Whether you are a student looking for some spending money, a stay at home parent looking to supplement the household income, or someone who works full time and just wants to have a little extra at the end of the month, there are ways to earn money without selling anything or applying for a job. You just have to know where to look. Here are a few of my favorites.
1. Google Opinion Rewards
Disclaimer: This one will never get you rich. I love this one because it is probably already installed on your phone, especially if you have an Android, and you aren't even using it. Just open up the app, sign in with your Google account and they will occasionally send you short surveys to complete. Most take less than a minute to complete and will reward between $.10 and $1.00. Use them to buy music or extra goodies in a game guilt-free with this free and easy money! My personal experience: Signed up in May 2014, made $139.98 to date.
2. Swagbucks
Swagbucks is a website and a mobile app which allows you to earn "Swagbucks" for completing different tasks. You can earn points from shopping online, doing surveys, playing games or watching videos. I very highly recommend this site if you do a lot of online shopping or book your travel online and you can earn SBs from all of these activities that you may be doing anyway. I don't do much of any of these things, so my point totals are lower than some might be. You can refer your friends and earn a percentage of points from the points that they earn, too! SB can be traded in for gift cards or sent straight to PayPal. My personal experience: Signed up in August 2015, made $173.38 to date.
3. Amazon Mechanical Turk
This is the grown up version of Swagbucks. Using your Amazon account (having a Prime account is not necessary), you log in and complete tasks. The tasks are often very quick and easy, like doing a short survey, making a short video, or transcribing handwritten data. The more "HITs" you do, the more you qualify for and there are new ones being loaded all the time. I'm new to this one, but have been very pleased so far. I know some experienced and dedicated users can make $50 a day! My personal experience: Signed up October 5, 2016, made $9.57 to date.
4. Slidejoy
If you are looking for truly easy, no effort money, this is the app for you. Slidejoy adds a lock screen ad to your phone. All you have to do is swipe it away and just like that, you have earned a penny. You never have to actually open the ad or buy the products in them, just swipe them away. Trade them in at the end of the month for Paypal or gift cards. My personal experience: Signed up September 2015, made $77.96 to date.
5. Shopkick
Let's call this the go-getter's app. If you like shopping and being out and about, this is the money-making app for you. Open the app anytime that you are in a store and get some "kicks." A cruise around the mall, or scanning a few items in a grocery store will load you up with points. I will be honest, I'm not much of an out and about person, so my personal experience probably isn't typical-- I haven't made much, but have heard from several users who just love it.
6. Odyssey
Do you have an opinion that you think the world could benefit from? Do you like writing, photography, or videography? Are you the spellcheck king/queen and can spot a comma splice a mile away? Become a content creator right here! Be part of a community local to you and talk about the subjects that interest you, whether that be sports, politics, parenting, dating, college, local news, or anything else. You can earn money from getting lots of article views, so spread your words loud and proud! They have a team dedicated to helping you succeed.
There are many more opportunities than I have been able to list here, but these are my favorites and the ones that have worked well for me. I hope that you enjoy the extra lining in your pocketbook from trying a few of these out!
