Want to make some extra cash? Here’s my list of tried-and-true methods that I use every day and will keep updated!
I used to be more aggressive in finding ways to make money here and there but with a full-time job and little free time I’ve become more restrictive in my search. The dollar amount has to be high or the tasks have to be easy to make it to this recommendation list!
As a disclaimer, a few of these are referral links that reward me when you sign up. Please consider it as a way of thanking me and helping support UpDownLeftDie and myself personally.
1st Tier – Recurring Money
These are my favorites. They’re reliable and have turned out a good amount of money over time. Most of all, they’re VERY easy to do.
Google Opinion Rewards – Free Google Play credit
I’ve earned almost $100! I’ve almost never paid for any apps with my own money.
Get notifications and answer simple survey questions. I get at least 10 cents per survey.
I get no bonus or referral for you signing up for Google Opinion Rewards.
Tips:
- Make sure you share location data with Google
- Most of my surveys are about where I’ve been.
- Most of my surveys are about 24 Hour Fitness. I get a survey pretty much every other time I go to the gym.
Microsft Rewards – $5 Amazon Giftcards
I have earned almost 150,000 points since I started and $5 Amazon Giftcards are 5250 points (they used to be less) so I’ve earned over $140!
Basically, once a day you click some links and do a quick quiz. If you set Bing as your search engine and use Edge browser you can get even more points.
Tips:
- Redeem points for $5 Amazon Giftcards
- Do it daily, there’s a streak bonus every week
- Using Edge unlocks an additional points
- At least do the daily tasks in Edge
- Set your default search engine to Bing
- Setup a ‘g’ as the shortcut to Google in Chrome’s omnibar. If you’re unhappy with Bing’s result simply type ‘g’ and hit Tab to easily search on Google
Earn – Free Bitcoins
DO YOU LIKE BITCOINS!?
The photo above shows that I’ve earned $48.55 but that doesn’t include the $50 i cashed out before. I’ve earned over $100 on Earn faster than of the other methods above!
I get a bonus for when you sign up using my link above.
Well, answer a few questions and get at least $1. I have earned over $100 in bitcoins with Earn. Super easy with a high payout, the downside is that it’s not very consistent.
Tips:
- Sign up for Coinbase below to convert your bitcoins back to money
2nd Tier – Sign Up & Referral Bonus Money
You can’t guarantee money form these but they’re pretty good for a quick buck or two. They’re also usually pretty good tools. I actually use most of these!
Most of these rely on you being referred so make sure you click the links below!
Cash App – $5
I prefer Google Pay to send money to friends but this is a really easy way for us to both get $5.
Acorns – $5 + “Found Money”
A robo-adviser that watches your credit card purchases and invests by rounding up to the nearest dollar on our purchases. You’re also able to manually invest but I use Betterment for that.
You can also use their Found Money to help get some cash back on purchases. The catch is that it’s usually not automatic and you need to use their special links to earn money on purchases from companies like Blue Apron, Zappos, Nike, Airbnb, Udemy, Gamefly, Macy’s, 24 Hour Fitness, and more
Coinbase – $10
We both get $10 of free Bitcoin when your friend buys or sells at least $100 of digital currency
Wanted to buy cryptocurrency? Coinbase is most people’s entry point into investing. Just don’t try to day trade you’d want to use Binance for that.
Robinhood – Free Stock
We’ll both get some free stock valued from $2.50 to $200.
The which company the stock is for is based on chance though.
Robinhood allows you to trade stock and cryptocurrency without any fees!
Trim – $3 + Bill Savings
Trim can negotiate your bills on your behalf. As I’m writing this I got notified that they saved me $120 via $10/mo discount on our home internet from Charter!
Catch: they “charge” you 25% of what they save you.
Honeyminer – Easily mine crypto
Not “free” since it costs electricity to run your computer but if you ever wanted to mine cryptocurrency Honeyminer is definitely the easiest way to do it and it works on most computers!
3rd Tier – Chance Games
With these, the odds are not in your favor. You have the chance to win a good amount of money but you can’t guarantee it. At least they’re fun!
Givling – Daily Winners + Chance at student loan payoff
Use invite code: JK347509
Install the app, play daily for a chance to win the daily prize pool.
Your score is matched with 2 other groups of people. It’s possible to win while having a score of 0.
Bonus: Givling is a non-profit that helps pay off student loans. If picked they can pay off your loan or you can sell your slot
HQ – Shared Prize Pool
Use my referral code: UpDownLeftDie for an extra life
“A live gameshow that anyone can win.”
Install the app, wait for the notification when it’s live, don’t be late, answer trivia questions.
Catch: Winners split the prize pool. So prizes can range from under a dollar to over thousands.
Other – Discounts/Savings
These might not give you money directly but help save or give some kind of discount.
Humble Bundle
I’m personally subscribed to the 12-month plan and I love it. You get so many games for a very low price. Highly recommend!
LastPass – 1 Month Free
You really should be using a password manager to generate long, secure passwords and store them.
There’s many to choose from but I use LastPass personally. Mainly because it works great on Android.
TwitchRPG – Twitch Bits + Prizes
Win prizes and earn free Twitch Bits to give to your favorite streamers (wink) by answering surveys.
You can also earn bits by watching Ads on Twitch as well!
Washe – $10 off a carwash
Sign up using my referral code: jarbcy
Washing my car is annoying and drive through car washes kind of suck.
I’ve checked out a few of the car wash on-demand apps and this one seems to be the best.
Use my referral code and we both get $10 off a wash. Plus, they occasionally email out coupons for up to 20% off for seasonal events.
The trick here is finding a washer you like, once you favorite someone it Washe becomes a great and reliable service that lets you get a when you need wherever you are!
Honey – Instant savings online
A really good browser plugin that helps automate coupons AND creates watchlists for things on Amazon and alerts you when their price drops. I’ve been using this since it was created and I highly recommend this!
Wikibuy – Find cheaper prices online
Another browser plugin like Honey but Wikibuy compare prices to the product you’re looking at and compare it with other websites. Often suggest to buy it from other websites like eBay and other vendors for a much larger discount. I use this alongside of Honey.
Betterment – 90 days free
A robo-advisor, similar to Acorns, that I really like. I currently use it for my Roth IRA and a general investment.
Lolli – $10 + Earn Bitcoin
A chrome browser plugin that rewards you with bitcoin when you’re shopping at partnered online stores.
We each get $10 when you complete a purchase.
Bonus – Deal Sites
Likeacoupon – Good deals and deal-hacks
A site where you can subscribe and get daily emails about some pretty amazing discounts and deals. There’s some overlap with Kinja but Likeacoupon often has more “hack” type discounts that are always great finds.
Kinja Deals – Searches for good deals
A blog that posts daily deals across the internet
Slickdeals – Site that monitors deals
If you have any suggestions for this list for me to vet message me on Discord or email me at jared[at]updownleftdie.com
Changelog:
2018/05/04 – Added Humble Bundle
2018/04/18 – Removed Ibotta
- It didn’t seem worth my time and SPENT has similar but automatic functionality.
- If you were interested in it my referral link is: https://ibotta.com/register?friend=qpddjya
2018/04/16 – Added Washe
2019/08/20 – Removed Spent and Circle Pay, Added Honeyminer and Lolli