Whether you’re looking for extra money for bills, investment, vacation, or just a rainy day fund, no one says “no” to extra cash.
But jobs, families, and friends can make it hard for many people to take a second job or side hustle, so we’ve rounded up 15 of the easiest ways to put more cash in your pocket and help you get ahead. Best of all, you can do more than one of the below ideas and make the money stack up even faster.
Read on for ideas that’ll help you easily generate more income today.
1. Earn cash for watching how-to craft videos and movie previews
You know those addicting crafting and cooking videos that suck you in on social media? One minute you’re scrolling along, and bam, suddenly you need to know how the restored table turns out, even if it’s a 4 minute video. What if you could be paid for watching them?
If watching movie clips and cooking videos sounds like a perfect way for you to earn some easy cash, be sure to checkout Inbox Dollars. After quickly setting up a free account, you choose the videos and clips you want to watch, answer a question or two about them afterwards, and earn.
Signing up takes about 60 seconds, and you can even get a free $5 bonus!
2. Help reforest the planet while earning cash back when you shop. Win-win.
Do you want to help make the world a greener place for future generations? Save the rainforest and polar bears? Who doesn’t?! What if you could help save the planet, while earning extra money? Sign us up!
Well, you can do just that, while simply shopping as normal. By using the Aspiration debit card for everyday purchases like groceries and gasoline, you can help reforest the world for pennies- they’ll plant a tree when you round up your purchase to the nearest dollar.
You also get up 10% cash back- helllooooo, free money- when shopping at stores with a cause (including cool brands like TOMS and Warby Parker)
Save the world, make some money, feel good. Get Aspiration today.
3. Win the lottery (or at least get free tickets)
Winning the lottery sure would make life easier, right? But lotto tickets are expensive, the odds of winning are long, and you don’t have money to waste.
But how about a free way to win real money? Simply download the free Lucktastic app and each day there are games, contests, and virtual “scratchers” you can play for free, but still win real money. They app is supported by advertising, allowing it to be free for you to play, while still paying out real money.
In addition to cash prizes, Lucktastic awards players gift cards to stores like Bass Pro Shops, free subscriptions to services like Hulu, Disney+, and ESPN+, and even vacations for the whole family to Universal Orlando.
Cash prizes range in value from a few dollars to up to a million dollars, but the site often holds contests with hundreds of winners, so maybe one will be you?!
4. Make nearly $70/hour with your own business
Do you like the idea of owning your own business, but aren’t sure how- or where- to start? Do you want to be able to work remotely and set your own hours? How about making almost 70 bucks an hour?
If this sounds good, consider becoming a bookkeeper. While it may sound like you’ll need years of schooling or some crazy degree in math, neither is the case.
For organized, motivated people looking for a new career path, financial stability, and the ability to work remotely, the online courses at Bookkeepers.com can teach you not only how to do the work of being a bookkeeper, but also how to effectively- and efficiently- run your new business… in just a few months!
In uncertain financial times, having control over your career can be so reassuring… start yours today!
5. Get $50- and free gift cards- for sharing what’s in your pantry
If you have a smartphone, you can get a free $50 just for downloading an app. Nielsen- yes the same one who’s been in the TV ratings space for decades- has an app that you can download to your phone, browse the web like normal, and make $50 a year.
They just want to know how often you check your email, click your weather app, spend time on Facebook, or watch videos.
Nielsen also offers a program where you can use your phone to scan barcodes of the things you buy in exchange for points towards gift cards, household items, and even electronics. And if you don’t have a smartphone, they’ll even send you a scanner to use instead.
Earning money for anonymously watching your favorite YouTube videos and scanning a box of cereal sounds like a no brainer to us!
6. Turn spare change into serious cash
Keep the change! It’s a popular saying, but what if instead of just keeping change, or tossing it in your piggy bank, you could actively invest in some of the world’s most successful companies?
Sounds like a big hassle, right? Wrong! With Acorns, it’s easy to use the leftover change from everyday purchases (rounded up to the next dollar) and automatically buy shares of companies. Owning companies is no longer just for the super rich.
For just a few dollars a year, you can easily- and automatically- buy stocks, invest for retirement, and enjoy no fees at over 55,000 ATMs around the world with Acorns.
7. Get instant cash back at Target, Home Depot, Sephora, REI, and more
Keeping more cash in your pocket is the goal, right? But we all still need the basics (hello, paper towel, milk, and gasoline), want the fun stuff (kayaks, cosmetics, and streaming services), and need to get places (gas stations, airline tickets) so this is where Ibotta comes in.
They’re a loyalty program that rewards you when shopping online or in-store at thousands of locations nationwide. For online shopping, install their simple browser plugin and shop as normal. You can also download their app for mobile shopping.
In-store, Ibotta offers 3 ways to save- pay with the app, link your loyalty account, or submit a receipt, for rewards within 24 hours.
Sign up is quick and easy, so don’t delay, and save today!
8. Give your two cents… and make more than that
Swagbucks consistently appears on “how to make extra money” lists, and with good reason. Over the years, they’ve paid users over $445 million dollars for simple things watching videos and taking surveys.
The company partners with brands and marketers who are looking for opinions and honest feedback about products or services. In addition to taking surveys, users like you can earn money for watching a variety of short videos via their app, when you shop online, or even dine out.
Creating a profile with Swagbucks is easy and free, and you’ll quickly be able to earn money from home by taking surveys, watching videos on your phone, shopping online, and even dining at your favorite restaurants. Click here to get started.
9. Trade your daily cup of joe for entrance to the stock market
If someone told you that skipping that trip to Starbucks could put you in the same category as Bill Gates, and Jeff Bezos, you’d be interested, right?
While you won’t become a tech billionaire by passing on a caramel latte, you can get into the stock market- and own a piece of another company- for just $5.
Historically, owning stocks was only for the wealthy, but with STASH, you can now buy partial shares of companies like Google, Apple, Amazon, and more for just a few dollars.
It only takes a few minutes to set up and when these other companies profit, so do you! These companies will even send you a quarterly check with your share of the profits- called a dividend.
Set up your account now, and Stash will put an extra $5 in the account once you make a deposit.
Related: The Top 7 Banking and Investment Apps You Need to Know
10. Cash in on your necessities
While there are a lot of companies who offer rewards for shopping through them, many are complicated (what’s with the point system?!) or require you to fill out a ton of forms, but not Rakuten.
The rewards company behind the largest ecommerce site in Japan makes it easy to really earn a lot of cash back on purchases you’re making anyway. Just install their browser plugin and browse the internet normally. You’ll automatically receive cash back- up to 40%- to your account on qualifying purchases.
And unlike companies that offer points or gift cards to strange places, Rakuten pays via check or PayPal so you can get your money instantly.
11. Sell your smartphone photos
Everyone takes selfies and food snaps, but if yours are better than all your friends, consider selling your photos.
That’s right, you can become a professional photographer by selling your smartphone snaps through the Foap app. Over 3 million people are already selling their photos and videos with the Foap community.
You have two ways to make money: upload pictures or videos to a marketplace where buyers can see them, or participate in a Mission Challenge where you’ll focus on a specific type of imagery that a brand is after. With either track, you’ll earn real money if your image or video sells.
Selling your pictures and videos is a fun and easy way to make more money… get started now!
12. Make money when you buy toilet paper
You know the paper receipts you get at the grocery store? Most of us just toss them away, but don’t! They’re worth money to a company called Fetch Rewards.
Use the Fetch Rewards app, snap a picture of your receipt from any grocery store in the nation, and earn. No need to remember to clip coupons or shop through a special site to get rewards, just send a pic of a receipt and they do the rest of the work.
You’ll earn rewards when you buy thousands of brands including Pepsi, Huggies, Kraft, Heinz, Oscar Mayer, OreIda, and Betty Crocker which can be redeemed for gift cards to everything from Best Buy, Hulu, and AMC Theaters to Ray Ban and Old Navy to Chipotle, Dominos, Outback Steakhouse, and more.
Download the free app and stop leaving money on the table!
13. Get 40% back at Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, and Home Depot
Getting up to 40% back at stores like Old Navy, Bath & Body Works, and Kohl’s is definitely a good thing. And MyPoints makes it easy.
For almost 25 years, MyPoints has been helping Americans not only earn cash back but also score coupons and deals at their favorite stores.
And you can earn even more money when you share your opinion, interests, and buying habits via surveys with brands and merchants.
Sign up now and they’ll even give you a bonus $10 for free.
14. Get rid of your junk mail, get money instead
We’re all used to getting tons of junk mail. Normally, we throw it away without so much as a second thought. But there’s a company out there that will pay you to mail that junk mail to them.
While it sounds too good to be true, market researcher Small Business Knowledge (SBK) Center is recruiting panelists to forward all those annoying fliers to their headquarters. They’ll even pay you for forwarding your junk email.
The service is secure (they shred mail, remove contact info from emails), so no need to worry about identity protection.
While you won’t be able to quit your day job, you can make an extra $20 every 6-10 weeks for something you’d otherwise throw in the trash.
15. Help fix the internet
You can help influence the biggest brands, innovative companies, and future technology while earning extra spending money in your spare time by becoming a user tester.
You can make your voice heard- and get paid for your opinion- by helping test websites, apps, and digital products all from home with UserTesting.
User Joanne L. says “UserTesting is very fair and always follows through,” but she cautions “you have to be patient when qualifying… but it’s fun and you can make some extra money really quickly.” She also shared that they paid her via PayPal just a week after she completed her test.
To sign up, just enter your email address. They’ll send you a sample test, and once you’re approved, you can start taking tests and earning real money.
