Back to Phase One: 15 Ways to Make Extra Cash At Home

Disclosure: We’re letting you know that this post contains sponsored links which The Smart Wallet receives compensation for, which may impact their order of appearance. This site doesn’t include all available offers.

Dining in restaurants closed. They opened. Now they’re closed again.

Other retailers and basically all of life are flip-flopping back and forth.

But it feels like we’re back to where we started. After 3 months, this is how “far” we’ve gone and yup, back to Phase 1. We should probably expect this to stay the same path too until there’s a unifying plan that all states can stick to.

Until then, we’re still at home. We still need to make some money. And it’s time to bring in some out of the box ways to do so to mix it up. Below are some fun and productive ways to make extra cash from home! And if you’re looking for a full-time gig, it’s there too.

1. 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!

2. Play New Games and Earn Branded Gift Cards

The more you play, the more rewards and gift cards you can get. That’s the gist of Mistplay, an app where you can try out new Android games to earn units/gems and make optional in-app purchases. Redeem units/gems for real gift cards, including Uber, VISA, Spotify, and more!

Play as many games as you want since you can earn more gift cards that way. Plus, there’s nobody to compete against! New members get a BONUS of 200 points just for signing up.

And yes, it’s legit and already has 10M+ downloads. Download the app for free and start racking up those gift cards!

3. Please Spot Me Up to $2001, So I Don’t Get an Overdraft Fee!

We got you. Or, more specifically, Chime ® has your back; the award-winning mobile financial app and debit card will have you saying goodbye to overdraft fees!

That’s because their SpotMe®️ tool can literally spot you up to $2001 without charging a fee as long as you receive qualifying direct deposits.

You need qualifying direct deposits of at least $200 a month into your Chime Checking Account to qualify, and one of the easiest methods is to route your paycheck there so you don’t have to think about it.

Other perks:

  • Get paid up to 2 days early3 with direct deposit
  • Get 2.00% Annual Percentage Yield (APY)4 with the high-yield Chime Savings Account5
  • Access to a new way to build credit history with the Secured Chime® Credit Builder Visa® Credit Card6
  • FDIC-insured up to $250,000 through The Bancorp Bank, N.A. or Stride Bank, N.A., Members FDIC.7 (it’s safe!)
  • No minimum balance, no monthly fees, and no foreign transaction/transfer fees

Sign up for Chime and say goodbye to overdraft fees and other benefits!

4. Work From Home: Earn $20 Per Hour to Start Teaching English To Kids Online

The past few months have been rough on Americans and their livelihoods. If you’ve been considering a side gig to supplement your primary income or need a job working from home, teach English online to kids ages 5-13!

EF Online (Education First) is a teaching platform helping to connect students in China and native English speakers for 20+ years with their global network of 600+ schools. You’ll experience a flexible schedule where you can work from home, earn up to $20/hr to start, with all lesson materials are provided. While teaching experience is preferred, it’s not required. Earn extra rewards the more you teach!

Here are the requirements:

  • Must be a native English speaker living in the U.S.A with a Bachelor’s degree in any field
  • By the start of your teacher’s contract term, you must earn and submit documentation of a 40 Hour TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) certification (or higher)
  • Agree to an online background check (no cost to you)
  • Be available to work during a set range of hours
  • Have a solid wifi connection and headset
  • And lastly, be passionate!

Classes are 25 minutes each and since EF Online encourages repeat classes, you might be teaching the same students regularly. In addition, parents can book you up to 6 months in advance leading to a more stable income.

If you enjoy interacting with kids, this is definitely a rewarding and flexible gig from home!

Note: The following U.S. states are excluded from this gig – CA, IN, MA, NH, NJ, NY, and IL.

5. Save Time (And Money) By Unsubbing From Marketing Email

Alice Ly | The Smart Wallet

When the “unread” number in your email inbox is growing by the day, it’s time to wrangle it in.

There’s no doubt that our inboxes get slammed with a lot of marketing emails. And now, every corporation that we’ve ever given our emails to is expressing how they’re handling COVID-19.

Instead of wasting time unsubscribing one by one, just use Unroll.me, a free service designed to help clean your inbox by displaying all the email subscriptions you have in less than a minute.

You then have the following options to: Keep in Inbox, Unsubscribe, or Add to Rollup.

“Add to Rollup” is like a summary of the emails you might want to look at but don’t immediately have time for. Think of it as a daily, weekly, or monthly digest (you choose) of all the subscriptions you picked to be contained in one convenient, scrollable email (like a newsfeed).

It ignores all your personal emails and only looks at the commercial emails so
save time and money by getting rid of marketing emails.

6. Find Curated Remote and Flexible Jobs With This Site

With a record 40 million people that filed for unemployment,* it’s crucial to be able to hold a remote or flexible full-time or part-time position in these still uncertain times.

Instead of searching through irrelevant job boards, use FlexJobs, a 13+ year old company that specializes in finding only remote and flexible schedule jobs. For a limited time, their membership plans are 30% off (with promo code SAVE30) making the plans only:

  • $4.95 /week
  • $9.95 /month
  • $23.95 /three months (most popular!)
  • $44.95 /year (best value)

Memberships include access to jobs as well as resources like Career Coaching, Resume Review, 170 expert skills tests to better assess and promote your skills, and more.

Lori S. from Colorado Springs, CO said, “I would have spent hours trying to find these jobs on my own. I LOVE this website!! These are jobs that are not easy to find—I found the membership fee very reasonable and worth every penny considering I have found two wonderful jobs through FlexJobs.”

Non-essential workers are being asked to stay home during these times but making money is essential to everyone so take advantage of the 30% off membership plans to look at what could be your next new job! Remember to use promo code SAVE30.

7. Empower Yourself Financially, Especially for Women

Whether you think about it or not, there are important realities in a women’s life.

Gender pay gaps where women make less than men, career breaks where women’s earnings drop significantly after having a child,(*) and longer than average lifespan meaning women need more money to live.

That’s why it’s vital to save for retirement and invest, especially if you’re female and why
Ellevest exists, an investment service and money membership created by and designed for women.

Men and those that identify as non-binary are welcome to join as well but it’s the first company to take on women’s unique set of obstacles when constructing an investment portfolio.

With affordable flat monthly fees starting at $1 and maxing at $9, you can be sure that your financial health is taken care of with personalized retirement planning (Plus and Executive memberships), investments with no asset management fees outside of your membership fee, and discounted sessions with career coaches and financial planners. Membership also includes an Ellevest debit card,* which gives you the option to round up spare change to help you save further** as well as unlimited ATM fee refunds.***

With the current world events, it’s even more important to make sure that your “future you” will be comfortable, so take advantage of the first free month and see how it can help you.


Some of the sponsored links that appear on this page are from companies that offer investment advisory services. They compensate us; for details on our compensation arrangements, please click here.