Want to learn how you can get free money now?
Let me tell you this.
Contrary to the free money scams out there, there are actually legit methods and easy money hacks that you can use right now to earn free money online.
It’s true!
Legit methods won’t make you pay anything or give out any highly sensitive personal information such as your social security number. If you ever encounter any free money offer requiring those things, you are very likely dealing with a scam.
The methods in this post require little or no effort to get free money. And, they are all legit and legal.
This post contains affiliate links. Please read the terms of use for more info.
Table of Contents
How to get free money online
High-speed internet has presented all kinds of opportunities to get real free money through our phones and computers. Below, I cover the best ways to get free money online or from home.
Keep an App on your phone or computer
Do you like downloading apps that make you money?
The Nielson Panel App will give $50 per year for free just to keep it on your phone or computer.
If that wasn’t already good enough, Nielsen will automatically enter you into a free monthly sweepstakes where you can win $10,000!
Don’t worry. This is a completely legit opportunity.
Nielsen has been around for over 90 years, and the American Marketing Association has ranked them #1 out of the top 50 market research firms. Also, If you’ve heard of the Nielsen TV Ratings, this is the same company.
They also don’t require a credit card, force you to buy products or anything sleazy like that.
Right now they’re even offering a $5 cash bonus for signing up. Just make sure you keep it installed for at least 30 days to claim it.
Click here to download the Nielson Panel app and get $50 for free every year
Use legit Cash App money hacks to get free money
Yes, there are actually money hacks for Cash App that are legit.
There’s a lot of Cash App scams out there trying to steal your personal information or money.
Participate in Cash App Fridays. This is one of the only legit cash app hacks out there. You can win various amounts of money by following Cash Apps official Twitter and retweeting their special hashtag for a chance to win. Sometimes, they have Super Cash App Fridays where you have a chance to win $10,000 for free.
Refer a friend and get $5 for free. When you get a friend to sign up for Cash App and they send $50 or more within 14 days, you both will get $5!
Click here to download Cash App.
Automatically get refunds
Did you know that you could be getting money back if something you purchased has its price lowered after you made the purchase?
It’s true.
A free price protection app called Paribus scans your e-mail inbox and gives you automatic refunds on price changes. It has saved me more than a hundred without me having to even lift a finger.
Enter into free contests and sweeptstakes to win cash
Have you been looking for free sweepstakes apps to win free cash that are actually legit?
This is the section for you.
Here are the best free online sweepstakes and contests that are ongoing
- The 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. It’s really that straightforward and easy.
- VIP Voice. You will be entered for their $1000 sweepstakes upon completing sign up. There are also additional chances to win vacations and other cash prizes as you complete their opinion surveys.
- E-poll Surveys is a paid online survey site. Every month you can win $20 or more when you complete at least 1 survey per month. It only takes a few minutes to do so.
- Lucktastic is an app for Android that lets you play scratch cards for free and potentially win large sums of cash.
- Publishers Clearing House. Win up to millions of dollars. Chances are clearly low, but it’s still free to enter.
Share your extra bandwidth with scientists
If you have extra data and don’t mind sharing, you can make free passive income by downloading the free HoneyGain app.
The HoneyGain website claims that you can get $30 a month free when you share 10 GB a day of your unused net traffic with data scientists.
All you need to do is install the app on your preferred device(s) and connect that device(s) to the internet. Honeygain will manage those connections and facilitate payments on your behalf. It’s really one of those “set it and forget it” kind of things.
Also, if you sign up through my referral link below, you will get $5 free just for downloading the app. That sounds pretty sweet to me.
Click here to download HoneyGain.
Start getting referral bonuses from your favorite brands and products
How I wish I knew about referral bonuses sooner.
Referral bonuses are an easy way to get free money without needing to do much work at all.
There are popular apps, brands, and companies that will pay you for getting your friends, family, co-workers, and anyone else you know to sign up or download them.
And, I’ve seen a referral program pay as high as $10,000 per sign up! Yes, you read that right.
I’ve compiled a list of 66 of the best referral programs that pay in cash. You can view the list here.
Apply for the Awesome Foundation Grant
If you’re working on a creative idea whether that’s a business, musical album, idea, book, or another project, you can win free money from the Awesome Foundation!
The Awesome Foundation hands out $1000 grants for free to people who have created (or are in the process of creating) something awesome.
To apply, you just have to fill out an application with your basic information and what your project is about.
If one of the Awesome Foundation’s chapters likes what they see, they’ll give you $1000 for free no questions asked.
If you’d like to apply for this grant, click here.
Looking for more grants where you can get free money and vacations? Click here for our comprehensive list of grants for writers and other creatives.
Open up a new bank account
If you’re not taking advantage of bank bonuses, you’re literally missing out on legit free money.
Here’s the deal.
There are banks such as, Chase, HSBC, Bank of America, Citibank, and more who will give you a free cash bonus when you open up a certain kind of checking or savings account online or at a branch.
To get these bonuses, you usually have to make a minimum deposit ($1000 or more in most cases) and maintain that balance for 90-120 days.
Bank bonus amounts are promotional and do change how much they pay on a regular basis. So, be sure to check back often.
Also, keep in mind that the interest you gain is also free passive income!
Make free money with your junk mail
You can get free cash by forwarding your junk mail (either e-mail or physical) to the Small Business Knowledge Center (SBKC).
The Small Business Knowledge Center conducts market research on behalf of businesses looking for data relating to insurance, gaming, beauty supplies, travel, sporting goods, apparel, credit cards, banking, and a host of other categories.
According to the SBKC’s website, frequent participants can make about $20 every 6 to 10 weeks. It’s not much but at least it’s easy cash for something you’d dispose of anyway.
Click here to learn more about becoming a consumer panelist with the SBKC.
Use a credit or debit card that gives you cash back on purchases
If you are using credit or debit cards that don’t give you cash back, you are missing out on free cash.
As long as you are paying them on time (like any other credit card) they will save you cash over time. I recommend using them for your regular purchases and bills.
Popular cash back cards include the Citi Double Cash Back Credit Card and the Chase Freedom Unlimited card. These and other cash back cards tend to pay between 1% to 2%.
How to get free money on PayPal now
The best ways to get free money on PayPal now is to sign up for free accounts on paid survey sites, cash back apps, free bitcoin sites, and withdraw your money quickly. Below are a collection of legit methods to accomplish this.
Redeem offers and play games on Swagbucks
Swagbucks is one of my favorite ways to get easy and free money.
Besides playing online games, the main way I do this is by redeeming offers.
For example, I used Swagbucks to sign up for a $7 30-day trial of Hulu. For signing up, Swagbucks paid me 2500 in Swagbucks digital currency which redeems for $25 in cash. Once I canceled my Hulu subscription, I pocketed $18 and got to watch some new TV series to boot! Another time, I earned $8 simply for downloading the investing app Acorns. These amounts may not sound like much, but they add up. Especially in the context of doing other side hustles. Plus, they regularly have high-paying offers that can pay as much as $150. You just have to be quick about signing up for them because they will go fast.
To start you off, Swagbucks will give you a $5 cash bonus when you sign up through this link.
Sign up for InboxDollars
Inboxdollars is one of the easiest ways to make free money. Like Swagbucks, they will pay you to complete easy tasks such as watching videos, playing online games, redeeming offers, answering questions, and other leisure activities.
Not only that, but they will give you $5 for free after you finish filling out your account profile!
Click here to create your free InboxDollars account and get $5 in free PayPal money
Create accounts on these legit survey sites to get free cash fast
Survey sites pay you real money to answer questions regarding your demographics, current events, and even your opinion on certain brands or products.
They are the easiest way to make money online. Even better, the best survey sites will give you cash just for creating a free account with them.
Below, I have listed the best survey sites for getting free money and withdrawing it fast.
SurveyJunkie
If you need money right now without leaving your couch, legit online surveys are your best bet.
The highest-paying survey site I’ve ever used is SurveyJunkie. Each dollar I earned with them helped to pay my bills when I was really struggling financially. They pay faster than 99% of the survey sites out there too. You can transfer the money you make on SurveyJunkie straight to your PayPal account the same day.
Click here to sign up for SurveyJunkie
Qmee
If you’re looking to get free PayPal money fast, Qmee is one of the best places to start. They will give you a $0.50 sign up bonus. But to get that bonus, you have to sign up through my referral link or it won’t credit.
You can withdraw your bonus money or anything you earn from taking surveys instantly.
Get free cash back with Ibotta
If you aren’t using this next app to save money, you are missing out big time.
Ibotta is a phone app that gives you cash back whenever you make in-store purchases and scan your receipts into their app.
Scanning your receipt is a process that only takes about a minute. The whole process is as simple as taking a picture and uploading that picture right into the app.
Now here’s where you can make more money.
When you download the app and scan your first receipt with several offers, they give you $10 in additional free cash. You can instantly withdraw your money into PayPal which is great. Alternatively, you can use your Ibotta balance as a kind of digital wallet to pay for purchases at many popular retailers!
Click here to download Ibotta and get $10.
Join beer money sites
Beer money refers to websites or methods that give you money for doing low to no effort tasks like watching videos or taking pictures.
The legit beer money sites payout fast and regularly let you cash out with PayPal, Venmo, cryptos like Bitcoin, or free gift cards.
Click here to grab our free list of the 50 Best beer money sites and apps in 2021.
Get Free Bitcoin with these easy methods
These days, Bitcoin is a good as cash.
An increasing amount of individuals, businesses, and companies all over the world accept Bitcoin as a legit currency for the trade of goods and services.
Because of this, and the fact that it’s so easy to convert Bitcoin into a currency of your choice, free bitcoin is as good as free money.
Anyway, here are legit methods to get free bitcoin:
- Play on online games for Bitcoin here
- Participate in a legit Bitcoin faucet here.
- Get paid in Bitcoin when you use the free Pei app for cash back.
- Join Affiliate programs that pay their commissions in Bitcoin.
By the way, Bitcoin can easily be converted into PayPal cash by using Coinbase.
Making an account on Coinbase is free and the best part is that you can earn free Bitcoin (and other cryptocurencies) with them as well.
Here’s how.
When you get a friend to sign up for Coinbase and they buy or sell $100 or more within 180 days of opening his or her account, you both will receive $10 in Bitcoin for free!
If that wasn’t good enough, they regularly give away $100’s of dollars worth new cryptocurrencies for free to anyone with an a complete account. This cryptocurrency can be easily converted into cash right on the Coinbase platform in a matter of seconds.
Click here to sign up for Coinbase and start getting free cryptocurrency today.
How to get free cryptocurrency with Coinbase
- To access these free cryptocurrencies, make sure to create your account through my referral link here.
- Click the “get started” box and to create your account on Coinbase.
- Verify your account with your e-mail and possibly a photo I.D. if they ask for it. This is necessary to qualify for the Coinbase Earn section.
- Once you are verified, which usually takes a few minutes, “Coinbase Earn” section to start getting your free crypto!
Strategies to start receiving free money
Ask for donations
Have you thought about reaching out to family, friends, or even social media followers for a donation?
If you have a compelling reason (or someone’s just in a giving mood) there’s a good chance it will work out.
You never know who may donate, especially when you make your request inspiring and convenient for them. I recommend using PayPal, Venmo, or Cash App to receive your donations. They’re all really simple to use.
But, let me give you a quick money tip!
Cash App will give you free money for referring friends and when you send $50 or more to another Cash App user.
Download Cash App here and get a free $5 when you send $50 or more.
Practice free money affirmations
If you’re looking to get the most amount of free money you can, affirmations, and your subconscious mindset are centerfold.
Our subconscious minds are responsible for automating and maintaining our deepest most thoughts, habits, and beliefs about money among other things.
Using money affirmations (or money mantras) is an effective hack for reprograming your subconscious mind to attract more money into your life.
I created a post about money affirmations that should help you. You can read it here.
How to get free money from the government
Getting free cash and other benefits from your local or national government may not be as tricky as you might think. Below are the best ways to get free money from the government legally.
Search for unclaimed money
There are over $40 billion dollars in unclaimed money that’s being held by state governments right now.
I recently found this out and was quite surprised at that amount.
If a business or other institution owes you money but for some reason can’t get it to you, they send it to the state. The state keeps a list of what money belongs to whom and requires claims to be filed in order to receive it.
Besides checking your credit score for free, Credit Karma can search for unclaimed money and retrieve on your behalf. How cool is that?
All you have to do is create an account, tell them your basic information, and confirm your identity. They will do the rest.
Click here to create your free account on Credit Karma
Other websites to search manually:
unclaimed.org
missingmoney.com
Follow the latest universal basic income opportunities
Did you know that many governments, organizations, and even individuals from around the world are talking about giving everyone free cash?
Yes, it’s true.
Universal basic income, or UBI, is any number of cash payments or free money that is paid to people without having to work or be tested. Usually, these cash payments are distributed by the government but they can also be distributed by organizations such as non-profits.
Some countries, including the United States, have already distributed universal basic income in some form.
Here are some great websites with basic income information and opportunities to receive basic income:
Apply for government grants
Grants are one of the ways that the government provides funding for projects and ideas. Most of the time, these grants do not have to be paid back making them free.
The ideas behind providing grants are to stimulate the economy and provide crucial public service.
Grants given to undergraduate students and non-profits tend to be the most popular. One of the most popular federal grants is the Pell Grant, which offers up to $6,345 for the 2020-2021 seasons to undergraduate students experiencing financial hardship.
Click here for official United States Federal Government website and list of legitimate government grants.
Be advised that if something is titled as a “free grant” it is likely a scam. Visit the FTC’s article here to learn more.
Apply for financial assistance
If you are an individual who is low income, a small business owner, in higher educations, etc. chances are that the government can provide you with financial assistance to help you become self-sufficient or lower expenses.
Here are some of the more popular kinds of financial assistance that the United States Federal Government offers to individuals and families:
- The Child Care and Development Fund offers financial assistance for low-income families.
- Small Business Administration gives grants for the purpose of research and development, various types of funding, and other uses.
- Food assistance programs such as SNAP and WIC offer cash assistance that can be used for groceries to individuals or families in need.
Click here for the official United States website on financial assistance.
Financial assistance websites for other countries
Frequently Asked Questions
Does free money really exist?
Yes. Many people are conditioned to believe that free money doesn’t exist or that it has to be a kind of scam. You have to change your perspective on the matter because there are legitimate ways to get free money that I discuss throughout this article.
I need free money now. What do I do?
I’d recommend starting off by downloading money apps with sign up bonuses.
The best ones include the cash back app Ibotta, survey apps Qmee and SurveyJunkie, and the simple task app Swagbucks. All of these can get you money free and fast.
How do I avoid free money scams?
I would take a three-question approach.
Does the offer sound too good to be true or unrealistic? If so, it probably is.
Do you have to pay money upfront?
Are you being asked for highly sensitive personal information such as your social security number, a picture of your Driver’s License or your card information?
If the free money offer fails these three questions, I would stay far away.
Can you receive free cash in the mail?
Yes. Legit free cash offers would include things like coupons, bank bonuses, and sweepstakes from reputable companies.
I was able to find good info from your blog articles. Allix Gorden Nahshun
Finally! A financial article that isn’t listing the same handful of resources that every other blogger has previously listed, and sometimes relisted! This post is very organized, detailed oriented, and easy to read. I’m pleasantly surprised at the amount of information I’ve just absorbed from to this, and look forward to putting some of it to good use. Thank you!