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Just a few years ago it wouldn’t have been possible to make money from your phone. But now the average phone has so much functionality, that it’s become a virtual office in our pocket.
There are now dozens of ways to make money on your phone. And sometimes, the best way to get ahead in life is just to work with what you have.
That’s what two San Francisco roommates did in 2008. They were struggling to pay rent, and they knew a convention was coming to town. They had the crazy idea of putting a few air mattresses down in their apartment and charging $80 a night.
They used what they had available, and in the process, created what’s now known as AirBNB. So with all that functionality in our pocket, why not try to make money with your smartphone.
Table of Contents
20+ Great Ways to Make Money With Your Phone
Use Your Phone to List Your Extra Room with AirBNB
Let’s start with one of the most profitable ways to make money on your phone… AirBNB. Just like Brian Chesky and Nathan Blecharczyk proved back in 2008, your space doesn’t need to be a five-star property. Many people are just looking for a clean, comfortable place to sleep, without all the hotel taxes, fees and parking charges.
The AirBNB app will walk you through listing your space. Describe any features, like the proximity to highways or attractions and upload some clear photos. A reasonably priced room could help to put a big dent in your mortgage payment each month.
Get Paid to Rent Out Your Storage Space
One day I pulled into a mom and pop gas station, and as I’m filling up, a plumbing and heating truck pulled in, the driver opened the shop’s garage door, and there inside were dozens of boxes of plumbing supplies. So the station owner was collecting rent for someone to store their stuff – kind of an AirBNB minus the BNB.
The Neighbor app is a way you too, can make money with your phone by listing extra space in your garage, shed or other protected space. Whatever square footage you have, you can collect rent to store anything from a motorcycle to a boat.
They’ll supply up to one million dollars in liability protection, and you get to decide who you’ll approve and when they can come. For just a few clicks on your phone, Neighbor is a nice passive income generator.
Sell Some of Your Smartphone Photos FOAP
You don’t need a fine arts degree to make money taking pictures. The camera quality on most smartphones has improved to so much that you can actually make money with your phone by selling your photos to a company like Foap.
Foap provides photos to businesses, and sources those photos from private photographers. All you’d need to do is create an account and submit your photos. There’s no guarantee your photos will sell, but for the ones that do, you’ll split the profit with Foap 50/50 .
Here’s a tip:
Bloggers and business owners are always looking for simple depictions of everyday life. Things like a laptop and a cup of coffee, someone speaking on a phone, or even a desktop with some supplies on it. To get some ideas, check sites like Pixabay or Pexels and just search a simple term. Then start snapping away!
Use a Driving App to Make Money with Your Smartphone
If there’s one thing I love about smartphones, it’s GPS. That, together with a mobile web browser, is practically a mobile office in your pocket! Here are 3 ways to make money with your smartphone behind the wheel.
Get Paid to Run Errands With Task Rabbit
Taskrabbit can help you to make money with your phone by accepting odd jobs around town. It could be anything from picking up someone’s dry cleaning, to assembling a piece of furniture, or raking someone’s lawn.
You’ll always have the option of accepting or rejecting jobs, and it’s another gig you can do whenever you have the time.
Earn Money to drive people around with Uber or Lyft
Definitely one of the more flexible ways to make money using your phone, and one you can begin in just a few days. You can easily make enough to cover your car payment in a weekend. With no time clock to punch, and no manager hovering over you, your schedule – and your income, is up to you!
For either Uber or Lyft, you’ll need to be licensed and insured, and drive a car that seats four, not including the driver, If you don’t have a car, both services can set you up with one.
Providing a needed service is sure way to make a steady income, and there will always be people looking for rides around town
Use Your Smartphone to Make Money Delivering Food
Another super flexible way to make money with your phone, food delivery jobs have one benefit that Uber and Lyft don’t… nobody cares whether your car’s paint is peeling, or the upholstery has seen better days.
Delivering food is pretty straight-forward. You’ll either accept or reject deliveries through the app. If you accept a delivery, just pick up the food and drop it off. In fact, with some food delivery apps, you can get paid each day you work.
Here’s everything you’ll need to know to get started:
Make Money House Sitting Someone's Furry Friend
Lots of people leave home on business or vacation and would rather keep their pets in the home they’re used to rather than in a kennel. So companies like Trusted House Sitters will find someone (maybe you!) to stay in their home and care for their pet.
Being paid to stay in someone’s home, when all you’ll need to do is care for their pet(s) and keep the home secure is not a bad gig!
Just install the app, and select your location. Each listing will spell out exactly what the customer is looking for, and includes any feedback from other sitters who’ve worked for them.
Use Your Phone to Flip Things for Profit
Who doesn’t love finding a bargain at a garage sale or a flea market? A few years ago, I found a pair of skis with bindings, poles and a bag, in almost new condition, for $80. I’ve used them ever since, but I could’ve easily sold them for 2 to 3 times that price.
Rob and Melissa have turned browsing for items like this into a $100,000 a year business. Recently, they created a free workshop that provides a lot of details on how they turned their hobby into a business, and how you can do the same.
They cover things like:
- What types of things to look for, and how to buy them cheaply.
- The best way to list items on Ebay, Facebook Marketplace and other platforms.
- How to ship things cheaply.
- How to setup your PayPal account to accept payments.
They also offer a complete course, but the workshop is a great way to see if flipping is something you’d want to try.
Setup a Regular Paying Babysitting Gig
Having a reliable babysitter can be a lifesaver, but one problem is, that other than word of mouth, there’s not an easy way for parents to connect with someone they can trust.
Care was launched to provide babysitters for people in need of care . When you create an account, they’ll do a background check, and once approved, you’ll be listed in their database and be eligible for jobs in your area.
You’ll always have the option of accepting or rejecting jobs, and once you’ve got some experience, there’s a good chance it’ll develop into a steady income.
By the way, Care also hires people to sit with pets, elders, and even to do tutoring.
Make Money Renting a Room to Man's Best Friend
Most kennels charge $40 and up to board a dog for one night, and that’s to sleep in a cage. If you can provide a warm, safe place for a night or two, plenty of those customers would rather pay you!
Rover can hook you up with a steady stream of customers looking for to board their best friend for a night or two. Even if you plan to start your own pet sitting gig, working with an established company can provide some great experience you can use to build your own business – while you get paid.
Learn more about Rover.
Get Paid to Go Look at Stuff (yes, really!)
Lots of people conduct business in other cities, and sometimes they need a few photos to help them make a decision. Maybe someone invests in real estate, and they’re considering an out of state property. Or they’re looking to purchase a car, but it’s a 3 hour drive away.
Paying someone to go take a few photos saves them time and money. Wegolook is a company that connects people looking for photos in a certain area with people who can go take them – like you!
If there are easier ways to make money using your phone, I sure haven’t heard of them. You can choose only the jobs you want, and the average job takes 15-20 minutes.
Get Paid for Almost Any Skill Through Upwork
Remember how we talked about your phone being a virtual office? Well, you can use it to browse Upwork where they connect businesses with people looking for work. There are jobs in almost any field you can think of – literally hundreds.
You’d create an online profile that showcases whatever skills you have or services you can provide, and it’ll be available to hundreds of people looking for those skills.
Upwork does take a cut of whatever you earn. They charge a 20%, 10%, or 5% service fee depending on the total amount you’ve billed a client. But Upwork can be a good option to gain some experience as you’re transitioning into another area.
Make Money With Your Phone Using an Investment App
So far, most of the ways to make money on your phone have been using it to perform work. But there are also some cool smartphone apps that’ll help you to grow the money you earn.
You don’t need a finance degree, or even a minimum investment. Apps like Betterment, Wealthfront and M1 Finance will guide you through a short questionnaire to assess your life situation, and then help you to select investments tailored to your life stage.
You money will be working hard, but you’ll have it easy checking up on things. The smartphone apps are each really simple to navigate, and you can check on things in just a few taps.
Check and compare each one here: How to Invest With Little Money: 7 Easy Ways
Your Smartphone Can Easily Create an Emergency Fund
What if you never again, had to feel that gut punch when your mechanic says it’ll be $900 to fix your car? Or from now on, you looked forward to enjoying the Christmas season, rather than stressing about the bills coming in January?
Not having cash for emergencies, and having to rely on credit cards, could be the #1 reason almost 80% of us remain in paycheck to paycheck mode permanently.
Digit is the app that finally drove this point home for me. It’s a simple smartphone app that connects to your checking account, and opens a separate emergency account for you. It monitors your deposits and withdrawals, and when it sees you can afford it, will transfer a few dollars over to your emergency account.
The key is the consistency. Most people don’t have an emergency account, and even if they did, they may not make consistent deposits into it. I was impressed that mine grew to almost $1000 within just a few months. And the deposits were small enough that I never once felt short-changed.
Here’s my review of Digit that’ll show you exactly how it works.
Use a Phone App to Sell Your Old Clothes Online
it’s crazy how clothes, shoes and coats accumulate over time. The last time I tackled my closet, my daughter convinced me to empty EVERYTHING out first. Seeing a four-foot high pile completely covering your bed (and then some) is eye-opening!
I filled three huge lawn clean up bags full of stuff I no longer use (from one closet!). And a lot of it was in excellent condition. Some with the tags still on it!
Selling your clothes is a easy way to make money with your phone, and simplify your life.
Here are 20 places to sell your clothes online. All the details you’ll need to pick the right app, list your clothes with an ad that’ll stand out, and how much you’ll get paid.
Get Paid to Declutter Your Home
There are specific apps to sell clothes, but what about all the other stuff? The average home has over 300,000 items stored in it! No wonder moving is always so brutal!
You can try organizing things by stacking crates and stuffing closets, but the fact is, we still mentally manage all that stuff.
Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace don’t charge anything to list your items. And you’ll make more money than with a garage sale, because buyers are looking for that specific item. Things like kids toys, exercise or sports equipment, electronics, tools or furniture usually sell locally within a few days.
It’s amazing how decluttering once in a while can help you to stop living in the past, and start looking forward. And why not make some extra money in the process?
Use Your Smartphone to Sell Books and Electronics
Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace are great for larger, physical items, but for books, DVDs, phones and game consoles, it’s hard to beat apps like Bookscouter and Decluttr.
They couldn’t be more simple to use. Just use either smartphone app to scan your item and it’ll display a sale price. If it’s acceptable to you, just pack your items in one box, print a free shipping label from the app, and drop it off. Done!
Most likely, you won’t receive anywhere near the price you paid for the item. But really, what else would you do with it? Sometimes it’s better to get rid of it while it still has some value, and enjoy a less cluttered space.
Get Rebates for Groceries Without Clipping a Single Coupon
Ibotta is a simple app that helps you to make money with your smartphone by collecting rebates for groceries and tons of other products.
There’s no fee to use Ibotta, and they’re associated with dozens of retailers, like grocery stores, Walmart, Petco, Best Buy, Staples, Home Depot, Ulta and a lot more.
Just check the Ibotta app before you shop, and see if any of the products you need are being rebated this week. You might see rebates on any brand of bread, or conditioner at the grocery store, or maybe printer paper at Staples
Then just tap to select that product in the app. When you get home, use the app the take a picture of your receipt and submit it. The rebate money is deposited into your PayPal account, and you didn’t need to search through a single newspaper or clip a single coupon
This Might Be the Easiest Way Ever, to Receive Rebates
Rakuten, formerly Ebates, is similar to Ibotta in that you earn rebates while you shop, but you don’t even need to submit receipts.
There are two ways to use it:
- At home: Just create a free account, and when you’re ready to shop online, rather than going directly to a certain store’s website, login to Rakuten, then use the search bar to access your store. Now just shop as you normally would, and you’ll receive rebates to your PayPal account for anything you buy. How easy is that?
- In the Store: Rakuten is associated with over 2500 stores, so there’s a good chance that wherever you are, they participate. While in the store, just launch Rakuten, select your store, and it’ll show you the percentage of the rebate they offer. Click to open a “Shopping Trip”. Now, you’ll receive a rebate for whatever you buy there.
I was skeptical about Rakuten initially. There are so many apps that just want your email, and then bombard you with spam forever. I rarely, if ever, get any email from Rakuten. It’s just there for me to use, and when I do, there’s always money back.
Signup here and Rakuten will actually give you a $10 rebate just to get started.
Surveys
Another way to make money with your phone is to answer surveys for money. They don’t require a lot of focus, so you can even do these while watching TV.
Survey companies are hired by businesses to get the opinion of potential buyers. A business may be introducing a new hair brush for instance, so they want to know their potential customer’s preferences.
The surveys are usually one of two types. It could be a multiple choice questionnaire about your general preference about a product. Or sometimes a company will send you a product to use, then send you a multiple choice questionnaire to get your opinion after you use it.
Pinecone Reasearch
Pinecone Research works with consumers to gather opinions on specific products, so they’ll send you the actual product to try, and then ask for your opinion.
There’s no confusion about what you’ll earn – they pay a flat fee of $3 per survey.
Here’s how you’ll earn money:
After Pinecone sends you the product, they’ll send you a questionnaire about it. Once you complete it, they’ll issue you points. And as you accumulate points, you can redeem them for cash.
A heads up: Survey companies usually target a particular group that would most likely use a product, so you won’t qualify for every survey. This is why working with a few sites can increase your opportunities. But overall, surveys are a very easy way to make money using your phone.
There are Dozens of Ways to Make Money With Your Phone
It’s easy to kick back and scroll Facebook or flip through YouTube videos, but smartphones can help facilitate big changes in our life. Whether it’s a side hustle driving around town, a new freelance gig, or building a home business from the ground up, there are dozens of legit ways to make money on your phone.
How about you? Have you been able to connect to work through your phone, or do you use it for your job?
