45 Ways to Get Free Money Today (Make $250+)

Today we will go through and look at the best ways that you can earn some free money starting today.

You can basically get paid to do nothing with many of these options, with little to no effort to make money right now.

Some of these ways are just tweaking how you shop, some of them are optimizing and monetizing your downtime, but all of them are guaranteed easy and free moolah!

There are lots of different ways that you can do this, and hopefully, you can try them all out and get lots of free cash.

Quick Picks

There really are many profitable free money hacks out there, including sign-up bonuses, survey cash, and more!

Before we get into all the ways you can snag free money today, let’s talk about our top 5 favorites, including apps that offer instant sign-up bonuses:

• Best Survey Site: Swagbucks is a great app where you can answer questions, play games, shop around online, and more to earn money on the side.
• Best Cash Back App: Honey is our favorite cash back app that not only helps us earn money back when we shop but also automatically looks for coupons, so we spend less more often!
• Best Site To Get Paid Watching Videos: InboxDollars  is another survey site where you can watch videos and earn cash, which I usually do while I exercise to make money for my workout.
• Best Place To Resell Electronics: Decluttr can be a great website to sell electronics and more, decluttering your house and making more money while you do it.
• Best Investment Platform: Robinhood is the best investment platform for beginners because it’s easy to navigate and invest in; plus, they offer 2 free stocks for joining!

Survey Websites & Apps

We spend so much time on our phones, why not earn cash rewards from them?

Instead of simply watching videos on Facebook or TikTok or taking Buzzfeed or Sporcle quizzes, you can do the same thing and get money!

One of the go-to’s for getting some cash in is heading to paid survey sites to get free money.

You aren’t exactly going to get rich from doing these, but it is a great way to get some free cash on the side and pad your wallet.

1. Swagbucks

Swagbucks is our first pick, it is a great cash rewards site to get free money because there are so many things that you can do besides taking online surveys.

You’ll earn SB’s on there which are the points that you accrue and trade in to get free cash through PayPal or get free gift cards to your favorite stores.

Before you sign up for the surveys on this site, it will let you know how many SBs you will earn before you do it- sometimes it’s 1 SB or even 1,000 SBs.

That way you’ll know what you’ll earn for the time you put in, and you can decide which ones will be more profitable.

2. Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is one of the most popular survey sites out there and another easy way to earn cash.

It’s a paid survey site with over 3 million members and is worth all the hype

You can earn $0.10 – $1 for taking a survey in only 5-20 minutes, and you can cash out to your bank account, PayPal account, and gift cards.

It’s more moolah than you earned on that Buzzfeed Hogwarts House quiz, right?

You will earn points for completing surveys and can redeem those points instantly for free PayPal money or free gift cards.

3. InboxDollars

InboxDollars pays you cash for taking surveys, watching videos, and signing up for different services.

The best thing about using InboxDollars is that they pay out in real cash.

You have to earn $30 before you cash out, but you can get $5 for signing up!

A hack Kelan is sneaky with is watching their videos- he’ll open up a bunch, turn the volume down, and play them all!

You earn anywhere from $0.01 – $0.25 per 1-2 minutes, but hey free cash for minimal effort is nothing to snuff at.

And you can cash out to your bank account, PayPal cash, or gift cards.

4. MyPoints

MyPoints is a cash rewards website that gives you points for doing a bunch of different tasks.

You can then exchange those points for free cash, gift cards, or travel miles.

They have Amazon gift cards starting at $1 so you can cash out quickly!

You can get paid to share your opinion by completing the surveys and earn 400 points for your time, which is about $2.50.

There are other ways to earn money on the site as well such as watching videos and reading emails.

5. Opinion Outpost

 

Opinion Outpost is a survey site that you can make some extra money on that may have fun survey options.

The short surveys emailed to you are quick and easy. The payouts are pretty quick too, so you don’t have to wait around for your money and rewards. 

You’ll earn about $0.5o – $1 per survey- but like other survey sites, you can earn up to $5 on surveys that take more time

We found that you can make about $1 -$2 per hour, which you can convert to cash rewards or gift cards.

Shopping With Cash Back

When you are doing your shopping and are going to be spending money anyway, it’s always a good idea to try and get some absolutely free money for doing so.

Luckily for us, there are lots of different ways that you can earn extra money shopping:

6. Ibotta

We absolutely love Ibotta!

It’s one of the free money apps that rewards you with cash back for shopping with brands that you were going to be purchasing from anyway.

You will need to download the app and then open it up. You then select the items that you are going to be buying, and then go and buy them! After that all you need to do is upload your receipts.

7. MyPoints

We already covered MyPoints in the surveys section, but we wanted to include it here as well because you can earn free money for doing your shopping.

One of the ways that you can earn money on MyPoints is with cash back.

All that you need to do is click through on their site to the retailer that you are purchasing from and it will track that transaction.

8. Rakuten

Rakuten is the new name for a company that you may know quite well – eBates.

Rakuten is another cash back website that works in a similar way to MyPoints.

All that you need to do is click through to the retailer that you will be purchasing from and you will get cash back for doing so.

There are lots of awesome stores on here such as Amazon and Target.

9. KashKick

KashKick is a fantastic app for earning cashback on your shopping while also discovering incredible deals.

To get started, simply sign up and scan your receipts for rewards or browse the variety of offers available to find savings.

Additionally, you can boost your earnings by playing mobile games and taking quick surveys, which take just a few minutes but add up quickly.

Being able to earn rewards in multiple ways makes KashKick an efficient and enjoyable way to get more cash in your pocket.

10. Honey

Honey is the perfect shopping tool to use if you tend to forget to look for coupon codes when you are doing your online shopping.

Honey is a browser extension that you leave to run in the background. It will pop up and let you know if there are coupons available on the site that you’re on.

Not all sites have coupons available and it won’t pop up if this is the case.

When you are checking out this is when it will pop up and search through the coupon codes for you.

11. Dosh

Dosh is a money-making app that’s really hands-off.

This is one of the easiest ways to earn free cash because you don’t have to actively do anything!

All that you need to do is link your credit card to it and then it will work automatically, giving you cashback on your shopping.

Government Grants

When it comes to finding financial support, various government grants are available that individuals and organizations can apply for.

Unlike loans, government grants don’t need to be repaid, making them an invaluable resource for those who qualify.

By utilizing these resources, individuals and organizations can tap into the vast array of funding options that the government provides, potentially easing the financial burdens they face.

And there are grants for many situations- to get money for childcare expenses, a new small business, home renovations, and much more!

Here are 3 sites to find and apply for government grants:

12. Grants.gov

Grants.gov is the most comprehensive database of federal grants that give out funding.

With a user-friendly interface, it allows individuals and organizations to find and apply for grants spanning multiple government agencies.

To streamline the process, users can create an account, track their application status, and set up alerts for new grant opportunities.

13. USA.gov

USA.gov offers a starting point for grant seekers looking to benefit from federal assistance.

It provides a portal to grants and government assistance for various purposes, including educational, business, housing, and disaster relief grants.

Their site also educates users on how to apply for grants and avoid scams.

14. Benefits.gov

Discovering need-based grants has never been easier with Benefits.gov.

By using the “Benefit Finder” questionnaire, visitors can identify government grants and financial aid they might be eligible for.

The website also offers a wealth of information on how to apply for the benefits and the types of aid available from the government.

Money-Saving Robots

There are all kinds of ways that you can get free money, and now let’s check out robot programs finding free money for you.

You don’t necessarily earn more money on this one- but you get to keep your hard-earned income by saving on pesky bills!

15. Trim

If you are looking for ways to save money on your bills, you’ve got to sign up to Trim.

Trim is an artificial intelligence assistant that will go through your finances and see if you can save money on any of them.

It will help with subscriptions that you’ve forgotten to cancel or have duplicates of and can negotiate bills for you as well.

16. Bill Shark

Bill Shark is another company that works by negotiating your bills and canceling subscriptions.

As you can see, they boast that they can help you reduce your bills each month by 25%!

So if you spend $200 a month on your bills, you could start off saving $50.

You can also earn cash rewards on their program by sending them photos of your receipts for additional cash back.

Decluttering Your House

I don’t know about you, but I love a good declutter!

Not only do you get more space in your home, but you also get more money in your pocket from selling your stuff.

There are many online flea markets you can join to sell your clutter and make a profit back from unused goods.

17. eBay

eBay is one of the most popular sites to sell on due to the number of people that are on there buying stuff!

If you have large or bulky items to sell, don’t let that put you off as there’s a ton of money to make there.

You can sell your unwanted/unused stuff or resell stuff you find in thrift stores, both of which can be profitable sales.

If you want to learn more about selling on eBay, check out our article on selling on eBay or learn about being a Flea Market Flipper.

Our friends Rob and Melissa make their full-time income by selling on eBay. Their business model is flipping items that they find for free or very cheap.

You can sign up for their Flea Market Flipper course to get started today.

18. Decluttr

Do you want to sell your stuff but you’re short on time?

An option that you could consider is Decluttr.

There’s a lot less work involved in this because all that you have to do is scan your items, let it give you a price, and then send it all in one box together.

19. Gazelle

This is the site that you want to get on if you have some smartphones that you want to sell.

Gazelle is a site that you can sell them on, but it’s always worth checking on other sites first too.

Investing

 

You could start investing in stocks, get your retirement plan set up, get into real estate, and more with lots of platforms- but some give you freebies to start today! 

There are some companies out there that will give you free stock for signing up, so get started on investing with extra cash.

It’s never too late to start investing- you can start today and make money for your future!

20. Robinhood

 

Robinhood is an online brokerage that gives you free stock when you sign up.

They’re one of the most popular investment platforms and were the first to offer commission-free trading.

The only catch is that you aren’t allowed to choose the stock yourself – they will give you one at random.

21. Webull

Webull is a broker-dealer that is offering free shares when you sign up.

You can get started with a $0 minimum and they have many investment options to get your portfolio stacked up!

You then also get another free share when you deposit $100 into your account, which is a great starter amount for new investors.

You can use Robinhood to invest in stocks and ETFs but also get involved in cryptocurrency to diversify your portfolio.

22. Acorns

If you’ve been thinking about investing, you are going to want to check out the micro-investing app Acorns.

This Robo-advisor has many great features, but the best feature is when they round up your purchases to invest spare change.

So when you pop in the gas station and pick up snacks, the $5.25 will get rounded up to $6, and the extra $0.75 will be invested in your portfolio.

It makes it easier to invest without thinking about it every day.

Some investors think Robinhood and Acorns are close competitors, but you can see for yourself which is the better fit for you.

23. Betterment

Joining Betterment is great because they’re a helpful Robo-advisor that can align your portfolio to your financial goals every time.

They’ll create your portfolio for you and manage it every day to make sure you avoid losses. 

Betterment has a management fee of 0.25% meaning if you have $10,000, then your fee would only be $25 for the year.

They make it easy and fairly inexpensive to start growing your money, especially your retirement funds tax-free.

Speaking of your retirement plan, make sure any old jobs don’t have unclaimed cash in a 401(k)- that’s tax-free money sitting around being wasted!

Refinancing Student Loans

When you’re looking for free money, you are going to want to look at some quick wins which will save you a lot of money over time as well.

Refinancing your student loans is one of those ways, but you need to work out if it’s going to be worth it for you.

24. Credible

Credible isn’t a student loan provider, but it will help you find the best loans for you across all of the providers.

You could find deals that are tax-free for the first few months or even up to a year, but be sure to compare the interest rates for loans that will be around a bit.

25. SoFi

In order to be able to refinance your student loans with SoFi, you will need to have a credit score of 650 minimum.

26. LendKey

LendKey is an online marketplace where you can refinance your loans through local credit unions or banks.

Getting Into Shape

Another great way to earn free money doing things that you were likely to be doing anyway, like getting fit!

Similar to survey sites, you can earn cash by just going about your typical routine.

27. Rover

This may not have been the first thing that you thought of when it came to getting fit, but this is a perfect way to do so!

On Rover, you can get paid to walk dogs, so it’s fun as well as good exercise.

28. HealthyWage

HealthyWage is another fun one as well, as the whole concept is that you place a bet on yourself to hit a weight loss goal!

If you win the bet, you win cash, and get a direct deposit into your bank account within a few days.

Read our HealthyWage review to learn more about their weight loss challenges and prizes.

29. Sweatcoin

You may have heard of this one before – the app that pays you to walk.

You get paid via coins which are a cryptocurrency.

30. Achievement

On this app, you can earn points for running, cycling, swimming, and more.

You can also get points for logging on and tracking things such as meals.

New Savings Accounts

Rather than having regular bank accounts, you could get free money for opening special savings accounts!

Here are the best:

31. CIT Bank

CIT Bank is one of our favorites, and they are frequently offering bonuses for signing up e.g. $150 or $300 (depending on your deposit).

It’s worth doing especially if you factor in their good savings interest rate, which is 0.65% APY.

32. Chime

Chime is another option for a high-yield savings account (HYSA), where you can earn 0.5% APY on your account.

HYSAs are the best option to get more money for your savings and grow it automatically without any extra work!

33. Chase Bank

With Chase Bank the sign-up bonuses are worth checking out!

They tend to offer big bonuses for joining, e.g., $600 bonus for opening an account with $25.

Credit Card Rewards

As long as you don’t rack up your credit card debt, you’ll make money with rewards cards from buying what you already need and getting more money for it.

Here are our top picks for cash rewards credit card companies:

34. Capital One

This Capital One Venture Rewards credit card is a popular travel credit card and you can earn points with each purchase that you make on it

35. Chase

Chase Sapphire Reserve is one of the best travel reward credit cards out there, but it’s worth noting the annual fee is quite big and you have to spend a lot on it to qualify.

36. Discover

Discover offers a credit card that gives you cash back rewards on purchases that you make on it.

A great thing is that the rewards don’t expire, so you can save them up and use them at any time.

Join Clinical Trials

Now like the surveys, you do have to put in some work to get cash, but this is certainly worth looking into.

If you don’t have much going on some days and need to fill your time, why not join a trial?

You can sometimes make an easy $50 in just a few hours with clinical research!

37. Centerwatch.com

There is a list on Centerwatch.com with specific information about each trial and what it relates to.

This is handy to find the one that would apply to you before you go anywhere.

38. ClinicalTrials.Gov

ClinicalTrials.gov also has handy search tools to help you find trials you can participate in to make money.

You can search by topic, area, and advanced terms to start taking advantage of the dozens of paid research you can get in on.

Sell Plasma

There are some great and weird ways to make money, and here’s one that so many people swear by!

39. Sell Plasma

You can get paid for selling your plasma, and although it’s not technically free money, there’s not much effort that goes into doing it.

You can easily make around $200 per month by going in and giving plasma!

Sell Data

There are companies out there that will buy your data for their market research, similar to paid survey sites.

Here are some companies that you can join to do this:

40. Mobilexpression

MobileXpression is a market research company that will pay you for your data from your phone. All that you need to do is download the app and let it work in the background.

41. Nielson Computer and Mobile Panel

Nielson is another similar one in that you can get free money for sharing your internet usage.

You just need to download the app and it will track it in the background. You will earn points for doing this.

42. SavvyConnect

The SavvyConnect company collects your data as you use the internet and will pay you up to $5 per month for doing this

Unclaimed Money

Is there anything better than finding money that you had forgotten about?! 

Unclaimed money is basically unclaimed funds like a forgotten tax return, insurance money (especially unclaimed life insurance policies), utility deposits, unclaimed pension funds, and more.

43. Missing Money

Missing Money is a database where you can search for unclaimed funds that you could have out there.

Just enter your information and it will let you know if you have unclaimed money to get back.

You can also find unclaimed money using Credit Karma, they have a tool called the Unclaimed Money Tool that you can check routinely for missing money.

Review Products, Websites, and Services

There are ways that you can get free money online from reviewing things, which is another form of market research from these companies.

44. Pinecone Research

Pinecone Research is generally a survey site, although they do product testing often as well, with free money and products available to you.

45. Usertesting.com

On Usertesting, you will be paid to test various websites and apps.

There are companies out there who want to check their sites, programs, etc. work and will give you free money for this.

FAQs

Now we will take a look at some questions that you may have about free money:

How can I get free money right now?

If you’re eager to get your hands on some free money right now then we would suggest some of the best ways mentioned in this article:

• Donating plasma
• Selling your stuff on eBay
• Signing up for free stock
• Opening bank accounts for bonus money
• Referral bonus apps– refer friends to apps you use

There are so many ways that you can make free money, so it’s up to you to pick!

How can I get cash back in tax credits?

Receiving cash back in tax credits involves leveraging various federal, state, and sometimes even local tax provisions designed to reduce the overall tax liability for eligible taxpayers.

One key approach is to utilize refundable tax credits, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which can yield a tax refund even when the credit exceeds the amount of taxes owed.

Additionally, the Child Tax Credit and American Opportunity Tax Credit (for educational expenses), among others, offer opportunities for taxpayers to receive money back in tax credits.

You can even check about getting tax credits from your health care insurance under the Affordable Care Act.

To ensure you’re capitalizing on these credits, it’s essential to file your tax returns accurately and consider consulting with a tax professional regarding your eligibility for specific tax credits and deductions.

Are there ways to get free money because of my job?

Depending on your job, yes, you could get free money and benefits.

This is mainly true for health care and educational workers, who currently can get Hero Pay for being essential workers.

Health care and educational workers can receive money from the Health Care and Mental Hygiene Worker Bonus Program in New York state, for example.

What about options for low-income families?

For low-income families, there are payment assistance programs plus federal grants you can start taking advantage of to help with the costs of living.

For example, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program helps cover heating and cooling costs people struggle with.

You can check out all the financial assistance programs and other payment assistance benefits from the government right here.

Free Money Opportunities Are Everywhere!

Hopefully, you will have seen throughout this article that there are a lot of different ways that you can earn free money now.

There are so many money-making hacks that will get more money in the bank every day.

You can use money-making apps, cash back apps and cards, some low-key side hustles, and more to make easy money on the side.

Whilst some require more effort than others, there are lots that require minimal effort.

There’s so much free money out there in the form of free gift cards, PayPal cash, and more- it’s time to get some of that for yourself!

Have you ever tried any of these before? Which would you like to give a try?