Treasure hunters would revel at the idea of getting free money. But is it really a thing? I mean, are there seriously companies out there that will just give money away because they are nice?
More on that in a minute…
We all need our savings accounts to be much larger than they are. But with bills, credit card debt, and our careers, it sometimes feels almost impossible to increase our savings.
16 ways to get cash:
Take online surveys.
Earn points for gift cards.
Score an easy $10 with Ebates.
Earn a free $5 with Inbox Dollars.
Rack up some Swagbucks.
Let Trim save you money.
Make bank playing trivia.
Use rewards credit cards.
Score a bank bonus.
Book reservations with Seated.
Get rebates from local retailers.
Invest money with Stockpile.
Get refunded with Paribus.
Install an app for $5.
Get paid for selfies.
Trade your junk mail for cash.
Let Billshark help you save.
If you don’t think it’s possible to boost your savings, then you might be surprised to find out how easy it is to score a few extra bucks each month. And thanks to the internet, all it usually requires is filling out some paid surveys, playing around on the web, or signing up for a few specific offers.
Doing just a few of these things can easily add up to thousands of dollars in cash each year, so what are you waiting for?
16 Ways to Shower Yourself with Free Money
Want some free money of your own? Are you a college student looking for ways to make money while in school?
While you might not get rich quick with the items on the list, you’ll be getting free money with very little effort.
Check out these 16+ companies that offer free money when you complete simple tasks in your spare time:
1. Give your opinions for money.
Online survey sites have become a top way for people to cash in doing something pretty mindless in their spare time. While there are a ton out there to choose from Survey Junkie has one of the longest histories and has a consistent record of paying their users.
Our list of the top reputable survey sites includes:
Survey Junkie: Learn more in our review or get started here.
Global Test Market: Learn more in our review or get started here.
E-Poll Market Research: Learn more in our review or get started here.
Pinecone Research: Learn more in our review or get started here.
iSurveyWorld: Learn more in our review or get started here.
Harris Poll: Learn more in our review or get started here.
Vindale Research: Learn more in our review or get started here.
Just sign up for any one of these free accounts and you’ll be on your way to scoring free money for your musings on everything from new products to advertising campaigns. Some, Pinecone Research for example, will ship you products to try and then answer questions on them.
Payouts vary, but the points you earn can add up fast. You can even redeem your points through PayPal if you want, with a $10 redemptions starting at just 1,000 points. Read more in our list of the top online survey sites.
2. Earn points redeemable for gift cards.
Ever heard of MyPoints? Simply put, it’s a website that offers points for nearly anything you can do online – from shopping to online surveys.
With MyPoints, the “points” you can redeem are good for cash back and a variety of gift cards to stores like Amazon.com, Best Buy, Nike, and even GameStop.
A gift certificate to Applebee’s, for example, starts at just 790 points. Paypal cash, on the other hand, starts at just 3,970 points.
To get started with MyPoints, all you have to do is sign up for a free account and use the site to shop online, take surveys, watch videos, or participate in fun, daily polls. It’s as simple as that.
3. Score an easy $10 with Ebates.
Ebates is a great place to earn money for all sorts of online tasks, but you’ll also get a $10 welcome bonus just for signing up and making a $25 purchase.
Simply open an account, spend $25 at an online store like Walmart.com, Kohls.com, Groupon.com, or Amazon.com, and the $10 bonus is yours for the taking.
And if you use Ebates for the long haul, you’ll earn even more. Just by clicking through the website when you shop online, you can earn up to 40 percent cash back at certain stores. Sounds pretty good, huh?
4. Earn a free $5 with Inbox Dollars.
Inbox Dollars is yet another website intent on paying you for living and breathing. In all seriousness, the tasks Inbox Dollars pays for are crazy-easy. Simply surf the internet, use the website to play games, complete surveys or questionnaires, or print grocery coupons to score free cash!
It’s fairly easy to earn an extra $20 – $30 per month for regular use, plus you can get a free $5 just for signing up.
If you like to get free money, it’s hard to beat this offer. Read more in our Inbox Dollars review.
5. Rack up some Swagbucks.
Swagbucks are ridiculously fun and easy to earn. Believe it or not, this website will pay you free money to shop online, watch videos (or space out and pretend you’re watching) surf the internet, or answer survey questions. Have you ever heard of a part-time job that will pay you just to hang out?
Once you start earning Swagbucks, you’ll learn all the fun ways you can redeem them as well. For example, you can cash in your Swagbucks for a wide range of gift cards. Don’t like that option? Turn in your points for PayPal cash instead.
Signing up is free and you literally have nothing to lose, either. If you’re going to be on the internet, why not get paid? You can learn a little more about Swagbucks in our full review.
6. Let Trim save you money automatically.
Trim markets itself as an assistant that saves you money. Trim is an app that tracks your spending and automates the day-to-day process of saving money for you, helping you cut out recurring charges for services you no longer need.
Trim takes it a step further, helping you tackle debt and strategically cut down on your spending. The app even checks competitors’ prices on products like your auto insurance to ensure you’re getting the best rates for the services you use.
Start saving with Trim>>
7. Make bank playing trivia.
Do you dominate game nights with friends when it comes to trivia? If so, you could be banking on your expertise with trivia apps. Why not put your wealth of knowledge to use and earn some free money fast from the comfort of your couch?
SwagIQ is a live trivia game show where you can make some serious dough. You just download the app, tune it for the weekly game, and answers the questions in 10 seconds or less. Answer all the questions correctly, and you get paid. With SwagIQ, even if you don’t win, you still rack up digital currency for the questions you get right.
It’s a fun and free way to put your brain to the test and earn a little money.
8. Sign up for a rewards credit card.
Rewards credit cards offer something for nothing if you are able to meet a small minimum spending requirement. This free cash usually comes in the form of a signup bonus, and can easily be worth hundreds.
Since a lot of rewards credit cards don’t even charge an annual fee, you can get this money for free provided you never pay interest on your purchases. Super cool, huh?
Check out these cards for the best deals at the moment:
Chase Freedom® – Sweet $150 Bonus
Chase Freedom Unlimited℠ Card – Sweet $150 Bonus
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card – $500 in Free Money
9. Score a bank bonus.
All kinds of banks offer a bonus if you are willing to put a certain amount of cash on deposit or sign up for direct deposit. From Chase to Huntington Bank and others, these bonuses can add up to some serious cash if you can meet their requirements!
My post on the best online checking accounts highlights some of the best deals in this space, but you can also check with local banks to see what they offer. Just make sure you read the fine print and watch out for any “gotchas” or requirements you don’t understand.
Another way to score bonuses from the bank is to simply have an interest-earning savings account. So after you get that checking account bonus, find a high yield savings account, too.
10. Book reservations with Seated
Seated is an app that can earn you up to 30% back on your meals, and it’s practically effortless. Seated is incredibly easy to use. You just download the app and book your dinner reservations with one of Seated’s partner restaurants.
Each time you book, you’ll get up to 30% back in the form of gift cards for companies like Amazon and Starbucks. The only drawback when it comes to Seated is location. Seated is currently only available in major cities, currently Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, NYC, Philadelphia, and San Francisco.
If you live in one of those cities, you can get free money as fast you can download the app and get to your favorite restaurant.
Start booking with Seated>>
11. Get rebates at local retailers.
Mobile coupon apps like Ibotta and Checkout 51 allow you to cash in rebates for items you buy on a regular basis.
The apps allow you to select coupons for things you are already buying and then upload your receipt for those coupons. You get the money back and all it took was a quick picture of your receipt.
If you are a Walmart shopper, then use the Savings Catcher on the Walmart app. When you are done with your purchase, scan your receipt and the app will go out over the next several days and search competitor pricing for your products. If they find that someone offered that item for less, you will get a rebate for the difference in the form of a Walmart gift card (redeemable directly from the app.
12. Invest money with Stockpile.
Stockpile makes investing easy and affordable, offering you thousands of stock and ETF options. You can buy fractional shares of companies like Apple and Netflix. Best of all, you get $5 to invest when you sign up.
If you were thinking of joining an investment app already, you might as well earn $5, right? Join today for a free bonus, $0.99 trading fees, zero management fees, and no account minimums. You’ll be glad you did.
13. Get refunds with Paribus.
Have you ever bought something only to find out the price dropped a few days later? With Paribus, you can get that money back with zero effort. All you do is shop online as usual and let Paribus monitor your confirmation emails from retailers. Whenever the price drops on what you buy, Paribus helps you get refunded.
You can use Paribus to save with popular retailers, like Target, Amazon, Walmart, Nordstrom, and more. Paribus also applies its services to hotel bookings through Expedia, Priceline, Booking.com, Marriott, and Hilton.
Start saving with Paribus>>
14. Get $5 for installing an app.
Smart Panel is a market research app aimed at gathering valuable insights from people who use their smartphones. To sign up, you’ll fill out a simple questionnaire to see if you qualify. Once you do, you’ll get a free five bucks just for installing the app on your phone.
For each month you keep the app installed, you’ll score another easy $5. Plus, you’re promised some kind of loyalty bonus every three months.
The only way to see if you’re eligible is to fill out their questionnaire.
15. Get Paid for Selfies
This is a funny one. Basically, a company called Pay Your Selfie will pay you to take pictures of yourself in various locations.
They use the information to help companies do marketing in different parts of the country based off of demographic data (age, gender, race, etc.)
The pictures are all very easy and your first $1 is just for taking a quick pic of yourself. There are always a good number of selfie tasks waiting and people are making a little side money just for taking a few pictures.
16. Trade your junk mail and get free money.
While this might sound absolutely nuts, it’s absolutely true. A company called Small Business Knowledge Center will actually pay you to mail in your junk mail and forward them your spam email.
This might sound bonkers, but it works! According to the company’s website, the company uses information from our junk mail to help their clients develop and market their own products with a watchful eye on their competitor’s practices.
If you sign up and qualify, you’ll be rewarded for your junk mail with gift cards to some of your favorite stores. That’s a pretty sweet deal considering you were probably going to throw your junk mail straight in the trash, right?
17. Let Billshark Negotiate Your Bills
Billshark is a platform that works magic on your bills. If you hate negotiating rates but want lower bills, this app is your go to. You just upload your bills to the app or website (or email them in) and let their Sharks go to work.
Billshark will send you updates as they work to negotiate your bills and save you money. Billshark regularly reduces phone, internet, cable, satellite, and home security system bills. You can get started by entering your provider and monthly cost for a 15 second quote on what you could be saving with Billshark.
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