For someone who hates accumulating yard sales every Saturday morning. It was an apartment-lined street, and tenants in the process of moving out would often dump their stuff on the sidewalk and sell it.
But before assuming I can set up camp on the busy street in front of my apartment, I should check on a couple of things. First, is this permitted? I mean, even aside from acquiring a yard sale permit, which you should definitely look into, are you allowed to just sell stuff on the sidewalk? One Yahoo! writer had some simple, but good, advice:
“If you have noticed people selling things on a specific corner in your town or city, contact the town or city hall for advice. They will let you know where you can have a yard sale, especially if your apartment complex will not allow it. In any case, do not attempt to publicly sell anything without a permit, even on private property.”
Secondly, even if you are permitted to have a yard sale in front of your complex, you should probably check with your apartment manager to make sure it’s okay.
Take It to the Internet
If you have a few valuable things you want to get rid of, sites like eBay, Amazon and Craigslist are great old standbys. I’ve also sold and swapped furniture via Facebook status updates — it’s easier and you don’t have to deal with crazies, flakes or Paypal fees.
If you’ve accumulated cellphones over the years,this site seems to have a cool program that gives you a modest amount for them.
Community Garage Sales
I’m jealous that Seattle has West Seattle Community Garage Sale Day. In Los Angeles, I encounter multi-family garage sales, but I can only imagine a whole day of garage sale-ing that involves an entire community!
If you’ve got friendly apartment neighbors, though, you can initiate the idea of holding a complex-wide yard sale. Again, permits and manager permission should be taken into consideration. If your neighborhood is planning an event on a particular Saturday morning, that morning might be a good time to organize the sale.
I used to live in a quadplex, and my neighbor and I once held our own combined garage sale. Thinking back on it, it would’ve been really fun to let the other quadplexes in the neighborhood know — maybe we could have made a fun,tax deduction is always nice. Just remember, tax law “requires that all household items given to charity must be in good or better condition,” according to tax pro Kay Bell.
Borrow a Yard from a Friend
I’ve been an apartment dweller for a while now, and back in Houston, my friend’s mom would always encourage me to participate in her semi-annual garage sale. Oh, how Mrs. V loved her garage sales. And she made them so much fun. There’d usually be four or five of us ridding our junk together on a Saturday morning. Lemonade or coffee was usually involved, and she lightheartedly competed with us to see who was making the most money.
If you’ve got a homeowner friend, they might not be opposed to letting you borrow their lawn for your sale. To repay them, you can offer to take care of selling any stuff they’re looking to unload.
Flea Markets/Swap Meets
Okay, I don’t have quite enough stuff to rent space at flea market, but I thought I’d toss in the option. There’s the cost of renting the space to consider, however. For example, while some SoCal markets charge as low as $7/day, others are as high as $70! Also, you may need to consider permits, registration and taxes, according to the Small Business Administration. They advise:
“Fairs, flea markets, and craft shows tend to require more paperwork and permits, since they are usually occupied by vendors or businesses, whereas garage sales tend to be run by individuals… Whenever you sign up to sell at a fair, flea market, or craft show, ask whoever is in charge of the event what paperwork or permits are needed. They can serve as a good resource since they should be familiar with the state and local procedures.”
For more information, check out the SBA’s page on the legalities of selling your stuff at flea markets. They also have some important advice on hosting yard sales — namely, checking with your city to see what the permit requirements are.
So there you have it — a few alternatives for all you apartment dwellers out there. We may not have yards, but we still have options.For my fellow renters, what other routes have you taken to sell your stuff? Any words of wisdom from seasoned yard sellers? Do share.
The average person probably wants to learn how to get rich.
While many think figuring how to get rich may be impossible, I’m here to tell you that it isn’t. And no, you don’t need to win the lottery or become a professional athlete.
The meaning of wealth and being rich means something different to everyone. For some, it means having lots of money, for others it may mean having a positive net worth, and for others it may be to retire one day.
Whatever your definition of “rich” is, everyone has the potential to build and improve their financial situation.
If you want to be rich one day, then you’ll have to form good financial habits now, work hard, and reach outside of the norm.
Learning how to get rich won’t be easy – but what good things come easy anyways?
For many people, learning how to get rich may seem impossible and completely unattainable, but that’s simply not true.
Building wealth and learning how to get rich is about your mindset, and figuring out how to get rich now is better than waiting any longer.
Related posts about how to get rich:
Here’s how to get rich– for anyone and at any age.
Don’t wait until tomorrow to learn how to get rich.
Instead of thinking that you’re invincible and that you have all the time in the world to improve your finances, you should stop procrastinating and learn how to build your wealth now.
Many people push things off and/or spend their money carelessly because they think they can start tomorrow, start next month, and so on. However, for everyday that you push off improving your finances the further away and harder you’ll have to work towards your goal.
Stop wasting time and take control of your financial situation now.
Related tip: I recommend looking into Digit if you want to trick yourself into saving more money. Digit is a service that looks at your spending and transfers money to a savings account for you. Digit makes everything easy so that you can start saving money with very little effort.
Be better than average if you want to learn how to get rich.
If you want to build your wealth, whatever that might mean to you, then you’re going to have to go outside the norm, be better than the average, and do new things.
When learning how to get rich, you should always strive to do your best as sometimes “average” is not good enough for you to build wealth. Keep in mind that the average person is not the greatest with money, and many are wrecked with stress and hardship due to their unfortunate financial situation.
68% of people live paycheck to paycheck.
26% have no emergency savings.
The median amount saved for retirement is less than $60,000.
The average household has $7,283 in credit card debt.
The average student loan debt is $32,264.
To be better than average, you’ll have to work hard, learn how to manage your money better, and perhaps take some risks (such as starting a business or applying for your dream job) as well.
Give yourself great goals.
Those who set goals are much more likely to be successful than those who do not. Due to that, if you want to be rich, you’ll want to start setting goals for yourself.
Setting goals is important because without a goal, how do you know where you’re heading? Goals can keep you motivated and striving for your best.
When building your wealth, you should always make sure that any goal you set is SMART.
A SMART goal is:
Specific – What is your goal? Is it specific enough or is it too broad? What needs to be done for you to achieve your goal? Why do you want to reach your goal?
Measurable – How can you measure your progress? How will you know if you’re on track?
Attainable – Is this a goal that can be achieved?
Realistic/relevant – Can you achieve your goal? Is the goal worth it?
Time – What’s your time frame for reaching your goal?
To reach your financial goals and learn how to get rich, you’ll want to:
Write down your goals and objectives.
Create a plan to reach your life goals.
Break your goal apart into smaller goals.
Keep track of your goal setting progress and make changes (if needed).
Find small ways to stick to your goal.
Find ways to motivate yourself when setting goals.
Make reaching your goal a friendly competition.
Read further at The Best Way To Set Goals And Reach Success in 2017.
Create a realistic budget.
To learn how to get rich, you’ll want to create a budget. Yes, even the rich have budgets!
The average person has a lot of financial stress and may be dealing with student loans, credit card debt, a mortgage, car loans, and sometimes even other forms of debt.
However, not many people have a budget. In fact, more than 60% of households in the U.S. do not have a budget.
Budgets are great, because they keep you mindful of your income and expenses. With a monthly budget, you will know exactly how much you can spend in a category each month, how much you have to work with, what spending areas need to be evaluated, among other things.
Remember, even those with high incomes have a budget. The rich stay rich because they have learned how to manage their money better than the average person, which includes being aware of your spending and saving.
When creating your budget, be sure to include all of your income and expenses.
Here are some expenses you may want to include when creating a budget, but don’t forget any expenses you have that aren’t listed:
Home – House payment, rent, maintenance, utilities, insurance, property taxes, etc.
Car – Monthly car payment, gas, maintenance, insurance, license plate fees, and so on.
Television, cable, Netflix, Hulu, etc.
Cell phone.
Internet.
Food – Groceries, restaurant spending, snacks, etc.
Clothing.
Entertainment – Entertainment can include many things, such as going to the movies, going out for drinks, concert tickets, sports, and so on.
Charity – If you regularly donate to charity, then this should be an area you budget for.
Savings funds – This can be for your retirement fund, wedding, travel, etc.
Taxes – If you are self-employed, then taxes may consist of a large part of your budget.
Health insurance.
Miscellaneous – Pet expenses, fees, childcare, school, gifts, etc.
You can get a free budget printable by signing up below.
Realize that a good life can be affordable.
As you all know, I really dislike the myth that people who save money are boring. That’s not true at all.
I believe that you can balance living a good life along with saving a comfortable amount of money.
There are plenty of ways to live an awesome life while saving money. Yes, you can still see your friends, have fun with your loved ones, go on vacations, and more, all while staying on a realistic budget.
Here’s a list of some great early retirees who are leading great lives. I definitely recommend reading about them:
If you want to learn how to get rich, then learning how to be happy with yourself and figuring out affordable ways to enjoy life are key.
Related: How To Become Rich – It’s More Than Millions In The Bank
Pay off your debt if you want to learn how to get rich.
If you want to learn how to get rich, then you’ll most likely want to figure out how to eliminate any debt that is preventing you from reaching your financial goals. For the average person, this probably means any high interest debt, any debt that’s causing you stress, and so on.
Paying off your debt can lessen your stress levels, allow you to have more money to put towards something else (such as retirement), stop paying interest fees, and more.
The first step to eliminating debt is to realize why you have debt in the first place. I believe that if you don’t understand where your problem with debt stems from, then it would be hard to make a positive change.
Yes, it is great to just start attacking your debt, but you also don’t want to fall into the same cycle of going into debt over and over again.
After you realize why you are in debt (or why you keep going back into debt), the next step is to figure out how you will eliminate it. There are many different ways to attack your debt, and I prefer a mixture of everything.
To pay off your debt and learn how to get rich, you should:
Quit adding more debt to your life. You may want to cancel or freeze your credit card, think harder before your next purchase, and avoid spending temptations like the mall.
Be realistic with your income and spending. If you have debt, then you either have an income or spending problem. You may need to start earning more money and/or start spending less if you want to learn how to become wealthy.
Decrease your spending and expenses. Depending on how quickly you want to get rid of your debt, there are different things that you may want to cut out. You could cut out Starbucks (I know, I know), lower your restaurant spending, find a cheaper way to workout, sell your car for something cheaper/more affordable, cook from scratch, and so on.
Make more money. The extra money that you earn can be put towards your debt to help you pay it off more quickly.
Pay more than the minimum. If you have debt, you should always be paying more than the minimum so that you can lower the amount you are paying towards interest.
Put little amounts toward your debt. For example, whenever you get an extra $25 (such as by selling something), then you should just throw that extra money (that you won’t even miss!) towards your debt.
Related: How To Take A 10 Day Trip To Hawaii For $22.40 – Flights & Accommodations Included
Start investing as one of the ways to get rich.
One of the best ways to figure out how to get rich is to start investing. After all, you need to have your money work for you!
The sooner you start saving, the more it becomes a habit and the easier it becomes. By investing money now, you will learn good investing habits that will help you well into the future.
I always say that the first thing you need to do if you want to start investing is to just jump in. However, what if you don’t even know how to start investing?
If you are like many out there, you may not know how to start investing your money.
Investing your money can be a scary, stressful, and overwhelming topic to tackle. You want to invest so that you can:
Retire one day.
Prepare for unexpected events in the future.
Allow your money to grow over time.
Learn how to get rich.
Remember, time is on your side, and due to the powerful impact of compound interest it can change your life. This means the sooner you invest, the more you will earn.
Compound interest is when your interest is earning interest. This can turn the amount of money you have saved into a much larger amount years later.
This is important to note because $100 today will not be worth $100 in the future if you just let it sit under a mattress or in a checking account. However, if you invest, then you can actually turn your $100 into something more. When you invest, your money is working for you and hopefully earning you income.
For example: If you put $1,000 into a retirement account that has an annual 8% return, 40 years later that would turn into $21,724. If you started with that same $1,000 and put an extra $1,000 in it for the next 40 years at an annual 8% return, that would then turn into $301,505. If you started with $10,000 and put an extra $10,000 in it for the next 40 years at an annual 8% return, that would then turn into $3,015,055.
A great article that explains the power of compound interest is Mr. Money Mustache’s The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement.
Here are the easy steps to take so that you can start investing your money:
Start saving your money. In order to invest your money, you need to start setting aside money specifically for it. The amount of money you save for investing is entirely up to you, but in general, the more the better.
Do your research. Before you start dumping your money into the stock market and other investments, it’s a good idea to know what you’re putting your money towards. Reading about various investment-related tips and research will help you become more informed about your investing decisions, which will then help you make better decisions well into the future.
Find an online brokerage or someone to manage your investments. There are two main ways to invest your money. You can either invest your money yourself through a brokerage or you can find someone to manage your investment portfolio for you. You will need to take part in one of these options to actually start investing your money. Personally, I like to do everything myself through Vanguard.
Decide how you will invest. Now that you’ve opened an investment account, you will want to decide where you will put your investments. How you invest depends on your risk tolerance, the time period for which you are investing (when will you retire?), and more. Generally, the sooner you need your funds the less risk you will take on, whereas the longer your time period is, then the more risk you may be willing to take on.
Track your investment portfolio. The next step when learning how to get rich by investing is to regularly track the things you have invested in. This is important because you may eventually have to change what you are invested in, put more money towards your investments, and so on.
Continue the steps above over and over again. To invest for years and years to come, you will want to continue the steps above over and over again. Now that you know the steps it takes to invest your money, it only gets easier.
Related tip: I recommend using Motif Investing if you are looking to invest your money. Motif Investing allows individuals to invest affordably. This approachable investing platform makes it easy to buy a portfolio of up to 30 stocks, bonds or ETFs for just $9.95 total commission.
Start making more money.
Figuring out how to get rich usually means that you’ll have to find ways to make more money than you currently do.
On Making Sense of Cents, I talk a lot about how to make extra income because I believe that earning extra income can completely change your life. You can stop living paycheck to paycheck, you can pay off your debt, and more- all by learning about the many different ways to make money.
Trust me when I say that making more money is important. I was able to pay off $38,000 in student loans within 7 months, I was able to leave my day job in order to pursue my passion, travel full-time, and more!
The great thing about finding ways to make more money is that your income potential is unlimited. There’s no cap on how much money you can make- it all depends on what you decide to do and how much time you plan on devoting to it.
Making more money can change your life in great ways, such as:
You can pay off your debt.
Save for big purchases, such as a vacation.
Stop living paycheck to paycheck.
Reach retirement sooner.
Become more diversified with your income sources.
Whether you have just one free hour a day or if you are willing to work 40 to 50 hours a week on top of your full-time job, there are many options when it comes to earning more money. Finding ways to make more money will only help you as you learn how to become rich.
Some ways to make more money include:
Find a part-time job.
Make money online such as creating a blog, becoming a virtual assistant, etc.
Become an Uber or Lyft driver – Spending your spare time driving others around can be a great money maker. Read more about this in my post How To Become An Uber Or Lyft Driver. Click here to join Uber and start making money ASAP.
Maintain and clean yards. You can make money by mowing lawns, killing/removing weeds, cleaning gutters, raking leaves, and so on.
Answer surveys. Survey companies I recommend include Swagbucks, Survey Junkie, Clear Voice Surveys, VIP Voice, Pinecone Research, Opinion Outpost, Survey Spot, and Harris Poll Online. They’re free to join and free to use! You get paid to answer surveys and to test products. It’s best to sign up for as many as you can as that way you can receive the most surveys and make the most money.
Move furniture and find jobs on Craigslist. Movers can earn a broad range when it comes to hourly pay, but it’s usually somewhere around $50 an hour if you run your own business.
If you love animals, then you may want to look into how to make extra money by walking dogs or pet sitting. With this side hustle, you may be going over to your client’s home to check in a few times a day, you may be staying at their house, or the animals may be staying with you. Rover is a great company to sign up with in order to become a dog walker and pet sitter. Learn more about this at Rover – A Great Way To Make Money And Play With Animals.
Babysit and/or nanny children.
Sell your stuff.
Rent a spare room in your home to someone else.
As you can see, the list is endless when it comes to making more money.
Related posts on how to make extra money:
Diversify your income streams to learn how to be rich.
One thing that separates the rich from those who aren’t is that the rich and successful tend to have many different forms of income streams.
They may have a day job, a business, rental properties, dividend income, and more. This allows them to bring in more money.
They also do this because the rich know that one source of income may not last forever, and they are also able to lessen their risk by having multiple income streams.
So, if you want to learn how to get rich, then you may want to add more income streams to your life.
If you ever feel too reliant on one source of income, then you know how important this is. Maybe you are afraid that one day you will lose your job or that something will happen to your main source of income.
If you work towards building up multiple income streams and diversifying your income, then you won’t have to worry as much if something happens to one of your income streams.
By diversifying your income with multiple income streams you will have a backup plan, you may be able to retire easier, you will learn how to get rich, and so on.
Note: I recommend that you check out Personal Capital (a free service) if you are interested in gaining control of your financial situation. Personal Capital is very similar to Mint.com, but 100 times better as it allows you to gain control of your investment and retirement accounts, whereas Mint.com does not. Personal Capital allows you to aggregate your financial accounts so that you can easily see your financial situation, your cash flow, detailed graphs, and more. You can connect accounts such as your mortgage, bank accounts, credit card accounts, investment accounts, retirement accounts, and more, and it’s FREE.
Even the rich find ways to save money.
Finding ways to save more money may allow you to pay off your debt a little faster, improve your financial habits, help you reach your dream sooner, and more.
And yes, even the rich find ways to save money.
Sure, there are stories about rich people who spend their money like crazy and end up in bankruptcy. But surprisingly, the average millionaire is frugal, and they know how to manage their money well.
Don’t believe me? Here are some examples of millionaires and billionaires who still find ways to save money:
Warren Buffett lives in a house that he bought in 1958 for around $30,000.
Mark Zuckerberg drives an Acura.
John Caudwell (worth $2.7 billion) rides his bike 14 miles to work every day and even cuts his own hair.
Jim C. Walton (son of Walmart founder) drives an old truck with no air conditioning.
Another interesting statistic is that the average couponer is someone who earns over $100,000 a year. Surprisingly, those who earn less than $100,000 a year rarely use coupons compared to those with high incomes!
By finding ways to save money, you’ll be able to keep more of your money, learn how to get rich, add more to your investments, and so on. You worked hard for your money, so you may as well find ways to keep more of it!
Find ways to save money at 30+ Ways To Save Money Each Month.
Stop trying to impress others.
When was the last time you bought something that was mainly purchased to impress someone else?
Sadly, this is something that the average person does quite often.
If you want to start building wealth and understand how to get rich, then you’ll want to stop trying to impress others and start living your own life.
The rich tend to live below their means. Yes, many of them still spend money extravagantly, but many aren’t living paycheck to paycheck in order to do so. Many millionaires buy items used, they drive “normal” cars like Toyotas, and they aren’t buying things with the sole purpose of impressing others.
This is drastically different from those who aren’t rich.
Many people try to keep up with others and fall for lifestyle inflation, which can prevent a person from being a good money manager.
When trying to keep up with the Joneses, you might spend money you do not have. You might put expenses on credit cards so that you can (in a pretend world) “afford” things. You might buy things that you do not care about. The problems can go on and on.
Instead, you should focus on what you want and need. This will help you to save more money, be more realistic with your income and spending, and to build wealth.
Do you want to learn how to get rich? What does “rich” mean to you?
As part of back to basics month, let’s use today to explore how you can get out of debt without gimmicks or games.
After twelve years of reading and writing about money, I’ve come to believe that debt reduction ought to be a side effect and not a goal. Getting out of debt is a target, not a habit. And, as we’ve been discussing recently, good goals are built around actions instead of numbers. If you restructure your life so that you’re spending less than you earn, you will get out of debt. It’s a natural side effect.
Having said that, I realize that a lot of GRS readers are struggling to get to square one. Getting out of debt is their goal and primary obsession. That’s okay.
Before you can begin repaying your debt, you must be earning a profit. Unless your income exceeds your expenses, your debt is actually increasing. If you’re continuing to add debt, or if you’re only able to make minimum payments, you must first find ways to spend less and earn more until you have a positive “saving rate”. (Both businesses and people earn profits. But when individuals earn a personal profit, we call it “savings”.)
After you’re earning a personal profit, you can (and should) make debt elimination a priority.
Why You Should Pay Off Your Debt
Debt repayment can improve your credit score, meaning you’ll pay less on everything from rent to car insurance to future borrowing needs. Plus, debt reduction is one of the best returns you can earn on your money.
Investing in the stock market provides an average annual return of about 10% — but that return isn’t guaranteed. Some years the market is up 30%, but other years it drops by 40%. When you pay down a credit card, you earn a guaranteed return of 20% (or whatever your interest rate is). That’s tough to beat.
There are also non-financial benefits to paying off debt, including:
Simplicity. The more debt you have, the more bills you have. It’s easier to manage your money when you have a simple, efficient financial infrastructure. Each time you pay off a debt, you move one step closer to this ideal.
Cash flow. Whenever you eliminate a debt, the money formerly used for that monthly payment becomes available to pursue other goals – including fun stuff like ski trips and knitting supplies.
Freedom. When you have monthly payments to meet, you’re chained to your job. You’re unable to take risks. Once your debt is gone, a wider range of options becomes available to you.
Peace of mind. Best of all, once you’re debt-free, you can sleep easier at night. You’ll put less pressure on yourself, and you’ll have fewer fights about money with your partner.
When I first tried to get out of debt, I lacked a system. Without a plan, I sent extra money to one credit card and then another. As a result, I never seemed to make any progress.
After deciding to become boss of my own life, however, I researched how to get out of debt. Many books recommended a strategy called the “debt snowball”. Although I was skeptical, I gave it a try. The method worked. Using it, I managed to eliminate my debt and begin saving for the future.
Stop Acquiring New Debt
This may seem self-evident, but the reason your debt is out of control is that you keep adding to it. Stop using credit. Don’t finance anything. Cut up your credit cards.
That last one can be tough. Don’t make excuses. I don’t care that other personal finance sites say that you shouldn’t cut them up. Destroy them. Stop rationalizing that you need them.
You don’t need credit cards for a safety net.
You don’t need credit cards for convenience.
You don’t need credit cards for cash-back bonuses.
You don’t need credit cards at all. If you’re in debt, credit cards are a trap. They only put you deeper in debt. Later, when your debts are gone and your finances are under control, maybe then you can get a credit card. (I don’t carry a personal credit card. I don’t miss having one.)
After you destroy your cards, halt any recurring payments. If you have a gym membership, cancel it. If you automatically renew your World of Warcraft account, cancel it. Cancel anything that automatically charges your credit card. Stop using credit.
Once you’ve done this, call each credit card company in turn. Do not cancel your credit cards (except for those with a zero balance). Instead, ask for a better deal. Find a low interest credit offer online and use it as a bargaining wedge. Your bank may not agree to match competing offers, but it probably will. It never hurts to ask.
Establish an Emergency Fund
For some, this is counter-intuitive. Why save for an emergency fund before paying off debt? Because if you don’t save first, you’re not going to be able to cope with unexpected expenses. Do not tell yourself that you can keep a credit card for emergencies. Destroy your credit cards; save cash for emergencies.
How much should you save? Ideally, you’d save $1,000 to start. (College students may be able to get by with $500.) This money is for emergencies only. It is not for beer. It is not for shoes. It is not for a Playstation 3. It is to be used when your car dies, or when you break your arm in a touch football game.
Keep this money liquid, but not immediately accessible. Don’t tie your emergency fund to a debit card. Don’t sabotage your efforts by making it easy to spend the money on non-essentials. Consider opening an online savings account. When an emergency arises, you can easily transfer the money to your regular checking account. It’ll be there when you need it, but you won’t be able to spend it spontaneously.
The Debt Snowball
With the debt snowball, you set aside a specific amount of cash each month to pay off the money you owe. At first, progress is slow. In time, however, you begin to make rapid progress, picking up speed like a snowball rolling downhill.
Step One
The first step is to make a list of your debts. For each obligation, include the balance you owe, the interest rate, and the minimum payment. Arrange the list so that the debt with the highest interest rate is on top. Next comes the debt with the second-highest interest rate, and so on, until you reach the final debt on the list, which will be the one with the lowest interest rate.
For instance, here’s the actual list of my debts from October 2004, ordered by interest rate:
Computer Loan: $1116 @ 15% ($48 min)
Business Loan $2800 @ 11% ($30 min)
Home Equity Loan $21000 @ 6% ($100 min)
Car Loan $2250 @ 5% ($170 min)
Personal Loan $1600 @ 3% ($100 min)
Personal Loan $6430 @ 0% ($60 min)
I had $35,196 in debt and my minimum payments totaled $508 per month.
Step Two
Once you’ve listed your debts, decide how much you can afford to pay toward them each month in total. This should be at least the total of your minimum payments ($508 in the example above), and preferably more. In my case, I started by allocating $700 every month toward debt reduction.
Step Three
Now, for all of your debts except the debt with the highest interest rate, make minimum payments every month. Use the rest of the money you’ve allocated for debt reduction to pay down the debt with the highest interest rate.
The computer loan topped my list of debts with an interest rate of 15%. The minimum payments for the other debts combined to $460 per month. Under this plan, I’d then take the remainder of the $700 I’d allocated toward monthly debt reduction and apply it to the computer loan. Instead of making the $48 minimum payment, I’d pay $240.
Step Four
Repeat this process every month until the debt at the top of the list has been eliminated.
Step Five
Here’s where this method gets powerful. With your first debt defeated, you don’t use your improved cash flow to buy new things. Instead, you use the extra cash to attack the next debt on your list.
If I start by applying $700 toward debt each month, for example, I continue to apply $700 toward debt each month until all of the debt is gone. After the computer loan is retired, I focus on the business loan. Because the minimum payment on my other debts would be $430, I could funnel $270 to pay off the business debt every month.
When the business debt is gone, I’d then throw $370 per month at the home equity loan, and so on. Ultimately, I’d be left with a single loan: the $6430 personal loan at 0% interest. Every month, I’d apply all $700 to get rid of this debt.
Pros and Cons
The debt snowball is powerful and effective. Mathematically, it’s the best way to get rid of your debt. There’s just one problem.
When you attack your debts from highest interest rate to lowest, you’ll pay less money in the long run. Unfortunately, many folks – including me – find the going difficult. In my case, I hit a wall when I reached the third debt on the list, my home equity loan. That $21,000 balance was going to take years to repay. I didn’t have that kind of patience.
Fortunately, I learned there were other ways to order your debts. You don’t have to tackle the high interest rates first.
Building a Better Snowball
Humans are complex psychological creatures. They’re not adding machines. Many of us know what we ought to do but find it difficult to actually make the best choices. (If we were adding machines, we wouldn’t accumulate consumer debt in the first place!) It’s misguided to tell somebody so deep in debt that they must follow the repayment plan that minimizes interest payments. The important thing to do is to set up a system of positive reinforcement.
Because of this, many people prefer slight variations on the debt snowball method. These methods ignore math in favor of psychology.
Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball
Financial guru Dave Ramsey has popularized one variation of the debt snowball. Instead of ordering your debts by interest rate, he suggests you attack those with the lowest balances first.
Using Ramsey’s method, my debts from 2004 would be ordered like this:
Computer Loan: $1116 @ 15% ($48 min)
Personal Loan $1600 @ 3% ($100 min)
Car Loan $2250 @ 5% ($170 min)
Business Loan $2800 @ 11% ($30 min)
Personal Loan $6430 @ 0% ($60 min)
Home Equity Loan $21000 @ 6% ($100 min)
As with the standard debt snowball method, I’d make minimum payments on each debt except the top one on the list. At it, I’d throw everything else I’ve allocated for debt reduction each month. When the top debt was eliminated, I’d move on to the one with the next smallest balance.
Ramsey’s variation isn’t as quick as paying high-interest debt first, and in the long-run, you’ll lose slightly more to interest payments. (In my own case, the projections showed it’d take an extra month to repay my debt and I’d pay and extra $841.15 in interest.) However, there’s a psychological advantage to doing things this way.
By attacking your smallest debts first, you get some quick wins, which provide a mental boost. This psychological lift provides extra motivation to keep attacking that debt. Every few months, you get the satisfaction of crossing another debt off the list! Ramsey says this is “behavior modification over math”, and he’s right. In fact, I opted to use this variation of the debt snowball when I repaid my own $35,000 of debt in 39 months.
Adam Baker’s Debt Tsunami
Other experts, including my buddy Adam Baker from Man vs. Debt, suggest yet a third alternative they call the debt tsunami. They argue it’s best to pay off your debts in order of their emotional impact. Attack your debts from smallest balance to highest, they say, but for added psychological boost, prioritize any debt that particularly bugs you.
“I used to be addicted to gambling,” Baker says, “and I had debt that was specifically associated with gambling. To pay that off first changed me as a person. To pay off the $600 I owed on a credit card was great, but it didn’t change me. It didn’t signify that my life was going to be different and that I was going to live in a different way.”
But paying off his gambling debt did mean something to him, so Baker attacked that first.
Here’s another example: Many people borrow money from their parents. These loans may carry interest rates of only two or three percent (or maybe they’re interest free), but they come with a lot of psychological baggage. This is another instance where it might make sense to pay down low-interest debt first because the non-financial rewards are so great.
The most important thing when paying off your debts is to pay off your debts; the order in which you do so is ultimately irrelevant. Find a system that works for you and develop the discipline to stick with it.
Note: It’s less imperative to repay low-interest debt. Businesses use “leverage” to borrow money cheaply so that they can earn higher returns elsewhere. You do the same when taking out a mortgage at low rate (like three percent) or using school loans to improve your education (which will, in theory, provide high future returns). It’s good to repay all of your debt, of course, but it’s okay to make repaying the mortgage a long-term goal instead of lumping it in with your debt snowball.
Supplementary Solutions
You can do other things to improve your money situation while you’re working on these three steps.
First, focus on the fundamental personal finance equation: to pay off debt, or to save money, or to accumulate wealth, you must spend less than you earn.
Curb your spending. Re-learn frugal habits. (Frugality is something with which most college students are all too familiar.) You can find some great ideas in the archives of this site. Also check Frugal for Life.
While you work to spend less, do what you can to increase your income. If possible, sell some of the stuff you bought when you got into debt. Get an extra job. (But don’t neglect your studies for the sake of earning more. Your studies are most important.)
Finally, go to your local public library and borrow Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover. Don’t be put off by the title — this is a fantastic guide to getting out of debt and developing good money habits. I rave about it often, but that’s because it has done so much to help my own personal finances. After you’ve finished, return it and borrow another book about money.
Simple, Not Easy
Human beings are complex creatures. Some of us are highly logical. Some of us are emotional. Most of us fall someplace in between. We rarely make decisions based on optimal paths; more often, we choose what makes us happy in the short term. I’m not saying that this is the right thing to do — it’s just what happens. For those who routinely make financial decisions based on emotion, it can be difficult to turn things around.
Complaining that personal finance is easy and “why doesn’t everyone do what they ought” is like saying that running a marathon is easy so why can’t everybody run one? Most of us understand how to prepare for a marathon — eat right and run a hell of a lot — but few of us have the dedication and mental fortitude to complete one. However, with a little discipline and some hard work, most people can complete a 10k race.
It’s the same with personal finance. It’s easy to say, “To build wealth, you must spend less than you earn”, but it’s another thing to do it, especially over the long term. In some ways, building wealth is more difficult than running a marathon. Training for and completing a marathon takes months. Dedicating yourself to a sensible financial plan is a lifetime process.
If personal finance were really as simple as understanding the math, we would all be rich. But it’s not. And we’re not. That’s why I think any small financial victory is important. That’s why I run this web site, and why I share whatever tips I can find.
I always say “do what works for you”“. Some people are able to succeed by paying high-interest debt first. But some people — myself included — have only been able to succeed by trying another approach. The approach may not be best from a mathematical viewpoint, but I believe that any method that actually helps you meet your goals is better than one that doesn’t.
Personal finance concepts might be simple, but that doesn’t mean they’re easy. I don’t mean to imply that they are. It took a lot of hard work (and a little luck) for me to get out of debt. It didn’t happen quickly, and it wasn’t easy.
The Bottom Line
As I mentioned at the start, I’ve come to believe that debt repayment is a side effect and not a goal. You shouldn’t make it your primary purpose.
If you do the other things I recommend, such as creating a personal mission statement and boosting your profit margin, you’ll naturally pay off debt as a matter of course. But you’ll enjoy a benefit many people don’t have once their debts are gone.
You see, a lot of people feel lost once they’ve dug out of debt. Search online and you’ll find tons of questions and conversations about what to do next. Debt repayment had given them purpose, and now that purpose is gone. As a result, they lose financial direction. And like a dieter who had aimed for a weight instead of a lifestyle change, an unfortunate few of the newly debt-free find themselves resuming bad habits.
If you’re pursuing other goals and intentionally building good habits, you’ll get out of debt. And once you get out of debt, the good times will continue: That debt snowball you’ve been building will transform itself into a wealth snowball.
Congratulations! You’re on your way to financial freedom!
Have you ever had to dig out of debt? What methods did you use? Were some more successful than others? If you had to do it over again, would you have done anything differently? What advice would you give to others who have just taken on the role of money boss in their lives?
Free money sounds too good to be true, but there are actually a number of different ways to get your hands on money with no cost and very low effort on your part.
Here, we’ll take a look at more than 20 free money apps that will put some extra money in your pocket with minimal time or effort.
While you’re not going to get rich or generate a full-time income from these apps, you will be able to get a little bit of extra money that you can spend, save, or invest. And best of all, anyone can do it.
Best Free Money Apps
1. Swagbucks
Best for: Earning easy money in lots of different ways during your spare time.
If you’re looking to make some extra money in your down time, you’ll definitely want to check out Swagbucks. This popular website and app gives you several different ways to make money including:
Taking short surveys
Watching videos
Playing games
Downloading and installing apps
Taking advantage of special offers
Cashback for your online purchases
Using the Swagbucks search engine
Most people know Swagbucks as a survey app, and while that’s true, you can make more money with Swagbucks than most other survey apps because there are so many different ways to earn.
Each task or activity will earn you a specified number of points (referred to as “Swagbucks” or SB). After you’ve accumulated some SB, they can be redeemed for your choice of rewards, including cash via PayPal or a wide variety of gift cards.
The best way to earn significant amounts of money with Swagbucks is to take advantage of special offers. When you’re logged in to the dashboard, click on “Discover” to see the offers that are currently available. You might be able to earn Swagbucks by creating an account at a website, opening a bank account, starting a free trial, or any number of other things. The offers change frequently and if you take advantage of the highest-paying offers while they’re available, you can do pretty well with Swagbucks.
One of the many reasons to love Swagbucks is that you can redeem your rewards very quickly. While some sites/apps don’t allow you to cash out until you’ve earned $20 – $30 in rewards, Swagbucks allows you to redeem your rewards for as little as $3. They also run a lot of sales, which allows you to get a higher value gift card for your points.
Get Swagbucks here|Read our Swagbucks review
2. InboxDollars
Best for: Supplementing Swagbucks as another way to make money with easy tasks.
InboxDollars is very similar to Swagbucks. As an InboxDollars user, you’ll be able to make money by:
Taking surveys
Watching videos
Playing games
Printing coupons
Shopping online
Claiming special offers
Like Swagbucks, the best way to earn money quickly with InboxDollars is through the special offers. The available offers will change periodically, but as an example of what you’ll find, right now here are a few of the offers that I see in my dashboard:
$10 to get a free insurance quote
$2 to enter a competition/giveaway
$1.50 to download an app and create a free account
$2 to get a free credit score and credit report analysis
Those are just a few examples of what’s available. If you take advantage of these easy offers, you can earn a decent amount of money with very little effort.
Unlike Swagbucks and many other similar sites, InboxDollars doesn’t work on a point system. Instead of earning points that will be redeemed for prizes, you’ll earn real cash. Each task or offer has an assigned dollar amount that you’ll earn.
InboxDollars requires you to have a balance of at least $10 in order to redeem your cash.
Get InboxDollars here| Read our InboxDollars review
3. Survey Junkie
Best for: Making money with simple online surveys.
While you can make money by taking surveys with both Swagbucks and InboxDollars, Survey Junkie is a bit different. Instead of offering surveys plus several other ways to make money, Survey Junkie focuses exclusively on surveys.
If you want to earn cash through online surveys, the best approach is to use a few different websites and apps. If you’re really active, you may run out of available surveys from a particular app, until new surveys are added. Using a few different sites or apps gives you more possibilities. Plus, you can pick and choose the surveys you take since you’ll have more selection. You can opt to take only the surveys that allow you to earn the most money for your time.
Since Survey Junkie focuses exclusively on surveys, most people are able to make more at other sites like Swagbucks that have more options. However, if you’re looking specifically for surveys, there’s no better place to find them than Survey Junkie.
When you create an account and login to the dashboard, you’ll need to take a brief profile survey with some details about yourself so you can be matched up to the right surveys (you’ll also earn a little money for completing this intro survey).
Then you’ll see a list of the available surveys. Each one will list the amount that you’ll earn for completing it, as well as the estimated amount of time it will take to complete the survey.
Get Survey Junkie here.
4. Vindale Research
Best for: Supplementing Survey Junkie as a source of paid surveys.
Vindale Research is another survey website/app that allows you to earn money by:
Completing short surveys
Watching videos
Opening promotional emails
Referring your friends
Although Vindale offers a few different ways to make money, taking surveys is the primary offer here. You’ll earn real cash that can be redeemed by PayPal.
Vindale Research is a good option for anyone who wants to make money with online surveys. The income potential is not as high as Swagbucks or InboxDollars, but Vindale is worth including in your collection of sites/apps that you use for surveys.
Get Vindale Research here
5. Rakuten
Best for: Easy cashback for online purchases at thousands of websites.
Rakuten (formerly Ebates) is the most popular cashback website/app and you can save money on many of the purchases that you would be making anyway.
With a free Rakuten account, you’ll earn cash back at thousands of their partner stores and websites. While there are some options for cashback on in-store purchases, the majority of the offers are for online purchases.
Thankfully, using Rakuten is extremely simple. They offer a convenient browser extension you can install, and then whenever you visit a website that offers cashback through Rakuten, you’ll see a notice in your browser. All you need to do is click on that notification and Rakuten will track any purchases that you make and credit your count with the appropriate amount of cashback.
If you do any shopping online, using Rakuten is a no-brainer. It takes no extra effort and you can save money on a lot of the things you need to buy. The browser extension is awesome because you don’t even have to remember, it will notify you of opportunities. The browser extension will also automatically search for and apply coupon codes when you’re checking out, which will also save you a lot of money.
The amount of cashback you’ll earn will vary depending on the store and the specific purchase. It can range from 1% up to 50%.
One of my favorite things about Rakuten is the fact that you can stack these rewards on top of credit card rewards and other loyalty rewards to save even more.
Get Rakuten here | Read our Rakuten review
6. Ibotta
Best for: Cash back on grocery shopping.
Ibotta is another must-have cashback app. Unlike Rakuten, Ibotta is great for in-store purchase, as well as online shopping.
There are a few different ways you can use Ibotta:
Claim offers in the app and then scan your receipt after purchasing.
Link your store loyalty accounts from your favorite retailers to earn cashback faster.
Buy gift cards for your favorite stores and restaurants to earn cash back on the entire amount.
Earn cash back for online purchases that originate through the app or website.
With the help of Ibotta, you can save money on groceries, clothing, home goods, and more. Ibotta is easily one of the best ways to save money on groceries since they are partnered with many leading grocery stores and there are always a lot of offers available.
Before you go shopping, you’ll simply browse the current offers in the Ibotta app and claim the items that you want to purchase. After the purchase, you’ll scan the receipt using the Ibotta app and you’ll be credited for the offered items that you purchased. Alternatively, you can link your store loyalty account to Ibotta so you won’t need to scan receipts.
And just like Rakuten, Ibotta is great for stacking rewards on multiple levels. If you’re shopping for groceries, you can earn cashback through Ibotta, earn cashback or rewards through your credit card, and rack up loyalty points through the store’s program.
Get Ibotta here | Read our Ibotta review
7. Fetch Rewards
Best for: Supplementing Ibotta to save more money on groceries.
Fetch Rewards is another cashback app, but it was created specifically for grocery shopping. It works a little bit differently than Ibotta. You don’t need to claim offers ahead of time. You’ll simply do your shopping and then scan the receipt with your phone or submit the digital receipt for your online grocery shopping.
The best thing about Fetch Rewards is that it’s very easy to use since you don’t need to browse and claim offers before you go shopping. You’ll simply open the app and scan your receipts. At any time, you can browse the app to see the available offers and see what purchases will earn you money, but you don’t need to claim anything. The cashback will be automatically added when your receipt is scanned.
In general, most people earn more cashback with Ibotta, but Fetch Rewards is great to use in addition.
Once you’ve accumulated some rewards, you’ll be able redeem them for your choice of gift cards.
Get Fetch Rewards here | Read our Fetch Rewards review
8. MyPoints
Best for: Alternative to Rakuten, plus surveys and other ways to make money.
MyPoints has a cashback component that is similar to Rakuten. You’ll earn cashback for your purchases at all of their partner websites. MyPoints also has a browser extension you can install that will notify you of money-saving opportunities while you’re browsing.
In addition, you can also earn money in a few other ways like taking surveys, watching videos, playing games, and printing coupons. Like Swagbucks and InboxDollars, there are also special offers available through the dashboard that allow you to earn points quickly.
MyPoints uses a points system and then those points can be redeemed for gift cards or your choice of rewards. However, the conversion of points to dollars is not as straightforward as Swagbucks, so MyPoints can be a little confusing. For example, a $10 gift card might cost you 1,590 points. The fact that it’s not a round number makes it a little more challenging to know how much your points are worth.
If you’re looking to make money with surveys, special offers, or cashback, MyPoints is definitely and app that you should be using.
Get MyPoints here
9. TopCashback
Best for: Maximizing your cashback for online purchases (offers are sometimes better than Rakuten).
TopCashback is very similar to Rakuten and it’s one of the best ways to get easy cash back for your online purchases. They have a huge collection of more than 4,000 partner retailers offering cash back through their platform.
Rakuten is the most-well-known cashback program and probably the easiest to use, but TopCashback actually offers higher amounts of cashback in many cases. Of course, the details vary from one retailer to the next, but TopCashback has done a really great job of providing users with the best offers possible.
If you’re looking to maximize the cashback you earn, you should be using TopCashback in addition to Rakuten. Like Rakuten, TopCashback also offers a browser extension and mobile app that provide easy and convenient ways to save on many of the purchases you need to make anyway.
Get TopCashback here
10. Dosh
Best for: Automated cashback from participating merchants, including local retailers and restuarants.
Dosh is a cashback app that provides automatic cashback. When you download and install the app, you’ll link it to your credit cards or debit cards and then whenever you make a purchase at a participating retailer, you’ll automatically earn the cashback for your purchase.
When you’re in the Dosh app, you can view the offers from retailers and restaurants that are near you. You can also shop online through the app and earn cashback.
One of the nice things about Dosh is that you’ll find cashback offers from many smaller businesses and local restaurants, not just the major retailers and chains.
After you’ve earned some cashback, you can redeem it by having it transferred directly to your bank account.
Get Dosh here | Read our Dosh review
11. Pei
Best for: Automated cashback, plus savings through the app/website.
Pei is another cashback app that allows you to link a credit or debit card to earn automatic cashback. You’ll earn cashback automatically from purchases made in-store at participating retailers, and you can also browse the app or website to find offers for shopping online.
You can even use Pei as a search engine to search for merchants or products and see if there are any current offers.
Pei is a great app for earning cashback on in-store purchases because it’s so simple to use and there’s really nothing you need to do after linking your cards.
One of the most interesting things about Pei is that you can claim your rewards in Bitcoin instead of cash, if you prefer.
12. Lucktastic
Best for: A chance at winning large prizes by playing games.
Lucktastic is a free app that allows you to earn money and rewards by playing games. You can win expensive trips and huge cash prizes (up to $1 million) with Lucktastic.
If you’re not lucky enough to win one of the big prizes, you can still earn tokens as you play and redeem those tokens for your choice of gift cards.
While hitting it big with Lucktastic certainly isn’t something that everyone is going to do, it can still be a fun way to try and make some money while playing games in your spare time. If you’re looking for something that gives you a more predictable way to earn money, the options covered earlier in the article would be more appropriate for you.
Get Lucktastic here
13. Mistplay
Best for: Earning smaller rewards, like gift cards, for playing games.
Mistplay is another app (available only for Android) that pays users for playing games. You can find and discover new games, earn units based on how long you play, and redeem those units for your choice of rewards.
As you use the app, you’ll be able to unlock different achievement badges and earn more units.
To date, Mistplay has paid out more than $13 million in rewards. Try another app that pays you to game here: Gamehag
Get Mistplay here
14. Zap Surveys
Best for: A good source for surveys that actually pay out.
Zap Surveys is the #1 survey app, and by using the app you can get paid to share your opinion on a variety of topics. To date they’ve paid out over $30 million dollars in rewards to Zap Surveys members, and when you sign up with our link you’ll earn $6.25 on your first survey.
Types of surveys they have include:
High paying surveys where you will not only be rewarded, but we will also donate to child starvation every completed survey!
Logo polling – get paid to tell companies what design they should use for their next logo!
Surveys that appear based on your location!
There is no limit to the number of times you can cash out, but the minimum cash out is $25.00. Cash out with PayPal, Amazon gift cards or Visa gift cards!
Get Zap Surveys here
15. Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel
Best for: A chance at monthly prizes, in exchange for your browsing data.
Nielsen is a data research company that’s willing to pay for your browsing data. Nielsen can be used on laptops in addition to mobile devices.
You’ll simply download it to your computer or device and let it run in the background. In exchange, you’ll be rewarded for leaving it active and have a chance to win the $10,000 that Nielsen gives away each month.
Get Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel here
16. Embee Meter CX
Best for: Passive rewards for your mobile browsing data.
Embee Meter CX is another mobile data research app (Android only) that rewards you for providing access to your device. Simply install the app on your device and you’ll earn “meter points” for leaving it active.
You can redeem the meter points for cash through PayPal or your choice of gift cards. Like Nielsen and MobileXpression, Embee Meter CX is an easy way to earn a little something extra.
Get Embee Meter CX here
17. UpVoice
Best for: Passive rewards for visiting websites you probably already visit.
UpVoice is another easy way to earn something for the things you’re already doing. You probably already visit websites like Amazon, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Twitter on a daily basis, so why not get some rewards for it?
All you need to do is download UpVoice to your computer and let it run in the background. You’ll earn tokens whenever you visit these sites. After you’ve earned enough tokens, they can be redeemed for your choice of gift cards.
UpVoice obviously monitors your browsing, however, it’s anonymous and no personal data is tracked.
Get UpVoice here
18. Honeygain
Best for: Payment for sharing your internet access.
Honeygain is another option for earning money passively, but you don’t have to provide access to your data in order to do it. Instead, you’ll install Honeygain and it will allow users to access the internet from your location. There are a number of reasons why a business would want to do this, including testing to see what ads are being shown to a user at your location.
Other users don’t get any access to your data through Honeygain, and you’ll earn money for providing the internet access.
Like the other passive apps, you’re not going to get rich with Honeygain, but it does present an easy way to make a little bit of extra money.
Get Honeygain here
19. Rocket Money
Best for: Bill negotiation services to lower your monthly payments.
Rocket Money helps you to manage your finances in a few different ways, but the most significant is by reducing your monthly bills through negotiation. You can allow Rocket Money’s professional negotiators to work on your behalf to get you the best deal cable TV, internet access, mobile phone service, and more.
If Rocket Money isn’t able to save you any money, you’ll be charged nothing. If they are able to lower your bills, they’ll keep 40% of the savings.
Get Rocket Money here
20. Trim
Best for: Bill negotiation services to lower your monthly payments.
Trim is another bill negotiation service that’s similar to Rocket Money. Both companies offer some additional features and services as well, but the bill negotiation is the easiest way to save money.
Trim’s rates for bill negotiation are actually a little lower than Rocket Money. Just like Rocket Money, they won’t charge anything if they can’t save you any money, but they’ll take 33% of any savings.
Get Trim here
21. Paribus
Best for: Monitoring price changes for low-price guarantees and monitoring shipments from Amazon.
*Capital One Shopping compensates us when you sign up for Capital One Shopping using the links below.
Paribus from Capital One helps you to get easy money that is owed to you. You’ll sign up for free and link it to the email account you use for online shopping. Whenever Paribus sees a receipt it will automatically go to work.
After you’ve made a purchase, Paribus will monitor price changes and notifies you if the price has dropped on a purchase from a retailer with a price-match guarantee. They’ll tell you exactly what to do in order to get the refund that is owed to you.
Paribus also monitors shipments from retailers like Amazon and helps you to get compensation when a shipment is late.
Get Capital One’s other shopping tool, Capital One Shopping, to save money when you’re shopping online. The browser extenstion will tell you if you’re getting a good price, help you comparison shop and more. Read a full Capital One Shopping review here.
Get Paribus here | Get Capital One Shopping
22. Upside
Best for: Saving money on your gas.
Upside is a savings app that helps you to find the best prices on gas, and also get additional cash back savings once you find the best price.
Not only can you get cash back on gas, but many local restaurants, grocery stores and convenience stores have cash back offers available as well.
Upside works with major gas stations like Shell, BP, Exxon, Speedway, Holiday Stations and more. See gas prices near you at 9000+ stations and earn fuel rewards with real cash back every time you fuel up.
I’ve found that the stations near me typically advertise around $0.25 cents/gallon savings on their gas prices. You can also save additional money on the price by referring other users to the app.
We’ve been using the app quite a bit for Burger King and Wendy’s restaurants in our area as they give anywhere from 25-40% cash back on your order. That’s pretty awesome, and it usually stacks with cash back from other services like Dosh or Pei!
In checking our cash back history just now I realized we’ve earned over $1210 in cash back using Upside. I’ll take that!
You can cash out whenever you want in the app, and they pay cash back via PayPal, check, or gift card.
Sign up for the app through our link below, and use promo code: AFF25 to get an extra 0.25 cents/gal cash back on gas on your first fill-up.
Get Upside here
23. ReceiptPal
Best for: Making money on all of your receipts, no matter where they come from.
ReceiptPal is a receipt scanning app, similar to Fetch Rewards mentioned above. Often you can use multiple apps like this to earn rewards at more than one service. I personally use ReceiptPal and Fetch Rewards for most of my grocery receipts.
With ReceiptPal you earn rewards points simply for scanning all of your paper receipts, along with getting points for linked Amazon or email accounts where additional receipts can be counted.
For every 4 receipts you can you’ll get 100 points that you can use towards a reward. You can redeem your points with as little as 2200 points for a $5 Amazon gift card, or a Target, Lowe’s Best Buy or Visa gift card, among a few others. You can also refer other users and earn 250 points per user.
While it takes a while to earn rewards with ReceiptPal, I like it because it’s easy, and you’re taking something that wouldn’t otherwise earn rewards, scanning receipts, and monetizing it.
I just started using it a few months ago and so far I’ve been able to cash in my points for several $5 and $10 Amazon gift cards.
Get ReceiptPal here
Make Money With Apps In Your Free Time
While these apps may not make you rich, even a small amount of extra money is a good thing.
These free money apps work in various ways, but they all help you to make or save money with little-to-no effort needed.
Have your own favorite apps that you’ve used to make money? Tell us what they are in the comments!
Frequently Asked Questions
Are there apps that pay you cash?
Yes, there are countless apps that will pay you in cash, bitcoin and gift cards. I’ve earned thousands of dollars myself by using many of these apps, and you can too. Check out our full list of apps at Bible Money Matters for more information.
What apps pay you instantly?
Most apps allow you to earn points until you reach a certain payout threshold. Some secret shopper and gig apps like Field Agent, Gigwalk or Mobee will give you an instant payout. Uber and lyft will also allow you to do a same day cashout, although there are some limitations. Other services like DoorDash will offer an immediate payout once you’ve been with them for a while, but not before.
What cash back apps are the best?
My favorite cash back apps are Upside, Drop, Ibotta, Fetch Rewards and Dosh. Apps like Dosh, Drop, and Upside even work automatically with no receipt scanning or anything else, once you link a credit card. I use them the most becaause they’re the easiest to use.
What apps pay you money to play games?
There are a lot of apps and websites that pay you to play games. Some of the more popular ones include Swagbucks, Mistplay, Gamehag, Inbox Dollars, Lucktastic, MyPoints, and Bananatic.
Can you make money from apps?
Yes, you can make money from apps. Some apps will pay you for doing your online shopping using their app. Others will pay you to fill out surveys, or to scan your receipts from your in-store purchases. Others will pay you to perform small tasks, or to partake in the gig economy (dog walking, ridesharing, etc). Others you can use to sell your stuff, and then get a payout when it sells. It just comes down to deciding how much time you have to invest, and how much you want to make.
Which apps pay the most?
The highest paying apps are probably going to be the ones where you’re actually engaging in a side hustle to earn income. Apps like Uber, Lyft, Rover and other gig economy apps can help you to earn close to a full time income. Other apps will have good sign up bonuses that it pays to take advantage of. Empower has a $20 Amazon gift card to sign up, Ibotta has a $10 sign-up bonus. Otherwise, other apps may take a while to earn as much as you want.
Whether you want to learn how to get $20 in 5 minutes or if you have a little more time such as a day or even a week or so, there are many ways to learn how to make $20 fast so that you can make extra income and real money.
Earning an extra $20 through PayPal may seem like a daunting task at first when you are in real need of making money fast, but it is doable.
In this article, I’ll introduce a few simple ways to get $20 in your PayPal account, allowing you to use the extra cash for whatever you need.
Whether you have a last minute bill that you need to pay, or if you are looking to put a little extra money into your savings (for example, maybe you’re just looking to put an extra $20 a week towards a vacation fund), there are many ways to make $20 right now.
You may decide to find a part-time gig answering questions online, freelance writing, dog sitting, or more. These are just a couple of the many ways to earn $20 with PayPal.
Some of the ways mentioned today may allow you to work from home, such as from your cell phone or your laptop.
Related content:
How To Get $20 PayPal Right Now
Quick Online Methods to Get $20 PayPal Now
There are many sites that may allow you to make $20 fast, and all from home. Some quick online methods that you can do starting today include the below.
Swagbucks
Swagbucks is one of my favorite websites to make easy money online, as it offers a variety of tasks like watching videos, taking surveys, playing games online, and searching the web.
I usually earn points and redeem them for PayPal cash or free Amazon gift cards (I’ve actually earned over 110 gift cards from Swagbucks!), and with a good number of things you can do to earn points available, getting $20 is doable in a short amount of time.
You can join Swagbucks by clicking here and get a free $10 sign up bonus.
Survey Junkie
By taking surveys on Survey Junkie, you earn points that can be converted into PayPal cash, helping you to quickly reach your $20 goal. The surveys are easy to complete and allow you to share my opinions on different topics.
You can sign up for Survey Junkie by clicking here.
Branded Surveys
Branded Surveys is another survey platform that can help you earn extra money. After earning Branded Surveys points, you can cash out via PayPal. There are over 3,000,000 users who take surveys on this website, so it is very popular!
You can sign up for Branded Surveys by clicking here.
American Consumer Opinion
As a member of American Consumer Opinion, you get the chance to participate in product testing, surveys, and even earn cash for referring friends.
You can typically earn anywhere from $1 to $5 for a survey, which mainly depends on the length of the survey. Longer surveys typically pay more than shorter ones.
You can sign up for American Consumer Opinion by clicking here.
Ibotta
Ibotta is a cash back website that gives you a $10 sign up bonus for signing up once you spend $30. You can get cash back for shopping at stores such as The Home Depot, Best Buy, Chewy, Walmart, Old Navy, and more.
You can sign up for Ibotta by clicking here.
MyPoints
As an online reward platform, MyPoints can be a useful tool for you to make extra money through surveys, online shopping, and even watching videos.
By completing various tasks and earning points, you’re able to cash out your earnings to PayPal and make $20 in a short amount of time. They have given out over $236,000,000 in rewards over the years.
You can sign up for MyPoints by clicking here.
User Interviews
User Interviews can help you to make extra money by participating in online research studies and interviews. With a variety of interesting topics and user-friendly platform, making $20 and getting paid through PayPal is an achievable goal, as there are many focus groups on this website that pay over $100 per hour.
They launch over 2,000 studies each month and are always looking for new participants.
You can sign up for User Interviews by clicking here.
You can learn more about the highest-paying survey sites and how to test new products at 18 Best Paid Survey Sites To Make $100+ Per Month.
Freelance Opportunities for $20 PayPal
Another option is to take on some freelancing jobs. By freelancing online, you may be able to earn $20 by the end of the week (and usually much more money!).
See what skills you have to offer, and then list your services online.
Fiverr
Fiverr is a platform to offer your services and quickly make $20 with PayPal as a payment method.
There are many different categories to choose from, such as graphic design, voice over, illustration, writing, translation, online tutoring, and marketing. You can click here to see the many different types of job categories that they have listed on their website
You can set your own prices and gig extras to maximize your earning potential. When you complete your tasks, and the clients approve them, the payment gets transferred to your PayPal account.
Freelance Writing
A freelance writer can easily earn $20 fast. A freelance writer may write for many different types of clients, such as a website, magazine, marketing department, book publishers, and more.
You may be writing articles, blog posts for SEO, marketing content, newsletters, press releases, and so much more.
You can learn more in my article 14 Places To Find Freelance Writing Jobs – (Start With No Experience!)
Proofreading
As a proofreader, you are looking for misspelled words and punctuation mistakes in written content such as articles, blog posts, advertisements, resumes, and newsletters.
You can learn how to find jobs at 20 Best Online Proofreading Jobs For Beginners To Earn $40,000+ Each Year.
Alternative Ways to Earn $20 PayPal Fast
If you want to learn how to make $20 fast, there are many other ways to make this possible.
Below, I will be talking about how you can sell your stuff online, micro-investing, getting cash back when shopping online, renting out a spare room, pet sitting, and even getting a personal loan.
Sell Your Stuff Online
One method for earning $20 on PayPal is by selling your used and unused items online. You may be able to sell an old cell phone that is sitting around (such as from maybe when you upgraded your last phone, or if you even have an old phone that has a cracked screen), clothing, jewelry, appliances, and more.
Many platforms, such as eBay, Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, and Decluttr, allow you to create listings and accept payments through PayPal.
This not only helps you to declutter your space but also turns your belongings into some extra cash. Plus, you can get $20 instantly by doing this as there are probably many items in your home that you can sell right at this very moment.
Acorns Micro-Investing
Acorns allows you to link and round up transactions from both debit and credit cards and essentially invest their spare change. Acorns also does 2x, 3x, and 10x multipliers on round-ups so you can maximize your investments and have a more diverse portfolio.
For example: If you use a linked card to buy a $4.22 latte, Acorns will round it up to $5 and invest the $0.78 difference. Turning on round-ups will increase your investment to $1.56, $2.34, or $7.80.
You can click here to sign up for Acorns.
Shopping Online with Rakuten
Rakuten is a cashback website. You can earn cashback for simply shopping online.
By signing up for Rakuten today, you can also get $30 as a welcome bonus after you spend $30.
Plus, this is for shopping online at many of the stores that you probably already shop at, such as Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Old Navy, Chewy, and more.
You can learn more and sign up here.
Rent out a spare room
If you have a spare room in your home, you may want to consider renting it out on platforms such as Airbnb or finding a long-term roommate to make extra money.
This will, of course, earn you much more than $20, but I wanted to mention this here because it can be a way to make consistent money each month if you are looking for more ways.
To learn more about renting out your spare room, please read A Complete Guide To Renting A Room To Make Extra Money.
Babysitting and Dog Walking
Another way to make quick money is by babysitting kids or providing dog walking services in your local area.
Websites such as Care and Rover make it easy to connect with families in need of a babysitter or a pet owner looking for a dog walker or pet sitting.
You may be watching the children or pets in your own home or their customer’s home – it simply depends on what type of service you want to offer. Sometimes people like to be in their own home, whereas other times maybe you would rather go over to the client’s home for the services.
The gig economy has been a fantastic option for earning extra money, and these platforms make it easy to get paid through PayPal, direct deposit, or cash.
Albert – quick personal loan
If you need cash now and the above options will not work for you, a company called Albert may be able to give you a small advance of up to $250.
There are no late fees, interest, or credit check. If you want to avoid personal loan lenders who have high interest rates, and only need a small cash advance, then Albert may be a place to start with. Albert is available in the App Store and Google Play. How this works is that they send you $250 from your next paycheck. You simply repay them when you receive your next paycheck.
You can learn more about Albert here.
What app can I get $20 from?
There are many apps that can help you learn how to make $20 right now.
These may include:
This may be available on your laptop, tablet, or cell phone (Android or Apple).
How can I get $20 right now?
If you want to learn how to get $20 right now, then I hope you enjoyed today’s article and are able to try a few of the options listed above.
There are many other ways to get $20 in PayPal right now, from taking up side hustles to searching for free money in your spare time.
From earning sign up bonuses from a simple online purchase to selling your used items on Facebook Marketplace to taking online surveys to taking on odd jobs, there are many ways to earn $20 fast.
Whether you are looking for $20 in PayPal cash, a direct deposit of $20, or visa gift cards, there are many ways to earn $20 and more quickly.
Do you want to learn how to get $20 PayPal now? What tips do you have to share?
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