Let’s be real for a moment.
We all want to make more money. But often times, we aren’t making enough or there’s just simply not enough time in the day.
This is where passive income saves the day.
Table of Contents
What is passive income?
Simply put, passive income is any money that is being earned from an endeavor with little to no ongoing effort in maintaining it. An example of passive income would be the royalties you receive from book sales.
Contrast passive income with active income in which you directly trade your time and effort for money. An example of active income would be the wage you earn for a 9-5 job.
To establish a passive income stream, you must take an initial action(s) and then maintain it until its process is easy or automated. A great metaphor for passive income is thinking of it like a fruit-bearing tree. You took the initial action of planting it, and you maintain the tree watering it. As your reward, the tree gives you fruit without directly trading your time and effort.
Passive income is the gift that keeps on giving. After all, what’s not to love about making money while you sleep or relax?
Now, there are quite a few passive income ideas out there. The problem is, most of them take months or even years of hard work to see any revenue. But this article is going to focus on ones that are all easy to start, have little to no startup cost, and for some, you can see passive income coming in as soon as today. Best of all, most have the potential to truly give you financial freedom.
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Keep apps on your phone or computer
If you’re looking for simple passive income, it doesn’t get any easier than this.
There are legit companies that will pay you money to keep their apps on your mobile device or computer. You don’t have to do anything else. And, it doesn’t cost you a penny!
Why do they pay you? It’s simple. They want to learn about how people use the internet to help improve the user experience for everyone.
Here are the two companies I recommend for earning legit passive income in this way:
Nielsen Panel App is owned by one of the best and oldest market research firms in the world. Nielsen enters you into $10,000 sweepstakes every month and pays you $50 every year you keep their app on your computer or mobile device. Click here to sign up for the Nielsen Panel App.
MobileXpression is an elite market research company that studies the popularity of mobile-enabled websites and trends to improve the mobile internet experience. They will give you gift cards and lucrative prizes for every month you keep their app on your mobile device. Click here to sign up for MobileXpression.
Both apps can be 100% uninstalled at any time and don’t slow down your devices in any way.
Search the web with Swagbucks
Want to get paid just to search the web? My personal favorite way to do this is Swagbucks. They will also pay you to watch videos, play games, and much more.
To date, they’ve paid out almost $400 million dollars to their members and are giving new members $5 just to complete sign up! There’s really no reason not to give it a shot. And, signing up is super-fast. You’ll be done in a matter of a minute or two once you confirm your account via e-mail.
Click here to sign up for Swagbucks and receive a $5 cash bonus.
Use Free apps to save money fast on autopilot
One of the most overlooked and easiest ways to get passive income is to save money with free apps. There are many effective ways to save money fast, but not all of them are passive. Many of them require you to take massive action or adjust your lifestyle. That’s not the case with the following apps. All you have do is take a minute to download them, set them up, and they will do the rest. You will start saving money passively with zero effort on your part. It’s a beautiful thing! Here are the three free apps I recommend for saving money passively:
Drop
The Drop app racks up points every time you spend money at your favorite stores. These points convert to gift cards of your choice with the tap of a button. All you have to do is download the app, link the credit or debit card you normally make purchases with, select your favorite stores, and you’re done! You’ll start seeing those points flow in no time at all. Click here to download Drop.
Dosh
With Dosh, you will earn cash on autopilot whenever you shop at stores or dine at restaurants. I’ve made almost $200 shopping and dining where I usually go anyway. It’s an amazing app. Once you download the app, and link your card, you’re on your way to getting automatic cash like I have. Click here to download Dosh.
Trim
Trim will cancel your undesired subscriptions and negotiate bills down to a lower price without you lifting as much as a finger. It does this by using artificial intelligence to analyze your accounts and identify ways to save automatically. Best of all, it’s free to use and notifies you before taking any action on your behalf. Click here to sign up for Trim.
If you’re interested in more ways to save money, check out our comprehensive list of genius strategies and simple hacks to save money fast.
Rent your car out when it’s not in use
Listen! Did you know you have a passive income generator parked outdoors? It’s called a car! You heard right. With GetAround, you can turn your car into a passive income generating machine today.
Unlike ridesharing apps like Uber and Lyft, you won’t be trading your time for money. GetAround lets you list your car today and start earning as soon as tomorrow. You can easily make $400-$600 per month in passive income with just 1 car. My 2015 Honda Civic made me $470 my first month.
If you have a luxurious car or have multiple cars to rent (known as a fleet) you can make $1000s or even $10,000s of dollars per month! All of that without lifting much of a finger. I know you may be concerned about your getting damaged or stolen (I was too before I started). But, don’t be. You are covered in up to $1 million in liability insurance! I’d say that’s pretty darn generous.
Let today be the day you start making your car work for you. Sign up for GetAround here and start earning passive income fast.
Become an Affiliate Marketer for your favorite brands and products
Did you know that you could make passive income from home just by marketing your favorite brands and products online or in-person? For many years, I didn’t. Not only that, but making $10,000s or even $100,000s per month passively as an affiliate marketer are realistic goals to shoot for. All from the comfort of your own home! If you have social media or a blog, you are ready to get started immediately.
Here are the five Best Affiliate Networks in my experience:
Flexoffers – Flexoffers is one of my favorite affiliate networks. As of this writing, they’ve made me the most passive income, and they have over 12,000 affiliate programs to choose from. Sign up for Flexoffers through this link to get started.
MaxBounty – Maxbounty is a rising affiliate network that has over 20,000 affiliate programs in every category you can imagine. Click here to sign up for Maxbounty.
ShareaSale – A highly popular affiliate network that has over 4,000 affiliate programs. You will find exclusive affiliates on ShareaSale that you won’t find elsewhere. Click here to sign up for Shareasale.
OfferJuice – This affiliate network is small relative to the others, but they have a lot of high-quality affiliates. Keep in mind that it can take a little while to get accepted, but it’s well worth it. They have really high payouts compared to other networks. Click here to sign up for OfferJuice.
ClickBank – One of the oldest affiliate networks out there. The application process is quick and painless. Click here to sign up for ClickBank.
After signing up for those, use a free aggregator like Affluent.io so you can view the analytics for all your affiliate networks in one place.
Bonus tip
Use Pinterest to earn passive income as an affiliate marketer. Create attractive, eye-catching pins with enticing text. Then, link your pins to affiliate products or services. If you want to automate your pinning, I recommend Tailwind. It’s incredibly efficient and saves time.
They have a 7-day free trial too. But, if you sign up through my link here, we’ll both get 30 days of Tailwind for free.
Refer your friends or anyone to your favorite websites and apps
Refer-a-friend programs have to be one of my favorite ways to make passive income. The idea is incredibly simple. All you have to do is tell your friend about a website that you like and ask them to sign up for it. Afterwards, you get a cash commission! For many of these refer and earn websites, you will earn a recurring commission as long as your friend stays signed up.
Want the know the popular apps and websites that pay you to refer friends? I’ve compiled a mega list of refer and earn websites that pay CASH. One of the websites even pays $2000 per friend. Check out the list here.
Lease out your belongings with Fat Llama
Despite the funny name, Fat Llama is a great way to make easy passive income by renting out your stuff. Instruments, electronics like a VR headset and equipment are just a small sample of things you could be renting out. As of this writing, I’m lending out a drone and a guitar I never use for an easy $74 bucks a day in passive income.
Concerned about the idea of someone keeping or damaging your stuff? Don’t be. As a lender, Fat Llama covers each item up to $30,000 if it gets lost, stolen or damaged. That’s the kind of peace of mind that made me sign up.
Click here to start renting out your stuff with Fat Llama
Rent out your spare room with Airbnb
Turn your spare room, apartment, or house into passive cash. There are a few marketplaces that let you do this, but I only recommend one. Airbnb.
Their interface and rental process are simple. And, hosts on Airbnb make quite a bit of money.
50% of Airbnb hosts make $500 a month with some of them making $10,000 or more. That’s the kind of passive income stream you don’t ignore.
Get paid to walk outdoors
Are you ready to turn your footsteps into easy passive income?
All you have to do is download an awesome app called Sweatcoin and start walking! It’s really that straightforward.
How does Sweatcoin work?
Sweatcoin uses the GPS on your phone to count each step you take. In my experience, Sweatcoin works best outdoors, so that’s where I recommend doing most of your walking. Your steps are then converted into digital currency which can be redeemed for cash and gifts.
Bonus tip: You can rack up even more cash by inviting friends to join Sweatcoin. They will be added to your leaderboard where you can see who’s walked the most steps!
Very informative
I’m glad you like the list.