L.L.
I tried for over a year and here's the thing...it's hard to QUALIFY for the surveys, in the first place. You can spend twenty minutes on a survey and then "not qualify" because of one answer. I spent time every night for a year trying this, to no avail...never got enough points to cash in for anything.
HOWEVER, here's the good news. Go to "Swagbucks." I can't rave about this sight enough. Set up an account, and install their toolbar. Use it for all your searched. You randomly win "swagbucks" for searches, plus you can vote on polls, do tasks, play simple short games, and TAKE SURVEYS. Granted, you still won't qualify for most of them, but when you do you'll win your swagbucks and you don't waste as much time.
And here's the awesome thing...you can cash them in for prizes, giftcards, etc. I cash in for at least 15-20 dollars worth of Amazon gift cards EVERY MONTH just from our daily computer use (which isn't a lot...between me and my husband) and occasionally doing a survey. I buy my children TONS of stuff off Amazon, and get it all free!
I've been using the sight for years, and I love it. Definitely install the toolbar, though, and use it for all your searches. I don't directly go to any sight, I just type "mamapedia" (for example) into the toolbar, because 1 out of 6 times or so, I'll win 10 or 11 swagbucks.