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With current inflation rates hovering right around six percent, and going as high as about nine percent, saving money is of utmost importance! Especially considering that there is no respite in sight regarding all the rising costs of living.
For this reason, it is extremely important to take advantage of money hacks that actually work.
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Free Money Hacks To Try
There are so many different promotions and tips and tricks that can help you get free money. Many of these money hacks can be done with almost little to no effort on your part. Of course, any little bit of money in your pocket helps!
1. Buy Gift Cards
Using gift cards is one of the greatest money hacks out there. If you are in the mood for a fancy night out on the town, or if you are planning a vacation, buy up gift cards so the money is already allocated for the occasion.
Buy the gift cards on your own terms during times of the month where you are more financially flexible. Then you can spend the money guilt free and not have to worry about going into debt unnecessarily.
If you want to get the most bang for your buck, though, take advantage of your warehouse membership (Costco, BJs, etc). They will almost always have promotional offers to buy gift cards at reduced rates.
You might find five hundred dollar Disney gift cards on sale for $450 and just like that you made a quick fifty bucks.
Warehouses often have promos for two, fifty dollar gift cards to select restaurants for under eighty dollars. Again, twenty dollars in your pocket for spending money you were likely already going to spend anyway.
2. Sell Unused Gift Cards
Have you ever received a gift card that you just aren’t going to use? Sell it!
When you sell them back to a third party company, you will most likely lose a small percentage of the value of the card. However, you will still get the bulk of the money in cash deposited immediately into your bank account.
Another option is to select to get paid out in gift cards instead of cash and therefore not incur as much of a transaction fee. Rather than just letting those gift cards gather dust at the bottom of your desk, put them to good use!
Websites like Card Cash function in this capacity. For example, if you have a one hundred dollar gift card to Starbucks that you have no intention to use, you can get $81 in cash upon receipt of the gift card.
If you prefer to receive payment in the form of a prepaid Mastercard, you will get $82.22 instead.
Or, if you would rather transfer the gift card to another merchant you are more likely to use, you can get even more money. For Walmart, you will get $83.03. For Home Depot, $85.05.
So obviously, the prices here will fluctuate depending on what you have. It is definitely something to look into if you are strapped for cash and have gift cards that you will not use. It’s a no-brainer!
3. Banking Welcome Offers
There are so many different welcome offers in the banking world. The free money is there – yours for the taking!
When you open a total checking account through Chase Bank, you will receive a two hundred dollar bonus!
All you need to do is set up a direct deposit within 3 months (90 days) of account enrollment. Your welcome offer will post within fifteen days after your first direct deposit.
If you are a college student strapped for cash, you can open a College Checking account through Chase. Receive a one hundred dollar bonus after completing 10 qualifying transactions within 60 days of account opening.
The qualifying transactions include debit card purchases, online bill payments, zelle usage, check quick deposits, etc. These offers are very easy to take advantage of!
SoFi is also offering a lucrative welcome bonus. When you open a new checking and savings account and set up direct deposit, you will receive $275!
It is also very important to note that SoFi savings accounts have a higher than average APY, which is significantly higher than most savings accounts. In fact, it is fourteen times higher than the average rate!
If investing is more up your alley, you can also utilize their brokerage account by funding it with at least ten dollars and you will get paid out twenty five dollars in the form of shares of your preferred stock.
4. Take a survey
They say that opinions are like armpits, everyone has two of them and they usually stink. Not in this case!
If you sign up for those online survey companies, you can easily make some extra cash by simply offering your opinion!
Let’s be real, taking surveys online is not a get rich quick scheme. If you are just looking for some easy cash, perhaps enough to cover your monthly coffee budget, then this is definitely your go-to option.
Survey Junkie is an online market research community that will pay you to take surveys. They also offer discussing your opinions, attitudes and behaviors regarding the market in order to help their clients innovate and improve the products they currently offer.
The amount you make depends upon the amount of time you spend and the types of surveys you take. They estimate that an average of three surveys per day will yield approximately forty dollars per month!
The money can be transferred directly to PayPal or bank accounts, or it can be used to purchase gift cards to popular retailers.
Related post: Legit Game Apps to Win Money
5. Cashback Apps
Another great way to help supplement your monthly budget is through the consistent use of cashback shopping apps. Again, you aren’t going to be raking in the dough, but you’ll definitely be making some extra cash!
Typically, these apps require you share your shopping tendencies in exchange for small, financial incentives.
For example, Shopkick is an app which will reward you with free gift cards when you perform activities while you shop either in-store or online. You are awarded points (“kicks”) just for entering certain stores.
While you are in the store, you can also get more “kicks” for scanning items that the app tells you to scan, and even more “kicks” for proving that you purchased the item!
Once you reach a specified threshold, you can redeem your “kicks” for gift cards to major brands, like Disney, Starbucks, Target, Best Buy and so much more!
Ibotta is another popular cashback application. When you access their application, you can receive instant cash back or savings on individual products at hundreds of retailers.
If you shop in-person, simply snap a photo of your receipt once you completed your transaction and you’ll see the cash back in your Ibotta account within 24 hours.
If you buy specifically promoted items by the app, you can accrue even more cash back!. The same applies if you choose to do online shopping.
However, there is no need to submit your receipt as you will be able to complete your transaction through the Ibotta app. For a limited time only, they will give you an additional ten dollars for free when you spend your first thirty dollars!
6. Screen Saver Apps
Do you have a smartphone? If you answered yes, then this money hack is for you!
Depending on your type of phone, there are several applications that you can download which will actually pay you just for keeping the application on your phone.
Essentially, whenever you lock your phone, the app will sell the display space of your lock screen and post promotional content from advertisers. You will receive a share of the advertising revenue generated by the app.
For iPhone users, Screenlift is a tremendous offer. The typical monthly payout from this app is approximately twenty to forty dollars.
When you lock and unlock your phone, you will get points which you can ultimately exchange for cash via PayPal or gift cards. The more frequently you lock and unlock your phone, the more money you will generate.
If you view content through their website, you will also amass more points and therefore more money!
For Android users, you should use Fronto. This application pays your money for interacting with advertising content by “swiping left” to unlock your screen.
In doing so, you will be taken to a promotional website or to download a mobile app. Each time you participate with their advertisements, you will get paid.
Even if you do not interact with the promotional content on your lock screen and simply unlock your phone regularly, you will still get paid!
Granted, it won’t be as much as if you “swiped left,” but it will still be something! You can also get paid for reading news articles via their app or participating in surveys or other shopping promotions.
With this app, you can expect to receive at least twenty dollars per month.
7. Secret Shopping
You’re going to shop… might as well generate some income while you do so!
Places like Kroger, Walgreens, McDonald’s, Target, Costco and various other retail locations solicit the services of mystery shoppers to ensure quality standards are being kept across the board.
So if you frequent one of those stores, you can sign up and get paid to be a mystery shopper via the use of the Field Agent mobile application.
When you download Field Agent, you become a secret agent to gather information for brands and retailers by taking photos, sharing opinions and completing other tasks.
This information is then presented to the companies in order to curate an overall better advertising and sales experience for the consumer.
As an agent, the app will provide you with several tasks to accomplish while in store or shopping online.
You can conduct audits by collecting photos and information about in-store products, prices and displays. You can also complete surveys about your overall shopping experience.
If you buy a specific product, you can get paid to rate it and leave a review. There is also the option to do scavenger hunts of specific products within the store.
Each one of these tasks gets paid a small amount upon successful completion.
8. Lose Weight
Yes, I must admit, this does sound too good to be true. But it’s not, promise!
This free money hack was even featured on Good Morning America, The Today Show and the Washington Post.
If you sign up for Healthy Wage, you can essentially bet on yourself!
Per their website: “HealthyWage uses cash-based weight loss challenges designed to help end procrastination, encourage perseverance, and harness the power of your desire to avoid losing your wager.”
You begin by placing your “healthy wager” and establishing parameters to this weight loss challenge. You bet a fixed amount per month, saying you will lose a certain amount of weight over a fixed period of time.
HealthyWage will use their proprietary algorithms to generate a payout amount if you are able to meet all the benchmarks. When you are ready, you officially place the bet and begin your weightloss journey!
To win the prize, you must either meet or exceed your goal by the end of your allotted time. If you refer friends and family, you can obtain a forty dollar prize boost.
Keep in mind that the minimum weight loss goal is at least ten percent of your starting weight and the minimum wager is $200. Also, you do need to verify your weight with HealhyWage both at the beginning and at the end of the challenge.
If you do not meet your weight loss goal, however, you will lose your wager, unfortunately.
Some of the success stories include some sizable payouts! The prize money ranges anywhere from the hundreds and even into the thousands.
So if you are looking to lose some of that stubborn weight, use HealthyWage to make some easy money. Their website includes testimonials of people with lucrative gains.
One person lost 160 pounds and won over three thousand dollars. Another lost 81 pounds and earned almost three thousand.
If you are committed to your weight loss, then this is a wonderful option to get some free money!
Summary
Money hacks often come across as a scam, but there are legit ways to make money from your cell phone doing next to nothing.
These hacks are great ways to get started making some extra cash!
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