We partner with some awesome companies that offer products which can help our readers. If you make a purchase through one of our partner links, we may receive a commission at absolutely no additional cost to you! Please see my Policy & Disclosure page for full details. 

Save thousands a year by cutting food costs. Groceries and food costs was draining our monthly finances. Don’t judge but we were spending nearly $1,000 on food alone for two people. You may be wondering how in the world is that possible? It consisted a lot of Starbucks, going out to eat, and never meal prepping. You’d be surprised how much you can spend just on food alone.

The most important part was that we fixed this horrible habit of spending so much on food and drinks. So, how were we able to figure out how much we spent? Well, we started budgeting our money and were taken by surprise at all the unnecessary costs.

Along the way, we found some of 15 easy ways to save money on food and groceries that nearly everyone can also apply to their lives. Freeing up extra money means more cash in your pockets.

Have you ever heard of the saying “money saved is money earned”?

It’s actually pretty awesome to have more money in your pockets at the end of the month. For us, we were able to save $300-$500 a month just by doing a few things. We used this extra cash to throw at our debt. $127,229 worth of it. I know I know, it’s ridiculous. We were able to knock out more than $50,000 within 10 months and cutting food costs definitely helped with that.

Do you have debt and want to start knocking it out ASAP? Start by grabbing this free Debt Thermometer and join us in the free 5-Day Debt Free Bootcamp.

Now you may be wondering how you can save money with food and groceries. Don’t worry there are plenty of ways you can do that. Most importantly, budgeting will help you uncover where you may be spending money where you don’t need to. It’s definitely helped us save $6,000 a year just on food and drinks alone.

Related: How To Budget Your Money For Beginners

Food and drinks can quickly add up, you wouldn’t believe it.

The example above doesn’t even include groceries. Adding grocery costs can tack on a few more hundred to that total, easily bringing the monthly food costs up to $1,000 or more.

$5 Starbucks drinks, take out, restaurants, they all add up over time.

Budgeting will help reveal how much you actually spend every month on food. Results may be shocking!

Not saying you should cut all those things out. Cause we haven’t! It’s just about being mindful of certain things and budgeting your money can certainly help with that.

There’s also few tips and tricks I learned along the way that can help you save hundreds a month on food & drinks.

1. Coffee and Drinks

There’s just something about Starbucks isn’t there? It keeps us all coming back for more. I’m sure it’s the caffeine.

I must’ve spent a good $60-$100 a month on Starbucks alone. Think about it, most of those drinks cost at least $5. If you get one every single day, that’s $35 a week or $1,820 a year. Sure, it may be some pricey coffee but for some people it’s hard to give up.

There’s always a balance when trying to save money. Some people go all out and never eat out again. I’m definitely not one of them. I still indulge but I find ways to minimize the expenses.

You don’t have to give up your favorite drinks and coffees to save money. There’s ways to earn cash or gift cards for Starbucks to still enjoy the simple pleasures in life.

Are there times when you just sit around and watch TV for hours? Or waiting around when you’re picking up your kid’s from school, doing laundry, or just relaxing around the house?

You could be earning some cash or gift cards on your free time to afford your favorite cup of coffee or drinks.

Swagbucks – Earn cash or gift cards from Starbucks, Amazon, PayPal, Walmart, Visa, iTunes, eBay, and more by taking surveys and polls. Sign up here to get your $10 sign up bonus.
There are tons of ways to earn points with Swagbucks like watch videos, play games on your phone, download and try out apps on your phone, shop online through Swagbucks’ site, complete daily goals, enter competitions, sign up for free trial services, and referrals.

Survey Junkie – For every 1000 points you’ll earn a $10 gift card or cash via PayPal. They offer online surveys and polls, phone surveys which pay anywhere from $5-$100, test products $5-$50, join focus groups $25-$150. Sign up for free here and get started on earning side money.

When you’re trying to save money on drinks, food, or groceries, you don’t necessarily have to sacrifice the things you love. Just find some ways to make some side money on your free time to buy the things you love.

Another thing you can try doing is buying Starbucks at the grocery store. They sell big bottles of Starbucks coffee and it’s usually located in the refrigerated section. The big bottles usually go for under $5 and it can last a lot longer than just buying one drink.

Let’s not forget specialty drinks at restaurants. Some of them can be sodas, smoothies, margaritas, and alcoholic drinks. These can cost an additional $4-$12 per person on the tab! So you can always choose water instead to save a lot more money on your next dining bill.

2. Pack Lunches for Work

Prior to this process, my husband and I would always buy breakfast at local restaurants prior to work, and order from fast food restaurants for lunch. That can easily add up to $20-$30 a day for the both of us just on food and in a month, it can quickly accumulate to $400-$600 in food costs

Sure, it’s mighty convenient to step out for lunch and order that $15 quinoa salad but it can definitely add up over time.

Instead of grabbing lunch everyday for work, try packing your lunches. You can keep your lunch nice and cool or warm with a nice looking lunch bag and cooling packs.

Ideas for lunch meals:

3. Eat At Home More Often

Try to reduce your visits to fast food chains and restaurants. Instead of going out for lunch everyday 5 times a week, we may only reserve the weekends for our cheat day. Doing this has saved us over $500 each month.

Sure, if you want to save tons of money you can cut going out to eat for good. Everyone has different preferences and lifestyles. Try to make slight adjustments so that changing up your routine is doable.

For instance, if you go out to eat everyday, try to cut back a couple times a week to start. See what ways will work with your life but ultimately, the more you can cook at home and meal prep the better it is financially.

4. Meal planning

Meal planning is so important in saving money on grocery and restaurant costs. This actually helped me cut our nearly $1,000 a month food costs down to $500. Prior to meal planning, my husband and I would always buy lunch ranging from $6-$10. Then, we didn’t really plan what we would eat for the week so we often ended up bring home food after work or ordering out. After adding up all the costs, it was close to $1,000 and sometimes we went over. 

It was shocking to see that we spent $1,000 on food alone. It felt like a huge waste of money. We were able to bring our food costs down to $500.

So, how did we cut our food/grocery bill by 50%?

We started planning our meals for the week.

For breakfast, we made sure to wake up 10 minutes earlier to eat at home. For lunch, we packed ourselves something to eat or brought healthy microwaveable foods. For dinner, we planned ahead and cooked a large batch that gave us left overs for the next day.

Make a List to Meal Plan

Another way to help save money and stay organized is by making a meal/ingredient list and sticking to it. I came across this really cute meal planner on Amazon, it sticks to your fridge so that way you can jot down anything that comes to mind when you’re in the kitchen. Also, the shopping list is perforated so you can tear it right off when you’re ready to head to the grocery store.

Writing down your meal plans and ingredients can really help save a lot of money. It helps you stay organized and prevents you from buying unnecessary items at the grocery store.

I find that writing down what to make for the week and buying the ingredients needed prevents overspending. It can also prevent stress.

I can’t tell you how many times I used to go to the grocery store stressed out because I was trying to come up with things to make for the week on a whim. It’s so much better to have a plan and it helps to reduce a lot of stress that way.

Meal Plan Ideas

There are lots of meal planning ideas online. You can find them on Google, Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram, and more.

If you don’t want to spend time trying to research what to make every single week, then you can try $5 Meal Plan.

$5 Meal Plan

Offering a free 14-day trial
Weekly recipes sent straight to your e-mail
Option to choose the pre-made weekly meal plan and shopping list OR
Use the Meal Plan Builder to customize what meals you want
You’ll get 5 dinner with sides recipes, 1 lunch, 1 breakfast, and 1 dessert/snack/or beverage option.
It also comes with a full ingredients list so it requires less work on your part.

$5 Meal Plan is offering a free 14-day trial and charges just $5 a month. It’s great for those who want to save some time by leaving the guess work out of preparing meals for the week. The best part is that they also provide an ingredients list so it makes shopping very easy.

If you want to check out an example of what a weekly e-mail print out will look like, check it out here.

Meal planning can certainly save you time and money.

Whether it’s meal planning on your own, or using services to help you, it’s worth trying it out. It can save you hundreds and thousands of dollars!

5. Easily Save Money By Using Coupons and Cash Back App

Have you ever heard of the saying “Money saved is money earned”. It’s absolutely true!

I know coupons can also help save lots of money on food and groceries. I’ll admit that I just can’t find the time to sit there and clip coupons. I’ve tried it once but it takes a lot of time and it’s hard to keep track of.

If you can clip coupons and look for online sales then definitely go for it. Anything that helps put money back in your pockets, the better!

A great place to find all circulars online is on Flipp. It’s so easy to use, you plug in your zip code and it’ll pull in all the circulars for the stores in your area. Go through the digital circular and if you like an item click on it. It will then add the item to your shopping list. It makes clipping coupons super easy.

One method that I actually find doable for me is using cash back apps.

Ibotta Cash Back App

One of my favorite ones is Ibotta. Super simple to use.

Ibotta

Sign up for free and use the code YDIGCFJ get your $20 welcome bonus.

Before my weekly shopping trip, I’ll go to my Ibotta app and check to see if any of the items on my shopping list is in the app.

Ibotta has all the brand name grocery stores from Walmart, Kroger, Target, Costco, Aldi, Dollar Tree, and so much more.

All you do is click on the store you plan to shop at. Then you look for the items you plan to buy. They’ll have coupons available for you to choose from and some of them can be used 5 times.

You then redeem those coupons for cash back! Once you hit $20 in cash back, you can withdraw your earnings straight to your bank account, via PayPal, or digital gift cards.

My last shopping trip, I earned over $8 back.

Checkout 51 Cash Back App

Checkout 51 is very similar to Ibotta. You can get cash back from groceries and hygiene products. Just upload your receipt and redeem for cash once you hit $20. What’s great about Checkout 51 is that you can also get cash back at the gas pump and they offer a digital Prescription Savings Card which can save you up to 80% on medications.

Sign up for free and get your $5 bonus at Checkout 51 to start earning cash back the easy way.
Tip: Earn $2 when you upload your first receipt and $1 for each receipt three times after that which gives you a total of $5 bonus cash.

GetUpside Cash Back App

GetUpside is another easy cash back app to use. You can get money back on restaurants, groceries (Washington D.C. area), and Gas.

You can see savings as much as 35% at restaurants, 15% at grocery stores, and 25c/gal of gas.

It’s very easy to use, all you have to do is claim the offer presented, simply upload your receipt, and get cash back. Once you hit $15, you can get cash back via PayPal or reach $50 to get a cash payout.

Download GetUpside and use the promo code U5NBX to get $7 cash back on your first purchase

Fetch Rewards App

Fetch Rewards is another easy app you can use to earn cash back to redeem for gift cards or magazine subscriptions. This can come in handy when you want to give out gift cards for birthdays or holidays.

All you need to do is scan your receipts from most grocery stores, pharmacy, convenience store, and big retailers. You will then earn points which convert to cash.

Sign up for Fetch Rewards with this referral code 7JKFH and you’ll get 2,000 Fetch Points ($2.00 in points)
You can also refer others and earn 2,000 points ($2) yourself and your friend/family will earn 2,000 points ($2) as well.

6. Look For Cash Back When Ordering Food

Do you order food occasionally? I don’t always make food at home, I get too tired. On the weekends we like to indulge and order out.

If you ever order food then you need to check out Rakuten.

Rakuten is a major hub that has ALL sorts of major businesses on there, from food companies, major department stores, Amazon, Ebay, travel, entertainment, books, and more!

I always go through Rakuten before I do any online shopping because I usually end up getting cash back. Once you earn at least $5, you can request Rakuten to send you a check.

Have you ever used GRUBHUB or Postmates to get your food delivered? Today I saw that Rakuten is offering 11% cash back for GRUBHUB and up to $7 back for using Postmates.

Sign up to Rakuten and get a $10 welcome bonus

7. Eat up food in the freezer and pantry!

Every once in a while look through your pantry and freezer.

Maybe you could have whole bunch of pasta boxes just sitting there. Why not make some cooked pasta over the weekend? or salad pasta to make it a bit healthier.

Sometimes there could be some great cuts of meat left in your freezer that you could have overlooked. Start going through them to find which ones to begin defrosting for meals.

Also, remember that meal planning will help save money this way too. You can go through your pantry or freezer to start planning what to make for the week. That way, you won’t have to buy extra things which you may already have.

8. Shop with a Calculator

I noticed that when I used a shopping list and shopped with a calculator, my grocery bill would be nearly 30%-40% less.

First, set your grocery budget and try sticking to that number. Using a calculator will help you stay on track. Keep tabs on everything you add to your cart with a calculator, it’ll give you an idea how you’re doing throughout your shopping trip.

What I like to do is write down the price of the grocery item just in case I end up miscalculating.

This method really worked for me, try it out and see if it saves you any money on your shopping trip.

8. Buy in Bulk Online

Buying in bulk is a great way to save money in the long run. Don’t worry if you don’t have a wholesale club membership. You don’t actually need to pay for one.

You can do your bulk shopping online through Instacart. They include wholesale clubs like Sam’s club or Costco and you can order through Instacart without a membership card. What’s even better is that you can get those bulk items delivered straight to your house.

Try Instacart out to get your bulk items delivered to your house. The signup is free and you can use this code MINFO1CE14E to get $10 off your first order.

9. Vacuum Seal Meat and Vegetables/Fruit

Also, when buying in bulk storage is important. If you buy a lot of meat or veggies, using food saver bags can prolong the life of the food so much longer than regular Ziplocks.

According to Foodsaver, they say that coffee, meats, vegetables, and fish can last up to two years in the freezer. In the fridge, fresh fruit, vegetables, and cheeses can last 4-8 months.

To save money on groceries, buy in bulk or when items are on sale and store them in vacuum sealed bags. That way, you won’t be wasting food and money.

Tip: If you have bananas laying around that are about to go bad, slice them up and store them in vacuum sealed bags for the freezer. They come in handy when making delicious smoothies.

10. Shop Along The Outer Aisles

Usually, grocery stores have whole foods along the outer aisles. Next time you go to the store, check out the layout. I bet the produce, dairy, and meats will be along the outer aisles.

Try to buy whole foods instead of too much processed food which tend to be around the inner most aisles and are more expensive compared to the other.

10. Buy Frozen Fruits and Vegetables

When you can, try to buy frozen fruits and vegetables. You may end up getting more for your money.

For instance, frozen organic spinach can cost 50 cents less than the fresh kind for up to twice the volume. Also, a 10 ounce bag of frozen organic raspberries could be the same price as 6 ounces of fresh raspberries.

11. Months to Buy Produce In-Season

Buying produce when they’re in-season will save you more money. They’ll be more plentiful which results in more sales. Below are fruits and vegetables that would be in-season according to The Spruce Eats.

12. Avoid Buying Pre-packaged Lettuce and Kale

Buying lettuce/kale/salad in the pre-packaged bags can be so much more expensive than prepping it yourself. You could be better off buying the greens as a whole, wash it, and store it your self to save more money.

For kale, any remaining leftovers go straight into the freezer. It comes in handy when I make smoothies.

13. Save Yourself Time by Shopping Online

You can save so much time and stress by shopping for groceries on your couch. Grocery shopping can be very time consuming.Use services like Instacart or Freshdirect to have your groceries delivered straight to your door.

Try Instacart out to get your grocery items delivered to your house. The signup is free and you can use this code MINFO1CE14E to get $10 off your first order.

Sign up for Freshdirect and get your $10 off first shopping order over $99.

14. Make Large Batches

If you don’t have too much time to cook then make it easy on yourself by getting the Instant Pot. It’s a pressure cooker that let’s you set it and forget it. You can make savory soups, stews, have tenderized meat almost instantly. It allows you to cook up something delicious at a fraction of the time. It’s also a great way to use up whatever you have in the freezer and cook it up in minutes. It will also allow you to cook up the food in large batches and have it last throughout the week or freeze leftovers. It will definitely save you money in the long run by allowing you to conveniently cook more at home and eat less take out food.

15. Use Rewards

Did you know that many restaurants/coffee shops have rewards programs? You can sign up with them and they will create a free account where you can accumulate points just by eating or drinking at your favorite restaurants or beverage shops.

Many times they will offer freebies or big discounts for birthdays/special occasions or even frequenting the establishment many times. Take advantage of them!

Just recently, my husband and I went to a restaurant to celebrate my birthday and yes we did use a 25% off coupon. No shame in the game folks!

Takeaway

We may not realize it but spending money on food and drinks can really add up over time. Heck, I was spending $1,000 more or less every month on food. It’s ridiculous now that I think about it.

Over this course of our debt payoff journey, I realized that making small changes to a routine can give you big results. Little things like eating breakfast at home, making lunch for work instead of ordering out, using a shopping list and meal plan for the week, making the most out of cash back apps, and buying in bulk often all adds up to major savings.

There are tons of ways to save money on food and drinks, I hope some of the things I mentioned can also help keep more money in your pockets this month.

Did you know that knocking out some debt can free up hundreds or thousands of dollars for you? If you have debt, today’s the day to start eliminating it. Here’s a free Debt Thermometer for you + join us in the free 5-Day Debt Free Bootcamp to get you on your journey to be debt free.

We partner with some awesome companies that offer products which can help our readers. If you make a purchase through one of our partner links, we may receive a commission at absolutely no additional cost to you! Please see my Policy & Disclosure page for full details. 

Make Hundreds to Thousands each month! There can be so many different ways to make extra money and it doesn’t have to be so hard. You can even make side money on top of a part time or full time job. 

Having extra cash on hand can do so much! You can use it to pay down debt, pursue your dreams, go on a vacation, put some money away towards savings or investments, and so much more. 

For us, we made extra cash on the side to help put that towards our debt. Making side money helped us quickly pay down more than $50,000 within 10 months.

There’s a lot of options out there to make some side cash. I’ll share 16 of the best ways to make some good side money. 

1. Online Survey Companies

Did you know you can actually make money online for taking surveys, answering polls, trying out apps, playing games, and so much more?

The earnings you make probably won’t help you retire but you definitely can earn some side cash doing the simplest things online through these survey companies. Here’s 3 of the ones that’s most popular now.

Swagbucks

With Swagbucks, you earn points for taking surveys or polls, watch videos, play games on your phone, shop online through Swagbucks’ site to get points, complete daily goals, enter competitions, try out apps, sign up for free trial services, and refer others.

Swagbucks uses a point system where you get awarded with SB points, you can then redeem those points for cash back via PayPal or gift cards through popular companies like Amazon, PayPal, Walmart, Visa, iTunes, Starbucks, eBay, and so much more.

Swagbucks offers so many different ways to get points but I use it mostly to try out games. Swagbucks will reward me with points which converts into cash or gift cards. So far I’ve earned over 14,010 SB points which turns to $140 for playing games and taking surveys here and there.

Sign up for free here at Swagbucks and earn a $10 welcome bonus

InboxDollars

InboxDollars is similar to Swagbucks where you can earn money taking surveys, playing games, and watching videos. If you want additional sources to make more side money then signing up with InboxDollars would be great. So far they have paid out over $50,000,000 so far to millions of members.

Join InboxDollars for free and get your instant $5 just for joining.

Survey Junkie

If you’d rather just stick with taking surveys then Survey Junkie is more for you. When you complete a survey you’ll get points and for every 1000 points you’ll get a $10 gift card or cash via PayPal. On top of simple surveys, they even offer phone surveys which can pay $5-$100, Test some products to make $5-$50, and join focus groups that pay anywhere from $25-$150. Realistically, you can expect to make anywhere from $3-$10 a day. If you make $10 a day for 30 days straight, that’s $300 a month. Not too shabby.

Sign up for free here at Survey Junkie and start earning

Don’t expect this to replace your full time job or get rich quick. It’s just a great way to make some extra side money while you have some spare time.

2. Work Online

Whether you want to create a side hustle or simply try working online, there’s a few ways you can do that.

Teach English Online

Have you ever thought of teaching? How about teaching kids from other countries how to speak and read English? You can set your own hours and you don’t even have to know the foreign language to teach. The best part is, you can teach from your own home via online, and make up to $22 an hour. How awesome is that?

Requirements Needed:

• 2 years of teaching, tutoring, mentoring, or coaching experience
• Bachelor’s degree in any major
• Be legally eligible to work in US or Canada
• Have reliable technology

Learn more about how you can get started at VIPKid

Proofread Online

If you consider yourself a fairly detail oriented person and always pick up on errors when you’re reading something then you many consider taking up proofreading people’s work and get paid for it. According to Ziprecruiter, a professional proofreader can make up to an average of $25. Proofreaders with more experience can make around $30-$35 an hour.

You can actually turn this side gig into a career. However, if you’re just starting out, you’ll need to build up your references and work first.

Be a proofreader on sites such as Gramlee, Flexjobs, Proofreadingservices, and others.

Be an Online Transcriber

Are you a good listener and can type fast? Maybe you can earn some money with those skills by being a Transcriber.

As a Transcriber, you’ll convert audio files into text for companies and businesses. These audio files can range from lectures to podcasts.

The best part is that you don’t need experience to start and can make anywhere from $240 per month to $1,500 on Rev.

Be a transcriber on Rev with no experience required

Data Entry Jobs

Have you ever wanted to work from home doing data entry? You can be in charge of your own schedule and not have to answer to any boss, just work independently.

Doing data entry or digital task work may be right for you.

Some of the tasks may include creating or correcting text, participating in surveys, search or categorize data, analyze data, and more depending on the projects offered.

You can expect to make anywhere from $6-$40 an hour with $12-$15 an hour being the average rate.

From doing a bit of research on Quora, you can make the most by getting jobs with UHRS, which is a client of Clickworker.

This is what’s offered on Clickworker

Find online jobs with Clickworker

Be a Freelancer

Do you have a certain skill that can help other people out? You can certainly create your own business out of it and work independently.

That’s where Fiverr comes in. Fiverr is a global hub for all things freelance!

They have so many freelancers on there that offer skills as service like

• Graphic design
• Excel / Google
• Be a virtual assistant
• Photo editing
• Write, edit, or proofread
• Marketing
• Programming
• SEO optimization
• Voice Over
• Transcription
• Offer social media services

If you’re interested, you can easily create an account and start selling your services. Fiverr is a trusted site which I even turn to when I need help with my website or I’m trying to figure something out with Excel. It’s worth checking out, you may be able to launch your freelance journey with Fiverr.

Become a freelancer on Fiverr

3. Get Cash Back When You Shop

Do you hate going through circulars or searching all over the internet to find the best deals? I know I do, it can be so time consuming. That’s why I LOVE cash back apps and sites. They’re super easy to use! You get instant savings and cash back with just a click.

Ibotta

Ibotta has over 300 stores that participate in their program. Ibotta gives you cash back for shopping at your favorite grocery stores and big retailers. They have all your main grocery stores like Kroger, H-E-B, C-Town, Aldi, Foodtown, Randalls, SHOP ‘n SAVE, ShopRite, Stop & Shop, Sprouts Farmers Market, Target, Trader Joe’s, Walmart, and so much more. It’s a very simple app to use and you get real money back which you can cash out once you earn $20.

Not only can you get cash back for grocery shopping with Ibotta, you can also earn money back with other categories like grocery pickup and delivery, online shopping, beer, wine & spirits, clothing, health & beauty, specialty, restaurants & bars, convenience, travel, home & auto, kids & baby, pet supply, sports & outdoors, and subscription & delivery. There’s over 300 stores to choose from.

Sign up for free at Ibotta and use the code YDIGCFJ to get your $20 welcome bonus

All you do is add items you plan to buy to your list.

I received $8.75 cash back from a recent shopping trip.

Checkout 51 Cash Back App

Checkout 51 is very similar to Ibotta. You can get cash back from groceries and hygiene products. Just upload your receipt and redeem for cash once you hit $20. What’s great about Checkout 51 is that you can also get cash back at the gas pump and they offer a digital Prescription Savings Card which can save you up to 80% on medications.

Sign up for free and get your $5 bonus at Checkout 51 to start earning cash back the easy way.
Tip: Earn $2 when you upload your first receipt and $1 for each receipt three times after that which gives you a total of $5 bonus cash.

GetUpside Cash Back App

GetUpside is another easy cash back app to use. You can get money back on restaurants, groceries (Washington D.C. area), and Gas.

You can see savings as much as 35% at restaurants, 15% at grocery stores, and 25c/gal of gas.

It’s very easy to use, all you have to do is claim the offer presented, simply upload your receipt, and get cash back. Once you hit $15, you can get cash back via PayPal or reach $50 to get a cash payout.

Download GetUpside and use the promo code U5NBX to get $7 cash back on your first purchase

Fetch Rewards App

Fetch Rewards is another easy app you can use to earn cash back to redeem for gift cards or magazine subscriptions. This can come in handy when you want to give out gift cards for birthdays or holidays.

All you need to do is scan your receipts from most grocery stores, pharmacy, convenience store, and big retailers. You will then earn points which convert to cash.

Use the code 7JKFH when you sign up to Fetch Rewards and you’ll get 2,000 Fetch Points ($2.00 in points)
You can also refer others and earn 2,000 points ($2) yourself and your friend/family will earn 2,000 points ($2) as well.

Rakuten

Rakuten is awesome when you’re doing any online shopping. You can get as much as 40% cash back when you go through Rakuten to shop. They have over 2,500 stores that participate with them in all sorts of categories from clothing & accessories, travel, health & beauty, shoes & handbags, electronics & office, home, auto, pets, baby/kids & toys, sports & outdoors, food & entertainment, books & media, and gifts & flowers.

Once you reach at least $5 in cash back, you’ll get a check mailed to you or they can pay you via PayPal.

It’s very easy to start getting cash back with Rakuten. All you do is sign up and you’re brought to their home page where they have a list of all their cash back deals. If I ever want to buy something online, I always go through Rakuten first to see if there are any deals.

For instance, if I wanted to get something from Petco, I’ll go to Rakuten first. Once I’m there, I see that today there’s a 4.0% cash back being offered. So all I do is click “Shop Now” and it’ll bring me to Petco’s website where I’ll resume my normal online shopping. It’s so simple to use and it keeps me saving money over time.

I also like going through Rakuten when I shop for travel tickets. They often have cash back for sites like Orbitz, Travelocity, Travelzoo, hotels, and so much more.

So far I’ve earned $51.46 + $50 (other account) which brings me a total of $101.46 cash back just by using Rakuten.

Sign up today with Rakuten to get $10 in a welcome bonus and be on your way to start earning cash back for online purchases.

4. Find Missing Money

Did you know there could be a check for hundreds to thousands of dollars with your name on it that’s waiting for you.

Maybe you moved or money just never made it your way. It’s easy to check if you have money waiting for you. Go to Missingmoney and fill out your information. If you have unclaimed funds, it should notify you of how much you’re owed and from where.

According to Missingmoney, the money could be from old bank accounts, uncashed checks, insurance policies, trust funds, CDs, utility deposits, stocks and bonds, wages, and escrow accounts.

A few months ago, my husband got back over $100 from an old insurance policy he never received money back from.

5. Drive for UBER/Lyft

Driving for UBER or Lyft can be a great way to make some side money. You get paid to drive passengers around. Just keep in mind that maintenance and gas will come out of your own pockets. In order to enroll as a driver, you’ll need a car in good condition, fair driving record, agree to a background check, and be a licensed driver for at least one year. 

Find out more information about requirements here. 

It’s a pretty easy job and definitely something you can do whenever you feel like it. What’s great about being a driver is that you work when you want and get to work for yourself. There’s no boss breathing down your neck. 

My husband actually drove for UBER and made about $1,500 in less than 2 months. This was while he had a 8-5 job. He usually worked his side gig in the evenings or on the weekends. 

Overall, he had a good experience driving for UBER. If you like driving and meeting different people then driving for UBER or Lyft is for you. 

6. Find a Babysitting Job

Do you love taking care of kids? You can get paid to do what you love! There are lots of people out there that need someone to look after their kids when they go to work. You can ask around to find babysitting jobs through friends, family, or neighbors. You can also find babysitting jobs on Care.com where you can sign up for free. Make yourself a profile and look for jobs near you. You can also set your own rate. Some people charge anywhere from $15-$20. It all depends. But hey, that’s pretty good money to do something you love!

7. Be a Dog Walker or Sitter

Do you love animals? Being a animal walker or sitter may provide a great opportunity to do what you love while make extra money on the side. There are pet owners out there that work all day and may have long shifts so they need people to take their pets for a walk. There are also times when people go on trips/vacations and they feel more comfortable leaving their pets in a home rather than a dog boarding facility. I have seen people charge on average $25  and upwards to $45 per dog and night. If you think this side gig can bring you some nice side money while doing what you like then check out Rover. 

8. Mow Lawns

Would you happen to have a good lawn mower? You can definitely mow lawns for people in your neighborhood and charge anywhere from $25-$65 per home (going rate in my area). It can be easy to advertise, just leave some flyers for your neighbors or place a post on a neighborhood app called Nextdoor. Nextdoor is a private social app where only your close neighborhoods can see listings for everything including jobs, selling items, services, recommendations for businesses, and so much more. Nextdoor is how I found my lawn crew through recommendations from other people using the app. If you have some free time in the evenings or weekends, mowing a few lawns a week can bring you hundreds each month!

9. Deliver Food

Do you like driving but don’t want to drive passengers around? Well, there are plenty of restaurants that may need part time drivers. The pay can range from $10-$30 an hour depending on tips, location, and peak delivery times. 

If you want to be your own boss and work on your own time, you can make a side hustle out of delivering food to people by using third party companies.

How it works is, say for instance a person wants some Taco Bell but doesn’t feel like going to get it. They place an order through one of the sites below. You will get a notification of the order and can decide whether or not you want to take it. Once you accept, you drive to Taco Bell, pick up the order, deliver it to the customer, and get paid for it. Easy peasy!

Some of the most well known are:

• Postmates Potential to make $18-$25 an hour
• UBER Eats Potential to make $10-$20 an hour
• DoorDash Potential to make $15-$25 an hour
• GrubHub Potential to make an average of $12 an hour

10. Deliver Groceries

There’s all sorts of delivery services out there. There’s a demand for grocery delivery these days. Sometimes people get busy with life and the last thing they want to do is go out to shop and bring home groceries. Or some people may have a hard time going shopping so they may need others to do it for them. That’s where you can come in.

Instacart is a grocery delivery service where you can either be a customer ordering groceries to your home or get paid to be an in-store shopper or a full service shopper. An in-store shopper is an employee of Instacart where they put grocery orders together for deliveries. A full service shopper are those who shops for groceries and delivers them to customers. In-store shoppers can typically make $9-$15 an hour and if you’re a full service shopper you can “make up to $25 an hour” according to Instacart.

Sign up to be a shopper at Instacart with this link.

11. Overtime or Extra Shifts Will Provide Extra Money Easily

If you already have a permanent job, do they offer overtime or extra shifts? This can be a great way to make extra money each month. It can be a very fast and effective way to bring in extra cash. But remember, there must be a balance between your sanity and work. Making more money is great but not at the expense of your health or personal life. This way may be the easiest to make extra money but finding the right balance is essential!

12. Sell Products For Avon 

Do you love cosmetics and skin care products? You can actually sell them yourself and make a great side hustle out of it by becoming a representative for Avon. You don’t have to go door to door to sell the products. 

It’s really easy to do actually. I was a Avon Rep. at one point many years ago. I sold to a few of my co-workers at my full time job because they absolutely loved Avon products. It was a good experience overall. I could definitely see the potential to make great side money or even good income from it.

As an Avon Rep, you can make 25% commission on beauty products plus $20 for every $200 and 10% bonus on $1,000 worth of cumulative sales. It can definitely bring you some nice side hustle money without really needing to put in much work. You can even make a full time living with Avon, the average salary is $42,968 a year. 

If you like beauty products then maybe selling Avon products is something you can get into. 

In case you’re interested, the sign up is free with this link. 

13. Sell Items For An Easy Way To Make Extra Money

It’s possible to make hundreds or even thousands just by selling items around the house. Do you have fancy handbags, shoes, clothes, furniture, and electronics that you don’t even use anymore? Instead of it collecting dust, sell it!

So far, I sold a few items of furniture that was laying around the house and ended up making a few hundred from the sales.

Selling items you may have laying around could be one of the fastest ways to make extra money!

Apps and Sites to Sell Items

• Ebay Sell video games and consoles, tech, clothes, handbags, shoes, auto parts, baseball cards, bicycles, cameras, electronics, golf equipment, jewelry, books, records, watches, pretty much anything you can think of
• decluttr Sell CDs, DVDs, Games, Books, Cell Phone, Tech, Tablets, Lego
• Letgo Sell electronics, sporting equipment, cars, motorcycles, furniture, appliances, clothes, shoes, and more
• Poshmark Sell clothing, shoes, accessories, makeup products, and some home goods
• Mercari Sell clothing, accessories, shoes, toys, electronics, kitchen ware, pretty much anything you can ship
• Offerup Sell almost anything from appliances, furniture, cars, clothes, electronics, shoes, jewelry (Shipping and meet up available)
• Facebook Marketplace Sell pretty much anything from furniture, cars, appliances, electronics, kitchen ware, office supplies, books, clothes, toys, shoes and more
• Nextdoor Sell cars, furniture, clothing, appliances, kitchen ware, shoes, toys, home decor, and more (Neighborhood app)
• 5 Miles Sell cars, accessories, furniture, toys, jewelry, clothes, bicycles, home decor, and more
• Craigslist Sell cars, bikes, electronics, appliances, kitchen ware, tools, furniture, clothes, jewelry, exercise equipment, and more

14. Make Money With Car Advertisements

Have you ever seen cars with an ad placed on their car? Guess what? They’re making money from that. You can make anywhere from $84 to $452 a month with Wrapify.

Depending Factors

• How much time you drive
• When you drive
• Where you drive
• How much of the ad covers your car. You make more by covering the full car with an ad.

If you do a lot of driving then making side money with Wrapify may be good for you. Another bonus is you can be an UBER or Lyft driver. This may bring in even more money as a rideshare driver, since you’ll be on the road A LOT.

15. Sell Your Skills

Do you possess skills and you are good at what you do? Why not make a side gig out of it? You can make some great side money from skills you possess. 

I have a co-worker who is so creative and crafty. She makes wreaths during the holidays and sells them on Ebay or through Nextdoor. However, what if you’re not crafty? There are plenty of other things you can do to make extra money like sewing, handyman work, fixing computers, among so much more. 

If you have a skill set, why not help other people, plus you can set your own rate. 

16. Donate Plasma

You may be wondering what the heck is plasma? Sounds kinda scary I know. Plasma is actually part of your blood. When blood goes through a machine to separate components, it’s the clear liquid that remains. Plasma contains mostly water, enzymes, antibodies, and proteins. It pretty much contains all the good stuff for our bodies. Well, plasma is high in demand. It’s often used to help other sick people or goes to companies that use it for research and create products out of it to help those with blood disorders and other chronic ailments.

When you donate plasma you can often make $25 to $50 per donation. Also, some donation centers offer first timer donor bonuses which can easily increase your earnings.

The process of donating plasma is similar to donating blood but it takes longer, it could take 1-2 hours. First your blood gets drawn, it goes through a machine to separate the plasma and the blood gets returned back to your body. It’s recommended to wait at least 48 hours before donating again. To find out more info, check out this FAQ page from DonatingPlasma.org.

I found this coupon from Bio Life Plasma where they say new donors can earn $600 in 8 donations. $600 sounds like some pretty good side cash I’d say.

Plasma Donation Centers

• Bio Life Plasma
• CSL Plasma
• B Positive
• Grifols
• KEDPlasma
• Octapharm

Takeaway

There are so many ways to make extra money without severely putting a strain on your regular life. If you choose to take on side gigs, pick something that you enjoy and doesn’t cause too much stress in your life. Otherwise, you may not stick with it in the long run. If you have a bit of extra time, why not use it to be productive and bring in extra money. It’ll only help you in the long run. 

Did you also know that freeing up money by paying down debt will give your financial situation an enormous boost. Think about it, you could be saving hundreds and thousands of dollars in interest if you don’t have debt payments. We’ve managed to knock out over $100,000 worth of debt in just 24 months.

If you want to start knocking out some debt right away, get started by grabbing your free Debt Thermometer and joining our free 5-Day Debt Free Bootcamp.