23 Legit Ways to Make Extra Cash
Looking to earn some money on the side? Read on.
At FinanceBuzz, we've tested dozens of different ways to make a little extra cash. After going through them all we ranked our top 23 favorite side hustles. There's a lot in here and we add to this list often, so you might want to add this to your bookmarks to come back to.
All of these tools are run by well known, legit companies so you don't have to worry about when you will be paid. It’s no wonder why these opportunities are gaining popularity!
Here is a long list of our favorites – scroll on through and decide what is best for you.
1. Get Paid to Deliver Food to People
Uber Eats is a great program where you earn money for food delivery.
You get to set your own schedule (hello, flexibility!) and earn money by picking up food from local restaurants and delivering it to people in your area.
Depending on where you're located, you may be able to deliver food by car, bike, or scooter.
Easy, fun, and you can even get paid instantly if you join Uber's Instant Pay program! Learn how you can cash out with Instant Pay up to five times per day when you register your debit card.
Sign up to deliver with Uber Eats here
2. Earn Cash in Your Spare Time Taking Surveys
A favorite go-to for a little extra cash, Survey Junkie pays you instantly via Paypal to fill out surveys and surf the web. We love that it’s super easy to use, completely risk-free, and did I mention the pay is instantaneous?
6 million members and an A+ rating with the BBB can’t be wrong – join the crowd and get started earning money!
Sign up for Survey Junkie here
3. Get Paid to Take Surveys, Watch TV, & Play Games
Signing up for InboxDollars is a no-brainer and could be a way to make money on the side and have fun while doing so!
The way it works is: companies sponsor the content and are willing to pay to get people to watch and play. Take surveys, answer polls, search the web, and a lot more.
PLUS, get rewarded just for watching videos! They have a ton of shows that can be watched online, including cooking shows, news, entertainment, health, etc., and you can tune in whenever it’s convenient for you.
BONUS: Get a free $5 signup bonus when you register and click on the activation email sent to your Inbox!
4. Get Paid to Drive Your Car Around
Need extra cash? Start driving with Lyft and earn a $300 bonus after your first 100 rides. Terms apply.
If you enjoy meeting new people and creating your own schedule, signing up to drive with Lyft can be a great way to make extra money.
It's worth a try to see if you like it – some drivers have had so much success that it's become their main income source!
To be eligible, you must be at least 21 years old, have a car to drive, have three years of driving experience, an in-state driver’s license, a clean driving record, and be able to pass a criminal background check.
5. Make Extra Money on Your Schedule
If you’re trying to make some extra cash, driving with Uber may be a really good use of your time. You will have the flexibility to drive on your own schedule, which means you can earn money fast!
You can even sign up to drive with both Uber and Lyft to keep yourself busy and compare fares.
6. Win up to $10,000 with Virtual Scratch Off Tickets
Don't you love the thrill of scratching off lottery tickets to see if you've won some major bucks?
Lucktastic will give you that feeling every day - for free! Try your luck at winning $1 up to $10,000 with their virtual scratch off tickets. You can also earn tokens to enter other competitions and play games.
If you have an Android phone, sign up with this link.
If you have an Apple iPhone, sign up with this link.
7. Host a Guest in Your Spare Room
Have an extra room to spare in your home?
You could earn a seriously generous income by signing up as a host for Airbnb.
Whether you make your space available year-round or just list it for a few weekends throughout the year, you will have complete control over your home and 24/7 support from Airbnb.
With over 150 million users booking stays for family vacations, holidays, sporting events, and more, you could be making extra money in no time!
8. Get Cash for Your Unused Diabetic Strips
Millions of Americans suffer from diabetes, which can be painful and expensive. But now there is a new way to make a little extra money if you or someone you know suffers from the disease.
Cash For Diabetics is a new company that will pay you up to $30 for your unused diabetic test strips. It's as simple as placing your unopened packages in their free mailing kit, and they mail you a check in 2-8 business days.
Getting signed up is free and only takes a minute. Stop throwing your unused test strips out and start making some money!
Sign up for Cash For Diabetics here
9. Cancel Subscriptions You Forgot You Had
This next company has already helped others save over $8,000,000 on their bills without much time and effort.
With the help of Trim, you can flush out those recurring subscriptions and cancel the ones you no longer want.
It’s like carrying a personal financial planner in your pocket!
Open an account today and see how much you could be missing out on.
10. Pay Down Debt Without Doing Anything
Now this may not seem like a way to earn extra money, but just hear me out.
If you have extra debt to pay down, or need help saving a little extra dough for something special, Digit is exactly what you need.
The app works by automatically moving money from your checking account to savings, and it always makes sure you still have enough in checking to cover day to day costs. It works so well that they've already helped their members save over $1 billion.
11. Earn Gift Cards For Everyday Purchases! (REALLY)
It might sound counterintuitive, but you could actually earn and spend money at the same time using the app Drop.
By linking your credit and debit cards, you will earn points when you make a purchase that can then be redeemed for gift cards at places like Amazon, Starbucks, Groupon, AMC, Lyft, Hotels.com, Best Buy, and American Airlines.
Drop points never expire and points are incredibly easy to earn – get started today and earn 1,000 points (worth $1) when you sign up.
12. Enter to Win $10,000
Would $10,000 cash help pay some bills?
PrizeGrab is an online sweepstakes website whose mission it is to make sweepstakes simple, easy and fun to enter.
PrizeGrab has awarded more than $1,000,000 in prizes to thousands of winners over the last several years! PrizeGrab's huge $10,000 cash sweepstakes ends soon — just imagine what you could do with that amount of money.
13. Give Your Bank Account a Boost
If you have money sitting in a regular checking account you are giving away money! A high interest checking account can pay you much more money, without you having to lift a finger. Check out some of our favorite high interest checking accounts below and start earning today.
14. Earn Passive Income by Investing in Real Estate
Imagine getting a check in the mail every few months for just holding a little bit of money in an account. Sounds amazing, right?
With Fundrise, an investment of as little as $500 can start earning you passive income through quarterly distributions. You'll get to invest in some of the hottest real estate deals without the headaches that come with being a landlord.
It takes less than 1 minute to create an account with your email and password, and you don't have to invest a dime until you know it's right for you. Be sure to confirm your account by clicking the link in the email they send you.
The investments do come with risk. Fundrise has paid distributions every quarter since at least Q2 2016, but your payment is never guaranteed.
For the service, you’ll pay a 0.85% annual asset management fee and a 0.15% annual investment advisory fee.
15. Get $5 to Kick Start Your Savings
Could you use a little extra money in the bank?
Acorns is on a mission to help make saving as simple as possible – so much so that they're giving you a $5 bonus to get started.
It only takes a minute to setup your account, and after that Acorns will help automate saving money so you don't have to worry about an empty account anymore.
Your future self will thank you!
16. Earn Up To $36 to Share Your Amazon Purchase History This Year
ShopTracker, a survey company operated by The Harris Poll to measure U.S. public opinion, wants to see what products Amazon shoppers buy and could pay you up to $36 per year, or $3 per month.
Once you’re signed up, payments are automatic – you won’t have to do anything else to guarantee your monthly deposit.
Also worth mentioning, ShopTracker goes to great lengths to keep your private information safe. Instead of tracking personal details, they look for things like product name, order date, product category, release date, condition, seller, quantity, and other item-related details.
17. Surf the Web and Take Fun Surveys
With over 6.5 billion web searches happening every day, wouldn’t it be nice to earn a little dough just by searching the internet?
That’s exactly what Swagbucks pays you to do.
In fact, you can earn a $5 signup bonus to get started!
Once you earn 2,500 reward points within the first 60 days, your bonus will be available the next day.
Along with searching the internet, you can also earn money with Swagbucks by completing quick surveys, playing games, and watching videos as well.
Bonus offer #1: Get Money Refunded Back to You When Prices Drop
Nothing is worse than buying something and seeing it on sale the following week.
Thankfully, there are a few incredible apps out there making sure you never overpay ever again.
If an online store owes you a refund, Paribus could be just what you need to make sure you get it.
The app works wonders by watching for price drops at stores with price adjustment policies. If a price drops within the price adjustment period, you can effortlessly get the difference refunded back to you!
Paribus compensates us when you sign up for Paribus using the links we provided.
Bottom Line
While most of these side jobs won't generate a full-time income for most people, it's exciting to make some extra money!
Which ones are you signing up for? Let us know!
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