11 Non-Scammy Apps and Ways to Get Free Money (over $40K of it!)

Did you know that you’re leaving massive amounts of free money on the table? And this isn’t some sad, thinly-veiled pitch to get you to sign up for something.

Hell, no!

You know how much I hate every site writing about paid surveys while skipping on all the good stuff that helps you earn lots of money.

Do you know what I hate more? People not taking advantage of easy money. There aren’t many ways to make money faster than getting it shuttled to you for nothing free (but there are some).

Let’s go back to the free money on the table metaphor, except there’s real money on the table. That’s the stuff I’m talking about. Because let me tell you, there are lots of ways that you can earn free money.

And I’ve checked. The stuff in this article easily adds up to $40,000. Who in their right mind would pass that up? I didn’t.

In this article, I’ll talk about super easy and 100% non-scammy things I did to get thousands of dollars with just one hour AT MOST… plus a lot more I that I recently discovered and will try to get free cash.

If you love free stuff, you’d love free money even more. And here’s my guarantee:

• Absolutely everyone will benefit from this article. Yes, this is a “free money for all” situation. You’ll be able to apply at least one of the things on my list. (You don’t have to pre-qualify as a super-exclusive member.)
• You won’t have to spend on products or services that you don’t already use. Because what’s the point of all that extra cash if you’re going to spend it on useless stuff anyway?
• None of what I’ll recommend includes actual work. It’s not free if you have to work for it.

And most importantly, you don’t have to watch videos or answer online surveys to earn money. I hate how lots of sites frame this as a legitimate way to get money for free.

Why I hate watching videos and online surveys to get free cash

Fine, I don’t really hate watching videos, as long as they’re not the crappy ones you’re forced to watch just to make money.

But here’s my super strong argument on why I hate them so much: it’s NOT free money. If you have to work for it, it’s not free. 

So if a site or app requires you to put a lot of effort to get free money, it might as well be a scam in my book. And it’s not because you don’t get paid. But they shouldn’t advertise it as free cash when it’s not.

Plus, there are easier ways for you to make money fast, none of which involves watching crappy videos or pretending to truthfully answer surveys.

I’m sure you’ve seen at least one site that promises this “sweet deal” to try to reel you in.

A few things you might want to look out for:

• You can’t withdraw your earnings until you’ve earned a certain amount. I mean, WTF is that about? They’re basically forcing you to keep working so to make sure they get more free labor out of you. And they make it hard for users to reach that amount so they never cash out.
• You have to spend money on the app before you can claim your free money. I guess it’s fine as a bonus if you’re already spending money on that app. But if you’re not, it’s not really free money.
• Inviting people earns more money than the actual gig you’re inviting them for. This is a Ponzi scheme, MLM, and networking-free site. And anyone who tells you that this type of scheme isn’t shouldn’t be trusted with the penny my kid accidentally ate.

And of course, if it has horrible pay rates. So for me, how much you get paid matters.

For context, the lowest state minimum wage in the United States is $5.15.

I respect earning an honest dollar, but you’re not a kid selling lemonade on your front porch. You’re a grown-ass person who deserves to earn more than $5… even if it’s just for extra cash. 

If you have a baby or have one the way, listen closely: infant care in the United States can cost more than $22,600 yearly. And babies are time-sucking, adorable little bundles of joy, so you won’t have much time to earn extra cash.

Wouldn’t you rather spend your time on proven ways to get lots of money?

But let’s say you’ve taken a vow of celibacy or just love dogs more than kids. It doesn’t make sense to make money slowly when you can earn it more quickly… unless you live for the thrill of racing time to make next month’s mortgage payment.

If that’s something you’re into, try rollercoasters. Even a poorly-maintained one is less risky.

So before we go into Mr.FIREescape-approved ways to get free cash, let’s go into ways you should go about it so you can skip them right away.

There are also some jobs out there that feel like life hacks:
Especially these part-time jobs.

Apps and Ways to Make Money That You Should Avoid

Just so we’re clear, this section isn’t to encourage any weird kink on working hard for little to no financial return. I’m encouraging you to avoid them because they’re crap.

Here’s what you’ll notice about the things on our no-no list:

• Some will be straight-out scams that don’t intend to pay you at all or worse, ask you to pay a fee before you can start earning.
• Others are technically non-scams that will pay you money but have a lot of prerequisites before you can do so or charge insane withdrawal fees.
• Most pay so little that you might as well run away with a gas station’s take a penny, leave a penny jar.

So, they’re not all necessarily scams. But with how little you’re going to get, what the hell is the difference? I’ll also include why I think they’re crap because you shouldn’t just take my word for it.   

Again, do NOT try any of these because you won’t earn anything more than a few bucks.

A few crappy apps to avoid

1 – Cash App

Don’t go into the comments section with torches yet. I know that Cash App is a legitimate app, BUT

• It’s an app used to send and receive money like Venmo. That’s why I’m so confused about how many people are trying to use this to get free money. Until I found out that…
• A lot of scammers claim they’ve found a secret way to make money with CashApp. And they’re going to do it for you in exchange for a small fee.

They’re taking advantage of the economic situation right now, even going as far as using the Coronavirus epidemic to exploit people.

And you know what’s wrong with that? Everything.

Many people lost their jobs and their businesses. Taking advantage of people scraping for money is putting pineapple on a pizza kind of evil.

Square (the app owner) does run legit promotions where you can earn as much as $500 just by inviting people to the app or retweeting stuff. But even that doesn’t qualify the app to be a great way to earn money because it’s based on chance, so you’re not guaranteed anything.

Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t use Cash App at all. But if you rely on it to earn a quick buck, you’re up for disappointment.

2 – Cointiply

Remember how people used to think that Bitcoin = tons of money? Some still think that way, and my guess is they comprise a big chunk of the app’s users.

But what do they get? Nothing better than crumbs.

If you’re thinking that earning money online (in cryptocurrency, no less) this way is worth the frustration, it’s not.

I can’t imagine why you’d want to install apps, play games, view ads, or fill out surveys for the Bitcoin equivalent of a few dollars at most.

3 – Google’s Opinion Rewards

This isn’t an app, but I feel this still belongs here.

By signing up, Google will give you 20 to 30 surveys per week for a whopping $0.01-$2 each. And you don’t even get cash. You get Google Play reward points.

I couldn’t Nope my way of that one fast enough!

4 – Earn Money App

It just says you can get free money, but they never promise that you’ll get paid a lot. So if you still go ahead and try it out, it’s on you.

Like with Cointiply, watching videos and answering apps will earn you almost next to nothing.

5 – Slidejoy App

Slidejoy lets you view ads on your lock screen. You don’t even have to engage with the ad to earn. So technically, it takes zero seconds to earn money.

And the longer you have the app, the more you earn for literally doing nothing, right? RIGHT!?

Yes, but there are three big BUTS.

BUT # 1. The pay rates are so low that it doesn’t make up for draining your battery or spending your internet data.

BUT # 2. You have to wait around three months for your first payout. After that, it’s monthly. Good things come to those who wait, but this is meh at best. So NEXT!

But # 3. They take a 20% cut on every withdrawal. To slap your face on a whole other level, they have the audacity to slash your already-meager payout.

There are a lot more apps out there that do the same things as those mentioned here.

Other ways you SHOULDN’T get free money

6 – Quit drinking

I included this because people recommended this to me. So I drunkenly mumbled they should bugger off.

If you’re spending $200 on booze every week, you have a problem or you need to stop drinking at bars.

But if you want to quit alcoholic products, don’t do it just because you need extra cash. You’ll need a deeper reason so you can do it permanently.

7 – Get gigs

Finding gigs is part of the effort, so along with the cash you’re going to get for the actual job, this wouldn’t get you far.

It’s a great way to make money, but not fast money.

8 – Posting MLM stuff on Facebook

I hate seeing posts like this on Facebook. It’s annoying, and I’m sure everyone else feels the same way.

Plus, you’re most likely not going to get money. Also (to emphasize), it’s annoying.

9 – Typing in captcha

It doesn’t even pay users a cent per captcha typed. And I guarantee you, what you’re doing just helps create better software for junk mail to do their spammy stuff.

And now that you know the types of activities that you should avoid, let’s go to the main event.

Legit, Super Quick Apps and Ways to Get Free Money

Ready to get thousands of dollars of unclaimed money? As promised, these are all legit and non-scammy ways to earn free cash.

Apps you should try out

1 – Ebates (now called Rakuten)

Who would’ve thought that having to shop online can help you make money? You know, like an influencer but without all the online promotions about it.

Cash back: that’s their whole business model.

Ebates is currently affiliated with more than 2,500 stores and gets money every time someone buys using their link. And every time you shop online, they pass some of that earnings to you based on the amount you spent.

According to them, you can get as much as 40% cash back. Plus, you’ll also get:

• A $10 sign-up bonus if you spend $25 within 90 days of making an account.
• A $25 bonus when one of the new customers you invited makes a qualified purchase

To put these numbers in perspective, Americans who shop online had spent more than $50 billion in 2019. And because of the pandemic even more people are buying stuff online.

So even with just the things you’re already buying for yourself, you can get the bonuses and the cash back.

There are daily deals too. I started using it, and it’s REALLY easy.

2 – Trim

Getting the same stuff for less? It’s the easiest way to make money out of thin air!

It’s an app that reduces your bills (and takes a cut of the savings). It takes some money yes, but only if it successfully saves you some. And let’s be honest, you weren’t going to shop around anyways.

And here, Trim goes the extra mile by automating your spending and budgeting. It super easy for you to save money without trimming your lifestyle by checking out competitor prices on products you buy and cutting out subscriptions you haven’t used. 

3 – Paribus

Have you ever missed a great deal on a purchase you just made?

I have. Many times. I didn’t go as far as to question the heavens why me, but I hated it so much that I couldn’t enjoy my purchase anymore.

But with Paribus, I never miss out on a good deal – even post-purchase. Because whenever the price drops for the product I bought, the app automatically helps me get a refund and buy the item at its current price.

It works with big retailers like Amazon and with hotel booking services, helping users save an average of 10% on all their purchases.

4 – Honeygain

Don’t you hate how you have all this unused bandwidth? You can’t really sell it unless you’re willing to invite some stranger into your home so they can use it. (Which takes my “rent out part of your home” suggestion to a whole other level.)

With Honeygain, you get free money just by installing the app on all your devices. That’s it! They’ll pay for unused internet.

And the use it for science! I love science! (Hopefully, it’s not zombie science though :O)

You can get $50 a month by running the app 24/7. And if you invite people using your personalized link, you automatically get 10% of their earnings. EASY!

Other ways to get free money

5 – Get cash back with credit cards

On average, I spend $2000/mo on my credit card. And because my credit card gives 2% cash back, I get $40 for doing squat.

Who would say no to money you can get for free? If you’re not getting cash back on your credit card purchases, make sure on getting one that does ASAP.

6 – Pay less for your rent, student debt, and/or mortgage

What if I told you can cut a deal with your landlord or lender so you pay less every month? And here’s how you can do it:

How to pay less rent. Your landlord may be willing to shave a couple hundred bucks off your rent if you can offer value in exchange. Maybe it’s signing a 2-year lease for $100 off your rent?
Or much easier, you post an ad for a roommate and cut your rent in half. If your rent’s $1300, having a roommate gets you $750 a month.

How to pay less student debt and/or mortgage. Just refinance them. I was able to lower my mortgage rate by 0.55% and slashed costs by $31,500 on my 20-year loan term. And all it took me was 15 minutes.

Read more about:
Negotiating your rent
Refinancing your mortgage to save serious $$$
Refinancing your student debt

7 – Sell your stuff

When you don’t sell something you’re not using anymore, it’s like watching money slowly burn. Whatever that stuff is, its value will depreciate over time.

For example, you don’t need more than one car. Insurance, gas, and maintenance costs will pile up the longer you keep it.

If you have gift cards you don’t use, you can also sell them at a discount. I know you’re getting less than the face value of the gift card, but it’s better than leaving it on your bulletin board until after the store shuts down anyway.

So instead of waiting years to dispose them, sell your stuff while they still have some value. 

8 – Lend your stuff

You can make money off of stuff you don’t use but aren’t ready to let go of yet. You can use peer-to-peer rental platforms.

You can rent your car when you’re not using it through apps like Turo.

According to their site, if your car is worth at least $28,000 and you rent it out 15 days per month, you’re guaranteed at least $500 ever monthly. And all you have to do is wait for the renter at your preferred meeting place.

But if you love your car too much to let anyone use it, you can Style Lend which lets you rent out fashion items for cash. For Chanel clothes and accessories, you get $120 per week after the app takes its cut. What you’ll earn may be higher depending on the quality and brand of your clothes.

I know my Stealth Wealth readers don’t wear Chanel, but maybe your grandma won’t mind if you lend out her fur hats or something.

9 – Get money people owe you

You’d think that you would know if someone owes you money, but no. That’s why you can make money by checking missingmoney.com or unclaimed.org to see if you’re eligible for a tax refund or have unclaimed savings deposits you forgot about.

Checking takes 5 minutes at most. And you can potentially get hundreds of dollars.

But if you didn’t find money there, cash out of accounts you forgot about. When’s the last time you checked your PayPal? Or maybe under your bed? In an old bank account?

There may be some money there that you can get. There’s no harm in trying!

10 – Ask for a raise

If you haven’t had a raise for a while, you’re due for one. Think of it as permanent gift cards for doing a great job.

It’s much easier to get a raise if you’ve been working with your company for a while. And with a simple salary survey, you can increase your salary by about 10% or $5,000 more on a $50,000 wage.

11 – Take advantage of sign-up bonuses

Some sign-up bonuses are too good to pass up like those offered through:

Bank account that gives you free money if you maintain a certain amount in there for a few months

Investment account that encourages you to deposit a large amount for free money.

Credit card that offers limited-time 0% interest rate

Student loan that when refinanced, can get you as much as $550 sign-up bonus

Earn free money vs working for it… Why not both?

By not doing any of these things, you’re missing out on unclaimed money that rightfully belongs to you. Most of these methods even involve getting your money online.

And the best part about these, you can earn free money without interrupting your regular job. You’re getting a lot of money without any extra work.