Having a cell phone these days means so much more than just making phone calls and receiving texts. There are ways to make your cell phone make you money by doing things you already do. We have found the best and proven ways you can start making money right now.
Earn Money By Shopping
You can actually make money by installing these free apps on your phone or using these browser extensions on your PC. Of course, there are rules and restrictions that vary between the companies, but you get paid for just shopping if you follow them.
- Ibotta is a browser extension and app that lets you earn cash back on groceries and other types of purchases. It’s free to use and download, and it works a lot like clipping coupons.
- Receipt Hog is a free mobile app that rewards you for sharing information about your everyday purchases. You can earn more rewards by the amount of information you share. Submit images of receipts, connect online accounts, and fill out surveys about your purchases to earn rewards.
- Shopkick is a rebate app that offers points when you take actions either at home or at a store. You get reward points throughout your day and can redeem your points (called kicks) for gift cards. Actions include scanning items, walking into stores, and more. Some of these actions require you to make a purchase, and some don’t. When you earn enough kicks, you can redeem them for gift cards to many stores.
Watch Videos and Surf The Web
A few apps pay you for just surfing the web, watching some advertisements, or downloading and playing games. There are many of these apps out there, so finding one that works and makes you money just takes a bit of time. The following apps are ones that many people have used to make extra money in their spare time.
- Swagbucks is a mobile app and online portal that pays you with points to shop online, answer surveys, watch videos, search the web and play games. You can redeem these points for gift cards to many online stores or even cash out via PayPal.
- CashPirate is an app that rewards you for downloading free apps, completing surveys, and watching videos like others, but you can also invite friends to get 10% of their earnings as a bonus.
- Fronto has the same types of tasks to do for payment, but it works a bit differently. When you unlock your screen, the app gives you the option of either swiping left or right. A left swipe will take you to a mobile website with an advertisement or to Google Play where you download an app. If you swipe right, you’ll go to your home screen just like normal; you will still get points, but not nearly as much.
Selling
I have old stuff lying around, and you probably do too. Selling the things you no longer use can be a super quick and easy way to earn a lot of money. Most of these selling platforms are super easy to use, and you can sell your old junk in minutes. Keep in mind that there are limitations on what you can sell on these sites.
- eBay is probably the biggest name in marketplaces, and for a good reason. They have streamlined the process of posting items with prefilled description fields and even suggested pricing. You can receive payments via PayPal, credit cards, debit cards, Apple Pay or Google Pay.
- Poshmark is for selling anything and everything apparel. Focusing on just reselling clothes gives sellers a wide market and many tools to clean out their wardrobe. You can be paid the same way as eBay, but they also include Venmo and Affirm.
- Facebook Marketplace is a quickly growing contender for these types of apps because it has a huge customer base. Selling to local Facebook groups also means you may not even have to ship the item if you can (safely) meet up. One advantage of selling here is that there are no buying or selling fees.
As you can see, there are many ways to earn money with your cell phone in your spare time or by doing things you already do. This list is far from complete, and with a little research, you can find an app that brings in extra money for you and your household.
