Realistic Ways To Make Money

Quick! Can you come up with $100? I know most of you have $100 and a lot more. Some of you have that in your couch cushions, but for those who don’t, we have a ton of awesome ways to make money fast (many of which are online).

Any opportunity that promises you’ll make money fast overnight, run the other direction. The only time we’ve ever come across cash that quick is finding a $5 bill on the street. We aren’t offering get rich quick scams.

Need money - Realistic Ways to Make Money Online. 25 easy ways to make money quickly. The best ways to make money both online. Lots of original ideas on how to make money quickly and easily to boost. Anyone can make money online from home or wherever they want. Here are the some ways that I make money.

  • Any opportunity that promises you’ll make money fast overnight, run the other direction. The only time we’ve ever come across cash that quick is finding a $5 bill on the street. We aren’t offering get rich quick scams. However, if you’re looking for legitimate ways to make some extra money, we got you covered.
  • Freelance writing is a good way to make money relatively quickly. Not same day fast, but you can usually get money from freelance writing in your account within a week, depending on the client or website that you work with. Doing some freelance writing work can make you $1,000s extra a month.

However, if you’re looking for legitimate ways to make some extra money, we got you covered.

We’ve got some money-making ideas for everyone.

Easy, free money

These are a few ways to earn extra cash with minimal effort.

  • Make money with online surveys.
  • Want to get paid for your opinion? Use a survey site like Survey Junkie. You can share your opinion to help brands deliver better products and services. After you create your profile, they will start matching you to online surveys you can take anywhere, anytime, and on any device.

    Completed surveys earn virtual points that can be redeemed for PayPal or gift cards. Survey Junkie is great for anyone interested in earning quick cash from their couch.

    If you have some spare time during your lunch break or commercials, it’s a great way to make money fast. Sign up for Survey Junkie and make some fast money online.

    Most of the online surveys are pretty easy, and you are not required to signup for other services, so no annoying spam mail.

    For starters, it’s completely free, and you earn 25 free points when you create your account.

    Survey Junkie

    Want to get paid for your opinion? Survey Junkie lets you share yours to help brands deliver better products and services. After creating your profile, they'll start matching you to online surveys you can take anywhere.

  • Get free gift cards with Swagbucks (including Amazon)
  • What’s better than getting paid to do things you’re already doing? Getting paid to drink I supposed but getting paid to do something like watch videos, shop, and do searches online is pretty nice too.

    When you join Swagbucks, you can get cashback when you buy online from more than 1,500 retailers, including places you probably already shop like Amazon, Target, and Starbucks.

    Earn points for each dollar you spend and also get special coupons and deals exclusive to their shoppers.

    You can also earn points when you use the Swagbucks Yahoo search engine, and when you watch special videos, Swagbucks has put together.

    You can redeem your points for gift cards or get cash back through PayPal.

  • Cashback for Your Purchases
  • Do you buy stuff? I’m guessing you do. If so, why not get paid for it?! Ebates has helped its customers earn over $1 billion in cash back at their favorite stores.

    They offer coupons and rebates to you when shopping at one of their partner retailers (2,500+)

    Ibotta is an app that lets you earn cash back on purchases you make at select stores. They’ve paid back over $500 million to smart shoppers like you. How much can you save?

  • Trim your unused subscriptions, automatically.
  • We waste a lot of money on things like subscription services we no longer use. When is the last time you went to the gym? But life gets in the way, and we can’t keep track of everything.

    You might not even realize that you are paying for these things. It would be nice to have an assistant who looked through your bank statements and credit card receipts and found this kind of stuff. But you need $100, so you are too broke to have an assistant.

    That’s what Trim can do for you.

    It combs through your transaction history and looks for subscriptions to things like magazines, gym memberships, or food delivery services. They cancel anything you no longer want to pay for.

  • Get paid for random online jobs.
  • TaskRabbit lets you bid on jobs for things like picking up dry cleaning, food shopping, and babysitting.

    Lots of little, everyday tasks that others don’t want or don’t have time to do are up for grab for taskers.

    TaskRabbit

    Task Rabbit connects you to people who need help with their everyday to-dos. Services include moving, shopping, cleaning, and even assembling furniture. Create a profile, find jobs you love at rates you choose and set your schedule.

  • Lose Weight. Get Paid
  • Some 45% of Americans go on a diet each year, and most of them give up after just a few weeks.

    But money is a great motivator, so why not get paid to lose those extra pounds? That’s what HealthyWage does.

    There is a calculator on the HealthyWage site.

    Enter how many pounds you want to lose, how many months it will take, and how much money you want to bet per month on yourself to do it.

    Enter your gender, height, current weight, and waist circumference. Based on this information, you’ll see how much money you will win if you meet your goal.

    I put in some fake numbers (I don’t have weight to lose), and my winnings after my bet would be $169.40, which would be a 56.33% return on my investment in six months.

    There aren’t many investments that give you that kind of return, and you get to control whether you win or not. Pretty cool!

  • See if stores owe you money.
  • Earny: Receiving refund checks are my favorite past-time – and a great way to make extra money.

    As it turns out, stores owe you money all the time, but they don’t pay if you don’t ask. That’s where Earny comes in – they automate everything. It’s also 100% free.

    Earny

    Earny is a Chrome extension that provides 24/7 price tracking and gives real-time price alerts. Shop online, activate cashback and earn up to 20%. You'll get a refund if prices drop after making a purchase.

  • InstaGC
  • InstaGC lets you receive digital gift cards for doing things online, like completing surveys, watching videos, and searching the web. Choose from over 350 digitally-delivered gift cards.

    You perform tasks to earn points, and the cards can be used online or in-store. They’ve redeemed over 1.2 million gift cards to date.

  • Pay way less for your cell plan with Ting.
  • The cell phone bill is easily one of the most significant reoccurring monthly bills we have. Since it’s so much yearly, It makes sense to optimize it.

    It turns out you don’t need to pay out the nose for a cell phone; it’s time to slash your cell bill. Ting will give you affordable service on the main carrier networks, what more could you want?

    You get the same coverage as the big carriers with a much smaller price tag. The average Ting bill is just $23/phone/month. Damn

  • Side Hustle: Turn Your Skillsets into Services
  • Fiverr is an online marketplace where freelancers can earn money for their services. You can sign up for free, set up your Gig, and offer your work to a global audience.

    Make an online tutorial for something you’re good at, car repair, building a bookcase, cooking your signature dish.

    Upload it to Youtube and enable monetization. This allows them to put ads on your videos. Want to learn how to get started? Check out “PolyMatter” on Skillshare.

    Skillshare: Want to teach people things but don’t want to make them publically for free?

    Skillshare is a platform that allows people to create online courses to help others, and if people use your course, Skillshare will pay you.

    Want to learn from other creators? There isn’t a better place on the internet. Skillshare comes built-in with an audience interested in learning online.

  • Tutor for people online
  • Those ultra-competitive tiger parents want to make sure their special cornflakes get into the best schools, whether that means pre-school for three-year-olds or the Ivy League for eighteen-year-olds.

    Wyzant (tutor): They’re the place parents and students shop for tutors for a variety of subjects from algebra to science to test prep.

    There is a wide range of ages in need of tutors as well, from elementary age through college.

    Pick up work when you want – you set your schedule and fees, and Wyzant takes a cut.

    Wyzant

    Wyzant connects you with students looking for one-on-one instruction. Find ones that fit your location and schedule, set your rate, and get paid hassle-free with direct deposit.

  • Create an online store for e-commerce and dropshipping
  • Shopify: Selling stuff is a great way to make extra money, whether you sell things you make or re-sell things you buy.

    If you want to build an online store, Shopify makes it easy. They have ready-made templates, so you don’t have to spend time designing your store.

    We literally sell everything we don’t need and sometimes items we got for deals or even free. Shopify is also the favorite platform for drop shippers.

    What is dropshipping? It’s creating the process of creating an online store (automated) and signing up with a product distributor that will mail products directly to your customers.

    Since the products you sell ship directly to your customers, you don’t need to hold inventory or mail anything. All you need to do is find cool products and market your website. Some are saying it’s the ultimate online business.

    Become the Entrepreneur of Your Block

  • Walk Dogs
  • Everyone likes puppies! Look around for the fat ones in your neighborhood. Those are the ones who have parents too lazy to walk them.

    But all puppies need and deserve exercise, and you need and deserve $100.

    Join forces with the fat puppies and profit from being a dog walker. Rover.com is where you’d go to find a ton of in-need, dog walker clients.

    Who knows, your petsitting side hustle could turn into a small business!

  • Babysit
  • Forget checking Craigslist for part-time gigs. Parents post jobs on Sittercity for everything from a full-time nanny to the occasional part-time, date night sitter.

    You can apply for the postings, meet the family, and get hired. The average pay for babysitting is a little over $12 an hour.

  • Negotiate your debt away and reduce your monthly payments.
  • Debt Forgiveness: Did you know that credit card companies will forgive some of your debt if you’re in trouble? Imagine reducing a $10,000 bill to $4,000 just by calling them and asking.

    Not only is this a real thing, but billions of dollars get forgiven every year.

    If you aren’t comfortable negotiating forgiveness than you can bring on a company like National Debt Relief to negotiate on your behalf.

    They take a percentage of what is forgiven, so it’s no risk. If they don’t get your debt reduced, you don’t pay anything.

    Reduce monthly debt payments: Not all of us are in such a dire situation that we can have our debt forgiven. However, you can cut your payments by up to 80% by refinancing.

    Most credit cards have interest rates above 25%, and Credible’s refinance loans are as low as 4%. It won’t change the amount of your debt, but it can reduce your monthly payment significantly.

    Earnest (refinance your student loans): Same idea as above but on your student loans. There is $1.4 trillion in student loan debt outstanding.

    When you have student loan debt, it can make it hard to get ahead, invest, or buy a home.

    If this sounds familiar, refinancing the debt can not only help you pay it off more quickly, but it can save you money on interest too.

    Their interest rates are best-in-class, so we highly recommend them. An hour here can easily save you thousands of dollars.

  • High-Interest Checking & Savings Accounts
  • If you’re looking for a low-risk, high interest-earning cash account, Betterment Everyday Cash Reserve, currently offers a 1.37% APY(most savings accounts average a 0.10% APY). Grow your rainy-day fund with no fees. Link your bank account and start saving.

    Want to get your money under control?

    This is our guide to budgeting simply and effectively. We walk you through exactly how to use Mint, what your budget should be, and how to monitor your spending automatically.

    Investments

    Do you know the best way to make money? You don’t? Have you never listened to a single episode or read a single article we’ve done?! It’s growing money while you sleep – investing. Here’s how.

  • Wealthfront: Your financial co-pilot
  • Wealthfront is a Robo-Advisor that makes it easier for young investors to get started with the first $5,000 managed for free. They offer investors advanced features like tax-loss harvesting and automatic rebalancing.

    Wealthfront also provides free financial planning, investment management, and short-term cash management, all fully automated services.

  • Betterment: Automatic, efficient online investing
  • We have loved Betterment since Day One, and we love it still. It’s such an excellent gateway for people who are afraid to invest because you don’t have to know anything about money or personal finance or investing to get started. There is also no minimum, and the fees are low.

    There is no excuse not to open a Betterment account and start investing now. If you have two minutes and five bucks, you can do it. If you want more information, we wrote a comprehensive review.

  • Bank signup offers.
  • There is so much competition between banks that some offer cash bonuses when you open a new account as a way to attract new customers – and for you to save money.

    There are usually some stipulations; you use direct deposit or pay a certain number of bills online; the account must be open for a minimum length of time or keep a minimum balance.

    But most of the criteria are pretty easy to meet, and signing up can make you a few hundred bucks.

  • Fundrise – Online real estate investing
  • Simply put, Fundrise gets you access to million-dollar real estate deals with a contribution as small as $500!

    They get the deals and automatically invest your money based on some simple questions you answer when you first signup. Passive income at its finest.

    Last year their return was over 11%! We love what they are doing so much, we’ve written a full review on them and interviewed their CEO twice!

  • Buy Turnkey Rental Properties Online.
  • You know how we feel about rental property. What could be better than having someone pay your mortgage and pay you? It’s intimidating to become a landlord, though.

    You don’t know how to tell a good property from a bad one; you don’t know how to fix a sink, you don’t know how to screen tenants.

    But here’s the good news…

    Rental Properties for Passive Investors

    Our proven, data-driven approach to building a portfolio of income-producing rental properties that perform in the long-term.

    I created a course focusing exclusively on this real estate investing strategy: Rental Properties for Passive Investors.

    You’ll learn my criteria for finding (and closing) the right property, the foundations of a successful rental business, choosing the best property management team, and much more.

    This is a turnkey approach with tenants already in place, and those tenants have been screened. Your only job is to sit back and collect a check.

    Make Money Online from Home

  • Create a profitable blog like this one
  • We wrote a free in-depth guide for you that cuts through the bullshit. Specifically, we dive into how you can make money online with things like selling digital products and affiliate marketing (including affiliate programs to join).

    Learn How to Start a Blog That Earns over $400k a year

    Blogging is a lucrative side hustle and a great way to make extra cash. It won’t be good money right away, but with a little part-time elbow grease, it can make up a substantial income stream.

    Ride and Home Share Hustles

  • Earn money driving with Uber or Lyft
  • The hourly pay after expenses varies from city to city, but you can expect to make around $10 an hour with this side hustle. In larger cities, it will often be much more and in smaller towns, sometimes a little less.

    The appeal of rideshare apps like Uber and Lyft is that you can set your schedule, and there is no commitment.

    You can work your regular job and make your $100 in just a few hours on a weekend or some evenings.

  • Rent your apartment out online
  • Airbnb: If you live in a desirable place, a big city, a charming hamlet, the chances are that someone would like to stay in your home for a few days. And they’ll pay you!

    Right now, a small studio near the United Nations in NYC, so, far, far from the subway, is renting for $175 a night. If you can crash on a friend’s couch for just one night, there’s your $100 and then some.

    Or, if you’ve got a spare room, rent that out.

    The number of ways to earn extra money in your free time has never been greater!

    Need money fast? We have all been there before.

    While it’s best to have a cushy emergency fund you can fall back on to help you cover unexpected expenses, there may be times where your needs don’t justify spending from your emergency savings or you may have too many expenses for your small savings fund to cover if you are just starting out.

    Last week, my husband and I were faced with some unexpected travel expenses and we really didn’t want to dip into our emergency fund since it’s still growing and we’re trying to save up for a house.

    Taking out a loan can be costly and borrowing from your retirement fund is just a bad idea. Instead, try one of these 8 realistic ways to make extra money fast so you can cover your expense(s).

    1. Use TaskRabbit

    TaskRabbit allows you to earn money by doing small tasks for other people in your local area. People list tasks they need help with whether it’s running errands, handyman work, help moving, cleaning services, personal assistant duties etc.

    The compensation varies depending on the task, but you’ll see the rate before you accept the job and can get paid within 24 hours of completing the work. When you sign up, you do have to attend a brief orientation in your area and it could take 3 business days for your payment to show up after you complete a task so to be on the safe side, this option could allow you to make extra money within a week’s time or less if you’re already signed up to be a tasker.

    2. Write Articles

    is an online service that provides web content to companies for a low price. TextBroker hires freelancers (you) to write this web content for an even lower fee. Basically, a client pays TextBroker $10 for a 500-word article and TextBroker pays you $5 to write it.

    The application process is simple. Submit your online application which includes your name, address, etc. and a writing sample. Make sure you submit a decent writing sample because the quality of it will determine which writing gigs you can accept. Once you submit your application, you will have to send a picture of your government-issued ID to prove that you are a US citizen. Don’t worry – you can block out any personal information that you don’t want TextBroker to see.

    Once your application is approved, start writing! There are plenty of writing gigs to choose from at any given time. Some are 200 words in length; others are 1000. Obviously, the longer length assignments pay more. The assignments are organized by topic. You can only work on one assignment at a time.

    You can always use sites like Upwork to find freelance writing gigs that will get you paid quickly.

    3. Complete Freelance Projects On Freelancer.com

    If writing isn’t your forte, you can still earn money quickly by using some of your other skills to pick up freelancing gigs on Freelancer.com is a crowdsourcing website that matches freelancers with people who need projects completed.

    The projects range from graphic design to writing to data entry. Signing up is easy, no super personal information required. When you create your profile, you select your skills, include a biography and submit work samples. You also have the option to add a profile picture.

    Once you sign up, you can immediately begin bidding on jobs. There are usually a handful or more of other bidders, so bid wisely in terms of how much you want to get paid and how long it will take you to finish the project.

    Freelancer.com takes a $5 or 3% service fee (whichever is higher) from every project you complete. Keep that in mind when bidding for lower priced projects.

    4. Sell Used Items On Craigslist.Org Today

    Craigslist is a fast resource for selling used items online. If your item is in demand, you could sell it in as little as one day. I’ve sold a used a camera, baby gear, and electronics on Craigslist. Here are some tips for selling used items on Craigslist:

    • Pick a used item that you will never use again
    • Search through Craigslist and see the price range for similar items
    • List your item using a separate email address from your main one (to protect your privacy and avoid spam)
    • Make sure you explain why you are selling the item and any wear and tear it has
    • Only communicate via email at first
    • Only exchange numbers once you have identified a buyer
    • Meet in a public place and exchange item for money

    5. Sell Items At A Local Yard Sale

    Yard sales are popular during the warm months. Most will let you participate for a small table fee ($10 or so).

    I had a yard sale last summer and made $60 selling things from around my home at the yard sale. That’s a $50 profit for getting rid of items I would have otherwise thrown away or donated! Here are some tips for successfully selling items at a yard sale:

    • Find local yard sales through your apartment building, community centers or Craigslist
    • Secure your table (either pay in advance or arrive at the sale early)
    • Only sell items you are sure you have no need for
    • Bring cash to give buyers change
    • Toward the end of the sale, start selling the remaining of your items for one or two dollars

    6. Work Overtime at Your Day Job

    If you are an hourly worker, try to find opportunities to do overtime at your job. Overtime is paid at one and half times your regular hourly wage. So, the overtime hours can add up to a good amount of extra income really quickly.

    At some jobs, overtime hours must be pre-approved. If this is the case, demonstrate to your manager that your workload requires working past your normal end time or coming in early. If you work in a job in which you can simply sign up for additional shifts, do so to earn overtime income.

    Ways To Make Money Online

    Others ways to make overtime income:

    • Help out in other departments to get extra hours
    • Volunteer for additional projects
    • Relieve a busy co-worker of some tasks

    7. Sign Up With A Staffing Agency (Or Three)

    Staffing agencies are well known for placing people in jobs fairly quickly. I suggest you sign up with more than one agency to multiply your chances of getting a job. Call the offices or walk into the location and discuss your resume. The recruiter will let you know if there are openings that match your skill set and then will be in touch from there.

    Stay by your phone! A job opportunity can arise anytime. It is not unheard of for staffing agencies to get last minute request for a worker that same day. The more prepared you are to work immediately; the more jobs opportunities you will get.

    Staffing agencies offer temporary assignments (as short as one day), temporary-to-permanent (temp to perm) jobs, and direct hire jobs.

    7 Realistic Ways To Make Money Online

    8. Complete Online Surveys

    Realistic Ways To Make Money At Home

    Online surveys are a small but reliable way to make fast income online. You set up an account with a survey website and then answers surveys based on your demographic qualifications. For example, some surveys may only want females over the age of 25 to answer – or people age 18 and older who listen to the radio.

    Be wary of websites that claim you don’t qualify for any surveys. These sites may just be taking your personal information with no intent to pay you. Below are two websites I use to take paid online surveys. Some survey sites take a while to pay out but these compensate with cash or a PayPal gift card rather quickly.

    • MindSwarms – 24 hours
    • Swagbucks – up to 10 days
    • Pinecone Research – instantly
    • Opinion Outpost – $10 minimum within 24 hours

    7 Realistic Ways To Make Money Online

    (Here are a bunch of other legit survey sites you can sign up with. Keep in mind that payment time with these can vary.)

    Money

    Realistic Ways To Make Money From Home

    Having a reliable way to make money quickly can make a huge difference when you need money fast. Keep these ideas in mind the next time you are faced with an expense and don’t want to use your emergency savings or take out a loan to cover it.

    Have you ever done any of these things to earn extra money?

    Photo Credit: eskamilho