If You Have One of These 7 Bad Habits, You Could Get Paid for It
We all have to admit we’re not perfect. We have bad habits. The frustrating part is we know we do these things. But we continue to do them. That’s the “habit” part.
When it comes to your finances, bad habits can be devastating if they’re not held in check. But if you’re smart, you can make them work for you instead of against you.
Bad Habits That Could Be Good for Your Finances
We found some common bad habits that could actually work in your financial favor. Don’t believe us? Check it out.
1. Make Money for Watching Way Too Much News
It’s been a historic year in the news, and we’re all constantly refreshing for the latest updates. You probably know more than one news junkie who fancies themselves a constitutional scholar or a foreign policy expert.
That might not be the best news for your dinner conversations, but it’s great news for your wallet. By signing up for a free account with InboxDollars, you could add up to $225 a month to your pocket. They’ll present you with short surveys to choose from every day, which you can fill out while you watch tonight’s broadcast.
You just have to answer honestly, and InboxDollars will continue to pay you every month. This might sound too good to be true, but it’s already paid its users more than $56 million.
It takes about one minute to sign up and start getting paid while you watch the news.
2. Argue Your Way to Lower Bills (or, Let This App Do It for You)
On the phone with your cell phone or internet provider, trying to haggle a lower monthly bill?
Go ahead and hang up. (We know you’re probably listening to crappy music while sitting on hold, anyway.)
Download TrueBill, an app that’ll negotiate your bills, cancel unwanted subscriptions and refund your bank fees.
After downloading the app, create an account and link your bank account and/or credit cards. Turn on the bill negotiation and outage protection features. Boom. TrueBill is already searching for potential refunds — it might get you a refund even when you didn’t know an outage occurred.
On average, Truebill customers get $12 in credits off their cable bills each month.
The app will also remind you of all those sneaky subscriptions you’ve signed up for through the years, so you can cancel what you don’t use and reclaim your monthly budget.
Signing up and using the service is free, though there are some paid premium services that are totally optional — but could totally be worth it.
3. Get $5 for Being Opinionated
If someone wants your opinion, you happily give it. If someone doesn’t ask for your opinion, they probably meant to, right? Some people might have called you “too opinionated.”
Instead of holding your tongue, get rewarded for your opinions.
Take surveys! Swagbucks is definitely a reader favorite, probably because of the wide variety of ways to make money beyond taking surveys.
It’s also famous for handing out free rewards points (they’re called SBs) at random just for being a member.
Pro tip: Earn a 500 SB (or $5) bonus when you sign up and earn 2,500 SB within your first 60 days.
You’ll get SBs for each survey you qualify for and complete that you can redeem for cash via Paypal or gift cards to a number of popular retailers, including Amazon.
4. Get $20 for Your Obsession With Green Energy
Can’t you just hear your father’s voice? “Shut that light off when you leave the room!”
Even if the habit didn’t stick, you can use your energy bill to support renewable energy — no matter where you live.
With renewable energy company Arcadia Power, you can offset your monthly energy consumption with 100% renewable sources in about two minutes.
Arcadia Power matches each kilowatt-hour of power you use with a kilowatt-hour of wind energy. Basically the company purchases certified renewable energy certificates in your name, so others can take advantage of clean energy in their area.
When you sign up your home or apartment (yup, renters are eligible, too!) with Arcadia, you’ll get a free $20 Amazon gift card.
Plus, Arcadia will search for a lower energy rate in your area and send you alerts if it finds one — so it could save you even more money on your electric bill without playing Lightswitch Police.
5. Fill Your Online Shopping Cart, and Get a Free $10 Walmart Gift Card
Boots are on sale? Yes, please! Click. Click, click click! Fill up that shopping cart, then do it again tomorrow. Eventually, you see just how much you’ve spent and then, yeah, you should probably return those fuzzy gopher socks.
It’s time to make some money back on all that online shopping.
One of our secret weapons is called Capital One Shopping Price Protection — a tool that gets you money back for your online purchases. It’s free to sign up, and once you do, it will scan your email for any receipts. If it discovers you’ve purchased something from one of its monitored retailers, it will track the item’s price and help you get a refund when there’s a price drop.
Plus, if your guaranteed shipment shows up late, Capital One Shopping Price Protection will help you get compensated.
Another one of our favorite ways to shop is with Ebates, a cash-back site that rewards you nearly every time you buy something online. For example, Ebates gives you 10% cash-back on purchases at Walmart.
Plus you’ll get a free $10 gift card to Walmart for giving the site a try.
To earn your gift card:
- Sign up for Ebates with your email or Facebook account.
- Use the Ebates portal the next time you need to buy something. It’s connected to thousands of stores, including Walmart, Amazon and Target. You’ll need to make your first purchase through the site within 90 days and spend at least $25.
- Your account will be credited with rewards points you can cash in for your $10 Walmart gift card.
It’s still online shopping, but you’re doing it smarter.
Capital One Shopping Price Protection compensates us when you sign up using the links we provide.
6. Earn $10 When You Buy the Next Round. Or Two.
Yeah, yeah. We all know that drinking isn’t the healthiest of habits, but you still like to enjoy a few beers during Sunday Funday football or cocktails on a night out. It can be a little tough to fit into the budget.
Earn some money back on those party beverages!
We know it sounds strange, but Ibotta will pay you cash for taking pictures of your receipts.
Before heading to the store, search for items on your party shopping list within the Ibotta app. When you get home, snap a photo of your receipt and scan the items’ barcodes.
Bam. Cash back.
Ibotta is free to download. Plus, you’ll get a $5 sign-up bonus after uploading your first receipt.
Some boozy cash-back opportunities we’ve seen include:
- $2 back on Josh Cellars wine.
- $3 back on Bushmills Irish Whiskey.
- $2 back on Bacardi Rum.
- $3 back on a 20-pack of Bud Light aluminum bottles.
Notice these savings include wine, liquor and beer. Many other options are out there. Just shop for your favorites and earn cash back!
7. Make Money by Meeting Strangers
Photo courtesy of AirbnbAre you the type who runs around saying, “Strangers are friends we just haven’t met yet!” You’re a rare bird. Most people see a stranger and think of all the questionable things they could be up to.
Not you. You’re a trusting soul, and chances are, you’ve found some really great people by taking the time to meet them.
You could turn your adventurous socializing into a fun side hustle.
Have a spare room? Invite some of your soon-to-be friends in to stay for awhile by listing it on Airbnb.
If you’re a good host with a desirable space, you could add hundreds — even thousands — of dollars to your savings account with Airbnb.
And there’s no reason you can’t be creative. We found a guy who earns $1,380 a month renting out a backyard tent on Airbnb!
You Keep Doing You
See? Those are only considered bad habits if you look at them one way. There’s always a silver lining if you look hard enough.
You are your habits, both good and bad, so why not just make them all good… or at least OK? You just keep doing you.
Tyler Omoth is a senior writer at The Penny Hoarder who loves soaking up the sun and finding creative ways to help others. Catch him on Twitter at @Tyomoth.
