Making money on the internet is all the rage these days.
Everywhere you look, people are starting blogs, working from home as virtual assistants, and even companies are getting in on the work-at-home game with remote positions that cater towards their best employees’ desire to flexibility.
But, the reality is that some of us actually like leaving the home for our jobs or – shocker! – some of us actually LIKE our jobs! So it’s understandable that working from home isn’t for everyone.
However, nearly everyone could use a few hundred extra dollars in extra income every single month – without lifting a finger to do anything.
And that’s what this list is all about. These 21 passive income streams make me $1,753 each month with very little effort on my part:
Using The Internet
Swagbucks
Did you know that Swagbucks has given away more than $122,000,000 in rewards to date? And the reason why I recommend them so much is because I’ve earned a portion of those rewards completely passively. I don’t do surveys, I don’t watch TV, and I don’t even really use Swagbucks as my search engine – even though all of those ways are GREAT to earn rewards. Nope, because I’m focusing on passive income through Swagbucks, I make $95 every single month by focusing on referrals. You’ll notice that I recommend Swagbucks on a regular basis, in many posts on this blog because for years I earned at least $100 a month in Amazon gift cards, and when I refer someone, we both get a 300 Swagbucks + I earn 10% of my referrals rewards for life. Even if you don’t have a blog or website, you can make money through referrals by sharing your love for Swagbucks and get rewarded in the process.
You can sign up for Swagbucks (and claim your 300 SB bonus) HERE
Or, you could stick with the tried and true methods of using Swagbucks, which I’ll explain in a moment.
Monthly Earnings: $95
Bing Rewards
If using Swagbucks as a search engine isn’t really your thing, then the next best option is to use Bing Rewards. The reward system Bing has in place is much simpler than Swagbucks: Earn one point for every two searches, up to 15 points per day. Points can also be earned for mobile searches (up to 10 per day), and through completing very simple daily offers (up to 6 points per day. You can then redeem points for gift cards and discounts. A $5 Amazon gift card is 525 points for all levels except gold, when the price drops to 475 points. Again, even though using Bing Rewards as search engine is very, very easy, the bulk of my points are earned through referring people to the service.
{Read My Full Review of Bing Rewards}
Monthly Earnings: $25
Screenwise Trends Panel
Another completely passive way to earn money while using the internet is by registering for and installing Screenwise Trends Panel. This program developed by Google is a simple extension that you install on your browser, and that rewards you. The extension can be installed in your computer, smartphone, and tablet, and doing so will reward you with a $6 installation reward + $3.00/week.
Monthly Earnings: $15
Qmee
Have you heard of Qmee? If not, then I’m about to tell you about the internet’s best kept secret. This source of passive income is also a browser extension that suggests products you might be searching for. When you click on the options given by Qmee, you’ll be rewarded with money in your Qmee bank, which can be cashed out like cash in the Qmee store for gift cards and more.
Monthly Earnings: $10
Get Paid While Exercising
FitStudio
*Update: FitStudio has been discontinued, but if you already earned points and/or gift cards, they will still be honored. Instructions can be foundon FitStudio’s website.
FitStudio is an awesome way to make money while you work out if you have a FitBit. The program syncs with your FitBit account (and others like RunKeeper and MyFitnessPal) to give you points just for taking steps, working out, and burning calories. FitStudio is designed to help you set fitness goals, so you can earn points for setting and reaching goals within the FitStudio website, but even if you don’t want to set goals, just signing up and syncing your FitBit (or other accounts) can earn you an easy $5 per week, the award amount when you reach 14 miles (about 8,000 steps a day) You can always increase your reward amount too, like I do, netting me $10 each week to spend at Lands’ End or Kmart – and these rewards can be used on anything, including groceries, cosmetics, cleaning supplies, etc.
Monthly Earnings: $50
DietBet
DietBet is an app that allows you and your friends to bet on your health. You can join celebrity trainer’s challenges (think Extreme Transformation’s Chris & Heidi Powell, The Biggest Loser’s Dolvett Quince, and more) or form a workplace, family, or friends challenge. All contributors pay into the pot, pledge to lose 4% in 4 week, and then the pot is split among the winner’s when the challenge is over. To date, DietBet has paid out more than $18,050,091 to winners. They also guarantee that you will not lose: if everyone in your challenge loses the 4% of their bodyweight, DietBet will forfeit their portion of the pot so you won’t lose money.
Because you can participate in up to 3 Kickstarters (month-long challenges) and up to 3 Transformations (6 month long challenges) at the same time, you could win some major cash just for losing weight! I personally do the maximum number of challenges I can at a time, netting me some pretty awesome passive income.
Monthly Earnings:$60 (this number varies, but $60 is pretty average)
GymPact
Formerly known as PACT (their app still says this), GymPact users make healthy decisions and set goals for themselves. Then, they track their progress for cash rewards, which are paid by members who don’t meet their goals. This means that you can actually lose money with GymPact, a fact that many users find very motivating!
One of the perks of GymPact is that it’s not just about losing weight. You can set goals for eating your veggies, tracking your food, and and more. The rewards with GymPact aren’t huge, but at $0.30 – $5 a week for making healthy choices, there’s no reason not to at least try out GymPact.
Monthly Earnings: $8
Healthy Wage
Healthy Wage is kind of like DietBet on steroids: users are allowed to bet big on weight loss within a set timefram, after a verified weigh-in, and users can fly solo or in groups, rather than being forced into teams like DietBet. If you win your bet, you will be paid out via Amazon or PayPal.
Monthly Earnings: $50
Watching TV
Viggle
Viggle is fairly new on the “get paid to watch TV” front, but it is an app for Android and iPhone that allows you to collect points while watching TV shows. You can then exchange these points for awards. The app is free, and you can sign up right from your mobile phone – Viggle will walk you through the rest. Once you’re signed in and ready to begin watching, open up Viggle and allow it to “listen” to the show your watching for a moment to recognize it. Points will be given based on the show you’re watching and how long you watch it.
Monthly Earnings: $15
Swagbucks TV
Nearly anytime I’m working, I have a separate window open watching Swagbucks TV…well, in the background. For every 10 videos you watch, you get 3 Swagbucks, with a maximum of 150 Swagbucks every day. If you want to earn even more, you can watch videos on their Encrave channel.
By the way, if you sign up through my link, we will give you a 300 Swagbuck bonus to get you started!
Monthly Earnings: $45
Shopping
Cash Back Credit Card
To really up my passive income game, I always use my cash back credit card when shopping anywhere: gas stations, groceries, and even online. Doing so can earn you anywhere from 1% – 5% cash back when you use the Chase Freedom card. This card is ALWAYS in my wallet for the cash back + the $200 sign-up bonus when you spend $500 in the first 90 days after opening the card. As with all credit cards, make sure that you never overspend with your credit card and pay off the balance in full every month, or the rewards will be for nothing.
Monthly Earnings: $70
Ibotta
Cash rebates on common grocery store products? Yep, I’m there.
Ibotta’s rebates change every week, and in addition to offering grocery store rebates, they have branched out into digital coupons as well as rebates for retail stores as well. To earn money with Ibotta, simply tap the offer you’re interested in, answer a short question, then snap the item’s barcode + your store receipt. Earnings from Ibotta can be cashed out via Paypal, Venmo, or in the form of a gift card.
Monthly Earnings $15
Checkout 51
Very similar to Ibotta, but newer on the scene, Checkout 51 works almost backwards from how Ibotta works. You scan your receipt and then select the rebate items that are on it. It is easier than Ibotta because you don’t have to answer questions and most weeks they have a “Pick Your Own Offer” that allows you to choose from several items and still get a rebate. And, where Ibotta tends to offer rebates on brand name and specialty items, Checkout 51 works at ANY store, giving rebates on generic and staple items. Once your rewards account reaches $20, you can request a check.
Monthly Earnings: $20
Snap! by Groupon
The newest of grocery-rebate apps, Snap by Groupon is quickly becoming a fan-favorite.
There are fewer offers but the offers are better, including staple items like milk, eggs, and produce – and the app works at ANY store. Offers are limited, so if you see one you want, jump on it quickly, since offers expire quickly.
{Read My Full Snap! by Groupon Review Here}
Monthly Earnings: $10
Shopmium
Also similar to Checkout 51 and Ibotta, Shopmium doesn’t tie it’s rebates to a particular store. As long as you have an itemized receipt, Shopmium will work. It doesn’t have as many offers as others, but I’ve found that I can use many of the deals they have listed.
Monthly Earnings: $5
Swagbucks
When I shop online, in addition to using my cash-back credit card, I ALWAYS shop through one of the shopping portals that I’m going to list, including Swagbucks. The “Shop & Earn” portion of Swagbucks allows you to shop through their portal and then earn up to 4,000% back in points. Nope, that’s not 500% cash back: at 40 Swabucks per $1 spend, a $100 purchase would net you 4,000 Swagbucks in your account, which could then be redeemed for $40 in Amazon gift cards. It’s a pretty sweet deal.
Monthly Earnings: $50
eBates
eBates also gives you rewards for shopping through their portal, but unlike Swagbucks, they are a dedicated shopping hub (no surveys, searching, etc), and instead of rewarding shopping with points, eBates rewards you in cold, hard cash. Each time you shop, you’ll be given a set percentage back (up to 30%, and yes, its in cash, not points) and then your earnings will be mailed to you via check each quarter. When you sign up through my link, eBates will give you a $10 bonus when you make your first purchase through them.
You can sign up for eBates and earn your $10 bonus HERE.
Monthly Earnings: $150
TopCashBack
TopCashBack works exactly the same as eBates, except they claim to give the highest percentage of cash back to its users – even though it is younger than eBates. Simply browse 1,000’s of retailers for the one you want to shop at, click through to that retailer, and then earn rewards! TopCashBack also runs a monthly 100% cash back deal that is definitely worth looking into!
Monthly Earnings: $30
CashBackAholic
Yet another shop-through-them-and-get-paid website, I’ll spare you the details except for this one important point: CashBackAholic has some retailers that the other sites don’t have, do if you can’t find what you’re looking for, this is a good place to start.
BeFrugal
Finally, one more cash back site for you. BeFrugal will give you $10 when you sign up!
Monthly Earnings: $30
Blogging
By far, the biggest way I earn money passively is through blogging. Yes, I write a new article and post it every day, but those new articles take time to pick up steam with affiliate offers & advertisements – so the money I earn is mostly from older articles that have done well in search and on Pinterest.
{Check Out My Blog Income Reports Here}
Monthly Earnings: $1,000
If you want to learn more about starting a blog, I have set up a resource to help you here.
Of course, there are literally hundreds of ways to make money online besides the ways I’ve listed here (taking surveys, answering questions, working as a VA) but those methods aren’t truly passive. Take, for example, the amount that I’ve listed as earnings monthly from blogging: of course I earn more than that each month, but I break down the amount I’ve earned from old posts and new posts (within the last month). Those old posts are such as powerful source of income that I could walk away from them for months or even years and that would still be generating income.
That’s the power of passive income.
No, the $1,700 + I make in passive income each month isn’t enough to keep us afloat, but if something drastic were to happen, it would certainly go a long way to ensuring that our utilities were paid!
What are your favorite sources of passive income? Share you favorite in the comments!
P.S. Share this post on social media for a chance at this month’s giveaways!
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This post may contain affiliate links. See my disclosures for more information.
Kate @ Cashville Skyline says
Nice, Gretchen! Passive income is a huge goal for me, too. I’ve been slowly purchasing index funds and quality stocks over the past few years. Even the smallest dividend payout feels amazing because I didn’t actual work extra hours to earn it.
Sam @ Living The Dutch Dream says
What a great list! I have put it in my favourites so I can go through it again when I have a little more time. I need to see which if any would be available to the Nederlands. i know at the moment swagbucks isn’t but they say they are working on it. Thanks so much for sharing.
Kali says
Thanks for sharing all of these ways to make a little extra!
Jennifer says
These are great tips! I’d love to increase my passive income. Thank you for sharing at the Thursday Favorite Things blog hop. Your post has been pinned!
Cheers,
Jennifer
http://awellstyledlife.com
Cat@BudgetBlonde says
Awesome! There are some great ideas on here Gretchen. I have started making some “passive income” by selling my course. I did a lot of work on it upfront, but now I can earn money from it forever.
Bre Rock says
I’m saving this post as a “pin now read later” type thing! I really need to get on the wagon with some of these passive income options. My blog is still very new so old posts aren’t really an option at this point. But they say slow and steady wins the race right?!
Thanks for sharing, you’re an inspiration!
Gretchen says
It’s a long post, that’s for sure! Not all the ideas will work for everyone, but if you can use even 1 of them, then my job here is done :-) And you’re absolutely right, take it slow!
Lisa @ Fun Money Mom says
Wow…I knew about some of these but there are a lot I hadn’t heard of! Thanks for a very informative post…I learned a lot!
Gretchen says
I’m so glad I could help!
Hannah says
Hey, came over from the duck ‘n a row blog hop :) This is an awesome list. Seems like you could literally just use some of these if you were bored to make extra cash (always a good thing lol) so thanks for sharing it.
Do you have a favorite out of these?
Gretchen says
Exactly! I used to do a lot of them while I was bored at my office job ;-) If I had to pick a favorite, Swagbucks probably is! It’s easy to use, and I literally make an extra $1,200 a year with just through referrals!
Cynthia says
This is a great list. I am going to look into the Swagbucks and SwagbucksTV and see if it is offered in Canada. The extra money would be great to put toward gifts at the end of the year. Thank you so much.
Joanna says
Wow, looking at each one I think “well, that’s not very much a month,” but then when you add it all up, it’s definitely worth it! Thanks for sharing all of these! I’ll have to start implementing some of these pronto!
Lindsey says
Wow, I didn’t know there were so many sites like Ebates and Swagbucks that give rewards for shopping online. I will definitely have to check the other sites out sometime.
For apps that you can claim rebates on for products commonly found in grocery stores, I would also recommend Savingstar and Shrink – more centered around organic and healthy foods.
Betty says
Good for you. Sounds like you are doing all of the right things. I really like MyPoints. I have received several gift cards from them.
Teri@The Freshman Cook says
Thanks for such a great list, Gretchen! There are quite a few on here that I have not heard of. Definitely checking them out! I linked to your blog from the “You’re Gonna Love It Tuesday” link party!
tk says
Thank you for this list! I signed up for swagbucks via your link and have not received the 300 bonus points, how long does it take?
Thanks again!
Gretchen says
That’s awesome! Have you confirmed your email with them yet?
tk says
Thanks so much for the response Gretchen! Yes I confirmed right away last night, still nothing except what I received for answering a few surveys, etc.
Gretchen says
No problem! Let me reach out to my contact at Swagbucks, then I’ll send you an email ;-)
tk says
HI Gretchen, thank you, any luck with your contact at Swagbucks?
Carole @TootSweet4Two says
Wow! Who knew their were so many ways to earn money without much work! Great job – I’m going to check some of these out! Stopping by from Inspire Me Monday and pinning to Pinterest!
LISA RUSSO says
Thank you for the information!
Gordon says
Can I use Screenwise trends & Qmee on same computer?