30 Money Hacks That Will Make You Extra Cash Today

Written by Jason Michaels Last Updated: May 8, 2024

Everyone could use a few extra bucks here and there, and with more and more people picking up second jobs just to make ends meet, finding something you can do from home is a win-win.

Gone are the days of having to wait tables or deliver pizzas just to make some money to pay bills.

With advances in technology and the plethora of smartphone apps and websites designed to help you make money, it’s never been easier.

Today, we are going to look at 30 money hacks for extra cash that you can do from the comfort of your own home.

1. Take Online Surveys With Swagbucks

One of the most popular ways to make money on the internet over the last decade or so is completing online surveys.

Online surveys are one of the easiest ways to earn money as there are no real wrong answers and you are basically getting paid for your opinions. 

One of the dominating sites in the online survey sector is Swagbucks.

Swagbucks offers a user friendly portal to earn money by completing surveys.

Once completed, you are credited “swagbucks” which can be exchanged for gift cards to popular retailers such as Amazon, Walmart, and many others once you reach a certain amount.

2. Earn Cash Back With Shopping Portals

If you are already doing some online shopping and using coupon codes, wouldn’t it be nice to earn a little more cashback on top of your initial savings? Well now you can thanks to the wide variety of online shopping portals that give you an extra percentage back from your purchase.

Online shopping portals are sites that allow you to earn on average 1-10% cashback on purchases made through their site.

Most of your top online retailers will be available on the top portal sites to make earning money easy.

Simply visit a portal site, follow their link to your favorite retailer, and shop like you normally do to reap the rewards.

3. Become A Freelance Writer

For those who have some extra time in their day to make some money, but do not want to go out and find a part time job, freelance writing can be a great alternative.

Freelance writing allows you to write articles and blogs for website owners or agencies and get paid for it.

Site like Upwork allow you to connect with clients who are looking for freelance writing to make finding work easier.

All you have to do is register, select a few preferences, and start applying for jobs that are being posted.

This can easily grow into a long term side hustle and some may even be able to make their own businesses out of it.

4. Sell Your Skill On Fiverr

Most people are usually skilled in at least one or two things. Did you know that you could be using this to make yourself some extra money?

There are many different online sites where you can sell your skill to make extra cash.

Fiverr, one of the most popular sites for skilled people, was designed around the idea of selling your skill in $5 increments.

We have seen people sell custom songs, spell checking, and many other skillsets on Fiverr.

With the growth in popularity, Fiverr has adapted to customer demands and have offered you to set the price of your skill to include prices above $5 such as hour long consulting and other timed tasks.

5. Wrap Your Car In An Advertising Wrap

If you have a car, there are many more ways for you to earn extra money. A popular way that people have started to make money using their cars is having them wrapped in advertisements.

Many companies are actively looking for people who are willing to wrap their car in their company’s advertisements to be a mobile billboard. If you do not mind having decals on your car, this could be a great way for you to earn extra money without having to actually put any effort into.

6. Rent Out An Extra Room With AirBnB

For those who have second homes, beach condos, or even a spare bedroom, these are all opportunities for you to be making some serious cash.

With apps such as AirBnB, you can rent your living quarters out to those wanting to avoid hotels and stay in a more convenient space.

AirBnB connects property owners with people looking to rent out a living space for one night up to weeks. With hotels becoming more expensive and less reliable, staying in a home or room that is not in a large hotel could help you get some good sleep and better amenities.

7. Rent Out Your Car With Turo

Similar to AirBnB, you can also rent out your car to those looking to avoid the high price and hassle of car rental companies. Apps such as Turo allow you to easily let your car be rented and returned to you for extra cash,

Turo works similar to car rental companies in the realm of basic principles. What Turo offers is a wider variety of vehicles based on who is renting their vehicles out in the city you are in. By putting your vehicle up for rent and setting your own prices, you could be making money while you sleep or while you are at work.

8. Deliver Food With Postmates

We are in a time where people are becoming busier and busier by the day.

When it comes to grabbing food, sometimes, you just want to have food delivered. In the past, you were limited to basically pizza and Chinese depending on where you lived.

Now, with apps such as Postmates, you can get just about any type of food delivered, and you can even sign up to be a driver.

Postmates is an app that allows you to sign up as a driver or use as the one who is ordering food.

To earn money on Postmates, all you have to do is have a car and a valid license/insurance/registration. Simply log in to the app when you are available to deliver and start accepting deliveries.

You can make your own hours and earn money when you need it with Postmates.

9. Use Your Car As A Taxi With Uber Or Lyft

If renting out your vehicle isn’t something that you feel comfortable with, maybe you would be better off using your car as a taxi.

With apps like Uber and Lyft, you can sign up to be a driver and start picking up/dropping off people at the destination of their choice for extra money.

Similar to Postmates, these apps allow you to sign in when you want and make your own hours.

When you are ready to start driving, simply log into the app and wait for the requests to start coming in. You are paid through Uber so unlike Taxi services, you will not have to worry about someone bailing on your payment.

10. Donate Plasma And Earn Up To $400/Month

What if we told you that you could be earning up to $400 month while saving lives?

By donating plasma, you can earn up to $400 a month for just a few hours of your time.

Donating plasma is similar to the process of donating blood, however, your blood goes through a processor where the plasma is extracted and your blood is returned to your body.

Plasma donation sites bay upwards of $50-$100 for each session which lasts around 90 minutes.

If you are not afraid of needles, you can make this a habit to start making some serious money.

11. Deliver Groceries For Shipt

Grocery shopping can be a daunting task, especially for those with busy schedules. The introduction of online shopping and curbside pickup has helped those busy families get everything they need without having to spend hours at the grocery store.

You can use this to your advantage by signing up for a grocery delivery service such as Shipt.

Shipt allows you to make money by picking up grocery orders and delivering them to their owners right to their home. This is a great money hack for those who have extra time and don’t mind picking up or dropping off groceries to someone’s home.

12. Become An Amazon Delivery Associate

With Amazon becoming large each day, they are constantly developing new ways for customers to get their packages quicker. One of their newest technologies is Amazon Flex.

Amazon flex allows you to sign up to be a delivery associate for Amazon.

As long as you have a valid license, you can get signed up to start making deliveries and earning some extra cash. This program is currently only available in larger cities but is quickly spreading to new cities each month.

13. Get Paid To Charge Electric Scooters While You Sleep

You may have started to see electric scooter rental businesses pop up in and around your town. This has been a popular new wave of transportation for dense cities. It has also opened up a way for side hustlers to make money by charging these scooters overnight.

Both Bird and Lime, two of the largest electric scooter companies in the industry, will pay you to pick up and charge their scooters overnight and deliver them back fully charged for the next day’s rentals.

This is perfect as it can be done on your way home from work and you are basically making money in your sleep.

14. Start A Pet Sitting Business

If you are wanting to earn some extra cash and love dogs, then starting your own pet sitting business might be the perfect business for you.

With the advances in technology and introduction of smartphone apps, you can find people who need their dog watched, walked, or taken care of from the convenience of your own phone.

Wag, a smartphone app designed to connect pet owners and pet sitters, has allowed many pet lovers to make a steady stream of income by walking dogs or pet sitting for those in need.

15. Open A New Bank Account & Take Advantage Of Bonuses

Many large banks often offer new members an incentive to join their bank and open a checking account. By switching your money over from your current bank to one of these new banks, you can reap the benefits of new user incentives.

One thing you will want to look for are monthly fees. If the account you are signing up for has a monthly fee, you may want to see if it is going to be worth the initial pay day.

16. Get Paid To Watch Videos Online

With the popularity of online videos growing every day, it’s safe to say that just about anyone who spends time online or on social media watches some type of videos on a daily basis. If you are going to be watching videos anyways, why not get paid for it?

Swagbucks, as seen in our tip on online surveys, also provides a way to make money by watching videos on their site.

They partner up with big brands who will pay you to watch movie trailers, TV shows, and other video content. These are also paid out in Swagbucks and can be saved up to redeem for popular gift cards.

17. Get Paid To Walk With Sweatcoins

Just about anyone who has a set of functioning legs walks at least some part of their day. With apps such as Sweatcoins, you could be getting paid for the steps that you take throughout the day. 

Sweatcoins is a smartphone apps that tracks the number of steps that you take throughout the day and converts them to “sweatcoins”. These sweatcoins can be saved up and redeemed for special products offered by companies who partner with the app.

This is a great way to earn some extra money, get free gear, and even get into shape.

18. Find Money You Are Owed Online

Perhaps one of the easiest ways to earn money on this list is to find out if you are owed money from unpaid employment checks, settlements, or other forms of income that you have not claimed.

There are many different sites that can show you the money that you are owed. These sites make it easy to see how much you are owed, what it’s from, and how to claim it so you can get your cash in your hand.

While some may not have any money owed, there is a chance that you could have a big pay day headed your way by simply searching your name.

19. Become An Amazon Mechanical Turk Worker

One of the best kept secrets of the side hustle world is the Amazon Mechanical Turk. This site allows you to earn money by completing tasks on Amazon for companies who are needing things done but do not have the manpower to do it. 

Amazon Mechanical Turk allows you to register to become a worker and help individuals or businesses carry out tasks that they are looking to outsource.

Similar to becoming a freelancer on Upwork, you can register, pick the jobs you want, and easily apply through their “marketplace”.

20. Sell Your Unwanted Items

While it is not one of the most innovating tips, selling unwanted or unused items is one of the most tried and true ways of making some extra money without having to spend any money.

It is also a great way to clear out some of the things that you have started to hoard over the past few years. 

By using apps such as LetGo or Craigslist, you can easily sell just about anything you may no longer use. This is a great way to earn some extra cash pretty quickly depending on what you are selling.

21. Learn How To Resell Clearance Items

If you have gotten good at selling items on LetGo, Craigslist, or even Facebook marketplace, then it’s time to take your money making up a notch.

People all over the world are making easy money by buying items from store clearance racks and reselling them on marketplace apps for a profit.

By scouring clearance sections and comparing current prices on ebay or local selling sites, you can easily find out what kind of profit you could be making.

This is known as retail arbitrage and there are many helpful sites that allow you to learn the tips of the trade.

22. Get Free Money From Credit Card Bonuses

Just like our bank account bonus tip, credit card companies do the same, but usually on a larger scale. Credit card companies are always offering large cashback or “mile” incentives that can be a great way for you to earn some extra cash. 

By opening up a new credit card and spending the predetermined amount, the credit card will give you a bonus for reaching a certain balance.

While this is an easy way to make some extra money, if you do not pay attention to the payment terms, you could end up paying more in interest if you do not pay it back in time.

23. Become A Mystery Shopper With Field Agent

Mystery shopping has always been a popular talk among those wanting to earn some extra money or get free meals. However, many people do not know how easy it can be to get started using simple smartphone apps.

FieldAgent, an app designed for smartphones, allows you to connect with companies who are looking for mystery shoppers. This app features a simple dashboard that has each job in a designated mile radius to make selecting jobs easy.

You can choose from jobs that pay cash, pay you back for meals, or even get free stuff. Payment usually comes within 1-5 days of completing the job.

24. Participate In Focus Groups

Focus groups are another way for you to make some extra money. Focus groups are groups of everyday people who are surveyed by companies to get real world feedback on their products or advertisements.

This can be done locally in person, or even online for added convenience. 

Sites such as Respondent offer online customer research studies that can pay out up to $140 an hour.

This is a great option for those who may not feel comfortable driving people around, delivering groceries, or have a skill that they can sell. You are literally getting paid to give your opinion. 

25. Start A Drop Shipping Business

Drop shipping has become a household name over the past few years. With the convenience of online shopping, businesses have started to offer more ways for their products to be sold. Drop shipping not only benefits you, but the company as well.

Making money in a drop shipping business is easy if you do the research and figure out the best tips and tricks.

What you are doing with a drop shipping business is selling a companies products without even touching them.

A company will offer you products at a wholesale price and you will sell the product online at retail price.

Once you get an order, you simply send the details to the company and they ship it out for you. All you have to do at this point is to collect the difference as your profit.

26. Sell Your Photos On Shutterstock

If you like to take photos or have a knack for photography, you could be making money with your photos. With more and more businesses popping up daily, the demand for stock photos is on the rise. Selling your photos to be used for this purpose could be an easy way for you to make some extra cash.

Shutterstock, one of the largest stock photo companies on the internet, allows you to upload your photos to be bought by companies and individuals to use on their site or in marketing materials.

To make the most of this, make sure your photos are high quality, are of general object, and are titled/tagged well so searchers can find them.

27. Start Your Own Website or Blog

Blogging is a word that gets tossed around a lot in the world of the internet, but the money people make from it can be a little confusing.

There are many different ways to make money with your own website or blog, but it takes time, patience, and some critical thinking of how it will produce a revenue stream.

Creating a blog to jot down your feelings may not always be the best way to make money. In order to make money on your site, you will need traffic. Traffic comes from people actively looking for the content that is on your site so picking a topic will require some research.

Recipes, how-to articles, guides, and other helpful information are great starting points.

Once you start to develop traffic, you can use ads, sponsors, and even Amazon affiliate links to help generate revenue from your blog.

28. Get Paid To Surf The Web

If you are reading this blog, it’s a safe bet that you are someone who surfs the web quite often. Wouldn’t it be nice to get paid to browse the internet? Well now you can with different programs that offer different types of payouts.

Bing Rewards is one of the more popular rewards programs that allows you to earn credits for using their search engine.

These credits are earned by daily tasks, searching through Bing, and even quick quizzes for bonus points. These credits can be redeemed for popular gift cards such as Target and Amazon.

29. Earn Money By Reviewing Websites And Apps

They say opinions are like..well you know the rest. What if we told you that you could get paid for your opinion? Now, with businesses looking for reviews of their sites and apps, you can get paid by telling them what you think. 

Using a site such as UserTesting, you can connect with businesses who are looking for your opinions. Getting started is easy and you can easily start making money pretty quickly. 

30. Write & Publish A Kindle eBook

Everyone has a story to tell, so why not get paid to tell the world? Writing and publishing Kindle eBooks are a great way to generate a residual income stream. Even if your story isn’t interesting, you can always write a book on a specific skill that you have or even create a totally fictional story that is entertaining. Selling copies of your book online can net you some pretty good cash.

31. Become An Affiliate Marketer

Last but not least, one of the most popular ways of making money online, especially for those with a large following or traffic, is becoming an affiliate marketer. Affiliate marketing uses influencers to help sell a specific product or service.

If you have a blog, you can use affiliate links for things you use to get a percentage of the sales for that product. You will need to check each brand to see if they offer an affiliate program or you can always use Amazon’s affiliate program.

BONUS: Ticket Reselling

We had to include this opportunity on the list, ticket reselling.

If you have extra tickets on hand to an event you can’t attend, you can resell those tickets online with Vivid Seats.

Vivid Seats is an online marketplace that lets you buy and sell tickets online.

They are a simple solution that lets you sell your tickets as an individual or professional reseller. Resellers are earning up to $100,000 per years selling tickets online!

To learn more about this marketplace that lets you buy and sell tickets to events like sports games, concerts, and broadway shows, read our full review on Vivid Seats.

Final Thoughts

So now that you have checked out our 30 money hacks for extra cash, it’s time for you to get busy. While some of these may not apply to everyone, it’s going to be a great start and who knows, maybe you will make your own business out of one of these.