Want to make a little extra money but don’t have the time? Don’t worry. You’re covered with these nine ways to make extra money fast. Most are from everyday things you’re already doing!
Bonus Material: Free Passive Income Calculator
Who wouldn’t like a little extra money every month?
The problem is you don’t have a lot of spare time.
If you’ve already got a side hustle going, there isn’t much free time to go around.
Finding ways to make extra money fast without having to do much is the holy grail.
It’s not going to make you rich but it will give you a few more dollars to pack onto that money snowball.
Here are 9 steps to make extra money fast:
1. Get a Free Money Saving Assistant
Tell me if this sounds familiar…
You sign up for cable and lock in a great internet rate. A year later you notice your bill has doubled.
What happened? You were Comcasted.
Comcast is notorious for jacking up prices without any notice.
It’s a “service” most cable companies provide free of charge.
Trim is here for the rescue.
Think of Trim like your money making assistant.
Trim works in silence to find you extra money.
It can:
- Cancel subscriptions you never use
- Negotiate for lower Comcast bills (YES!!)
- Find better car insurance
- Negotiate for a lower cell phone bill
- Get you cash back when prices drop for stuff you bought on Amazon
It’s literally a money making assistant.
2. Maximize Your Savings Interest
We’ve all got money stashed away in a savings account.
Hopefully, you’ve got a nice emergency fund that’s sitting there waiting for the day when you might need it (fingers crossed that day never comes).
In the meantime, it’s sitting there earning you nothing.
Interest rates on savings accounts are next to nothing.
That’s where Max My Interest comes in.
Max My Interest will work in the background to find the banks with the best online savings rates.
It will then notify you of the higher rate.
You can transfer the money yourself or have Max My Interest do it automatically.
All you do is sit back and see your emergency fund grow even faster.
3. Start a Carpool Service
You’ve heard of using Uber or Lyft as a way to make extra money. The problem is it’s not fast and takes a lot of time.
The goal here is to find things that make money without using spare time
Well, you’ve got to commute to work, why not make some money while you’re at it?
Uber and Lyft both have what is called ‘Destination Mode.’ You plug in where you’re going and then pick up riders that are heading the same direction.
You can do this on your way to work and on your way home.
It will take a little extra time, but it’s more of a minor inconvenience than wasting time.
Lyft will even give you a $300 bonus after your 100th ride.
4. Start Making Money with Every Purchase
If you’re like most people these days, you buy everything with a credit card.
Have you ever thought about which credit card you’re using? Or why you’re using it?
Most likely it’s because of the bank you use. Or you signed up for it at your favorite store.
If that sounds familiar you’re losing out on money right now.
There are credit cards out there that will pay you for using it.
U.S. Bank has the Cash+ card that will get you 5% cash back on two categories of your choosing. Plus an extra 2% cash back on a third category.
Another great option is the Chase Freedom Unlimited.
It will give you 1.5% cash back on every purchase you make.
You’ll even get a $150 bonus after spending $500 in the first 3 months.
Which brings me to another easy way to make extra money fast…
5. Sign-Up For a Credit Card
This one is going to take some discipline on your part.
You have to be smart!
So many credit cards offer amazing sign-up bonuses if you spend a certain amount within the first few months.
I mentioned the Chase Freedom Unlimited card offering $150.
There is another Chase card (Chase Sapphire Preferred) that offered a $1000 bonus!
Most of the really good cards have an annual fee, but, like the $1000 bonus, it’s much less than what you’re getting.
This is an easy way to make extra money fast but you’ve also got to pay attention.
Getting into credit card debt will destroy any bonus you earned from the sign-up.
You’ve also got to make sure to cancel cards that have an annual fee before your card anniversary. You don’t want another fee charged.
And, just in case you’re wondering, none of this will hurt your credit score in the long run. If anything it will make it better.
6. Sign-Up for a Checking/Savings Account
Similar to the credit card hustle, many banks offer a money bonus to get you to join.
I recently took advantage of a $400 sign-up bonus at Key Bank.
The rewards won’t be quite as high as credit cards, but you also don’t need to worry about canceling cards, late payments, or annual fees.
Most of the time you need to make a couple direct deposits and you’re done. The bank will automatically put the bonus money into your account.
Doctor of Credit keeps a monthly list of the best bank account bonuses.
7. Get Paid Even More with Every Purchase
With #5 your credit card company will pay you a certain % for every purchase you make with their card.
Well tack onto that a few extra percentage points with Dosh.
With Dosh, you link your credit card to the app. When you use your card for everyday shopping, it automatically finds cash back opportunities.
The app applies those cashback dollars to your Dosh account which can be transferred to your bank.
All of a sudden you could be getting 10% cash back from both Dosh and your credit card. Not bad!
They’ll even give you $5 right now when you download the app and link your card!
8. Don’t Forget about Online Cash Back
While Dosh is for offline purchases, Ebates is for online purchases.
If you go through the Ebates portal to buy anything online, you’ll get cash back.
The amount depends on what store you’re buying from. Some are only a couple percent. Others can be up to 25%!
They even have a Chrome extension that will notify you when you’re at a website that has an Ebates offer.
Click the extension button and you’re all set. Money added to your Ebates account that can be transferred to your bank at any time.
Right now you get a free $10 bonus just for signing up!
9. Take a Picture of Your Grocery Receipt
We’ve talked about using Ebates for online shopping.
We’ve talked about Dosh for offline shopping, but the one weakness in Dosh is it doesn’t do a whole lot at grocery stores.
This is where Ibotta comes in.
With Ibotta you snap a picture of your receipt and it pays you money. That simple.
Technically they want you to look at the app to find great deals BEFORE going shopping.
I think that’s a sneaky way to get people to buy more stuff because it’s a “great deal.”
You can do that if you want, but I recommend just taking a picture after you do your normal shopping.
There might be some great deals in what you bought, there might not be.
Some trips will only earn you a few cents. Others will earn a few dollars.
Over time it all adds up to extra money in your pocket.
Right now, get $10 free for signing and using the app.
Conclusion
There you go, 9 steps to make extra money fast.
Some need a little bit of leg work while others pay you for doing what you do every day.
It’s not going to make you rich right away, but it will eventually.
Have you tried any of these? Do you have any other ideas of how to make extra money fast? Let me know. I’m always up for learning about a good side hustle.