How I Started

A few months ago, I challenged myself to find way to make some extra cash online. Like many people, I am looking for financial freedom that comes after paying off debt and learning how to budget.

Initially, I broke it down by aiming for $10 a day. I started off with beginner friendly side hustles, like surveys and cash-back apps.

If you are starting a similar journey, read ahead to learn about the apps that I am still using. Later I’ll post about the apps that didn’t quite work out for me.

The Apps I Am Using

DScout

DScout is a research platform mobile app. They don’t have surveys, they have missions. Mostly things like testing out some website prototypes or asking questions about hypothetical products. They can all be done either on their mobile app or on a computer, depending on the mission.

There are two types of missions– regular and express. Their regular missions are more drawn out. You have to apply and someone must review the application to determine if you qualify. If you do qualify, you’ll get in invitation to participate in the study.

In express missions, you only have to answer a few questions to see if you qualify. If you do qualify, you have a certain amount of time (typically 2 hours) to complete the mission. I would suggest to apply only when you have time to complete the task in case you qualify.

The regular missions typically have a higher payout because they are more time consuming. But I’ve seen express missions range anywhere from $2 to $50, which is super nice.

YouGov

YouGov is also a survey site. However, they run on points, not dollars. Once you accumulate enough points, you can cash out and get gift cards or chose a bank transfer.

It’s not like other survey sites though. You can’t pick and choose what surveys to take. Rather, they tell you when you qualify for a survey. This is nice because I’m not wasting my time getting disqualified from random surveys. They also show you how many points the survey is worth and you can decline if you feel like it’s not worth your time.

They also recently added a section called “Connections.” Here you can connect different accounts like Netflix, Max, Peacock, or Hulu and get points for your viewing history. They also let you connect Amazon and Amazon Prime, but I’ve been having technical difficulties with that one for some reason. I want to point out that you can only find this section on a computer, not their mobile app. But you can take surveys on their website or the app.

I don’t mind connecting my entertainment accounts so they can view my history. What I do find a tiny bit inconvenient is that I can only earn points by manually updating the connections. It’s not a set and forget situation.

Caden

Caden is an app that you install on your phone and lets you earn cash for your data. You can connect accounts like Netflix, Airbnb, Target, or even your bank account if you chose.

It does have a high cash out threshold of $40, but there are no fees. The more accounts you connect, the faster you can reach the $40, but it’s still a slow process.

Nobody is going to get rich from this app. But it’s nice to cash out $40 or $50 every other month or so for simply connecting some accounts.

Ibotta

I remember using Ibotta years ago, but I uninstalled it when they tried to charge a subscription fee to use. Luckily, I gave it another go and discovered that they’re not asking for that fee anymore.

If you grocery shop, then you should check it out. They offer cash back when you buy specific products. In my experience, most of the offerings are for products that I don’t typically buy. But sometimes the stars line up and they post a bunch of offers that are perfect for me! They recently had offerings for the Carnation Protein shakes that I recently started drinking. Combine that with some bonuses and it quickly adds up.

They also sometimes have offers where you get a certain percent back from some stores that aren’t grocery stores. I took advantage of a 6% cash back offer when shopping for my dog’s food in store at Petco.

Benjamin

Benjamin is an app that lets you take surveys, play games, or connect cards for cash back (or what they call MoMo points). I mainly use this app for the games and I connected a few cards for the cash back.

To be honest, I was really disliking the app when I first started. I was about to quit using it because it was extremely buggy. They have a feature where you get 5 cents for checking in everyday. If you get a streak going, you earn more money for certain milestones. I’m not sure what time zone they follow but it would say I skipped a day if I checked in too late, breaking my streak.

Another reason I almost stopped using it was because of it high payout minimum . If you want to transfer directly to your bank account the minimum is $25. I’m not sure if it’s different for gift cards.

Some of my initial concerns have been fixed through updates but I have had to contact customer support. I’ve experienced a couple times that I play a game but my reward doesn’t show up. So far all my issues have been resolved, so kudos to that, but it can take up to two weeks.

Lessons Learned

Starting this journey by aiming for $10 a day felt do-able for me. However, having that consistent goal on top of working a full-time job was taxing. I had to constantly remind myself that it was ok to occasionally miss a day because I was just starting out.

By August, I tweaked the language for my challenge. Instead of pressuring myself to make $10 a day, I aimed for making $300 that month. This simple change made a world of difference that re-energized me and kept me going for two more months.

I decided to give myself a break for the month of October.  I still want to use some of these apps but sustaining this long term is not realistic for me.

Since I don’t want to limit myself to $300 a month forever, I am shifting to more passive side hustles. I am taking content creation more seriously, including blogging, making digital products to sell online, and social media. More to come!