From this title I know you are probably already extremely skeptical. Who will give you free money unless they are your rich uncle who happens to leave you a nice little inheritance you weren’t expecting? The idea of free money is so foreign that most people overlook the different ways you can get free money easily.
In this article I go over real tangible ways of getting free money and how you can also do it. Most ways require little effort on your part and that’s why I call it getting free money. I have been doing these things for years now and sometimes I tell people what I get out of a reward or app and they are stunned that you can make money from spending money on everyday stuff.
Anytime someone says free money people often cringe because how is it possible to get money for free? However, if you use a few tricks and apps that I will go over you can find ways to get free money without having to do much. Some rewards take time to add up because of the nature of earning the cash back but some are instant rewards of up to $150 in one transaction. It just depends on what it is but trust me little by little the free money adds up and in a year you could have thousands in free money.
Table of Contents
How To Get Free Money
Credit Card Rewards
Rewards are some of my favorite way of getting free money because you are rewarded for spending money you already planned to spend. If you get rewarded for spending through a credit card and you use the points to ‘buy’ things that’s essentially free money!
I use rewards to book flights and hotel stays for free. There is nothing as fulfilling as having a flight that would have cost you hundreds of dollars booked through points. Most credit cards either give you the ability to earn points for each dollar you spend or even double points. This can add up quickly which is great for people who travel frequently.
Always be on the lookout for credit cards that offer high reward points when you open an account. You might as well get the most out of it. Some cards will give you money back when you open an account with them which is free money! They may even have an incentive to take off the annual fee on the next statement date which again is free money. Compare the different perks of each credit card and pick one that provides the most benefits in free money.
Be careful about using credit cards though because if you don’t pay off the full balance every billing cycle you could end up having high debt and interest charges which are not worth it. If you ever need to restore your credit start here.
Online Surveys
Surveys have been getting a bad rap over the years but if you are smart about them you can make some pocket change for coffee and lunch. It may not be the killing you are expecting but it is still free money if you have a few hours to spare during the day.
You will be required to provide some information about yourself on most survey sites which they will use to curate surveys for you to take. The effort on your part is minimal because you go through a few questions and provide feedback. The great thing about these surveys is that they will tell you how much time is required to complete each so you can plan on how much time you want to spend completing surveys. The more surveys you do the more money you make.
Surveys that I recommend you try include:
- Survey Junkie – You can earn as much as $50. They pay out through Amazon, Target and PayPal gift cards that you can use to buy whatever you want.
- Swagbucks – This site even has a sign-up bonus of $10 and you get paid through Amazon, Walmart and PayPal gift cards.
Why is this free money if you are required to do something to get it? The answer is that for what you get out of it, it may as well be free money. You give an opinion that you would probably give for free in a regular conversation and get paid to do it.
Free Money from Shopping
Get free money from shopping using a few well-known apps. Remember that you would already be spending this money but now you would be getting some cashback through the apps. The apps do not exclude most things so you can get money back for groceries, home goods, clothes, shoes and just about anything that’s on their site can be used to earn cash back.
You simply log into the app and check what they are offering at any point in time. If you see something that you will probably buy, make sure you sign up before buying it to earn the cash back. There is usually an expiration period, so you must redeem those offers within a certain time frame.
If you are wondering why these companies would give these incentives, it’s because if you see an offer for cashback on shopping at Target for example you will most likely shop there than at another store that doesn’t offer that reward. If the offer is 5% back on your total spend up to a certain limit that’s FREE money!
Some of the popular apps right now that you should hop on include:
- Ibotta – Earn cash back on everyday purchases. They have a $20 threshold before you can cash out. Again, remember it’s money back that you wouldn’t have gotten back.
- Rakuten – This is one of the best ways to get free money right now for online shoppers. If you shop at Walmart, Amazon, eBay, Apple, Macy’s, Kohl’s, Old Navy and Gap you could be getting some of your money back. What are you waiting for? You should sign up now!
- Drop – With the drop app all you have do is to link your debit card or credit card to earn points. After that you pick your top 5 places that you typically shop at and start earning points. You don’t have to do anything else just watch your points grow.
Use Trim to Find Free Money
Trim is this smart robot that finds ways for you to save money on regular bills. After signing up you connect your accounts and the robot works behind the scene to find opportunities to save money. If you have cable, internet, phone service, medical bills and subscriptions that you pay for Trim analyzes them and provides feedback.
I love this app because it highlights expenses that you can avoid paying for to save money. If you have an old subscription that you forgot about Trim will remind you and suggest cancelling it or offer a cheaper price. If you have credit cards and loans Trim can find lower interest rates for you which is free money because it’s savings that you did not anticipate. It does all the heavy lifting, so you never have to have to negotiate for yourself.
One more thing I love about Trim is that it pays 4% on savings which is quite a high payout compared to commercial banks. If you save $2,000 on the app you could earn 4% of that money in a year which is $80 in free money!
Free Money from Work
Most companies offer a wide variety of benefits that surprisingly people don’t take advantage of. Always read the benefit package to make sure you don’t miss out on something that is essentially free money. Also because the unemployment rate has been low over the past few years companies are getting more and more creative with how they can reward their employees to retain them.
You could get as much as $10,000 in free money if you take advantage of all these benefits. I will list down a few that I take advantage of so that you know that this is free money in real life:
401K Company Match
My company offers a very competitive match up to 200% depending on years of service for a maximum of 6% of your salary. This means that if you contribute 3% of your salary then the company matches you at 6%. They pay more into your retirement than you do which is free money. If you earn $1,000 every two weeks for example and contribute 3% which is $30 the company would contribute $60.
Health Care Programs
If your company has a Health Savings Account program that they offer to contribute to, that’s actually free money. Depending on where you work most companies deposit a certain amount of money into your health savings account. This money earns interest and you use this money for health care related expenses. It means that you don’t have to use money that you have saved up for other things when you have unexpected medical related expenses.
Insurance Rebates
Tufts has a great rebate program where they refund you $150 if you are a member of a gym. Every year you simply submit your gym membership expenses with proof of payment and they reimburse you $150.
Wellness Programs
Companies now offer gym memberships as part of their benefits. The gym at my work building is usually filled with people who work for various companies in the complex. This is a free or prorated membership for a gym that you would otherwise pay for which is free money. Also, they offer to reimburse up to $250 if you don’t use the gym that the company has provided. If you combine the $250 and $150 that’s $400 in free money!
Free Tuition
Most companies offer to pay for tuition up to a certain amount. Usually this ranges from $5,000 to $10,000 depending on where you work. This is literally free money because who else would offer to pay for your tuition? They also offer to pay for professional certifications which can be costly. Make sure you read the benefit package comprehensively to see where you can get free money from the company.
College Loans Payoff
Recently many companies have started to offer this benefit to attract millennials into the workforce. I absolutely take advantage of this benefit because it helps to pay off my debt faster. This is another source of free money because unless you have a rich uncle somewhere who offers to pay off your college loans you are stuck with them.
Loyalty Rewards
Do you have a favorite place or store that you grab lunch, dinner, coffee or where you shop frequently? If you do find out if they have loyalty reward programs for spending your money with them. Some of my favorite stores that give the best rewards are Old Navy, Banana Republic, Ann Taylor Loft, The Loft and Victoria Secrets. I get rewards from the frequently that usually mean that I pay next to nothing for stuff when I shop there.
All you typically have to do with these stores is either shop there or use their credit cards to earn rewards. I have walked out of stores having paid less than $5 with a bag full of clothes just by redeeming my rewards. I also shop during their sales to ensure that I optimize on the rewards that they send me. Read the little cards that they send where they may even offer a free thing with no purchase necessary just to get you into the store.
If you eat regularly at some places, they offer every 10th meal or so for free if you spend a certain amount of money. That’s a free meal for just signing up for their rewards program. The way that I see it, if I must spend money on lunch because I was too busy to cook, or I just wanted to eat something different I may as well get rewarded for it. Sign up for those programs and enjoy a free meal occasionally.
Buy a CD or Open a Money Market Account
If you have saved up money and have set aside an emergency fund and savings up to 6 months’ worth of expenses find ways to make your money work for you in your sleep. This is one way to get free money because you can invest in a CD – Certificate of Deposit at your bank to earn a higher interest than you would on a regular savings account. This is free money that you don’t have to work for and all you would need to do is keep it in that deposit for the time that you select.
A money market account will typically yield higher interest than a regular savings account. This is another way to get free money every month that could quickly add up depending on where you bank and the amount that you have in the account. I always want to ensure that my money works for me and you should never be passive with your income. Check the rates that your bank offers and move your money to where you can get the highest interest or dividend.
Sell Your Old Clothes
Do you have clothes that you don’t wear, have worn once or never worn? You can sell them to get money for things that you don’t even use. I think this qualifies as free money because you get to recoup money that you spent, and you can save it and declutter at the same time.
Sites like Poshmark are great for this and there are people who make a killing just from reselling clothes and shoes that they don’t use. All you need to do is list what you are selling, the brand name to make it easy to find and if you are good at taking photos it could help sell your items faster leading to money in your pocket.
Make Money Now
Use all the ways I have gone over to make free money. Try one of them or all of them and to get free money. There is no requirement to put up money upfront. This is free money because it requires little to no effort on your part. All you have to do in some instances is sign up for free with some sites even providing a sign-on bonus!
It may be a wake-up call for some people who have been seating on free money that they could have been making for years. If you have been asking yourself, “How can I get free money?” or “How can I make money fast?” this is a great place to start.
If you get free money which I know you will use the money to pay off debt, increase your savings, reinvest in your business or buy something you have been wanting to buy.
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