16 Ways to Make Money Without Working
If you're working from home rn, good for you. Also, same. It's not so bad, right? Even if you're not loving your bedroom/office space as much as you did on day one of Quar, you should know that you can make a lot more money on top of your salary with just little strategizing.
Thanks to technology, you can make money doing just about anything from home (just keep it legal guys). Whether that's selling your clothes, editing college students' resumes, or building Ikea furniture, we see your hustle, sis.
But how much money is really sitting around your house rn? (No, not those sad pennies in the crevices of the couch.) Just look in your closet, your phone, and scrounge up those Starbucks gift cards you’ve been saving since Christmas before last. In case you need a little inspiration, or motivation to make even more moolah while social distancing, here are more ideas to get you some cash.
1. Negotiate your bills.
Where there's a bill, there's a way...to cancel or knock down the price. Truebill helps people cancel unnecessary subscriptions, lower their bills, and get money back on fees and outages. Their service fee is 40 percent of the negotiated savings. So if you save $100 they get $40. If they can't negotiate things down—you pay nothing.
2. Watch TV and play video games.
So I can get paid to watch '13 Reasons Why'? Potentially! Inboxdollars and Cashcrate are two of many sites that pay you to watch TV and play video games. They only ask that you complete a survey with your feedback for research.
3. Browsing the web.
No creeper stuff, just consumer research. Swagbucks wants to know what you're looking up. They ask that you install an add-on that records your searches. You can earn points that can be redeemed as gift cards to stores you probably browsed in the first place.
4. Test beauty products.
Yes, that is correct: free beauty products. You essentially get to live the life of a beauty influencer by trying out and reviewing everything from mascara to sunscreen for brands like L'Oreal—and you can get paid in cash or in more products.
5. Rent out your clothes.
You can essentially run your own Rent the Runway business from home with a site called Rent My Wardrobe. First of all, it's a major eco-friendly way to make some money. And if it sounds weird to have other people wearing your clothes, don't worry—on the way back, the borrower is required to drop the loaned clothes off at the dry cleaner.
6. Open up a high-interest savings account.
If you do have some steady cash flow and want to keep it flowin', search for a bank with high interest rates and no fees (it may have to be separate from your current bank) to open up a savings account. Most banks will require you to get started with around $100 in the account. Once you start saving away, you can actually earn a small percentage of what you have in the account.
7. Take surveys.
Who wouldn’t love to get paid to give their unsolicited (well, in this case, solicited) opinion about their latest Target purchase?! Join Swagbucks or Survey Junkie for free to get started. You'll have to do quite a few questionnaires to start making serious coins, but it can actually add up.
8. Get rid of your gift cards.
Never going to eat at Arby's or step foot in Lady Foot Locker? Trade in those random gift cards floating around in your wallet on Cardpool.com or CardCash.com (which will accept gift cards even if they have $3.34 cents left on them) and get cash in return.
9. Sell your clothes and accessories.
You know all those clothes taking up room in your closet that are perfectly nice but you never wear them? Sell them. Find a consignment store in your area that will appraise your items and give you a percentage of the price they sell for, or use a website that does the same thing. Many stores and sites, like TheRealReal.com, specialize in designer brands, but you can sell (and buy) things from more affordable brands like Zara and The Gap on sites like ThredUp.com and Poshmark.com. And of course, there's eBay.
10. Sell your other stuff you're not using too.
Your old iPhone 4 you've been keeping in your desk? Try Gazelle.com. The food processor you got last Christmas that you've never used? Get thee to Craigslist or Letgo. All those books you're never going to read again? Find a used bookstore.
11. Sign up for cash-back services like Rakuten.
Rakuten gives its users back a percentage of their purchase on any of their partner sites (which includes tons of major brands, like Macy's, Old Navy, and Amazon). No catch. Seriously. They even have a browser plugin that will light up every time you're on a site they partner with, so you don't even have to look them up.
12. If you exercise, sign up for Gympact.
This app gives you money every time you stick to your workout goals, paid for by the people who don't stick to theirs. If you're already going to the gym three times a week, you might as well get rewarded for it.
13. House sit.
It's literally sitting in someone else's house watching Netflix instead of your own, and getting money for it.
14. Study credit card offers.
Pick one that has rewards that you'd actually take advantage of. For example, if you fly a lot, especially on a particular airline, get a card that gives you miles. If you shop at a lot, get one that gives cash back on certain purchases. Just be sure to pay attention to two things: the interest rate and the annual fee. Interest rates on these cards can be high, so only sign up for one if you can pay it off in full every month. And an annual fee of $95 on an airline card isn't worth it if you're not going to earn and use a free flight every year.
15. Make the most of credit card rewards.
If you have a rewards card that you're paying off, book a trip for all of your friends and have them pay you back. Going out to dinner for someone's birthday? Put the whole bill on your card and have everyone Venmo you right away. This way you'll earn more rewards than you could on your own, without spending extra cash.
16. Sign up for focus groups.
This is literally sitting in a room instead of your house talking about stuff you like and don't like (and sometimes on the phone from your house!). Make a profile with a marketing company, like Inspired opinions, and they'll reach out to you every time they have a focus group that fits your interests. Bonus: Some of them pay in cash, and nearly all right on the spot.
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