How to Get Free Money

You can find free money on the internet—if you know where to look. These free money hacks may not add up to much. But you can combine them to earn cash.

© CreditDonkey

WHAT IS FREE MONEY?

Think there's no such thing as free money? It depends on what you define as "free."

We've compiled bunch of ways to earn extra money with little to no effort. In many situations, you can save money on everyday tasks like grocery shopping.

The money may not be entirely free: you may have to exchange some sort of value for it, whether it is time, data, or household items gathering dust.

But if you are looking for ways to make easy money, this guide will help you find ways to get money fast.

• Credit Card Rewards
  
• Search for Unclaimed Money
  
• Surveys and Apps
  
• Free Stocks
  
• Shopping and Cash-Back Apps
  
• Get Paid to Get in Shape
  
• Clinical Trials
  
• Flipping Items
  
• Get Money for Your Junk Mail
  
• Using Your Car to Get Free Money
  
• Declutter Your House
  
• Review Products
  
• Sell Your Data
  
• Get a Robot to Find You Free Money

CREDIT CARD REWARDS

Signing up for cash-back credit cards is one of the easiest ways to earn money. Banks and credit card companies offer sign-up bonuses and cash-back offers for various cards.

One of the easiest ways to get started is by signing up for a cash back credit card. As long as you spend responsibly and pay off what you purchase, the card will reap benefits.

SEARCH FOR UNCLAIMED MONEY

One of the easiest ways to get free money is by searching for money owed to you. State treasuries across the U.S. have millions of dollars in unclaimed funds.

Several websites let you check for unclaimed money. It's as easy as typing in a few personal details and hitting enter.

Try searching the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators or MissingMoney.com, two legitimate websites. When searching, be careful of similar-looking scam sites.

Less than a minute may find you some easy, free money online in your name.

SURVEYS AND APPS

Survey websites and survey apps can be an easy way to earn free rewards, whether it is free money online or free gift cards. A little amount of work can lead to a lot of rewards.

Here's how it works. On these websites, you will be answering surveys, shopping online, playing games, watching videos, and more. In return for your responses and time, these reputable apps will reward you with cash, gift cards, and other rewards.

It's a way to earn easy money and get rewarded with a gift card doing things you may normally do, like shopping online and watching videos!

Try some of these reputable services:

• Swagbucks: This is a well-known online company that lets users earn up to $35 per survey. They give you a $10 bonus just for signing up.

• Prize Rebel: You can earn up to $10 to $12 an hour by completing surveys and other tasks. To maximize your time and rewards, be sure to avoid low-paying tasks.

• InboxDollars: This company has paid out more than $50 million to its members. You'll get $10 just for signing up.

• Survey Junkie: You can earn up to $50 a survey. Cash out your Survey Junkie rewards through PayPal or get gift cards.

• Surveys on Respondent: This company can pay higher than average, though they require a bit more work. Many of the surveys are one-on-one, over the phone, or over video chat. On average, Respondent pays around $140 an hour.

• Springboard America: Use them to complete surveys and other tasks for cash. The only downside: you will need a minimum of $50 to cash out your Springboard America rewards.

There are several other ways to take online surveys and earn cash online. Take a look at these less lucrative options:

• American Consumer Opinion: This popular market research company pays anywhere from $0.05 to $0.50 for completing short screener surveys. They have their own point system that then translates to a payout through PayPal. For longer surveys, you can earn up to $50.

• My Soap Box: Share your own opinions on the things you use, buy, and do every day to earn rewards. Soap Box asks the questions, and you answer.

• Vindale Research: Sign up for a $1 bonus and fill out surveys to earn money. Vindale claims to have the highest-paid surveys in the industry. You can get paid with a check (to then deposit to your bank account) or through PayPal. Every time you refer someone, earn $5.

• Qmee: Install Qmee's web browser and get paid for just about everything you do on the internet, including shopping online, filling out surveys, and searching the web. Best of all, there are no cash-out minimums.

• Opinion Outpost: Fill out surveys on Opinion Outpost and cash out your rewards to your bank account through PayPal, or opt for Amazon gift cards. Every survey you fill out will be counted as an entry toward a $10,000 quarterly drawing.

FREE STOCKS

If you sign up for Robinhood, an online brokerage firm, you'll get a free stock just for signing up.

Unfortunately, you do not get to pick the stock. The stock is randomly drawn from a list. But if you decide to keep investing with Robinhood, you'll be pleased to hear that trading is 100% commission-free.

SHOPPING CASH-BACK APPS

One easy way to earn money online: using a shopping cash-back app. There are several passive and active ways to earn free money using these apps.

Take a look at some of these options:

• Drop: With Drop, you pick two major companies you shop with frequently and you'll earn points every time you shop at these locations. For example, if you pick Trader Joe's and Uber, you'll earn cash back every time you spend money with those businesses.

  The cash back adds up to around 1%. You can exchange your rewards for gift cards.

• Rakuten: Formerly known as Ebates, Rakuten helps you earn money while shopping online.

  Using their online portal, earn money back on almost any type of online shopping, including Amazon, eBay, Walmart, Kohl's, and so much more. It's not just online shopping, though. You can also use Rakuten to earn cash back on a variety of travel booked through their portal, including Expedia, Booking.com, and Travelocity.

  On average, you'll earn 5% cash back; however, if you're already online shopping, it's an easy way to generate a passive income stream. You can pay out your rewards through PayPal or check.

• Ibotta: Ibotta helps you earn money on grocery shopping through their free app. You can use the app to find deals and offers, then claim them by submitting a photo of your receipt.

  Once you earn $20, you can cash out. Use Venmo or PayPal to get your cash, or put the money on gift cards.

• Fetch Rewards: Unlike other grocery saving apps, Fetch helps you earn free money without the restrictions. It's easy: Submit a photo of your receipt and earn points for every item you bought from more than 250 brands.

  You can redeem your points for gift cards with stores like Gap, Amazon, Best Buy, and so much more. A nice bonus is that the app sorts your spending, so it's an easy way to keep track of how much you spend at each location.

• Paribus: Paribus helps earn you free money on purchases you have already made. The app, owned by Capital One, scans your inbox for receipts from previous purchases.

  Paribus will check to see if prices have dropped and, if so, they will work to get you money back on your purchases from the price difference.

  Another key advantage to Paribus: They handle Amazon orders and delivery. For example, if you have a package come late, they can help get you a gift card to make up for the inconvenience.

GET PAID TO GET IN SHAPE

If you're looking to get in shape, or if you're working on it, you can get paid to lose weight and shape up. Using some of these apps can be a simple way to get free money.

• Sweatcoin: Sweatcoin is a free app with a simple concept: They pay you for taking walks outdoors. You'll get paid in the app's special coin currency, but you can redeem those points for a number of offers and rewards.

• HealthyWage: With this app, bet money (and win money) with your own weight loss. You can win up to $10,000.

  There's a big downside to this app: You will have to put up your money first, and then win it back.

• Achievement: Use Achievement to track your steps and earn money. In addition to tracking steps, you will track your sleep, log meals, complete surveys and challenges, and more.

  This app connects with other popular health tracking apps like Fitbit, MyFitnessPal, and Garmin. Expect to earn $10 for every 10,000 points. You can be paid through PayPal or direct deposit to your checking account or savings account.

CLINICAL TRIALS

Clinical trials may not be free money, but many of them can be easy money that comes at little to no cost. Use websites like ClinicalTrials.gov and CenterWatch.com to find paid clinical trials in your city and state.

Before applying, make sure to check the requirements for each clinical trial. Some are more lenient and others more restrictive. Money per clinical trial will vary from a couple hundred dollars to thousands of dollars.

FLIPPING ITEMS

Many people want to get rid of their free stuff. You can earn easy money by reselling their items.

The money won't come free—it will likely require a lot of driving around. You'll need to go to garage sales across your city and have a good eye for valuable items. But for a low cost, you can earn some easy cash.

To start, you'll need to find local garage sales and estate sales. Most of these take place on weekend mornings, so you'll want to get there early to beat the crowds.

If you buy and resell items, expect to earn an extra few hundred dollars to over $1,000 a month. The amount of money you earn will depend heavily on what you sell.

MONEY FOR YOUR JUNK MAIL

Did you know you can get money for your junk mail? It's a strange concept, but it's true. The Small Business Knowledge Center will pay you to send them your junk mail.

The catch: You have to physically mail in the junk mail. However, the company will provide paid postage.

You can earn an extra $20 every few months in gift cards from sending in your mail.

USE YOUR CAR FOR FREE MONEY

One of the best ways to earn money with your car is to get paid to wrap it up in an advertisement. If you don't care what your car looks like, this could be an easy way to make free money.

The amount you earn will depend on how far you drive in your car and the area you drive in.

Earn more than $100 a week if you're a big commuter in a busy town.

DECLUTTER YOUR HOUSE

There are a number of ways to turn your clutter into ways to earn free money. Of course, these options don't come free, exactly: You have to get rid of your stuff. Take a look at some of the best options.

• Bookscouter: Sell your used books to Bookscouter to make some extra cash. You can use their app to find out how much your books are worth and search vendors. You can ship your books for free.

• Gazelle: Consider selling your old smartphones and other used electronics to Gazelle. In addition, if you refer a friend, you can earn a $20 bonus.

• Decluttr: This app helps you declutter your home by selling your items on eBay for you. Decluttr will sell your items and give you a piece of the profit.

  With this app, you scan the items you want to sell and ship them all in one box to the company. Decluttr will also pay for shipping. In return for the convenience, you may lose some of the profit from selling your own goods.

REVIEW PRODUCTS

Your opinion can be worth free money. Here's how:

• SlicethePie: This is the largest paid review site on the internet. You can get paid to review clothing, music and more before they are released to the public. SlicethePie will pay you through PayPal once you reach a $10 minimum.

• WhatUsersDo: With WhatUsersDo, sign up to become a tester and get paid to review websites and products. Once you sign up, you will receive an email when there are new tests available. Get paid $5 per test every 25th of the month.

• UserTesting: UserTesting pays you for using your phone to test websites and apps. Payouts can vary depending on the types of tests and the quantity of completed tests. Most testing will get you $10 per 20-minute video completed. UserTesting pays out through PayPal.

SELL YOUR DATA

If privacy is not an issue to you, selling your data is an easy way to make money. In fact, many companies already pay money for it. Many people give away their data for free.

• National Consumer Panel (NCP): Sell your purchase history to National Consumer Panel. In order to take advantage of this opportunity, you must register and be selected by NCP. Once approved, you will get a handheld scanner to scan your purchases. Earn points and redeem them for prizes as well as sweepstake entries for contests.

• Nielsen Computer and Mobile Panel: Nielsen will reward you for sharing the way you use the internet. In order to qualify, you'll need to download their app to all your devices because they track your usage.

• SavvyConnect: Their VIP program will collect your data as you use the internet. You'll get paid $5 per device, per month.

GET A ROBOT TO FIND YOU FREE MONEY

One easy way to find free savings: have a robot help. There are several money-saving apps that will help you save extra on bills and payments.

• With Trim, for example, you start by signing up and connecting your apps to the platform. In return, Trim analyzes your spending to find savings across subscriptions and bills.

  The system will also examine all your subscriptions, including ones you may have forgotten about, and help cut down costs. Trim has helped people negotiate money off their bill, but in turn, they take 25% of the cut.

• Another popular service: Billshark. Much like Trim, this service also helps lower your recurring bills and negotiate money off your payments. Unlike Trim, however, Billshark negotiates with humans instead of robots.

  Billshark will take 40% of your savings as their cut of the deal. However, Billshark claims to have an 85% success rate.

THE BOTTOM LINE

There are dozens of ways to save money and earn free money online. Using several of these tactics will boost your bank account with little to no effort.