22 Clever and Easy Ways How to Get Free Money

Free money! No one wouldn’t want some. But how can you get it? Are there easy ways to get free money? Let’s find out.

Unless your parents are super rich, we’ve all had times in our lives when we could use some extra cash.

I have. And like many people, I’ve gone online to find money-making ideas.

But wait – everyone knows the internet is a mixed bag. While some great and innovative ideas exist, so do plenty of scams. You know what I mean – people trying to make a fast buck at your expense.

So what can you do? Who can you rely on when searching for ideas to make money online?

Well, I don’t know everything, but after some research and testing, I’ve compiled a decent list of how to get free money.

It wasn’t easy – there was a lot of trial and error involved, believe me. But I reckon a look at the list below will save you time and help you avoid making the mistakes I made.

So without further ado, here are some of the best ideas I found about how to make some easy extra money.

See Also: How to Get Free Amazon Gift Cards

Best Methods on How to Get Free Money

1. Install Free Apps on your Phone

Did you know you can make money from downloading free apps on your smartphone?

Neither did I!

But yeah, plenty of companies offer these promotions. What happens is you download the app and earn real money or points, which you can redeem for cash or Amazon (or similar online stores) gift vouchers. You won’t earn much – maybe US$5 each time – but every bit helps, right?

You can also get rebates if you shop at certain stores. And some schemes, like the one offered by Ibotta, allow you to earn more money by referring your friends. This means that when they sign up, you get paid.

The best thing about this method of making money online is that you need not keep the apps on your mobile device, either. Once you sign up, download the app, and get paid, you can get rid of it.

Unless you like the app, of course! Or, even better, unless the company pays you to keep it on your phone, which some will do for you.

For example, Nielsen pays you $50 per year just for keeping their app on your phone.

2. Take Part in Online Surveys

Taking part in online surveys is also among the top ways to get free cash.

Dozens of sites offer people the chance to complete online surveys for money, and more seem to spring up every year.

How it works is these survey companies offer respondents cold cash to take part – although some will offer gift cards or vouchers instead.

In my experience, there are good and bad online survey sites.

Choose long-standing, established companies like SurveyJunkie, MyPoints, and Swagbucks. They have the best reputations and lots of surveys to complete.

You might also receive a sign-up bonus of up to $10 once you register. After that, they’ll pay you a couple of dollars to complete each survey. Again, you won’t make your fortune doing online surveys, but you could generate a little side income.

A good tip with online surveys is to sign up for several survey sites. You won’t always qualify for every survey, so you’ll want to maximize your income.

Let’s explore more on some of the best paid online survey sites:

• Swagbucks

Swagbucks is a website that pays you to shop online, watch videos, surf the net, or answer online surveys.

It’s one of the best and most reputable of the GPT (Get Paid To) websites and has been around a long time – since 2008.

If you sign-up, you earn swag bucks every time you complete an online activity like watching a video, playing a game, or answering a daily poll. One swag buck (SB) is worth US$0.01, and when you have collected enough, you can redeem them for gift cards or PayPal.

The best thing about this site is that, as you can see, it offers more than just paid surveys. Swagbucks has more money-making opportunities than most other survey sites, which allows you to make more free cash.

So, whether you love playing online games or prefer watching online videos for money, this platform offers an incredible opportunity. For a few minutes work a day, you can earn $100-$200 per month.

• Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is legit. And it’s among the most loved survey sites in the market with 10 million plus members.

However, it doesn’t promise overnight fortunes. Like most other genuine paid survey sites, the pay isn’t all that lucrative. But if you do it right, you can make some good free cash to sort out your minor bills.

For example, every survey on the platform earns you around 50-300 points. Now, 100 points are worth $1, which means each survey is worth 50 cents to $3.

It doesn’t look like much, but consider that you only need to take a few surveys each day to make an extra $100 or more. Also, these tasks are pretty easy, and you can do them from anywhere – even on your way back home from work. All you need is a mobile device (phone, laptop, or tablet).

• InboxDollars

Who gives you a whooping $5 reward for simply joining them? Not many companies can. But, InboxDollars know how to welcome you to the platform.

And that’s not all. Surveys here are short and easy, allowing you to take several in a short time. For instance, a survey will take you between 3 and 20 minutes to complete. And each will fetch you between $.50 and $5. Now, that’s not bad for a three minutes task.

Additionally, like Swagbucks, the platform offers more than surveys. You can also get paid to watch online video ads, play games, or even shop online. So, whenever you make an online purchase on a qualifying product or store, you get some cash back – that’s free money.

How else can you get free money that easily? I’m almost certain there aren’t many ways. And once you reach the set threshold, $30, you can redeem your reward in several ways, including PayPal and popular stores’ gift cards.

• MyPoints

MyPoints is yet another GPT that pays you for taking online surveys, watching videos, and even playing games. You also get a $10 sign-up bonus once you register – way beyond what many sites offer.

After signing up, there are several ways to make money here. For instance, you can search the web to earn, answer surveys, shop online, participate in polls, or even play games online. You choose the activities you want.

But what I like most about this platform is the wide range of redemption options. For example, you can cash out your points for PayPal or gift cards from popular stores such as Amazon, Starbucks, Walmart, and Target – among others.

Generally, each activity on the site earns you points which depends entirely on the length of the survey or type of activity. Also, when it comes to redeeming the points, each withdrawal method offers different points for dollar conversion.

For example, if you opt for PayPal money, you need 1590 points to get $10. For cash via Visa Prepaid card, you need 1500 points to redeem $10. Amazon gift cards require 250 points to redeem $1.

This means that your mode of reward withdrawal also determines how much free cash you get.

3. Earn Refunds with Paribus

Have you ever bought anything online only to check the same site later and see the price of your purchase has dropped? How annoying is that?

And then you want to get a refund, which is a major hassle. But if you sign up with Paribus, you don’t have to endure any hassle – they do all the work for you.

Once you download their app, Paribus will scan your email for receipts from big online retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Target, or Macy’s. If the price of whatever you bought drops, Paribus will help you get a refund.

Paribus also works with hotel and travel sites like Expedia, Booking.com, Hilton, and Marriot. This way, you get a refund even from your travel purchase. Imagine getting some money back after a long enjoyable holiday! It’s certainly worth having that app on your phone.

See Related: How to Get Birthday Freebies

4. Book Restaurant Reservations with Seated

Seated is an app that gets you up to 30% off the price of your meal in a restaurant every time you make a reservation.

All you do is download the app, pick a restaurant from their list, and book online. You’ll then get up to a 30% discount, redeemed in the form of gift cards or vouchers for merchants like Amazon or Starbucks.

Right now, Seated is only available in 14 major cities, including New York, Chicago, Miami, Boston, Atlanta, Philadelphia, Rhodes Island, and San Francisco. But watch out for them – they have ambitious expansion plans and will roll out to more cities and towns soon.

So, instead of just walking into a restaurant for lunch or dinner, why not use Seated and get that discount? Imagine a 30% discount on every meal you take. It not only makes it cheaper to dine out but also gives you an excellent opportunity to get gift cards to buy other things you’ve wanted to.

5. Become a Stock Photographer

If you have a good eye for a photo, you can make money by becoming a stock photographer.

You need not spend a fortune on an expensive camera, either. Nowadays, you can take great pictures with your smartphone!

Whilst some stock photography sites will take everything you send them, others are choosier and will require you to pass an approval process first.

Also, no single photo will earn you a lot of money – between $0.25 and $0.45 per image per month is the going rate.

One tip to remember is to set out who owns the copyright to the pictures before you start. If you can keep your copyright, you can sell the same photo to more than one site.

If you lose your copyright, the company owns your image, and you lose your rights to it.

Some of the best-known stock photography sites include GettyImages and Shutterstock.

6. Become a Dog Walker

Dog walking is a great way to make a part-time living, especially if you have free time, love dogs, and enjoy getting out into the fresh air.

Many dog owners lead busy lives, are out of the house working all day, and don’t have the time or energy to walk their dogs. And they’re happy to pay someone else to do this for them!

Experienced dog walkers can earn anything up to $15 for a 30-minute-walk. They get to enjoy fresh air, exercise, and the company of man’s best friend in the bargain.

Luckily, you don’t even have to struggle to look for dog owners to offer you these jobs. If you can’t convince your neighbors to let you walk their dogs, or you just want more opportunities, there are three easy ways to make money this way:

First, you can work for an established dog walking company (yes, these exist!). They already have their own client lists of dog owners and will give you steady work for a percentage of your income.

Second, download an online dog walking app like Rover, Wag!, or Care, and coordinate with clients in your area.

The third way is to build up your own clientele. There are two downsides to this. First, building up your client list takes time. The other problem is that many dog owners will want to ensure you’re licensed and insured before they trust you with their dog.

7. Save Money with Trim

You can download an app from a service called Trim, which helps you save money on everything, from utility bills to subscriptions.

The app tracks your spending and helps you cut down on bills and cancel services you no longer need.

Trim also helps you manage your budget and cut down on your debt. I used Trim to cut my monthly bill from my internet service provider.

I downloaded their app, signed up for the service, and after uploading a copy of my last monthly bill, gave Trim a link to my internet service provider. They negotiated with the service provider and got me a big reduction in my monthly bill.

They take 30% of the annual savings as their fee, but, in my case, that still left me well ahead. It also saved me the time I would have spent trying to negotiate with the service provider myself.

8. Use Coupon Apps to get Refunds

Using coupons to get discounts at your local grocery store has always been a good way to save money.

But most people don’t have the time to scour local newspapers or the internet. They forget to clip or print out coupons or to take them with them when they go shopping.

Nowadays, several apps exist to take a lot of this effort out for you. For instance, you can upload, clip, and scan coupons onto your smartphone.

These apps let you select coupons for the items you buy. You take a picture of the receipt, upload it to the app, and it’ll find the right coupon for you.

Some of the best coupon apps are Ibotta and ShopKick. Ibotta claims to have given $500 million back to shoppers and will connect directly to your local store’s loyalty card scheme.

Or, if you’re a Walmart customer, the Savings Catcher app will search competitor pricing in your area for a few days after you shopped with them.

If they find you could have bought the same item cheaper somewhere else, they’ll give you a rebate in the form of a Walmart gift card.

9. Get Paid for Searching the Web

Imagine getting paid for doing something you spend hours doing, anyway. Getting paid for searching online is one of the easiest ways to earn free money. And it requires you to change virtually nothing about your behavior or your habits.

Companies like Qmee.com allow you to earn cash rewards every time you search on Google, Yahoo, or Bing. All you do is install a simple browser add-on, and then you’ll find a few sponsored ads alongside your normal search results.

Every link clicked can earn a cash reward, with no minimum cash out. Even if you only earn a dollar, they’ll still send this to your PayPal account. Or you can donate it to charity if you prefer – they offer you that option, too.

10. Get Paid for Taking Selfies

It sounds crazy, but some companies will pay you for taking selfies.

If you have a decent camera on your smartphone, you take photos of yourself and submit them to companies that offer these services. They will then pay you for the right to use your picture.

So what’s the angle of these companies? Well, the info they collect helps their marketing activities around the United States, based on demographics like gender, race, and age.

However, not every photo is worth money. But if they use your picture, you can make a dollar or two each time. And the more you sell, the more you earn.

Several companies offer this service. I recommend Pay Your Selfie and Scoopshot.

11. Get Paid to Receive Junk Mail

While most of us hate junk mail, you might feel better if you knew you were getting paid every time you received it.

This is not a scam! It’s a legitimate business idea.

If you become a mail decoy for a company offering this service, they’ll pay you for every bit of junk mail that ends up in your mailbox. That’s newsletters, catalogs, and magazines.

These companies will pay you because they want to understand how junk mail finds prospective clients – or if they ever receive it at all. When you get junk mail, you report it online or call a toll-free number and enter a code from the mailing.

Some companies will pay you in cash for this service. The going rate is around $10 per month plus $0.25 for each piece of mail you receive. Others, like World Mail Panel, will reward you with points you can redeem for PayPal, gift cards, or other prizes.

12. Sell your Plasma

Giving blood is a popular way of giving back to the community, but selling plasma is a way of making money. Oh – and you’re doing a good deed at the same time!

As long as you’re over 18 and in good health, you can make $200-$300 a month selling plasma. But be aware they base this figure on donating two or three times a week, making US$20-$50 each time.

Each company has its own set of donation requirements, so check these out before signing up. There can also be side effects, so check with your doctor first before you do anything.

Companies willing to buy your plasma include CSL Plasma, Grifols Plasma, and Octapharma Plasma.

13. Rent a Room out with Airbnb

If you’re comfortable with strangers sleeping in your house, you can make good money renting out a spare room with Airbnb.

Or, if you have a rental property or are planning to take an extended vacation, you can rent out your whole place.

Airbnb is a company that offers cheaper, more personal accommodations to travelers than expensive hotel rooms. They offer rooms, houses, and condominiums to rent on a daily or weekly basis to travelers through their website and app.

If you live in a desirable location – near a major tourist destination, for example – you can earn good money with Airbnb. But before signing up for the service, check with your local municipality. Some city ordinances now place restrictions on the short-term rental market.

14. Sell your Old Clothes

Most of us have more clothes than we ever will wear. Our closets are full of items we haven’t worn for years, if ever.

While you can give them away to charity, an alternative is to sell them. Not only do you get to earn money, but you get to declutter your house at the same time. A win-win situation!

Make sure the clothes are clean and well-aired and not torn or full of holes. Nobody will buy your cast-offs if they are not in decent condition.

But if they’re presentable and wearable, there are many places you can sell them. Think about consignment sites like Poshmark, ThredUP, and eBay.

15. Get Money from the Government

Any list of how to get free money would not be complete if it did not include the US government. While you may think money only flows one way – away from you – with Uncle Sam, sometimes the opposite holds true.

Unclaimed.org, for example, is a website connecting US residents with money they may have forgotten about over the years. We’re talking unclaimed account credits, uncollected insurance reimbursements, and old utility and apartment security deposits.

Also, check out MissingMoney. They work along similar lines, checking for missing money, property, and assets that participating states might owe you.

Those on low incomes might also check out Federal Pell Grants for Education, the Child Care Development Fund, and the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

16. Sell your Old Electronic Devices

Almost everyone has old electronic devices lying around. Whenever I get a new cell phone, for example, once I swap the SIM card over, I put the old one away to gather dust in a drawer.

But you can earn money from these old gadgets by selling them to companies like Gazelle, OCBuyBack, or GadgetSale. They’re all willing to pay cash for old smartphones, computers, iPads, and DVD players. Some will even pay for broken devices.

One of the most popular sites is Decluttr, and their method is simple. If your old device has a barcode, you can scan it with your smartphone camera and send it to them.

They’ll make you an immediate offer. If you accept their offer, they’ll send you a prepaid envelope to ship the device back to them. Once they’ve received your old device, they’ll pay you the next day.

17. Loyalty Programs and Rewards

A great way to get free money, or free stuff – which is the same thing – is to take advantage of the loyalty programs and reward schemes offered by various companies.

You already spend money with them anyway, so why not take advantage of what they offer and sign up for their membership schemes?

Here are my favorites:

I love Starbucks, and by signing up for their rewards program, I get a discount every time I order one of their specialty drinks.

I also shop a lot with Amazon, Walmart, Best Buy, and Lowes. The reason for this is simple.

Using Ebates, I can get free cashback when I shop with them. And I can take advantage of their discounts and store promotions.

Thousands of loyalty and reward programs are available. Have a look around, and what’s out there on offer will surprise you.

Some incredible reward programs you can take advantage of include:

• Points Programs

Marriott Bonvoy Benefits is among the best loyalty reward programs we have around. You earn points every time you use their services. These points accumulate over time and can be redeemed for free travel, shopping discounts, or Marriott hotel stays.

Enroll in the program today, and you’ll already get 2,000 bonus points. Also, if you spend $3,000 on Marriott Bonvoy in your first year, you’ll earn an additional 10,000 bonus points. That’s enough to fund a free night at one of their luxury hotels.

But how does Marriot benefit from this program?

Well, by rewarding their customers, they are able to learn more about their customers’ behavior. This way, they can serve the customers better, which only adds to their satisfied customers’ list, guaranteeing repeat purchases and referrals.

In addition, these offers also attract more customers. And more customers means more money for the company.

• Tier-based Programs

This type of rewards program works almost similar to the points rewards program mentioned above. However, you don’t just earn points. Every time your points reach a certain threshold, you scale to a higher earning level.

It’s like playing online games – once you successfully complete a certain level, you go to a new higher level. And earnings here are better.

A great example of such a program is that of DSW, the famous shoe retail store. In 2019, it introduced a VIP loyalty tier program for its Canadian customers. The rewards focus on the buying behavior of customers, with rewards varying from extra points, and free shipping when you donate unwanted shoes.

• Referral Programs

This type of customer rewards program involves rewarding customers for introducing new customers to the company or platform.

So, once you join a certain platform, let’s say, survey sites, booking sites, hotels, and more, you receive a reward if you can bring one more person on board. This helps create loyal customers and also grows the customer base for various companies and platforms.

An excellent example here is the Freshly reward program. This one gives you a $40 reward every time you refer a new person. Plus, the other person also gets a $40 discount.

18. Open a New Bank Account

Most banks in the US will offer you a bonus if you open a new account with them, sign-up for direct deposit, or keep a certain amount of funds with them.

They may stipulate a minimum fixed amount to keep with them and a minimum amount of time, but these requirements are fairly limited for the most part.

Follow their “rules,” earn your bonus, and then, if you don’t need the account, close it.

Chase, for example, will offer up to $300 if you keep $1,500 with them for 90 days or more.

Always read the small print to check for any hidden restrictions. If there’s something you don’t understand, ask the bank before you open the account.

See related: How to Earn Money Online

19. Celebrate your Birthday with a Freebie

Many retailers and merchants will give you a discount or some freebie on your birthday.

Check with your favorite stores or restaurants to see if they’re offering any deals. You might first need to sign-up for their loyalty programs or newsletters to be eligible.

A few of my favorites are Applebees, Denny’s, Dunkin Donuts, and Red Lobster.

20. Take Advantage of Travel and Business Credit Cards

Besides letting you spend and pay later, credit cards can be a great source of free money. For instance, travel credit cards offer a lot of amazing travel benefits and discounts. On the other hand, business credit cards offer rewards and cash backs you will love.

So, if you are a traveler or run a small business, make sure to get one of these cards. They can help you save big on your travel and business expenses.

Here are some of the best travel and business credit cards available right now:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve

Chase Sapphire Reserve card offers 3x points on travel and dining expenses and 1x points on all other purchases. As for dining, you get 3x points for eating at qualifying restaurants.

You also get a $300 annual travel credit and access to over 1,000 airport lounges worldwide. And there’s also no foreign transaction fee.

As they’ve put it on their website, this card gives you a chance to earn more, travel further, and redeem your rewards faster. Now, this seems like a great way to earn discounts and points you can redeem for free money or purchase.

• American Express Business Platinum Credit Card

If you want a reliable business credit card, American Express is the way to go – certainly for a good reason.

With this card, you get 5x points on flights and prepaid hotels booked through American Express Travel. You also get 1.5x points on all other eligible purchases of $2 million.

The card comes with a lot of perks, including access to over 1,200 airport lounges worldwide, a yearly $200 airline fee credit, and up to $100 business credit at select hotels when you book through their Fine Hotels & Resorts program.

Even better, the card offers you up to 150,000 points once you make $15,000 eligible purchases in your first three months of card ownership. That’s huge. In essence, with American Express, your business travel becomes easier, more comfortable, and cheaper.

• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

If you are looking for a travel rewards card with no annual fee for the first year, this is it. With this card, you get unlimited 2x miles on every purchase. And when you book hotels or rental cars via Capital One Travel, you get unlimited 5x miles per dollar – what’s better than this?

Even better, the card also has a welcome bonus. For example, once you spend around $4,000 on your first three months as a cardholder, you receive 75,000 bonus miles. Now, this is quite impressive and easy to achieve, especially for travel enthusiasts or business people who travel a lot.

However, unlike several other cards that have a $0 annual fee, this one charges $95 annually after the first year. But, this is still negligible if you are a frequent traveler. The benefits exceed this cost by far.

21. Affiliate Marketing

While this might need some work, in the beginning, it’s one of the most lucrative ways of making easy cash online. In fact, once you get good at it, you can potentially earn a full-time income from home. And since the money keeps flowing in, it feels like free money.

All you need to do is find a product or service you like and promote it through your social media channels or blog. When someone buys the product/service using your affiliate link, you earn a commission. It’s that simple.

Of course, it’s not easy when starting with affiliate marketing. But, once you get the hang of things, it becomes much easier. And it can be a great way to make money online without having to invest any money. Plus, it can be a source of passive income and an easy way to achieve financial freedom.

You can consider these platforms for incredible affiliate marketing opportunities:

• Amazon Associates

This is one of the most popular affiliate programs out there. And for a good reason. Amazon is a trusted brand, and people are more likely to buy from them than from any other online store.

With Amazon Associates, you can promote anything sold on Amazon.com and receive a commission on every sale. And since there are millions of products available on Amazon, there’s always something you can promote. Plus, the more products you sell, the higher your commission rate becomes.

• eBay Partner Network

This affiliate program is similar to Amazon Associates in that you can promote anything sold on eBay and earn a commission on every sale.

However, with eBay, you have the added benefit of being able to promote multiple items at once. This means you can potentially earn more money with less effort. And with over 170 million active users, it won’t be that hard to pique the interest of some of these users.

22. Create a Blog

Blogs are the current cash cow for many online entrepreneurs. By starting your own blog, you can potentially make a full-time income from home. And the best part is that it’s not that hard to start one.

All you need is a domain name and hosting, and you’re good to go. You can even start a blog for free if you want. Once you have your blog set up, all you need to do is write interesting and engaging content. If you can do this consistently, you will soon see your blog traffic and income increasing.

However, like any other business, some hacks can help you succeed here. For example:

• Get the right niche – Don’t just start writing. Ensure you do thorough research and choose a niche that will sell.
• Write captivating content – Ensure that what you write is what people are looking for and that it keeps them wanting to read more. This way, your traffic keeps growing.
• Optimize your site – search engines have their way of ranking content. As such, ensure you follow the necessary SEO guidelines to help search engines favor your blog.

With these, you can grow your blog and start earning via display ads, affiliate links, and sponsorships.

Try Bluehost or Hostgator for cheap and reliable hosting.

Conclusion

I can vouch that all the methods listed here are legitimate. Not of them will earn you very much, but they could be enough to give you a decent side income.

But be careful! There are lots of scams offering advice on how to get free money. If someone asks you to pay any fees upfront, then stay well away from them. Also, be very careful with whom you are sharing your personal information.

FAQs

How can I make easy cash online?

You can start by taking paid surveys, participating in focus groups, or joining short task sites like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk. You can also start a blog and monetize it with ads, affiliate links, or sponsorships.

Is it easy to make money with affiliate marketing?

Yes and no. While it is easy to get started, it takes time and effort to build up a substantial income from affiliate marketing. But, when the money starts flowing in, it can change your financial situation pretty easily.

Can I make a full-time income online?

Yes, you can. But, you must be willing to put in the necessary time and effort. It’s not going to be easy, but it is possible.

Related Resources

• Sources How to Get Birthday Freebies

• Best Cash Back Apps: How to Get Rebates and Rewards from Your Purchases

• Best Coupon Websites to Save You The Most Money