If you’re looking for extra income or another way to make money, there are numerous websites and apps that can help you do that.
Here are 21 ideas that can help you make some extra cash.
[See: 35 Ways to Save Money.]
Use Your Car to Make Money
Something to consider before you try this route.
There are definitely some shortcomings to doing this. You’re going to spend money on gas, your insurance may go up and there will be wear and tear on your car. But if this is something you’re considering, you may want to try looking at the following websites and apps:
— Uber.
Your car can’t be 15 years old or older, and it has to have at least four doors. You need to have at least one year’s driving experience (three years if you’re under 23). As for how much money you can make, it varies, depending how much you drive and where you live. But you’ll be paid upfront for every drive, and any tips you get are all yours.
— Lyft.
You have to be at least 21 years old, and you’ll need to do a criminal background check. Your car has to have at least four doors. As for the money you’ll make, it’s the same deal as Uber: It depends how much you drive and where you live. You’re paid by mile and minute, and the tips and bonuses are all yours.
— Postmates.
You need to be at least 18 years old, and you don’t necessarily need a car. This is a courier service, and so if you take this on, you’ll be making deliveries, which you can do in a car or by bicycle or the city bus or hoof it on foot. The rate depends on when and where you’re making your deliveries.
— Instacart.
If you just grocery shop, theoretically you don’t need a car. But if you are a full-service shopper, you make deliveries, so you need a car or some mode of transportation. In any case, you download the Instacart Shopper app, and you shop for groceries and, if you want, deliver them. How much you make varies. You might make $7 to $10 per delivery if you’re shopping and delivering. While the gig is pretty straightforward, you may have to attend an in-person orientation, and there will be paperwork, like a W-9 or W-4 tax form, depending whether you’re working as an independent contractor of a part-time employee.
— Getaround.com.
This is a service where you can rent out your car when you aren’t using it. Rates are generally between $6 and $10 an hour, and you’ll keep 60% of that while Getaround gets 40%. That may sound nuts, but your car will be insured through Getaround, and it also covers roadside assistance. Your car needs to be at least a 2005 model or newer — and it can’t have more than 125,000 miles on it.
Make Money While Shopping
Something to consider before you try this route.
On one hand, if you’re saving money, you can argue that you’re making money. But don’t get carried away using these sites to get the deals. You are spending money with these sites — just less money.
— Rakuten.com.
It used to be called EBates.com, and so you may know it by that name. You earn cash back when you shop at stores partnered with its website. Generally, you’ll get around 1% to 3% cash back, though it’s not uncommon to find deals where you’ll get 5% or 6% cash back and even up to 10% or more cash back. It can be a good deal if you were going to do some online shopping anyway.
— RetailMeNot.com.
This is also a cash back site like Rakuten, and you’ll find coupon codes and promo codes, which you can also find at Rakuten. Both are worth checking out. You’ll save money using either website, but again, you’re spending money to “make” this money.
— Wikibuy.
This shopping app specializes in finding the best price on products you buy online or in stores.
[Read: How to Make an Extra $1,000 This Month.]
Make Money While Exercising
Something to consider before you try this route.
Really, there’s nothing to consider. If it gets you out of the house and exercising, that’s probably a good thing.
— Sweatcoin.
It might be worth trying. This is an app that you download, and as long as your phone stays with you, as you walk around or run, you end up earning digital cash. As you collect sweatcoins, you can exchange them at the app’s storefront to buy things or donate them to charity. The website says that it doesn’t sell customers’ data. It partners with brands that want to reach health-conscious consumers.
— HealthyWage.com.
This is a website where you bet money that you can lose weight in a certain amount of time. (Your weight needs to be verified, which you can do by sending in a video or by having a HealthyWage.com “referee” remotely witness you stepping on your scale.) If you lose the desired weight, you win prize money — and the money you bet. If you don’t, you don’t win money — and you lose the money that you’ve bet. You can win as much as $10,000. You can win hundreds. It just depends how much you bet, and if you’re successful at losing weight. Because if you aren’t careful when using this site, you may lose money instead of weight.
— MyAchivement.com.
This is an app that pays you to track your steps as well as other health-related activities, such as the time you sleep or how much you’re eating. (The company partners with health companies for market studies.) You can earn $10 for every 10,000 points you collect. (Unfortunately, one step does not equal one point. It may take you a while to compile 10,000 points.)
Make Money Doing Odd Jobs
Something to consider before you try this route.
In this era of COVID-19, if you’re going into somebody’s home, you’ll want to wear a mask and maybe ask the person hiring you to watch what you’re doing from a distance.
— TaskRabbit.com.
You can sign up and agree to do odd jobs in your area, like assembling furniture or cleaning bathrooms. Or you can become a “tasker” and set up a profile with the services you’ll gladly do and how much you’ll charge — and then people can find you on the website. You can set your own rates. It’s probably not going to make you rich, but if you’re a handy person, you might be able to make some decent side income.
Make Money by Selling Stuff
Something to consider before you try this route.
As long as you know you want to get rid of what you’re selling, there’s not much danger here. Think of all the CDs and books you’ve thrown away in the past because you weren’t sure if anyone wanted them. That practice can be a thing of the past.
— Decluttr.
It’s a website where you can sell used CDs, DVDs, games, books and electronics like phones, tablets and game consoles. You scan items with your phone, and you’ll be given an instant offer on your item. You then print out a prepaid label (assuming you accept the offer) and send your stuff for free. Assuming what you’ve sent isn’t damaged, you’ll get a check or a direct deposit. You might get a few bucks (or cents) from an old DVD or CD, but you also might get $100 for, say, an old smartphone.
— BuybackExpress.com.
This service buys a lot of things, including electronics, books, textbooks and DVDs. It’s the same deal as many of these sites: get an instant offer and ship for free (and it’s insured). Once they receive the items, you’ll be paid via PayPal (no PayPal fees will come out of the sale).
— EagleSaver.com.
This site specializes in buying books (no textbooks), CDs, DVDs and video games. You can also ship these to EagleSaver.com for free after getting an instant quote for whatever you have to sell.
— Ziffit.com.
This site specializes in buying books. You scan or enter the barcode of the book, get an instant price, and ship the books (for free) using the website’s FedEx service.
[Read: 6 Money Management Mistakes Millennials Often Make.]
Make Money by Investing
Something to consider before you try this route.
Investing is never a sure thing. Before you get too excited and sink a lot of money into these investments, read through all of each website’s fine print.
— Acorns.
It’s a neat idea, whether you want to try it or not. If you sign up for Acorns, it’ll round up the purchases that you make with a credit or debit card, and that money will go into a robo-managed investment portfolio. Still, there are monthly charges ($1 to $5 a month, depending how you set things up) that may offset the gains you’re earning from your investments.
— Fundrise.
This is an online real estate company that lets everyday investors purchase private commercial and residential properties by combining their money through an investment platform. In other words, if you’ve never been wealthy enough to invest in real estate, this is one way to do it. That said, you’ll need a minimum of $500 to invest, and there are fees (an asset management fee of 0.85% and advisory fee of 0.15%, and possibly other fees, depending on how much you’re investing).
— DiversyFund.
Somewhat similar to Fundrise, you’ll also need a minimum of $500 to invest. There are no management fees, which is nice, but as DiversyFund mentions on its FAQ page, you won’t see any return on your investment for five years. That is, if you see a return on your investment.
Offer Your Opinions to Get Money
Something to consider before you try this route.
A lot of survey websites make you work pretty hard to earn cash, and granted, you’ll never get rich offering your opinion. But these two websites could add a decent amount to your bottom line.
— Google Opinion Rewards.
Basically, you answer questions and provide feedback for Google, and you get “play store” credits that you can use at Google Play Store. You can direct the credits to go toward purchases of apps, music, games and movies.
— FindFocusGroups.com.
Some focus groups will pay a decent amount of money — like $50 or $100 or more — especially if you’re going to be spending, say, an hour or so offering your opinion on products or services. Several weeks ago, for instance, there was a nationwide study that was looking for anyone between 21 and 65 years of age to spend an hour and a half answering questions about their use of social media. Those who were selected to be in the online focus group received $175. There will be plenty of focus groups that you won’t be a good fit for, but you should be able to find some that may want to send you some cash for your opinions.
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Websites and Apps That Help You Make Money originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 09/21/20: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
