Almost everyone owns a smart phone these days, so why not put it to use? Don’t just use that thing for phone calls, texts, and e-mailing. You could actually be making money on your smart phone. Take a look at my favorite free smart phone apps that make you money. The reason I love these apps is that they reward me on things I am already doing. I don’t have to go out and do anything special, or watch boring ads, or fill out mundane surveys. You are never going to get rich from these apps. But, if you can get small rewards and a few cents here and there for things you’re doing anyways, why not?!
Pact – Get Paid Cash for Working Out
I started using Pact back when it was called GymPact. I loved it then and I love it now. There are a ton of features added that make it even better now.
How Pact Works
Using Pact is actually really easy. The general idea is that you make a pact with yourself. You choose a set amount of money as your wager and how many days you are committing to work out, eat vegetables or log your food intake. If you don’t make your pact by the end of the week, you are charged for each day you failed to meet that standard. You can wager anything from $5 up, in $5 increments. The amount you wager has nothing to do with the amount you get paid.
Pact has partnered with a few other apps that make it easier to complete your pact. These apps include: RunKeeper, Jawbone Up, Fitbit, Moves, MapMyFitness, and MyFitnessPal. All of these except MyFitnessPal are used to verify your workouts. MyFitnessPal is the app required if you want to create a pact based on keeping tract of your food and caloric intake.
The last type of pact you can make is based on how many servings of vegetables you eat during the week. You can count op to 5 servings in one day. This works by taking a picture of your vegetables and uploading it to pact. The community then votes on whether it should count or not. This keeps people honest. (Pizza does not count!)
How Pact Pays You
Pact uses the money that other users pay for failing their pact, and gives it to you. All of the money is collected and split up between the people who were successful with their pacts. The more days you commit to, the more money you make.
Pact sends out payments through PayPal. You have to have a balance of at least $10 before you can request payment. I typically just request payment on the first of every month since I earn at least $10 per month.
Viggle – Make Money by Watching TV
Who wouldn’t want to make money just for watching TV? Isn’t that a dream the most people have? I know as a kid I always wished it was possible.
How Viggle Works
Viggle matches the audio from any show you are watching on television to the actual show. It gives you a certain amount of points for every minute you are watching. You simply open the app, click on check in, and be quiet so the app can pick up on the shows audio. Some shows are worth extra points like Pay-Per-View fights or Showtime. You can also get points for watching advertisements.
How Viggle Pays You
Viggle points can’t be redeemed for actual cash, but they are still very valuable. I am currently saving mine to redeem for the FitBit. You can cash your points in for products, discounts, gift cards, charities, or sweepstakes.
Referral Bonus
You can invite friends to use Viggle through Facebook, Twitter, E-mail, or a text message. If your friend decides to sign up, you get 5,000 points when they check in to a TV show with the app, and so does your friend. The catch is, your friends have to register with Facebook if that’s how they were invited. Any other invitation method makes it okay to register with e-mail.
Ibotta – Get Rebates
How Ibotta Works
Ibotta gives you rebates for things you have bought. Choose your favorite rebates and unlock them by completing fun tasks. Then, just need to scan the bar-code of the item and take a picture of the receipt. You can also earn more money with bonuses. Ibotta Bonuses are a fun way to earn money and bragging rights by buying featured products or shopping in certain stores. Work toward completing these bonuses over time, and when you do you will unlock special rewards.
How Ibotta Pays You
Ibotta doesn’t use points or any other kind of fake currency. All of your rebates can be redeemed for cash via PayPal or Venmo as soon as you reach the $5 threshold. If you want to cash out at $2, you can do so for gift cards.
Referral Bonus
You can earn $5 for every referral on Ibotta. To qualify for the bonus, the person needs to sign up through a link you sent them or by typing in your referral code. Once the have signed up, they still have to redeem a rebate before you get paid. Sign up for Ibotta with my referral code biiaiz.
Receipt Hog – Make Money Every Time You Buy Something
Every time I spend money, I get a little depressed when I look at my receipts. Receipt Hog is an app that has taken some of the edge off that feeling.
How Receipt Hog Works
Receipt Hog gives you coins for every qualified receipt you upload. To be “qualified”, it has to be from identified super-centers, grocery, club, drug, dollar, and convenience stores. It doesn’t even matter what you buy at the store. Coins awarded for receipts are based on the dollar amount spent (<$10 = 5 coins; $10-$50 = 10 coins; $50-$100 = 15 coins; $100+ = 20 coins).
You also earn spins for the slot machine game. The game awards top prizes of $100, 100 coins, and the amount of your last shopping trip. Other than that, you can win a few coins or nothing.
Spins are awarded by either :
1) Inviting friends — you are awarded 3 spins per friend that joins Receipt Hog.
2) Each time you submit your first receipt of the week (Monday through Sunday).
3) When you reach Hog Wild status (5-weeks continuous usage) you’ll get an extra spin per qualifying receipt you submit.
4) The first time you download the app.
How Receipt Hog Pays You
You can redeem coins for cash through PayPal or for gift cards. I like the cash option the best.
Here’s what your coins will get you:
1000 coins = $5.00
1800 coins = $10.00
3200 coins = $20.00
4500 coins = $30.00
Referral Bonus
Rewards for referrals come in the form of spins. Once your referral signs up and uploads a receipt, you get 10 spins and your friend gets 5. It’s a win-win for both of you. Just follow my referral link to get started.
Shopkick – Get Paid For Walking Into Stores
I love the sound I hear when I walk into stores now. Ding! You just made money!
How Shopkick Works
The currency of Shopkick is kicks. Kicks are like rewards points. You can collect them by walking into a store or scanning items. Just open shopkick at the store’s entrance for the walk-in points to hear the “ding”. Shopkick will actually let you know about deals close by and stores work kicks just for walking in. If you link your Visa or MasterCard, you earn even more kicks when you make qualifying purchases.
How Shopkick Pays You
Kicks can be redeemed for gift cards or products. I am working towards a Target gift card. The conversion rate from kicks to gift card dollars is 250 to 1. This means 250 kicks can be redeemed for $1 worth of gift cards. The minimum to redeem is 500 kicks.
Referral Bonus
Shopkick gives you 2,000 kicks for every 3 friends that join. But, it only rewards you in groups of three. So, if you have two people sign up; you get nothing. If 5 sign up, you still only get 2,000 kicks. Join Shopkick using my referral link.
CheckPoints – The App That Pays You Back
How CheckPoints Works
When you first sign up, you automatically get 20 points.
How CheckPoints Pays You
Points can be redeemed for gift cards of products.
In the rewards area, I can see:
- A $200 Target gift card costs 32,000 points.
- A $25 Subway gift card costs 9,300 points.
- A $500 Louis Vuitton gift card casts 154,500 points.
According to just those number, there is not obvious conversion rate from points to dollar amounts. You will just have to find the best deal.
Referral Bonus
One of the fastest ways to earn points on CheckPoints is to refer friends. You can get 100% of the points your friends earn in the first two weeks after they download the app. The only catch is that they have to use your bonus code and the maximum you can get per referral is 7,500 points. But, there is no limit on how many referrals you can have. So go ahead, download CheckPoints and use my referral code mdodd63.
Final Thoughts
These are just a list of my favorite apps that make you money. There are plenty more like them. Do you have any experience with these apps? let me know in the comments section. What are your favorite apps that make you money?