is awkward and difficult for both parties. It is no wonder the student’s hang up after nervously laughing; it’s nearly impossible for some of them to be comfortable with a complete stranger asking them personal questions like their age and city of origin. 

So my proposal to Cambly (even though they have been rude to me and don’t deserve this insight) is this: you need to have rubrics for each type of pretense. Brainstorm and think of all the reasons a traveler will talk to a native in that country and write them down. Then create lesson plans for each subject. They can be less school and teacher based and more native and loosely structured, but at the very least let there be some structure. Because without it, the website is Chaos, and it’s difficult to keep a student talking long enough to make any money. 

 

So Cambly, I hope you reconsider the direction of your app as it doesn’t seem to be growing or taking the way you wanted. And you know what they say, a business that isn’t growing, is dying. 

Good Luck, but I’m off that boat! 

30 Day Challenge

So after spending a little too much money on a very spontaneous road trip my roomie I took last weekend, it’s suffice to say I’m more than broke. Normally this would frighten most people, especially people like me who are technically considered ‘unemployed’-but for myself personally I relish the challenge.

At this moment, I currently need 380/400 dollars to pay all my bills next month. Two checks for $20 dollars via InstaGC are currently on their way to my mailbox, and apparently CashCrate has also sent me the $36 I made last month via their website which they claim I’ll get around the 15th of April. (This check from them will be my first, so I’m looking forward to receiving their payment proof!)  Cambly has about $15 in the bank (though I can’t cash out until $20)-so, as you can see there are little bits of money here and there from average use but I want to pump it up and set some goals! Not just so I can make rent, but to also prove just how much GPT/PTC and IC jobs can generate! While I may be able to convince most that you can make some ‘cookie jar’ money online, most refuse to believe that it could be anything more than that. This challenge will shatter the doubt, and hopefully shed light and guidance on those looking for the quick-fix for cash.

MINIMUM GOAL PER DAY: $20 dollars

IDEAL GOAL PER DAY: $40 dollars

DREAM GOAL PER DAY: $100 dollars    😉

Well, I doubt I’ll be hitting my dream goal this month, but I think I might be able to hit the Ideal Goal every now and again. I plan to document this 30 day experience in great detail in order to give as much insight as possible to others in need like me. If you yourself are already implementing ideas and routines to help minimize spending and maximize earnings, then please-by all means-leave a comment below and let us know! We’d love to hear and share (with appropriate accreditation of course!) any tips or tricks you’ve picked up along the years. Sharing is caring after all!

Anyways, if I’m going to make those dreams come true I best get to clicking! Thanks for reading, look out for new content every week, and as always: Happy Earnings! 🙂

 

 

Money Through ‘Mock Jury’

Order in this Hovel Home!

If you’re over the age of 18 then you most likely know what jury duty is: long, boring and tedious hours in a meeting room with strangers to decide who is guilty and who is innocent. Most people dislike this task, as it’s not only mandatory but usually subtracts wages from those missing work, paying very little in compensation for their time.

But what if I told you about mock juries? Where research companies are hired by attorneys going to court, in order to practice their argument before going against a real jury in the actual court room. And what if I told you these mock juries aren’t days long, but only 4-6 hours long, and pay rather generously?

Unfortunately for this post, I don’t have any tried-and-true links to share, only the information on what and why this IC job is.

A few months back, I took a survey that asked for a phone number in order to possibly have a follow up survey for extra incentive (incentive being money of course!). Then about two weeks ago, I got a call back from a marketing agency (who’s name I’m legally unable to disclose), asking if I’d like to participate in a local mock jury that weekend. For 6 hours of my time, I would be given snacks, two breaks, a free lunch, and $125 check at the end of the day! Not bad at all, if I do say so myself.

Now, again, due to the legal sensitivity to this IC job, I can’t tell you what the case was about, or any details like that–but I can tell you it was a rather lovely experience. I met some very nice, and interesting people while there, was fed good food at a fancy hotel where the research group was taking place, and was promptly paid before stepping back out the door to my car!

I don’t have any links unfortunately (As Adventures of Alice will only post links for personally verified reward systems and IC jobs, and this offer was presented through a survey) but I figured at the very least I could post about the experience and allow others to know what a mock jury is and how it can be a minor financial blessing.

A quick google search will show you many sign-up opportunities exist for live groups, like the one I participated in, or for online groups. The online groups do appear to pay less, but it’s still anywhere from $20-80 bucks on average per mock jury. I have signed up for about 10 online platforms, but as it’s not research in need of an everyday experiment the jobs can be far and few in between. (Granted, I live in a VERY small town, so I’m assuming larger cities/states will have more opportunities possibly available.)

Either way, while the offer isn’t overflowing, it’s also rather unknown and thus easier to get when jobs in the area ARE available. Just give ‘google search’ a click above and you’ll be directed where you need to go. Good luck, and as always, Happy Earnings! 🙂

A notice of well-being!

So the last week or so it’s been a bit slow in the hovel home, at least in terms of cyber-updates. I quit my hell-awful job, around the first of March and since then have been re-organizing my life priorities/goals. That being said, I apologize for the lack of content, but I assure you this will be changing! 🙂

I have a few interesting Independent Contractor jobs I’m investigating at the moment, along with a well-known GPT website. Once I have payment proof, I’ll be sharing these possibly amazing opportunities with you. Also, I’m writing up a guide on how to qualify/pass almost any survey, ever. So that should also be something to look out for as well!

But anyways, I’m writing this post to say: I’m not dead, neither is Adventures of Alice, and while we had a moment of ‘technical difficulties’, everything will be back on track shortly!

Thanks for reading, and hope to see you soon!

-Alice

Expectations Versus Reality

InstaGC

Make 10-15 dollars a day instantly!

This is a site I’ve found rather recently, not even a week ago, but already I’ve cashed out nearly 30 dollars via Amazon gift cards! 🙂 It’s similar to Swag Buck in terms of being a reward system, but SB is to InstaGC, as Internet Explorer is to Google Chrome; they may be from the same platform but one is far more superior when compared with the other.

THE GIST: Basically, as I’ve said, InstaGC is very similar to Swag Bucks. You complete offers such as surveys, email confirmations, video watching, radio listening, etc. What sets it apart from SB and other GPT reward systems is 5 awesome benefits:

1. You can cash out by the dollar. So make 100 points(one point is one cent), and you can immediately start reaping the rewards-none of that “$20-$5 minimum” nonsense.

2. If opting for a gift card, you will receive it IMMEDIATELY. There is no wait, no shipping/processing period of days or weeks. You click on the gift card you want and you’re redirected to a page with the code, as shown below.

A message that appears after you click what card you want. Clicking OK here will bring you to your gift card.

10 dollar gift card received.

Just to show the code is legitimate and went through with Amazon! 🙂

3. You can also receive your payment in the form of a check-to-cash. This will take a few days/possibly a two weeks in order to clear and send, and you can see payment proof at the end of this review. Some people even claim (and a quick Google search will attest to this as well) that they make nearly 300-3000 dollars on this site, alone, per MONTH! Now, that’s a lot of GPT cash! I feel for amounts close to $3000 though, are mostly likely from users who opt into pay-for-point offers such as coupons, or buying services (such as Netflix and HuluPlus) through the InstaGC platform. Such offers usually have high payouts($5-$20), no matter what site you’re using.

4. It’s very easy to make 10+ dollars a day. Because the site has a surprisingly high payout per task(averaged around .50 cent-$1.50) with very few survey time-outs or disqualifications, it’s easy to rack up the points quickly and in surplus. Now I’ve only been using the site for 5 days, and mostly at work as well, but I can say that it takes only a fraction of the time on InstaGC to get through a survey or offer, than it does on any other reward site I’ve come across as of yet.

5. InstaGC has a chat board. This is a very ingenious idea, as it allows InstaGC users to connect with one another and solve problems and share successes together. Makes the site a bit more home-y feeling, plus the business benefits by having some support issues handled outside of tickets and feedback complaints.

*(names/times blocked for anonymity reasons) Grey boxes in the chat show when an online user completed a task, from where, and how many points were received.

THE MINOR DOWNSIDES: Now, unfortunately, nothing is ever perfect. While InstaGC is a shinning example as to what qualifies for being a creditable, trust-worthy GPT site, it still has an error or two. Mainly, IP address sharing. I have two roommates (who also write for HHA, by the way. You’ll see articles from them, coming soon.) and both are interested in GPT sites. One of my roomies was able to make another account just fine, no problems, no questions. The other ended up with 2 hours worth of support ticket problems. Because of the shared IP address, InstaGC was nervous my roommate and I were the same person attempting to double our profits with multiple accounts. It also didn’t help that both him and I put different mailing addresses and residential addresses in our account info. He was locked out of offers during the duration of the investigation, and I was not allowed to cash in at the reward store. Eventually we got it all sorted out, and now both of us can use the site again, but there are some restrictions one should know about if two or more people on a shared IP address here: If you both want to use the same offer wall or individual offer,sometimes, there is a chance that won’t be possible. The 3rd party might see it as one person attempting to credit the offer twice, and it won’t work. Thankfully this has rarely happened since sorting everything out, but it’s still wise to keep it in mind.

The other problem is the occasional accreditation mix-up. Unlike SB, where a user can argue over accreditation with a customer service representative, here the rules are different: Your offer gets 4 days of pending(That is, if it’s not working correctly; usually a completed offer credits within minutes of your finishing it.). If it goes through in that time, great you get the points! If not, nothing you can do or say really except re-attempt the offer, which can be a bitter feeling if said offer was tedious or took a long time to complete.

THE FINAL VERDICT: I’m loving InstaGC. I’m making some seriously nice cookie jar money, and I’m not even breaking a sweat doing it! This website sells itself, it doesn’t need me to go on and on about how awesome it is(though I’m sure it’s ego would approve). All I can say is click the link above or below to be redirected to their website, and sign up to try for yourself; the proof is in the pudding, and there is a lot of pudding to go around at InstaGC. 😉

Click Here to Sign Up! 😀

*And also, of course, if you’re already an InstaGC user-please feel free to comment sharing your experiences and reviews of the website before. We here at HHA love to have more feedback about the offers and information we post here. Thank-you for reading, and please subscribe for more GPT offers, Hovel Home Original Comics/Stories, and much much more! 🙂

 

EDIT: Alright folks! I did a test check with $1.00 to see how long it would take to come through/if at all, and wa-la! Just shy of two weeks later it did indeed show up!

1 whole dollar, just for me! :3