What if I told you that you can make a little extra money with minimal effort or just by doing things you already do anyway? Sound too good to be true? You might be a bit suspicious or skeptical. I was too at first, but after getting some firsthand experience I can assure you that this is a legitimate way to make some cash… or at least gift cards if nothing else. I’m talking about money making apps you can download onto your phone. There are several out there that reward you with points which you can then redeem for cash or gift cards. I wouldn’t recommend something unless I’ve tried it myself. The apps listed below are money making apps that are currently on my phone and that I use on a regular basis. All apps are available in both iPhone and Android stores.
Achievement
Do you wear a fitness tracker to track your steps, miles, and heart rate? Then you should definitely be using the Achievement app! This is another set it and forget it app that gives you points as it tracks your steps, heart rate, sleep, and other healthy activities. Even if you don’t wear a fitness tracker, it will give you points for connecting it with other health apps such as Apple Health or MyFitnessPal. You can also earn extra points through the app by taking surveys or reading provided articles. You will be rewarded $10 for every 10,000 points you earn. Have your money sent to you through PayPal, direct deposited into your account, or you can donate it to charity.
Fetch Rewards
The Fetch Rewards app works directly with popular brands to give you rewards when you scan your grocery receipts to the app. Unlike other rebate apps I’ve tried that make you search their product list for items you might have purchased and then scan your receipt to get the rebate on that particular item, the Fetch Rewards app does all that work for you! All you have to do is scan your receipt and you will automatically earn points on any participating products. Points can then be redeemed for gift cards, and not just standard Amazon or Starbucks gift cards. They have gift cards for all different types of stores such as beauty, electronics, entertainment, fashion, restaurants, etc. And of course you have the option of donating your rewards to charity as well.
Job Spotter
This is an app developed by the job site Indeed in order to crowd-source hiring information. Here’s how it works. When you’re out and about and spot a Now Hiring or Help Wanted sign, you use the Job Spotter app to take a picture of it. Then you take a picture of the storefront. Once you’ve submitted these pictures you will be rewarded with points. The number of points you receive will vary depending on the obscurity of the place that’s hiring.
Bigger chains won’t fetch as many points as mom and pop stores. But you can expect to receive anywhere between 5 to 100 points per entry. 1 point = 1 cent. I’ve been using this app for a while and am almost at the $50 mark! Rewards can only be redeemed in the form of an Amazon gift card. Unlike some of the other apps I’ve listed, which reward you for doing things you already do anyway, using this app requires a bit more effort. But the rewards are greater which means you’ll earn money faster!
These are so many money making apps out there! Even though it may take a while to earn those rewards, with some patience and diligence, you will find yourself with some extra spending money you would not have had otherwise. Look into downloading some of these apps today! Also, please comment and let me know about some of your favorite money making apps!
Hey, Stacy, got a couple more you can add to the list, all tried out and vetted by me.
First, Mypoints. This one is mostly surveys, and there are other daily activities. Rewards come in the form of a good number of store gift cards as well as PayPal, which delivers cold hard cash to your PayPal account. Of course the ubiquitous Amazon is high on the list, but here’s the thing about Amazon. You can use an Amazon gift card balance to turn around and buy Whole Foods gift cards, which help immensely with the grocery bill.
Second, Microsoft Rewards. There are daily activities and quizzes (which take up very little time) and points are also rewarded for searches on Bing. You just do the search; you do not have to actually click through on a search result to earn the points. I am told that the Amazon gift cards only show up as available when you stay at “level 2” in any given month, meaning you basically have to do every available activity to get there, but again those don’t take up very much time. I push this one for every available point and I earn a $5 Amazon gift card about every 3 weeks. There are a very few other rewards available but none of them hold the slightest interest for me, so Amazon it is.
Third (and newest in my arsenal). It’s called Giftloop, and apparently it’s only available for Android right now. This is the one where you earn “coins” (aka points) just for having the phone plugged in and charging. There are also surveys, advertising videos (of course) and you can also earn for downloading and trying out various apps, which I have not done. It is definitely not a scam; I just redeemed my third $5 Amazon gift card, and I’ve been using it for just a few months. Other gift cards are available including PayPal cash. The app will work on an Android tablet as well as a phone, but you will not earn double charging points if you have it running on more than one device at once.
Both Giftloop and Mypoints have “refer and earn” programs, so if you’d care to at least try out either of them, let me know and I’ll get you a referral link. You can then in turn refer other people and earn reward for yourself.