So, go challenge yourself. How much can you add to your bank account this month? $500? $1,000? Maybe even $5,000?
1. Open a Virtual Piggy Bank
If you’re like a lot of people, your paycheck (or paychecks) goes into a single bank account. It’s probably a checking account, but maybe you’re a savvy saver and stash some into a savings account.
The problem with that? A lot of bank accounts — even savings accounts — leave your money to do diddly-squat while it’s there.
If you want your money to work for you, stick it in an account that pays out interest.
Our writer Dana Sitar automatically deposits a portion of her paycheck into her Aspiration Summit checking account. This acts as her savings for travel and emergencies.
Here’s why she prefers it to a traditional checking or savings account:
– It’s online only, so she doesn’t have to leave her apartment to handle her finances.
– It offers 1% APY on a balance of $2,500 or more. If her balance is less, it offers 0.25% APY. That’s more than the average savings account interest rate of 0.06%.
– It’s free — no mandatory monthly minimums or fees.
– It comes with a debit card, which she can use at any ATM in the world for free.
Plus, 10% of the company’s revenue goes to charity, so she feels like a good person!
2. Get $5 to Invest With Stash
It’s no brilliant secret that investing can be a smart way to make money.
Sometimes, though, it feels restricted to a few wealthy elite.
But Stash is different. This app lets you start investing with as little as $5 and for just a $1 monthly fee for balances under $5,000. (The first month is free.)
Stash curates investments from professional fund managers and investors and lets you choose where to put your money.
But it leaves the complicated investment terms out of it. You just choose from a set of simple portfolios reflecting your beliefs, interests and goals.
Bonus: Right now, The Penny Hoarder is teaming up with Stash to fund your first investment — so you’ll get a $5 bonus to get started!
3. Earn Up to $60/Hour as a Part-Time Bookkeeper
Does earning $60 an hour sound appealing? How about the freedom to work remotely while helping others succeed?
Those are the perks of working as a bookkeeper, says Ben Robinson, a certified public accountant and business owner who teaches others to become virtual bookkeepers.
And no, you don’t have to have a CPA to be successful in this business. In fact, all you really need are decent computer skills and a passion for helping business owners tackle real-world problems.
It’s a great opportunity for moms who want to work part time, millennials who are just out of college and anyone who wants to bring in real money while working from home.
We talked to Ben Robinson about what it takes to become a virtual bookkeeper, as well as tips and advice for making this career track work for you. You can read the full interview here, or check out his website for more information.
4. Sell Your Extra CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays, Video Games and Electronics
Have a bunch of movies or CDs collecting dust on a shelf? Decluttr will pay you for them!
Decluttr buys your old CDs, DVDs, Blu-rays and video games, plus hardware like cell phones, tablets, game consoles and iPods.
One user, Gil Flores, sold about 100 DVDs and 75 CDs and made $275 — an average of $1.57 each.
Just download the app and start scanning the barcodes on your media to get immediate quotes. It’s completely free to use, there are no listing or seller fees, payment is super fast and there is even free shipping.
Plus, enter FREE5 at checkout to get an extra $5 for your trade-ins!
5. Get Paid to Walk Around the Neighborhood
Need extra motivation for your daily workout? The health app Achievement lets you earn money for completing healthy activities.
Connect Achievement to workout apps like Apple’s Healthkit, Fitbit, MyFitnessPal, RunKeeper, Rundouble C25K, Twitter or any other app you already use to track your health and fitness goals. You’ll choose which data to securely share with Achievement to earn points for your activities.
For example, you can earn points for logging your weight with MyFitnessPal or hitting step goals with Fitbit.
Earn 10,000 points, and cash out for a $10 Amazon gift card. There’s no limit on how much you can earn.
Plus, you’ll earn 10 points just for signing up with Achievement and connecting an app today!
6. Pick Up Babysitting Gigs Whenever You’re Available
Ever overhear your co-workers mumbling about needing a night off from little people at home? You’ll be surprised to learn how hard it is to find a sitter!
Keep your eyes and ears peeled, and offer to babysit while friends or co-workers go out for the evening — you could earn $50 to $100.
If you don’t want to bother the people you already know, sign up with SitterCity.
Once you create your profile on the app, you can browse babysitting jobs in your area. Parents post to the app looking for full-time nannies, date-night sitters, last-minute care, and even pet or senior care and housekeeping.
Families can review your profile and run a background check before contacting you. Then you’ll meet them over the phone or in person to talk about their needs and your rates.
If you like hanging out with kids, babysitting could make a fulfilling full-time job or just a fun way to make extra money in your free time.
7. Make Some Phone Calls
Have you ever considered doing customer service from the comfort of your home? An increasing number of companies are hiring work-from-home customer service reps, instead of running call centers.
These jobs can be full– or part-time and offer a variety of schedules, including daytime, evening and weekend shifts with a range of pay depending on the position and location.
Your job is usually to answer customer questions over the phone or via online chat. You may find sales positions that include higher pay and performance incentives; or technical support positions, which are best if you’re tech-savvy and have an interest in helping people understand technology.
You should enjoy helping people, though! You know how a bad customer service call can totally ruin your day? You don’t want to be the bad rep on the other end of that call.
If you don’t like working with customers, keep an eye out for other work-from-home jobs at these job sites.
8. Drive with Uber and Lyft
As a driver partner with Uber, you are an independent contractor. You create your own schedule and work as much or as little as you want.
In December, 40 hours of driving per week earned driver partners an average of $568.39.* Your earnings will be calculated by adding a base fare, plus time and distance traveled after your pickup, and Uber charges a service fee.
If you want to give it a try here are a few of the things to keep in mind: You must be at least 21 years old, have at least one year of licensed driving experience in the U.S. (three years if you are under 23 years old), have a valid US driver’s license and pass a background check.
Also, your car must be a four-door, seat at least four passengers (excluding the driver), be registered in-state and be covered by in-state insurance.
Here’s a link to sign up to use the Uber app.
Because it’s simple to switch between apps, many Uber partners also sign up to drive with Lyft.
The company recently announced it’s expanding into 100 new cities this year. Expansion areas include the Southwest, the Southeast, the Carolinas, the Rockies, the Midwest, New England and Central California.
To be eligible, you’ll need to be at least 21 years old with a year of driving experience, pass a background check and own a car made in 2007 or later.
Here’s a link to apply with Lyft.
* This opportunity with Uber is to be a driver-partner. As a driver partner, you are an independent contractor. Stated trip earnings of $568.39 per week are based on 40 hours of driving per week using the net median national earnings of driver partners from December 2017. Median earnings in your specific location may be lower than the national figure. Actual earnings vary depending on number of rides accepted and taken, time of day, location and other factors.
9. Nab Cash Back on Essential Local Services
At this point, most of us have mastered the art of earning cash-back on groceries and online orders. But what about your lawn service? Pest control? Carpet cleaning?
Many times, when it comes to these services, we might perform a quick Google search to check out reviews, then take the financial plunge. However, you could be missing out on cash back.
Find local cash-back offers through a platform like Worthyness. The online platform houses tons of offers, searchable by city.
For example, in Tampa, Florida, earn $12 back on Alvarez plumbing services. Or $12 back on Green Solutions pest control (a necessity here in Florida). Bank $15 cash back on windows from Window World. Or, hey, just need someone to come clean the house? You’ll get $6 back at Maid Brigade.
Save the offer, complete the transaction, then redeem it by taking a photo of your receipt. Within 72 hours, the money will be deposited into your Worthyness account, and you can withdraw at any time.
Time to get rockin’ on those home repairs (because, yes, cash-back offers make chores a lot more exciting). Plus, you’ll pocket a $5 bonus when you sign up and claim an offer within your first 90 days.
10. Optimize Your Credit Card Use
If you’re not using a rewards credit card to pay for your groceries, you’re missing out on free money.
(One obvious caveat here: This only works if you pay off that credit card balance every month to avoid paying interest.)
Credit card rewards programs can be confusing, though, because each card gives you different rewards for different purchases. Managing all your points and rewards can be a challenge, especially if you’re juggling more than one card.
To get the most out of your rewards cards at the checkout counter, try using Birch. The free app keeps track of your spending and helps you maximize the rewards you’re getting, whether it’s travel rewards or cash back.
Birch plugs into your bank account and credit card accounts (with high security) and analyzes your spending habits. It recommends which cards you should sign up for, and which cards you should use for your most frequent purchases.
For example, it might suggest you buy products at your favorite grocery store with a specific card in order to rack up the most points or cash back.
The average American shopper could be earning $600 in credit card rewards per year, Birch co-founder Alex Cohen says, referring to a Bureau of Labor Statistics finding that the average consumer spends $2,165 a month on groceries, gas and other “credit card eligible” expenses.
Don’t miss out.
11. Stop Deleting Your Emails
It turns out that deleting your emails could be costing you serious money. Intrigued?
My new secret weapon is called Paribus — a tool that gets you money back for your online purchases. It’s free to sign up for Paribus. Once you do, it will scan your email archives for any receipts. If it discovers you’ve purchased something from Target or one of the other retailers listed on its website, it will track the item’s price. Once a price drop is detected, Paribus engages with the retailer on your behalf, requesting a refund – automatically!
You don’t have to do anything!
If something shows up late, Paribus will help you get money back for what you paid for shipping — up to a full shipping refund.
12. Sell Your Unwanted Stuff With This App
Are your closets and shelves packed to the brim with stuff you never use — or even look at?
You can sell virtually anything on letgo. This intuitive app lets you snap a photo and upload your item in less than 30 seconds. Not only does it remove a lot of the hassle of selling things online, it’s 100% free to use.
13. Earn a $100+ Bonus by Opening a New Credit Card
As long as you pay down your credit balance in full each month, rewards cards are a great way to make some extra money.
We’re not advocating that you open 1,497 credit cards like this guy, but taking advantage of a sign-up bonus here or there can definitely help your bank account
Check out this list of seven credit cards with no annual fee that offer a $100 bonus or more when you open a new account.
14. Download These Apps
A number of companies will actually pay you for downloading apps on your smartphone — and you’ll get paid for every month you keep them installed.
The apps collect data and help companies better understand web and mobile usage — 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).
One of our favorites is Nielsen Panel. If you have a PC or laptop, this panel will pay you $50 a year to keep this software on your computer and browse the web like you normally do.
15. Get Paid for Your Opinions
Opinion Outpost offers surveys from all kinds of businesses and organizations. Most of them take around 10 minutes to complete and will earn you points that you can redeem for free gift cards to places like Amazon and iTunes.
What sets it apart from other survey sites is it gives away $40,000 every year. It has a quarterly drawing for a $10,000 cash prize — and for every survey you complete, you’ll get one entry into the contest!
16. Open a New Bank Account
We’ve put together a huge list of banks that will pay you just to open a bank account! Some of them will pay you up to $250 just for opening a savings account!
There’s no harm in having multiple bank accounts. In fact, I often find it’s helpful to have multiple places to save (I’m less likely to touch the money), so I have savings accounts for my Christmas fund and my vacation fund.
The top bank bonus is $250 right now — head over to this list to see all of the banks in your area that are offering free cash.
17. Get Paid to Drop a Few Pounds
Bottom line: HealthyWage will literally pay you for losing weight.
So not only are you getting more healthy, but you’re also making some money. How’s that for motivation?
Here’s how it works:
- Sign up for HealthyWage,
- Define a goal weight and the amount of time you’ll give yourself to achieve it.
- Place a bet on yourself ranging from $20 to $500 a month.
Depending on how much you have to lose, how long you give yourself to do it and how much money you put on the table, you could win up to $10,000!
Teresa Suarez lost 68 pounds — and made over $2,400.
How many pounds you’d need to lose: This will vary based on your wager. Check out their calculator to find out!
18. Write Letters to Legislators
If you’re a good writer or editor, you can make $12 to $15 an hour writing letters to members of Congress.
You’ll be able to learn more about the issues available before committing to writing a letter, so if you want to stick with your own political views, it’s easy to pick and choose.
Before you apply, make sure you have the required computer equipment. For example, I can’t do this job because the software the companies use doesn’t work on Macs.
19. Get Automatic Rewards… For Living LIfe
Pssstt… We’ve got a secret.
There’s a new rewards platform on the market.
Drop is a financial tech company that rewards for your purchases.
As an exclusive Drop user, all you have to do is link your credit and debit cards. When you make a Drop-qualified purchase, you’ll automatically earn points, whether you’re grocery shopping, hailing an Uber or ordering a pizza. The points will add up, and you can then exchange them for gift cards to popular retailers like Amazon and Starbucks.
It’s the ultimate loyalty card — without the card.
You can sign up right here.
20. Sell the Textbooks You’ll Never Crack Again
Have any old college textbooks? You could have a garage sale or sell them on Craigslist, but one of our favorite ways to get rid of them is using the Bookscouter app.
You just type your book’s ISBN (it’s near the book’s barcode and copyright info) into the search engine, and let Bookscouter connect you with over 25 of the best-paying and most reputable buyback companies online.
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 (usually PayPal) 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.
21. Go on Secret Missions
Remember scavenger hunts when you were a kid? Ever pretend you were a private investigator on an important mission? Don’t let a few years get in the way of your fun.
QuickThoughts turns your cell phone into private-eye technology, taking you on top-secret missions in your area.
Was that Target clean the last time you shopped there? Were the checkout lines long?
QuickThoughts Missions relies on your input — and sneakily-taken cellphone photography — to give businesses important feedback. And like any respectable PI, you get paid for your investigative footwork. Pretending as an adult is looking better and better!
Using your phone’s GPS technology, the app will prompt you for information from places you’ve visited in the past few weeks, as well as places it detects you’re visiting right now.
It even has missions you can accept and complete in the future. For instance, it might prompt you to go to your local Walgreens and snap a photo of the seasonal display.
And you’ll earn valuable gift cards for Amazon and iTunes while you’re at it.
22. Rent Your Spare Bedroom (or Backyard) This Weekend
Have a spare room? Might as well use Airbnb to make some money by renting it out.
If you’re a good host with a desirable space, you could add hundreds — even thousands — of dollars to your savings account with Airbnb.
And there’s no reason you can’t be creative. We even found a guy that earns $1,380/month renting out a backyard tent on Airbnb!
Taking a few simple steps can make the difference between a great experience and a less-than-satisfactory one.
Here are a few tips:
- Make your space available during high-demand times in your area. Think: concerts, conventions and sporting events in your area.
- Be a good host, and make sure your place is stocked with the toiletries you’d expect at a hotel — toilet paper, soap and towels.
- Be personable. A lot of travelers turn to Airbnb for the personal touch they won’t find at commercial properties.
Here’s the link to sign up as an Airbnb host.
(Hosting laws vary from city to city. Please understand the rules and regulations applicable to your city and listing.)
23. Rate Your Local Pizza Place
Awww…yeah! Who wouldn’t want $5 and a free large pizza? ?
As many of you know I was a professional mystery shopper for many years (I got my start conducting liquor audits all over the Southeast).
One of the most popular types of mystery shops is for pizza companies — both Papa Johns and Pizza Hut regularly conduct mystery shops at all of their locations. As part of the assignment you’re required to time their delivery service, quality of pizza, etc.
It’s pretty easy to do and you can do it several times a year. If you’re interested in giving it a try, here’s a list of my favorite mystery shopping companies.
24. Cash in On Internet Outages
Internet go out? Yeah, that’s annoying — especially if you work from home.
But you deserve a refund. No need to sit on hold with your provider, though. Use Trim, a little bot that’ll do the work for you.
All you have to do is sign up (it’s free) and upload a PDF of your recent bill. (Grab this from your online statement.) The process takes about two minutes, and Trim will get to work on your behalf.
If you’re eligible for any savings, you can guarantee Trim will snag them for you! Users have taken to Twitter to report earning $100 and $200 back. Nice!
25. Provide Customer Service in Your PJs
Have you ever considered doing customer service from the comfort of your home? An increasing number of companies are hiring work-from-home customer service reps, instead of running call centers.
These jobs can be full– or part-time and offer a variety of schedules, including daytime, evening and weekend shifts with a range of pay depending on the position and location.
Your job is usually to answer customer questions over the phone or via online chat. You may find sales positions that include higher pay and performance incentives; or technical support positions, which are best if you’re tech-savvy and have an interest in helping people understand technology.
You should enjoy helping people, though! You know how a bad customer service call can totally ruin your day? You don’t want to be the bad rep on the other end of that call.
If you don’t like working with customers, keep an eye out for other work-from-home jobs at these job sites.
26. Rent Out Your RV
How many people do you know who bought an RV for one awesome camping trip or music festival… only to look back a few years later and realize they don’t use it as much as they thought they would?
If you’re in that boat (er, camper), you can turn your unused RV into cash.
You can rent your RV to other travelers through RVshare, a peer-to-peer rental marketplace.
How much you’ll earn per day will vary based on your location and the type of vehicle you have. We ran a quick hypothetical and found that Class A models made in the past 15 years range $185 – $375 a night here in St. Petersburg, Florida!
That’s a smart way to make your pricy RV pay for itself — or to bank some cash for your next big road trip.
To see how much you could earn renting out your RV, enter the specs here.
27. Get Paid to Tutor Kids Online
Love kids but didn’t want to commit to the classroom?
You can get paid to tutor online. Take notes from this former teacher, who makes up to $75 an hour.
If you’re not sure where to get started, we’ve rounded up a list of companies hiring online tutors.
28. Start Saving Without Noticing
Saving money is tough. So what if you could do it in a way where you wouldn’t even notice?
Digit makes that possible.
This innovative app saves your money without you having to lift a finger. Simply link it to your checking account, and its algorithms will determine small (and safe!) amounts of money to withdraw into a separate, FDIC-insured savings account.
Using this set-it-and-forget-it strategy, one writer put more than two months’ rent into her emergency fund.
If you need that money sooner than expected, you’ll always have access to it within one business day.
Digit is free to use for the first 100 days, then it’s $2.99 per month afterward.
Sign up for Digit today, then, the next time you’re desperate for rent money, you’ll hopefully already have it stashed away.
29. Earn Up to $30/Day Going to the Movies
I actually got paid $30 to attend one of the Harry Potter movie premieres. And it’s the 5th movie premiere I’ve been paid to attend. Let me explain.
Theaters and movie studios are interested in collecting data about the audience that attends their movie premieres. They want to know how many people buy tickets on opening day, what screening time is most popular, and what previews are being shown. And they want independent data from 3rd party evaluators.
They are known as “in-theater checks” and to apply, you’ll need to fill out an application with one of the largest mystery shopping companies, Certified Field Associates. The application is just a few questions long and nearly everyone in the United States and Canada is eligible to be hired.
(Note: I get a lot of questions about how to know if a mystery shopping company is real. Here’s a hint: you should never have to pay a fee to join! That’s a big red flag!)
Once you’ve been accepted as a new auditor with Certified Field Associates, you will want to keep a close eye on their online assignment list. As new assignments become available, they will be posted to that list. If you find a movie that you would like to attend, you have the ability to self-assign the project to yourself. “In-theater checks” don’t have huge paydays attached to them, but you can usually expect to make between $10-20 per hour.
30. Scan Your Groceries When You Get Home
Did you know that the Nielsen company will pay you to scan your groceries each week? Crazy, right?
Once you sign up to become a Nielsen Consumer Panel family, you’ll be asked to simply scan the barcodes on your groceries and send your data off to Nielsen each week. Pretty easy, huh?
31. Proofread Documents
If you’ve got a keen eye for grammar and formatting, freelance proofreading could be your next great gig — one that pays about $17 an hour. The average rate per page for proofreading is 35 cents, so your earnings depend on how efficiently you work. It’s not a great moneymaker for procrastinators!
Curious about learning how to become a proofreader? Sign up for this free seven-day mini-course on ProofreadAnywhere.com!
32. Serve as a Mock Juror
Fascinated by courtroom drama, but hate wasting the day in jury duty for a measly $4 payout?
Serve as an online mock juror to help lawyers prepare for real cases. You can earn $10 to $60 for about an hour of your time. Instead of hearing arguments from both sides of the case, you review evidence, like documents, videos and photos, at your computer.
33. Fill This Out While You’re Watching TV
Most of you know surveys aren’t our favorite way to make extra money, but we make an exception when we’re just vegging out on the couch. We figure as long as we’re just watching TV, there’s no reason we can’t click a few buttons at the same time.
Ipsos i-Say and VIP Voice are among the only legitimate paid survey companies out there.
Some of these sites do pay in points instead of cold, hard cash, but you can use those points to purchase gift cards with actual cash value. Should you prefer cash over the cards, you can turn around and sell any gift cards you earn.
34. Jump on the Class-Action Bandwagon
If you use a product that’s involved in a class-action lawsuit, a little online legwork could get you a cash payout. The rules of each settlement are different, but in most cases you’ll have to provide proof of purchase or product use, like a serial number or a receipt. Once you fill out your online claim form, you may have to wait a few weeks or months before receiving your payment.
Psst — we regularly post new class-action settlement information, so check in often to make sure you’re not missing a chance to get paid!
35. Find Your Missing Money
Search online to find unclaimed money from retirement accounts you’ve forgotten, old security deposits and more. Check the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators website to find out how to search in your home state.
This strategy can only help you find your own misplaced money. If you keep good track of your cash already, you may not find anything.
36. Work as a Transcriptionist
Are you a good listener — and a good typist? You can make $15 to $25 an hour as a transcriptionist.
You’ll need experience in the medical or legal fields to get those transcription assignments, but plenty of researchers, reporters and Average Joes are willing to pay for someone to type up their recordings.
You get paid per audio hour, so this is another task that’s perfect for people with great focus. If an hour-long recording takes you four hours to transcribe, you still only get paid for one hour. Listen closely!
37. 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 20 times, you make $5 each time and end up with $100 in your pocket — all for about five minutes of work. Pretty cool, right?
38. Get Paid to Watch (More) TV
Trivia fiends will love this.
Download the Perk Pop Quiz app and pick from one of the many trivia categories — The 90’s & The 2000s, Music & Movie Quotes and Famous Slogans are just a few.
The more correct answers you rack up, the more points you get. You can redeem those points for gift cards to Amazon, Starbucks, Nike, GameStop, Target and other stores.
You’re not going to get rich doing this, but it’s a fun way to make an extra $15 to $20 a month for the shows you already enjoy watching.
39. Tutor Chess Players
Love to play chess? Tutor other chess players online to make $35 to $50 per hour.
Tutoring sites like WyzAnt can take a big cut (40% until you hit 20 hours of tutoring!), but you’ll get practice (and get paid) without leaving the house. Even if you’re a lower-rated player, you can charge $20 per hour to work with beginners.
40. Rent Your Clothing
You can make money renting clothing through sites like Loanables or Style Lend.
If you’ve got lots of special-occasion or high-end clothes, you could practically be running your own Rent the Runway from your closet!
Make sure to read the fine print on rental sites. Some don’t charge any fees to the buyers and sellers, but some charge a rental commission of 3 to 5% per order. You’ll need to price your wares accordingly to account for any commission handed over to the company!
41. Earn Up to $700/Month Evaluating Search Results
I’ll make about $700 this month for evaluating search engine results this month.
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 the name of one of our writers, 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 his smiling face. You’ll also see links to his personal website, his blog on the Huffington Post, and LinkedIn profiles for a bunch of guys who share his 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.
42. Find Virtual Odd Jobs on TaskRabbit
TaskRabbit helps you connect with regular people who need help getting things done — everything from picking up dry cleaning to calling customer service and tolerating the hold music.
Keep an eye out for virtual tasks, which are mostly centered around personal assistance, administrative work or research help. Last year, TaskRabbit established a pricing floor of $14 for its Taskers. You can rest assured that you won’t be getting paid pennies to solve someone’s Excel woes.
43. Hang Out at Bars
mihailomilovanovic/Getty Images
Sign up for the Bar Integrity Mystery Shop through the Mystery Shopping Providers Association to get paid to go to bars.
As a mystery shopper, you’ll pose as a regular customer — while secretly rating each bar on speed of service, friendliness, accuracy, cleanliness and other factors.
MSP offers other types of mystery shops, as well. Choose what fits your schedule, so you can pick up retail shopping and restaurants, too, if you want to round out your day.
44. Open a NetSpend Account for a Free $20
Editor’s Note (7/28/16): This has worked for more than 10,000 readers so far, but we’ve also heard from more than 100 folks that they were not credited with their $20 bonus. Furthermore, it looks the Netspend customer service is not very helpful in addressing these issues, so we’re no longer 100% confident in this offer.
This is another easy $20 just for requesting a prepaid, reloadable card from Netspend.
1. Click HERE and ”Open a NetSpend account” for FREE. Use the promotion code “1180516423”
2. You will receive your NetSpend “Visa” Debit card within 10 business days. Mine made it here in four days.
3. Once you receive the card, simply log into NetSpend and activate it.
4. In order to get the FREE $20, you’ll need to load the card with a minimum of $40 using PayPal, a bank account or one of the other many options.
5. Once you load $40, NetSpend will add $20 to your available balance on the card. I confirmed this myself with my own card.
6. Go to the ATM and withdraw the $60 total from your card or spend the funds at your local store, online or wherever you can use a credit card. Yes, if you withdraw the money via ATM or cash back, you’ll be hit with the $2 fee for a PIN transaction or a $2.50 ATM Fee (would only be $17.50-$18 bonus in this case). But, you can avoid the fee by ACH transferring it for free back to your bank
Read more it here: “Free $20 Cash for Signing Up at Netspend”
45. Make Money Test-Driving Cars
Working through a company like BestMark, you’ll go to car lots and pose as a potential buyer.
So you get to test drive a car, which is pretty cool.
It also means you listen to the sales pitch, which is less exciting. But then you report back on your experience and get paid!
I used to do automotive mystery shopping, and I’d make $60 for each dealership I visited.
46. Sell Your Friendship
Get paid to be someone’s buddy! I’m not kidding.
You can register to become a Friend at RentAFriend.com, where paying users can contact you to attend concerts, sporting events, family functions, VIP events and more.
You can charge up to $50 an hour and set your own schedule.
Friends working full time (five days a week) earn up to $2,000 a week, plus free dinners and access to those events I mentioned.
What could you do as a “Friend” for 40 hours a week?
First of all, the site clarifies that it is “solely a platonic friendship website” — beyond that, options are endless.
If you have a special skill, like cooking or foreign language, you could teach them. Some people traveling or new to an area hire a Friend to show them the town. Some people just want someone to talk to.
47. Sell Your Junk Mail
[Ed. note, Sept. 2016: At this time, SBK Center is no longer accepting applications from U.S. residents; however, residents of Canada are still being accepted.]
I don’t know about you, but I get a ton of junk mail.
My email inbox and 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 the 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 give you Visa prepaid cards for it, which work just like debit cards.
48. Find Freelance Work, Small Jobs and Side Gigs
Need more money? Pour yourself a cup of coffee, curl up on the couch with your tablet or laptop, and find yourself a gig you can do on your own time from home.
Look through job postings on sites like these:
- Upwork: You create a profile and search for jobs based on your talents. There are all kinds of opportunities, from web and graphic design to IT and accounting. When you find a job posting that interests you, pitch for the job. If the client likes you, you’re hired.
- Fiverr: On this online platform, workers start out selling their products and services for $5 each. Fiverr says users create 4,000 new listings, or gigs, every day, with a new gig purchased every five seconds. Earning five bucks at a time may not sound like much, but those little sales can add up to thousands of dollars. Here’s our guide to earning money on Fiverr.
- TaskRabbit: This gig site matches workers with people who need help with odd jobs like cleaning houses, making deliveries or completing tasks around the house. Some independent contractors end up racing between low-paying gigs. But if you’re strategic, you can earn a living this way. Here’s our guide to making money on TaskRabbit.
49. Sell Jellyfish
Yes, there’s a market for pet jellyfish. And they’re not cheap.
The first retailer of its kind, JellyfishArt.com sell jellyfish, their specialized LED-lit tanks, food and other products. The least-expensive kit at the site costs $330.
How do you break into this bizarre business?
There’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s not impossible: Alex Andon founded Jellyfish Art with less than $100 for advertising, plus loads of guts and creativity.
50. Flip a Freebie
Selling Craigslist freebies is a great way to make a profit quickly, because you get the items for free.
You could even have cash in hand today.
Go to the free section on Craigslist and look for things that are close to you and easy to sell immediately. They could be scraps from a job site or metal items you can sell, for example.
For a quick turnaround, avoid items like furniture or electronics. These can be good to sell, too, but will take longer.
Cash in your treasures by reselling on Craigslist, including them in a rummage sale or selling to specialty buyers, like a pawn shop or a local business that could use whatever you’ve just picked up.
