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
- Get rebates from local retailers
- $5 signup bonus with Inbox Dollars
- Rack up some Swagbucks
- $10 signup bonus with Ebates
- Let Trim save you money
- Get refunds with Paribus
- Microinvesting app bonuses
- Score a bank bonus.
- Student Loan Refi Bonus
- Invest money with Stockpile.
- Get paid to budget
- Get paid for selfies.
- Use rewards credit cards.
- $1000 guaranteed w/Lyft
- Book reservations with Seated.
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 a consistent record of paying their users.
| TOP REPUTABLE SURVEY SITES: | ||
|---|---|---|
| Survey Junkie | Fast and easy sign up | SIGN UP |
| Vindale Research | $0.25-$50 per survey | SIGN UP |
| Pinecone Research | Drive tomorrow’s products | SIGN UP |
| iSurvey World | $5 Sign-up Bonus | SIGN UP |
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.
Read more in our list of the top online survey sites.
2. Get rebates at local retailers.
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.
You do not have to limit yourself fo MyPoints, there are many options available, here are some of our top picks:
| Ibotta | $10 Sign Up bonus, $20 after redeeming 10 offers | SIGN UP |
| MyPoints | Earn a $10 gift card when you spend $20 | SIGN UP |
3. 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.
4. 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 Swagbucks review.
5. Score an easy $10 with Ebates.
Ebates (Rakuten) 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?
6. Let Trim save you money automatically.
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 markets itself as an assistant that saves you money, 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.
7. 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.
Paribus compensates us when you sign up for Paribus using the links provided.
8. Collect Cash from Microinvesting Apps
You might think that the only way to make money by investing is through the…. Investments, right?
Nope! These investing platforms and microinvesting apps will pay you cash just for signing up!
| Stash Invest | $5 Welcome Bonus | GET STARTED |
| Acorns | $5 Sign-Up Bonus | GET STARTED |
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.
| BANK | BONUS | |
|---|---|---|
| Discover | $150 for a $15k deposit, $200 for a $20k deposit | GET STARTED |
| Citibank | $400 for a $5k deposit | GET STARTED |
| Bank of America | $100 if you set up Direct Deposit | GET STARTED |
| Chase | $100 for all new customers | GET STARTED |
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. Score a Cash Bonus to Refinance Student Loans
Chances are good you have student loans. Have you considered refinancing them?
Refinancing means a lender pays off your existing loans and creates a new, single loan to be paid back at (ideally) a lower interest rate. This is appealing to borrowers because it consolidates monthly loan payments and saves you money!
The *extra* good news is that many refinancing companies will pay you cold, hard cash to refinance with their company. Below are some examples.
| Credible | Up to $750 Cash Bonus | GET STARTED |
| Earnest | $500 Cash Bonus | GET STARTED |
| Splash Financial | $500 Cash Bonus | GET STARTED |
| SoFi | $200 Cash Bonus | GET STARTED |
11. 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.
12. Get Paid to Budget
How good are you at managing and saving money? If you’re like most people, the answer is not that great.
But the procrastination to “finally get your financial order in life” is over, my friend! The following companies will actually pay you if you let them help you.
| COMPANY | PROMO | |
|---|---|---|
| Cleo | $5 Welcome Bonus | GET STARTED |
| Digit | $5 Welcome Bonus | GET STARTED |
13. 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.
14. 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?
Below are a few cards I recommend from financial institutions I’ve worked with in one capacity or another over the years and trust:
| CARD | REQS | BONUS |
|---|---|---|
| Capital One Quicksilver | Spend $500 in first 3 mos | $150 |
| Wells Fargo Cash Wise | Spend $500 in first 3 mos | $150 |
| Chase Freedom | Spend $500 in first 3 mos | $150 |
| Bank of America Cash Rewards | Spend $1k in first 3 mos | $200 |
15. Earn a Guaranteed $1,000 with Lyft
I assume you’re familiar with Lyft, the ridesharing competitor to Uber. I actually find Lyft to be cheaper and have better experiences with the drivers.
Speaking of, how would you like to earn a guaranteed $1,000 to become a Lyft driver? Yup! That’s what the company is offering right now.
It’s part of a program called Earnings Guaranteed. According to the Lyft website, the promotion says drivers will earn a guaranteed amount within a certain time frame. If the driver does not make the guaranteed amount within the time frame, Lyft will cover the difference!
And right now the guaranteed amount is $1,000! Easy money.
16. 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.
THE BOTTOM LINE
The internet offers a treasure trove of ways to get free money in a pinch. And most of the time, all you have to do to get started is sign up and complete mindless tasks like watching videos or answering survey questions.
The free money is out there for the taking; it’s up to you to get out there and seize it!
Get Free Money Fast – 16 Easy Ways to Shower Yourself with Real Cash
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