15 Stupid Simple Ways to Make Extra Cash This Holiday Season
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At the beginning of each year it’s New Year, new you, right? But how long does that last? Now that 2020 is almost over, (finally!) I’ll admit, I’m way behind on my goals even if I had some extra time.
Yea I made my usual lose weight, save more money, and travel more resolutions, but let’s face it, these “goals” aren’t going to come true without a solid plan.
And to save more money? Well, it’ll be easier if you have more money to begin with, right? So we’ll focus on that and lay it all out – Here’s our list of stupid, simple ways to make extra cash this holiday season.
1. Make Easy Money Just Trying and Playing Games
There are so many new games coming out on the daily that it’s hard to choose which to play, even if we’re experiencing extra time at home.
My strategy? Only focus on the games that pay for my time.
You can do it with AppStation, an app that pays you to try out new games.
When you earn coins from trying new games, you can redeem for:
- PayPal Cash
- Amazon gift card
- GameStop gift card
- PlayStation Store gift card
- Xbox Live gift card
- And too much more to list
Nab a 4,444 coin welcome bonus too, which is basically around 40 cents in value. And if you don’t like to wait, you can choose to payout as low as $0.50
If your friends want to get it on the money action from afar, introduce them to AppStation, where you’ll get bonus coins and 25% of all their earnings. To make it a supportive group, your friends will also earn 25% of your earnings too!
2. Get Paid to Try New Games. Every Gamer’s Dream.
Who would’ve thought you can play games to make some money? Especially now when that’s easy to do from home.
All you need is Mistplay, a game platform where you can try new games to earn points redeemable for gift cards like Amazon, PlayStation Network, XBOX Live, and more.
In the app, all available free games are listed so just take your pick to try, especially high unit multiplier games! For example, the 4x unit multiplier games will earn you 8 times more units (and dollars) per level than the 0.5x unit multiplier games.
You’ll only get paid for playing games if Mistplay is running so be sure to always install games from the Mistplay app!
3. Scan the Stuff You Buy & Get Free Rewards
The exclusive Nielsen Panel program is opening up again for more participants! This is your opportunity to make your consumer voice heard! (And get paid for it!)
When you become a panelist, just use the app to scan the barcodes of items you purchase, provide a few additional transaction details, and you’ll earn points for:
- Gift Cards
- Tablets
- Electronic Equipment
- Flat Screen TVs
- and much more from their gift catalog!
Plus, all panelists are automatically entered into weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual drawings to win extra points and gift cards – even a quarterly sweepstakes to win $5,000!
The more you share your shopping habits (scan barcodes), the more rewards you can get. You can also answer surveys and share information about your overall shopping trip.
“Scanning my purchases is fun! I also enjoy taking the surveys. Earning points is fast and easy and they have a great selection of rewards.” – Jennifer B.
It’s a fun way to earn more rewards on items you’ve already purchased and at no extra cost to you.
Register now to see if you’re eligible to be a Nielsen Panelist. Eligibility will be based on your location. If you don’t get accepted this time, don’t worry! They’re always expanding locations, so check back again.
4. This Paid Survey Panel Gives Out 7,000 Gift Cards Daily
There are a lot of survey programs out there, but none as popular as Swagbucks, a free rewards program where you can earn cash for your time and opinion. Members can earn an average of $50 a month!
You get rewarded for doing surveys, searching the web, reading articles, watching videos, and playing fun games but the one activity that earns you the most points is completing surveys. (Don’t skip out on those!)
Points can then be redeemed for free gift cards, cash, and sweepstakes entries. All just by completing fun activities and giving your opinions.
New members can get a free $5 just for signing up, so join the other 10 million members already part of Swagbucks and start earning free rewards!
5. More New Games, More Cash to Earn
When you’re ready to add even more games to your lineup, then download Cash ‘Em All, an app that pays you to try out new games for yes, you guessed it, for cash. All are free to download!
Just earn coins from trying new games, and then you can redeem for:
- PayPal Cash
- Amazon gift card
- GameStop gift card
- PlayStation Store gift card
- Xbox Live gift card
- And more good stuff
A 4,444 coin welcome bonus is yours immediately too when you sign in. (Worth 50 cents!) If you’re impatient, you can cash out as low as $1 as well.
Enjoy playing new-to-you games for some side fun money!
6. Play New Games, Get Paid - It’s That Simple
We’re not tired of trying out new games, especially if you’re getting paid for your time to do so!
Try Coin Pop, an app that pays you to play games. The more time you spend, the more coins you can earn which can be redeemed for real PayPal cash and gift cards from your favs like Amazon, Starbucks, Google Play, and more.
Games to try range from Casual, Strategy, Action, Puzzle, Adventure, etc. Basically something for everyone.
Since you’re already on your phone a lot, you might as well have fun and get some fun money at the same time.
7. Don’t Go Shopping Without This Free Money-Making App
Do you shop at brands like UberEats, Amazon, Tim Hortons, and Starbucks? You’re missing out on free gift cards for those purchases if you’re not using Drop as you shop online and in-stores at brands like these.
Drop, is a 100% free app that lets you earn reward points back on your normal shopping! All you have to remember is: Start with Drop before you shop. From there, it’s as simple as “Tap, Shop, Earn, Redeem.”
- Tap on the brand’s offer on Drop
- Shop through the brand’s app/website as you normally would. Drop will direct you there!
- Earn points back on your purchase.
- Redeem your points for a gift card of your choice – whenever and wherever you want!
Plus, when you link the debit/credit cards that you use most, you’ll get access to exclusive deals (like earning points back on every Postmates order) where purchases will automatically get tracked. You’ll even get personalized recommendations based on your shopping preferences.
And use Drop on top of your loyalty and credit card points to stack rewards!
The bottom line is: Not using this app would be like going to an all-inclusive resort, not knowing about all the free food/drinks/activities, and just staying in your room and eating crackers the whole time. No one wants that!
BONUS OFFER: Use promo code SMARTWALLET to unlock 10,000 points ($10!!) automatically when you earn your first 1,000 points.
For a limited time, sign up for an RBC Royal Bank card through Drop, and when you link that card to the app, you’ll earn an extra 3% in Drop Points on everyday spending at participating brands (e.g. Petro Canada, Sobeys, Safeway, Doordash, and more) for 3 months!
8. Easily Earn Cash for Your Opinions and Feedback
Extra fun money is always welcome to have on hand. And if you’re looking for an easy way to earn, just share your opinions online with Branded Surveys.
You just have to complete a profile so their survey matching system can provide you with eligible surveys to fill out. When surveys are finished, you’ll earn points to redeem for Paypal cash and gift cards like Amazon, Esso, Tim Horton’s, Roots, and more!
The estimated completion time for each survey is always visible so you know what to expect. You’ll also get daily poll opportunities to earn even more points. There’s no limit to how many surveys you can do, and you can refer friends for even extra rewards.
Sign up now and get a $1 welcome bonus!
9. 56% of Canadians Never Check Their Credit Score Even Though It’s Free
When was the last time you checked your credit score?
Since a low credit score could affect your ability to actually rent an apartment, get a car, and even a new job, you should be checking at least on a monthly basis.
It’s easy with Borrowell, where you can get a free Equifax credit score and report in 3 minutes. You’ll also get credit monitoring to track any errors, be alerted of potential fraud, and personal tips to improve your credit!
All Borrowell credit checks will not affect your credit score so you can comfortably check monthly to make sure the most important 3 digit number in your life is moving up.
10. Spin to Win - Earn Coins to Build Adventurous Villages (And Raid Others)
Note: You can’t make any money off this game but we’re adding it in just because it’s fun and a good way to distract yourself when you want to.
Coin Master is a free casual game that’s amassed over 81 million downloads and has earned the rep of being one of the most interactive games on the market.
Spin to earn coins, chances to raid other villages, and build up your own village to move to the next level. There are over 200 uniquely themed villages to build including Steampunk Land, LA Dreams, Magical Forest, Hell’s Village, and more. Pets can also be raised to help you get more coins.
When you need a little break from the real world, head into Coin Master to play for free!
11. Get Paid To Share Your Opinion Anytime
Your opinion is valuable. So valuable you deserve to earn extra cash for sharing it.
You can do it with Survey Junkie. They pay cash to members who participate in surveys about their shopping habits, cell phone usage, and more. Basic stuff.
Completing a survey earns you 20 to 100 points. Each point is worth one cent, and when you hit 1,000 points (or $10) you can cash out. Great for paying yourself back for spending too much during the holidays!
Redeem via:
- Online gift cards
- Paypal cash
- Bank transfer
Signing up for Survey Junkie only takes a few minutes and you’ll earn your first 100 ($1 value!) points just by creating an account, filling out an intro questionnaire, and verifying your email address. Easy.
After that, you’re free to dive into surveys. They have surveys with various durations (5 to 20 minutes) to complete and new ones pop up constantly so you’ll never be bored! Fill one out when you’re waiting for someone or have time to kill.
Survey Junkie won’t get you rich quick (no survey sites ever do), but it’s an easy way to make some extra cash by doing nothing other than giving your opinions.
12. Automatically Get Free Cash Back for the Stuff You’re Already Buying (And $5 Instantly)
Home project supplies, pizza, gas, shoes, and more. Just normal purchases you don’t think twice on. And of course, holiday presents.
But if you could automatically get cash back on those normal purchases, why not? RBC Ampli makes this possible.
It’s a 100% free to use cash back app powered by RBC where you can get free money back from over 50+ participating retailers like Boston Pizza, Petro-Canada, Rexall, Michaels, adidas, Sephora, Best Buy, and much more.
Just simply link your credit or debit card(s), shop normally on brand websites or in-store, and RBC Ampli will drop cash back in your account! There’s no need to select offers or go through Ampli to make a purchase. After setting up your card(s), there are no extra steps, just shop normally and it’ll auto-detect your eligible transactions.
Cash out easily at $15 through free Interac e-Transfer. Members also earn entries into the monthly “Dreamstakes” contests where people have won up to $50,000!
So download RBC Ampli for free now AND get a free $5 with promo code AMPLI5. You’d be throwing away free money if you don’t use it!
13. Over 750,000 People Use this App to Easily Invest
Investing sounds complicated but it doesn’t have to be. And you don’t have to be rich either to play the investment game. That’s why Moka is a popular choice for anyone new to investing since they make it so easy.
For every purchase you make, Moka automatically rounds it up to the nearest dollar and then saves & invests the difference into your Moka account.
Just connect Moka to your credit/debit card and it’ll save automatically. Set it and forget it.
Since roundups are less than $1 and basically spare change, you’ll barely notice the impact initially but over time it’ll grow to make a big difference.
Moka will continue to round up and save for you, while at the same time, investing those savings so that your portfolio can grow.
It only costs $3/month no matter how much money you have in the account. Moka is already taking care of over $200 million for their clients and their monthly cost is absolutely cheaper than an investment advisor.
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