Sage Money

Everybody could use some extra money. It’s just always so… difficult to come by.

Not to worry. Our team has put together a list of the easiest ways you can boost your income this month. Without further delay, here are 30 ways to make money:

1. Get Paid to Play Bingo

Wouldn’t it be nice to add a little extra cash to your bank account this week?

Get this — there’s a free app called Bingo Cash that pays you up to $80 when you win bingo.

The game is based on a classic Bingo format — plus tons of variations on the game. You’ll battle it out against other players at your same skill level. Everyone gets the same board and sees the same Bingo balls, so winning is totally a matter of skill. The top three players in a game can win real money — anywhere from $1 to $80.

Over on the App Store, it has a 4.7-star rating (out of 5).To get started, just download the free app and start playing your first game immediately.

2. Add $100 to Your Wallet for Trying Out Apps

Our smartphones are the world’s greatest time-killers. You can browse Facebook; watch a video; download a new app.

You’re doing all this anyway — why not get paid for it? With a website called KashKick, you could get paid for things like answering survey questions or downloading an app — up to $100 per app.

You can also earn money by playing games, watching videos and reading emails, but surveys are the main way to make money.

Once you earn $10 in your account, you can immediately get paid via Paypal. This is an easy way to make a little extra money while you’re killing time on your couch. All you need is your phone or computer.

It takes just a minute to sign up, and you’ll immediately earn $1 just for completing your profile on the site. You’ll be that much closer to cashing out.

3. Get Paid Up to $140/Month Just for Sharing Your Honest Opinion

It sounds strange, but brands want to hear your opinion. It helps them make business decisions, so they’re willing to pay you for it — up to $140 a month.

A free site called Branded Surveys will pay you up to $5 per survey for sharing your thoughts with their brand partners. Taking three quick surveys a day could earn up to $140 each month.

It takes just a minute to create a free account and start getting paid to speak your mind. Most surveys take five to 15 minutes, and you can check how long they’ll take ahead of time.

And you don’t need to build up tons of money to cash out, either — once you earn $5, you can cash out via PayPal, your bank account, a gift card or Amazon. You’ll get paid within 48 hours of your payout being processed, just for sharing your opinions.

They’ve already paid users more than $20 million since 2012, and the most active users can earn a few hundred dollars a month. Plus, they’ve got an “excellent” rating on Trustpilot.

It takes just a minute to set up your account and start getting paid to take surveys. Plus, right now, you’ll get a free 100-point welcome bonus just for becoming part of the community.

4. Get up to $50,000 From This Company

Need a little extra cash to pay off credit card debt, remodel your house or to buy a big purchase?

We found a company willing to help.

Here’s how it works: If your credit score is at least 620, AmOne can help you borrow up to $50,000 (no collateral needed) with fixed rates starting at 2.49% and terms from 6 to 144 months.

AmOne won’t make you stand in line or call a bank. And if you’re worried you won’t qualify, it’s free to check online. It takes just two minutes, and it could save you thousands of dollars.

Totally worth it.

5. Get Paid $225/Month While Watching Movie Previews

A woman wearing converse and jeans works on an Apple laptop. — Carmen Mandato/ The Penny Hoarder

We’ve all been there. You sit down at the end of the day to unwind on your phone, and suddenly it’s two hours later and you’re in the weird part of YouTube again. How did I even get here?

But you don’t need to feel guilty about it anymore. Research companies will actually pay you to go down these video rabbit holes.

You could add up to $225 a month to your pocket by signing up for a free account with InboxDollars. They’ll present you with short video clips to choose from every day, then ask you a few questions about them.

You just have to answer honestly, and InboxDollars will continue to pay you every month. This might sound too good to be true, but it’s already paid its users more than $60 million.

It takes about one minute to sign up and start getting paid for your nightly zone-out.

6. Earn up to $69/Hour Working From Home

Truth be told, life would be a lot easier if you could just make money without leaving the house. But that’s not something most employers offer. But have you considered bookkeeping? It’s the No. 1 most profitable business, according to an article in Inc Magazine.

And you could earn up to $69 an hour by starting your own bookkeeping business, according to Intuit, the creator of QuickBooks.

You don’t have to be an accountant or good at calculus to be successful at bookkeeping. As long as you’re motivated, a company called Bookkeepers.com will teach you everything you need to know. It’s one of the leading training courses in the field, and it even gives you the first three classes for free.

It’s helped thousands of people launch their own businesses, including Daniel Honan, a military veteran and former painter. He never considered starting his own company, but he signed up for Bookkeepers.com, and now he’s making $50,000 a year.

It only took him three months to get started, taking one class a week. Oh, and he makes his own schedule, earns up to $69 an hour and is able to spend more time with his wife than ever.

If you’re just a little curious, you just have to submit your email address here to take the first free class. If you stick with it, you could be running your own business in just a few months.

7. Get a Free $80 for Playing This Cell Phone Game

Lots of us already play games on our phones for fun or just to pass the time. Want to see if you can win money at it?

There’s a free app called Bubble Cash that pays you for popping bubbles!

The game is based on a classic bubble-shooter format, and you’ll battle it out against other players within your skill level to see who can clear the board fastest. Everyone gets the same layout, so winning is totally a matter of skill. The top three players who clear their board fastest can win real money — anywhere from $1 to $83.

Over on the App Store, it has more than a million downloads and more than 12,500 ratings, averaging 4.6 stars (out of 5).

To get started, just download the free app and start playing your first game immediately.

8. Cancel Your Car Insurance

Here’s the thing: your current car insurance company is probably overcharging you. But don’t waste your time hopping around to different insurance companies looking for a better deal.

Use a website called EverQuote to see all your options at once.

EverQuote is the largest online marketplace for insurance in the US, so you’ll get the top options from more than 175 different carriers handed right to you.

Take a couple of minutes to answer some questions about yourself and your driving record. With this information, EverQuote will be able to give you the top recommendations for car insurance.

In just a few minutes, you could save up to $610 a year.

9. Earn $300+/Month in Passive Income with Your Extra Space

If you’re like us, your garage probably isn’t doing much of anything at the moment. Maybe you have some tools in there, or maybe it’s home to your boxes of odds and ends, collecting dust.

But with a website called Neighbor, your extra space — whether it’s a spare room, an empty garage or a parking space — could be earning you an extra $300 a month in totally passive income.

Neighbor works by connecting people who need storage space with hosts who have the room to spare. The average host makes about $300 a month, but some people have earned up to $50,000 a year just by letting people park on their property.

It takes less than 10 minutes to get started. Just answer a few questions about your space, take some pictures and set your asking price. Neighbor will recommend a dollar amount based on your location and type of rental, but the final listing is up to you.

Neighbor is an easy source of passive income, and it’s easier than most side hustles. It’s free to list your space. Sign up here and see how much you could earn.

10. Get Paid up to $600/Week to Drop off Starbucks

Your city is filled with two things: Starbucks, and people who want Starbucks.

An app called Doordash will pay you to pick up and deliver an extra latte when you’re already out and getting your caffeine fix. And it’s not just coffee. You can deliver from Chipotle, Chick-fil-A, Five Guys and hundreds of other restaurants in your area.

With Doordash, you set your own hours and work as much or little as you want, meaning how much you make is up to you.

You’ll earn money for each delivery, plus tips. Jose Neri, from California, reports earning $500 to $600 a week working just lunches and dinners.

The best part? No passengers — that grande, no-whip macchiato will be the only thing to hear your beautiful singing voice.

If you sign up for Doordash now, it’s possible to get your first paycheck this week.

11. Let This App Spot You a Few Bucks When You Need It

It’s happened to all of us at some point — the dreaded overdraft. It’s not only embarrassing if your card gets declined at the grocery store over a few bucks, but the fees that come with it only put you further into a hole. Double yikes.

But a banking app called Chime wants to protect you from both of those problems with its SpotMe® feature¹. It’s a fee-free overdraft protection that lets you overdraft up to $200 (for eligible members) without penalty.

Yep. Just sign up for a free Chime checking account and set up a qualifying $200 monthly direct deposit to take advantage of this face-saving tool. You’ll also get access to other sweet features, like getting paid up to two days² earlier with direct deposit, help automatically growing your savings and access to more than 60,000 fee-free³ ATMs.

Signing up takes just a few minutes. You’ll need your Social Security number handy — but don’t worry, your information is protected by bank-level security, FDIC insurance and two-factor authentication.

12. Spend $1 to Own a Piece of Amazon, Google or Other Companies

Take a look at the Forbes Richest People list, and you’ll notice almost all the billionaires have one thing in common — they own another company.

But if you work for a living and don’t happen to have millions of dollars lying around, that can sound totally out of reach.

But with an app called Stash, it doesn’t have to be. It lets you be a part of something that’s normally exclusive to the richest of the rich — on Stash you can buy pieces of other companies for as little as $1.

That’s right — you can invest in pieces of well-known companies, such as Amazon, Google, Apple and more for as little as $1. The best part? If these companies profit, so can you. Some companies even send you a check every quarter for your share of the profits, called dividends.¹

It takes two minutes to sign up, and it’s totally secure. With Stash, all your investments are protected by the Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SIPC) — that’s industry talk for, “Your money’s safe.”²

Plus, when you use the link above, Stash will give you a $5 sign-up bonus once you deposit $5 into your account.*

14. Add $225 to Your Wallet While Watching the News

It’s been a historic year in the news, and we’re all constantly refreshing for the latest updates. You probably know more than one news-junkie who fancies themselves a constitutional scholar or a foreign policy expert.

That might not be the best news for your dinner conversations — but it’s great news for your wallet. You could add up to $225 a month to your pocket by signing up for a free account with Swagbucks. They’ll present you with short surveys to choose from every day, which you can fill out while you watch tonight’s broadcast.

You just have to answer honestly, and Swagbucks will continue to pay you every month. This might sound too good to be true, but it’s already paid its users more than $429 million. We talked to one user in Pennsylvania, 52-year-old Carolinda Hendrickson, who earned $1,200 in a year.

It takes about one minute to sign up, and start getting paid while you watch the news.

15. Sell Someone Else’s Stuff

Selling Craigslist freebies is a great way to make a profit quickly, because you get the items for free. You could even have cash in hand today.

Go to the free section on Craigslist and look for things that are close to you and easy to sell immediately. They could be scraps from a job site or metal items you can sell, for example.

For a quick turnaround, avoid items like furniture or electronics. These can be good to sell, but they’ll take longer.

Cash in your treasures by reselling on Craigslist, including them in a rummage sale or selling to specialty buyers, like a pawn shop or a local business.

15. Become a Mermaid

Do you want to be part of their world?

We went for a swim with the real-life mermaids of Weeki Wachee Springs in Florida to find out how they get paid to slip into fins and perform for kids (and kids at heart).

This job isn’t exactly a day at the beach, but if you can keep up, it’s every bit as magical as you’d imagine.

16. Get Paid to Drink Beer

The craft beer industry is hoppin’, so take advantage of it by, well, getting paid to visit breweries.

When you sign up as a mystery shopper, it’s your job to go to a grocery store, gas station, restaurant or, in this case, a breweries, and provide anonymous feedback.

Now, you can get paid to mystery shop — and drink — at breweries in your area through Secret Hopper. (Clever, right?)

The company is looking for detail-oriented beer-drinkers to hop around to different breweries and objectively rate and review their experiences. One Penny Hoarder gave the gig a try. He paid $16 on his visit to a local brewery. Secret Hopper paid him $20 via PayPal within a few days.

So, no, you’re not going to get rich, but you will get free beer, and that makes us hoppy.

All you have to do is sign up, then it’ll contact you when you’re needed.

17. Grow Your Money 17x Faster — Without Risking Any of It

You’ve been with the same bank for years, and how do they repay your loyalty? With a measly 65 cents in earned interest every year.

And you’re not alone. The national average interest rate for savings accounts is just 0.17%.

But there’s actually a way to grow your money 17 times faster — completely risk free.

When you open a Capital One 360 Performance Savings Account, you’ll earn 3.40% APY on your account balance. Just to be clear, that’s almost 17 times the national average on a regular savings account.

There’s no minimum deposit to open and keep your account. And, you’ll never pay any monthly or maintenance fees, either.

And there’s no need to worry about accessing your savings — you can take your money out at any time with no penalties. Plus, all your money is FDIC insured, which basically just means it’s super safe.

It only takes a few minutes to set up your Capital One savings account. All you really need to do after that is sit back and watch your savings grow with 17 times the average interest.

18. Get Cash Back Every Time You Shop at Your Favorite Stores (Get $5 Right Now)

Finding the best grocery deals online is getting more complicated every day.With thousands of coupon sites and referral codes out there, how do you know you’re getting the best deal?

Leave it to Tada to find you the best cash-back opportunities. When you shop at Walmart, Target, Kroger or any of the other thousands of stores Tada partners with, you’ll see all available coupons and get cash back on your purchase.

All you have to do is clip deals from your favorite stores and add them to your app’s virtual grocery list before you shop. You can also scan a receipt after shopping in-store. You’ll see your cash rewards in your account in just a few days, then you can redeem them for gift cards or transfer the balance straight into your PayPal account.

It takes just a few minutes to sign up and get your $5 first shop bonus after your first receipt upload.

19. Share What’s in Your Fridge

Remember the Nielsen company? The one that’s always tracked TV ratings? Well, now it wants to know what’s in your fridge.

Once you sign up to be on the Nielsen Consumer Panel, you’ll gain access to the NCPMobile app. (If you don’t have a smartphone, Nielsen will send you a scanner.) As you unload your groceries after your next shopping trip, simply use the app to scan items’ barcodes.

Nielsen will reward you with points, which you can redeem for free gift cards, electronics (new TV, anyone?) and household items. The longer you stay on the panel, the more opportunities you have to earn.

Applying to become a panel member is straightforward. You’ll answer some basic questions about you and your household, then Nielsen reviews your application and will contact you when you’re eligible to join.

20. Be a Mock Juror

A couple prepare their taxes while sitting on the floor in their bedroom. The woman holds the laptop as the man lays on the floor with two pieces of paper in his hands. — Getty Images

A mock or surrogate juror reviews evidence and renders a decision to help lawyers prepare for real cases. Participation usually requires a full day cooped up in a hotel conference room.

Fortunately, there are online surrogate juror options, too: eJury and OnlineVerdict. Those opportunities pay $5 to $60, but they can take less than an hour.

To qualify as an online juror, applicants must be:

A U.S. citizen
18 years or older
Free of any past felony convictions

Creating an account for either site above is free but will require a questionnaire that will ask very personal questions about your age, marital status, criminal history, income, political opinions and more.

21. Turn Your Junk Mail Into Cash

You know all those flyers and advertisements you get in the mail each day? The ones you never wanted but have no idea how to opt out of?

Well, you can turn them into cash.

The Small Business Knowledge (SBK) Center is a market research company that wants to get a peep insight your mailbox. Join its consumer panel, and start shoveling that junk mail into a postage-paid envelope and, at the end of each week, send it over to the SBK Center.

No, you won’t be rolling in extra cash, but you can earn up to $20 every six to 10 weeks.

22. Clean up Search Engine Mistakes

Search engines use complicated algorithms to determine the results you see — and they don’t always get it right.

They’re vulnerable to errors, so they need real humans to look at the results and judge them for quality, relevance and usefulness. And those humans can get paid around $12 an hour for the work.

If you want to get paid to clean up Google’s mess (or Bing’s or Yahoo!’s), look for a job as a search engine evaluator.

Tech company Lionbridge is typically hiring for these jobs, and it pays $12 to $15 an hour.

23. Sell Thrift Store Finds on eBay

A woman wearing a heart bracelet hands six dollars to a man over a blue cooler. — Getty Images

Selling your possessions on the auction site eBay is one way to pocket some cash quickly.

You can also make money by buying designer clothes for cheap, then selling them on the site to the highest bidder. If you have an eye for fashion — or at least the most popular labels — you can track down inventory at local thrift stores.

Create listings for your items, making sure to include well-written item descriptions and quality photographs to give your listings a professional polish (and get top dollar). Check out similar items to get a sense of where to set your starting bid, and be sure to incorporate the costs of shipping and eBay’s seller fees into your price.

Penny Hoarder Kat Tretina resold designer jeans by starting with a minimal investment — packaging tape and a scale to weigh packages for shipping — and ended up more than tripling her money.

How much money can you make? Your profitability depends upon what you’re selling, but for working 10 to 15 hours a month, Tretina made $500 to $800.

24. Create a Blog and (Potentially) Earn Millions

A woman wearing a yellow cardigan works on her laptop at a coffee shop. — Getty Images

Want to start your own website? Turn it into some money?

It’ll take quite a bit of dedication, but it can really pay off.

Take, for example, Helene Sula, a professional travel blogger who visited more than 85 cities last year and earned $200,000, in part through her blog, “Helene in Between.”

We recommend you start by building up your high-quality content. Then you can look into advertising platforms like Google AdSense, a tool that automatically serves your readers display ads. The price advertisers pay varies, so there’s no way to say how much you can make using Google AdSense, but you’ll get paid when a reader interacts with the ad.

If you want all the details, check out our guide to starting a blog, gaining page views and monetizing it.

25. Get Paid to Drop a Few Pounds

A woman swims in a pool. — Heather Comparetto/The Penny Hoarder

Bottom line: HealthyWage will literally pay you for losing weight.

Not only are you getting more healthy, you’re also making some money. How’s that for motivation?

Here’s how it works:

Read more about HealthyWage, and sign up.
Define a goal weight and the amount of time you’ll give yourself to achieve it.
Place a bet on yourself ranging from $20 to $500 a month.

Depending on how much you have to lose, how long you give yourself to do it and how much money you put on the table, you could win up to $10,000!

Wondering if it can really work? We talked to one woman, Christina Castro, who lost 84 pounds — and made $1,191.

26. Stream on Twitch

Your mom was wrong. Playing video games might not be a waste of your time after all.

Cory Michael started streaming his gaming sessions and over four years attracted 29 million people to watch him tackle Destiny and other multiplayer online games. As a result, Twitch accepted his partnership application and agreed to pay him to play.

How much money can you make? Michael explained to The Penny Hoarder that there are three ways to make money streaming on Twitch: tipping, ad revenue and subscriptions. Top Twitch streamers can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars per month.

27. Get Paid up to $40/Month — Just for Sharing Your Opinion

Taking surveys might not sound like the best way to make money, but if you’re just vegging out on the couch — or pretending to be interested in your partner’s new favorite show — why not click a couple buttons? It could earn you up to $40 a month. Seriously.

There are a bunch of paid survey sites out there, but one of the best we’ve found is Survey Junkie.

They’ll ask you questions about things like, what kind of laundry detergent you use, or if you prefer Pepsi or Coke. You get points for answering, and many people accumulate enough points to request a check within a few hours. Completing just three surveys a day can earn you as much as $40 a month.

More than 20 million people already use Survey Junkie, and it has 4.5/5 stars on TrustPilot. Give it a try by visiting Survey Junkie and clicking the “Join Now” button. It’s free.

28. Rent out Your Ping-Pong Table

Got a Ping-Pong table you don’t use? Someone might need it for a party, so why not rent it out? You can make money with almost anything in your home now thanks to websites like Zilok that make it easy to rent out your stuff.

Zilok is free for individual members to create listings, but rental businesses have to pay fees. To list your item on Zilok, you’ll have to create a post with a description, photos and a price per day. Once a renter finds your product, Zilok takes a commission depending on the listing price. For everything under $10, the commission fee is $1. Fees range between 5% and 9% for all other price categories.

29. Sell Your Friendship

A woman holding a fanned out pile of large bills. — ljubaphoto/Getty Images

Get paid to be someone’s buddy! We’re not kidding.

You can register to become a friend at RentAFriend.com, where paying users can contact you to attend concerts, sporting events, family functions, VIP events and more.

You can charge up to $50 an hour and set your own schedule.

Friends working full time (five days a week) earn up to $2,000 a week, plus free dinners and access to those events I mentioned.

What could you do as a friend for 40 hours a week?

First of all, the site clarifies that it is “solely a platonic friendship website” — beyond that, options are endless.

If you have a special skill, like cooking or speaking a foreign language, you could teach them. Some people traveling or new to an area hire a friend to show them the town.

Some people just want someone to talk to.

30. Let NASA Pay You to Stay in Bed All Day

A man lays in bed in the dark as he uses his cellphone. — amenic181/Getty Images

Unfortunately, we haven’t found a way to get paid as a professional napper, but this opportunity is pretty darn close: NASA will pay volunteers to take part in bed rest studies.

Yup — you turn yourself into a test subject and spend 60 days in bed, all in the name of science.

It might be tougher than you think, though. You’ve got to shower, dress, exercise and eat… all from your bed.

The good news is the gig pays. One of the more recent calls for volunteers offered $19,000 for 60 days.

31. Teach Chess

Love to play chess? Tutor other chess players online to make $35 to $50 per hour.

Tutoring sites like WyzAnt can take a big cut (40% until you hit 20 hours of tutoring!), but as an online tutor, you’ll get practice (and get paid) without leaving the house.

Even if you’re a lower-rated player, you can charge $20 per hour to work with beginners.

32. Do Online Transcription

A woman sitting on a sidewalk bench works on her laptop. — Carmen Mandato/The Penny Hoarder

Those listening skills you honed by eavesdropping on your roommates’ conversations could finally pay off with a job in online transcription.

Transcription jobs usually require an assessment test to gauge your typing speed and accuracy. Depending on the service, you could be listening to a car commercial or court hearings, so find out what you’re getting into before you apply.

Cherry wishes she had known that tip before she signed up for her first transcription gig, which brought in $85.15 over six months for a job that required extensive testing and a lot of studying to follow a strict style guide.

“For that first transcription job, oh my gosh, I spent hours on that, and I got paid so little,” Cherry said. “I wish I would have just, in the beginning, told myself, ‘Hey, this just isn’t going to be worth it. Find something else.’”

Cherry had better luck after discovering the transcription service Rev, which offered a user-friendly platform and more lucrative projects.

How much money can you make? Making 40 cents to 75 cents per minute of transcription at Rev, Cherry earned $87.45 in one month for less than four hours of work.

33. Answer the Phone

A young woman walks down the street. She wears sunglasses and is smiling down at her phone screen. — Vladimir Vladimirov/Getty Images

Have you ever considered doing customer service from the comfort of your home? An increasing number of companies are hiring work-from-home customer service reps, instead of running call centers.

These jobs can be full– or part-time and offer a variety of schedules, including daytime, evening and weekend shifts with a range of pay depending on the position and location.

Your job is usually to answer customer questions over the phone or via online chat. You may find sales positions that include higher pay and performance incentives; or technical support positions, which are best if you’re tech-savvy and have an interest in helping people understand technology.

You should enjoy helping people, though! You know how a bad customer service call can totally ruin your day? You don’t want to be the bad rep on the other end of that call.

34. Create and Sell Courses

Casual students with female teacher in modern college building, woman in her 50s explaining to young people in their 20s — JohnnyGreig/Getty Images

Are you a self-taught coder with a knack for simplifying instructions? You could create an online course about it. Maybe you’re an expert at finger-picking techniques on acoustic guitar; you could make a course about that, too.

If you’re good at explaining whatever it is you specialize in, people out there are eager to learn, and with Udemy, you can create and host online courses — no master’s degree required.

35. Become a Mystery Shopper

Got an eye for great service? You could make money — and get the occasional free meal — as a mystery shopper.

Companies want to know the employees serving their customers are putting a good face on the brand. Because a CEO of a huge chain can’t pull an “Undercover Boss” every week, many companies send mystery shoppers into the field to rate the customer experience.This can be a simple way to make extra money — if you’re efficient. Here’s what to do — and what not to do — if you want to be a successful mystery shopper.

36. Get Crafty (But Not Too Crafty, If You Don’t Want)

A hand is shown writing calligraphy in a notebook. — Michael House for The Penny Hoarder

If you’re a creative, consider selling your art on Etsy. Although there are some fees, including the 5% transaction charge, the marketplace connects with more than 33 million buyers globally.

Those are a lot of potential customers.

If you aren’t necessarily the artsy type, you could still make money on Etsy by selling craft supplies. For example, Penny Hoarder contributor Janet Berry-Johnson made about $200 a month selling needlecraft kits and patterns.

37. Publish a Kindle Book

Smiling woman enjoying at home and using digital tablet. — BraunS/Getty Images

If you’re a subject-matter expert or have an intriguing life experience, you could write a book. But there’s no need to send it off to all the major publishing houses in New York City.

You can publish ebooks through Amazon’s Kindle Direct Publishing platform. Penny Hoarder contributor Steve Gillman wrote a book in a week. Note: Ebooks don’t have be hundreds of pages long. Gillman found many books as short as 6,000 words.

After publishing on Amazon, he started making $350 a month. The best part? He continued to make money, even months and years later. He outlines exactly how he did it and the best tips and tricks for you.

38. Swap Books for Amazon Gift Cards

A Kindle e-reader sits atop two paperback books. — Chris Zuppa/The Penny Hoarder

Have old college textbooks taking up valuable shelf space? You could host a garage sale or sell them on Craigslist, but one of the easiest ways to get rid of them is through Amazon.

With Amazon Trade-In, you can trade in your used textbooks, plus other items, like electronics, in exchange for an Amazon gift card.

Enter the item’s information on Amazon’s Trade-In page to see how much you could pocket. Shipping is free.

39. Teach English as a Second Language

Online teaching jobs — mapodile/Getty Images

If a classroom full of grimy squealing kids isn’t your scene… we get it. You can still work as a teacher. Better yet: You work as a teacher, set your own hours and work from home.

There are several online-learning platforms focused on teaching English as a second language to students in other countries.

Angela Brumbaugh is a QKids teacher. She teaches 36 half-hour sessions a week and makes up to $20 an hour.

“The curriculum is set for you before class, and your job is to simply guide the children through the lesson, offering guidance, smiles and tons of encouragement,” she says. That’s a big perk for many: No lesson planning.

“The students are hard-working, curious and light up the classroom with their smiles,” she says. “Class time actually goes by fast, and the only con I can see is sometimes I wish I had more time to spend with them!”

40. Become a Life Coach

Two women sit together and discuss materials appearing on a laptop and a mobile device. — Drazen_/Getty Images

According to a Forbes’ article on surprising six-figure jobs, about 20% of life and business coaches top $100,000 annually.

The article notes that “No special degree or training is required,” but if you want, you can get certified by the Universal Coach Institute. You can coach your clients by phone and email from the comfort of your home.

41. Pretend to Be a Patient

Doctors and nurses wheeling patient in — Sam Edwards/Getty Images

Fake patients, more formally known as “standardized patients,” are used to train new doctors. It’s essentially an acting job, as explained in NPR’s profile of Gabrielle Nuki. The 16-year-old is paid $15 to $20 per hour to play different roles while medical students examine her.

If you can act and don’t mind being poked and prodded by aspiring doctors, you can look for this work at a number of medical schools.

42. Earn up to $30/Day Watching Movies

A couple leaning close to each other eat popcorn and watch a movie in the theatre. — andresr/Getty Images

When he was just getting started, The Penny Hoarder CEO Kyle Taylor used to get paid to attend movie premieres. He got $30 to see a Harry Potter premiere! (He would have totally gone for free.)

Theaters and movie studios want to collect data about the audience that attends their movie premieres. They want to know how many people buy tickets on opening day, which screening time is most popular and which previews are being shown. And they want independent data from third party evaluators — that’s where you come in.

These are known as “in-theater checks” and to apply, you’ll need to fill out an application with one of the largest mystery shopping companies, Certified Field Associates. The application is just a few questions long and nearly everyone in the United States and Canada is eligible to be hired.

In-theater checks don’t have huge paydays attached to them, but you can usually expect to make between $10 to $20 per hour.

43. Monetize Your Doodles

A woman holding two pieces of hand-drawn art behind her back. — Carmen Mandato/The Penny Hoarder

We talked to one guy who sells his art online and makes $2,000 a month.

His whole life, he always doodled in the corners of notebooks and napkins, but he never imagined he could make a living from it. Now he sells his imaginative drawings of pizza and sharks and dinosaurs.

Here are some tips to get started:

Start small.
Create marketable products.
Push yourself. Look for opportunities to get better in your own work, even if it’s just watching YouTube tutorials.

44. Get the Props You Deserve for Being Active

Man Jogging With His Dog. — vgajic/Getty Images

If you live an active lifestyle (or need an incentive to become more active), the Achievement app will reward you for making healthy moves, including upping your step count and logging your sleep.

Achievement connects to your phone’s health apps and runs in the background, so it works passively. Many users report being happily surprised when logging on and checking their progress.

Once you earn 10,000 points, you’ll score $10, which you can deposit directly into your bank account.

Pro tip: Achievement connects to more than 30 Android and iOS health-related apps, including MyFitnessPal and Garmin. The more apps you connect, the more earning opportunities.

45. Do Odd Jobs

TaskRabbit helps you connect with people in your area who need help getting things done — anything from picking up dry cleaning to calling customer service and tolerating the hold music.

Keep an eye out for virtual tasks, which are mostly centered around personal assistance, administrative work or research help. You can do those an earn money without even walking out your door.

Rest assured you won’t be getting paid pennies to solve someone’s Excel woes. Check out these tips from users who make more than $2,000 a week through the app.

46. Search for Unclaimed Money

State treasuries throughout the U.S. have more than $43 billion in unclaimed funds, according to The New York Times. Just sitting around! Waiting for you to come play lost and found.

To take matters into your own hands and see if you have any unclaimed money floating around, check with the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.

Penny Hoarder reader Kelli Howell heeded our advice, performed a quick search and found unclaimed money in her husband’s name. He was entitled to $56 from a “matured insurance policy.”

Sure, it’s $56, but that’s not bad for an unexpected check, right? We’ll take it!

47. Work from Someone Else’s House

Working from home is wonderful, but sometimes it’s nice just to experience a new space — perhaps in a new town or a new country.

Consider house sitting. People will pay you big bucks to look after their house (and maybe a pet or two) while they’re away.

If you’re not sure where to find these types of gigs, there are tons of websites out there that’ll help, including House Sitters America and Mind My House.

48. Get Paid to Tutor Kids Online

mother working at home on laptop with daughter — martinedoucet/Getty Images

Love kids but don’t want to commit to the classroom?

You can get paid to tutor students online. Take notes from this former teacher, who makes up to $75 an hour.

If you’re not sure where to start, we’ve rounded up a list of companies hiring online tutors.

49. Cash in on Your Dollar Bills

Specifically, dollar bills with strange serial numbers — ones that aren’t easy to come by. The collectors at CoolSerialNumbers.com have created a list of their most-wanted serial numbers, and you might have a bill with one of these sequences on it in your wallet.

Turns out antique coins aren’t the only currency worth cash to collectors.

Check out the full list to see if you’ve got any of these rare bills, but here’s a rundown of the sort of serial numbers these collectors are looking for:

7 repeating digits in a row on $1 Federal Reserve Notes (i.e. 09999999, 77777776)
7 of a kind on $1 Federal Reserve Notes (i.e. 00010000, 99999099)
Super repeaters on $1 Federal Reserve Notes (i.e. 67676767)
Double quads on $1 Federal Reserve Notes (i.e. 00009999)

50. Sell Your Smartphone Photos

Selling stock photography is easy now that several great sites help you list your photos. It isn’t easy to make a lot of money, but even photos from around the house can be good options. For example, a real estate website with an article about staging houses for sale might need a photo of a living room with furniture. If they choose yours, you’ll get paid.

*Stash:

Paid non-client endorsement. See Apple App Store and Google Play reviews. View important disclosures.

Nothing in this material should be construed as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation to buy or sell any security. All investments are subject to risk and may lose value.

¹ All rewards earned through use of the Stash Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard® will be fulfilled by Stash Investments LLC and are subject to Terms and Conditions. You will bear the standard fees and expenses reflected in the pricing of the investments that you earn, plus fees for various ancillary services charged by Stash. In order to earn stock in the program, the Stash Stock-Back® Debit Mastercard must be used to make a qualifying purchase. Stock rewards that are paid to participating customers via the Stash Stock Back program, are Not FDIC Insured, Not Bank Guaranteed, and May Lose Value.

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