The 28 Best Ways to Get Free Money: Legit $500+ Inside!

Is there really such thing as free money? Well, it depends on what you consider “free.”

Over the past few years, I’ve discovered a bunch of ways to make extra money with very little effort.

We’ll call it “almost free” money.

Now I want to be upfront. Individually, these ideas won’t make you a ton of extra cash, but when you combine several of them, the results can start to add up.

Here are a few ways to get some free money for yourself today.

1. Survey Websites and Apps: Up to $140/Hour

Don’t expect to earn an amazing hourly rate with most survey sites, but you can earn gift cards, cash, and other rewards by answering surveys, watching videos, playing games, and shopping online with several reputable apps and services.

I hesitated to include them on this list because you do have to do a little work to earn the money, but the work isn’t usually very hard.

User Interviews

User Interviews is a great resource for connecting with online consumer research studies. So far, I’ve made $105 in about an hour and a half, and typical rates range from $50-200 an hour.

For more, here’s my full User Interviews review.

Respondent

Respondent facilitates well-paying consumer and professional interviews and focus groups, either in-person or over the phone / video chat. According to the site, the average payout is $140 an hour.

Other Online Survey Options

Related: Paid Research Companies that Pay Up to $100 an Hour for Your Opinion

2. Max Out Your Company’s 401(k) Match: $1000+ Per Year

Your employer’s 401(k) matching program is probably the single best source of free money in existence.

How this works is your company adds money to your retirement account when you contribute. According to Investopedia, most companies offer some sort of retirement plan matching, with the most common structure being 50% of every dollar, up to 6% of your salary.

That means if you make $50,000 a year, and contribute 6% of your salary to your 401(k) — $3000 a year — your employer would add an extra $1500 on top of that for free!

It’s a deal that’s tough to beat … but doesn’t really help you if you need money quickly. For faster options, read on.

3. Get Free Stock: Up to $225

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

It’s a random draw—not your choice. I got Groupon (worth about $16 at that time, but up to $24 since), but apparently Microsoft, VISA, and Johnson & Johnson are options.

4. Credit Card Rewards: $200 in 3 Months

This is by far my favorite way of earning free money. By taking advantage of the various sign-up bonuses and cash back offers doled out by banks, my wife and I thousands of dollars in free money and travel over the last few years.

(Please just promise to do this responsibly and don’t spend money you don’t have on crap you don’t need.)

What’s the easiest way to get started? Try a new cash back card on for size.

(If you’re worried about your credit score, don’t be. I’ve opened probably a dozen credit card accounts in the last few years and still have a 750+ credit score.)

The Next Step: Check out my free course, Credit Card Rewards 101: How to Earn Free Cash and Travel by Spending Smarter

5. Check Your Current Rewards Balances

Many programs, including Capital One and Chase, let you redeem your points for gift cards or cash. For me, this is the virtual equivalent of finding money in the couch.

For example, Chase Ultimate Rewards now ties directly in to your Amazon account, where you can use them to pay for new purchases.

The redemption values often aren’t as strong as they would be when exchanged for travel, but can be a great way to offset more pressing expenses.

6. Get Free Money for Using the Internet: Up to $330/Year

Surprisingly, there are a few companies that will pay you to just to install their apps and run in the background on your devices. These are low-maintenance, low-overhead options to earn from what you’re already doing.

Surf

The free Surf browser extension is my latest free money find. By sharing data on what sites you visit, Surf gives you points that you can cash in for gift cards.

It took about 5 weeks to earn enough for my first $10 Amazon gift card, which means this simple addition could be worth a free $100 a year. 

As far as privacy goes, it doesn’t really bother me if some company sees that I spend a lot of time in Google Docs. Besides, I have to assume other tech companies are already farming my data without paying me for it.

Nielsen Computer & Mobile Panel

Nielsen — the company that’s been reporting TV viewership data for decades — will reward you for sharing your Internet usage behaviors. All you have to do is download the app to all of your registered devices.

As they track your usage you’ll earn up to $50 per year.

The app runs in the background and doesn’t slow down your phone or computer.

MobileXpression

MobileXpression is a market research panel that pays you in exchange for data from your mobile phone.

Download their app and allow it to work in the background recording your browsing habits while on your phone. By participating with MobileXpression, you’ll earn weekly credits redeemable for gift cards to popular retailers.

Get a free $5 Amazon gift card after your first week (if you’re in the US).

SavvyConnect

The SavvyConnect VIP program “uses safe, cutting-edge technology to collect data as you surf the web.” In exchange for sharing this data, they’ll pay you up to $5 a month per device.

That means when you connect your smartphone, tablet, and desktop/laptop — and remain active in the SavvyConnect community — you can earn $15 a month or $180 a year.

7. Cut Your Insurance Cost: $489+ Per Year

Want to know the dirty secret of the car insurance industry?

Here it is: your cars are worth less every year due to depreciation, but you keep paying the same amount!

Check out Insurify for a quick and painless quote process and compare the best rates in the business on car and home insurance. It’ll take just a few minutes (you can even do it on your phone) and users save an average of $489 per year!

Once you do — or even if you’re not ready to switch insurance providers — create a free account with Marble.

This is the first and only “rewards program” for insurance. Marble lets you sync your home, renters, auto, and pet policies in one dashboard, and then pays you up to 5% cash back on your premiums.

Since you have to have many of these coverages already, getting paid for them is like getting free money.

8. Sell Your Excess Bandwidth: Up to $30 a Month

I’ve seen a lot of buzz lately around a new app called Honeygain. According to the site, you can earn up to $30 a month when you share 10 GB a day of “your unused net traffic with data scientists.”

Just install the app (available on Windows, MacOS, and Android), connect it to the Internet, and earn rewards passively. On average, it takes users 48 days to reach $20.

Get a $5 bonus to start.

Before you get started though, make sure you’re truly on an unlimited plan as it sounds like this could chew through a lot of bandwidth in hurry!

9. Switch Banks: Up to $500

According to Bankrate, switching banks could pad your account with an extra $50-500!

Why do they give you free money just to move your money around?

Because they know switching banks is a pain! And once you do, you’re likely to be a customer for a while.

Just make sure to check the fine print to make sure you can meet the minimum deposit and monthly balance requirements.

10. Find Missing Money

Did you know there is over $42 billion in unclaimed funds in the United States, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA)?

Search databases at sites like Unclaimed.org and MissingMoney.com to see if you are owed any unclaimed money.

Totally random, but I found $35 in Nevada from an older company of mine!

11. Check Gift Card Balances

If you have unused gift cards lying around, those could be another source of free “found money.” It’s always nice to score a free meal from a gift card you forgot you had.

And if you don’t want to redeem it, you can try and sell it on eBay or through a gift card marketplace like Raise.

12. Get Free Money From the Government

Is it really free money if they’re just giving you some of your own tax dollars back? Jokes aside, check out what programs might be available at Benefits.gov.

Even if there isn’t another stimulus check coming, I found over 100 other federal, state, and local financial assistance programs.

And if you run a business or organization of any kind, you owe it to yourself to become familiar with Grants.gov. This is the official database of government grants (free money!) you can apply for.

Down Payment Assistance

Several state and federal programs offer down payment loans — and sometimes even grants — to prospective homebuyers.

If you’re in the market, it definitely makes sense to see what programs might be available in your state.

Childcare Assistance

As someone who’s paid over $2,000 a month for childcare, I know firsthand kids are expensive!

Thankfully, the government has a number of income-based assistance programs to help offset the cost of childcare. Drill down to your city and state to see what may be available.

13. Refinance Your Debt: $200+ Per Month

Since interest rates are so low, you may be eligible to consolidate or refinance your existing debt.

Credible is a great resource to shop for student loan refinancing options, while LendingTree may be worth a look for your mortgage rate options.

If you can score a lower interest rate and reduce your payments, that adds cash to your bottom line every month.

14. Tap Into Your Home Equity

Since refinancing isn’t for everyone, there’s another way to turn your home equity into cash quickly. If you’re comfortable assigning a portion of your ownership stake over to Hometap*, you can get cash upfront without any new loans.

*Currently available to homeowners in Arizona, California, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington.

How it works is Hometap becomes an “investor” in your property, buying a stake today in exchange for the future value. You have 10 years to buy back their share, either with cash savings, proceeds when you sell the property, or through another bank loan.

15. Get Free Cash Back: $150+ Per Year

Fetch Rewards

Just snap a photo of your grocery receipt with the Fetch Rewards app and earn points for every item you purchase from the 250+ popular brands in the app.

I’ve been cashing in my points for free Amazon gift cards, but lots of other options are available as well.

Get 2000 free points ($2) when you install through our referral link.

Ibotta

Download the free Ibotta grocery savings app and start earning cash back on the shopping you’re already doing. Use the app to find offers and claim them by snapping a picture of your receipt.

Inside my actual account:

You can cash out your savings to PayPal, your bank account, or a gift card once you hit the $20 minimum.

Ibotta Savers who use the app every month earn over $130 a year! I’ll take it.

Rakuten (formerly Ebates)

If you shop online, consider doing it through Rakuten. The long-running site offers cash back at thousands of stores, including, Target, Ebay, Walmart, Nike, Overstock, and more.

The average cashback offer is roughly 5%—not necessarily a huge saving, but it adds up, especially if you’re shopping online anyway.

I used the site to get $165 back on my new laptop from Dell, and  love getting my “Big Fat Checks” every few months.

Sign up through my referral link for a $10 bonus.

Dosh

Dosh is a cool app that allows you to earn extra 1-10% cash back for purchases you make at many retailers and restaurants. For example, here are the offers I found nearby:

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