Spending 10 more minutes at work probably won’t have a significant impact on your finances, but using that break-sized amount of time elsewhere just might.
Sure, some of the tasks listed here are one-offs, while others may need to be repeated to realize real value. The thing these tasks all have in common is that they can have a lasting impact on your finances, if you capitalize on them.
Here’s how you can take advantage of 10 minutes of your free time to add some extra room to your budget this month.
1. Get Money to Invest: This App Gives You Between $2.50 and $200 in Free Stock
If you’re playing the short game and want money you can spend this month, consider one of the other tips here. But if you want to play the long game and grow your money, consider investing it — you don’t need that much.
If you feel like you don’t have enough money to start investing, you’re not alone. But guess what? You really don’t need that much — and you can even get free stocks (worth $2.50 to $200!) if you know where to look.
Whether you’ve got $5, $100 or $800 to spare, you can start investing with Robinhood and it only takes a few minutes.
Yeah, you’ve probably heard of Robinhood. Both investing beginners and pros love it because it doesn’t charge commission fees, and you can buy and sell stocks for free — no limits. Plus, it’s super easy to use.
When you download the app and fund your account (it takes no more than a few minutes), Robinhood drops a share of free stock into your account. It’s random, though, so that stock could be worth anywhere from $2.50 to $200 — a nice boost to help you build your investments.
2. Sell Old Electronics
You aren’t short on options for selling your old electronics. There are plenty of mobile app marketplaces, as well as the classifieds sections on social networking sites like Facebook.
And of course, there are legacy hubs for buying and selling: eBay and Craigslist. With eBay, you can even get a quote of sorts on how much your old devices could fetch on the resale market.
OK, certain electronic devices may take a little longer than 10 minutes to prep for flipping online — specifically, devices that have your personal information stored on them. But most modern mobile devices can be fully erased with a few swipes and taps, while older devices may require a little more time.
3. Earn up to 5% Cash Back on Things You Already Have to Buy
What if you could get paid to shop for things you were already going to buy? You can, if you shop with a card that pays cash back for everyday purchases.
It’s common for credit cards and debit cards to offer 1% to 2% cashback on certain purchases, but a debit card called Aspiration gives you up to 5% back when you swipe at certain stores, plus they give you up to 83 times the normal national interest rate on your savings balance.
You were going to buy these things anyway — why not get this extra money in the process?
Enter your email address here, and link your bank account to see how much extra cash you can get with your free Aspiration account. And don’t worry. Your money is FDIC insured and under a military-grade encryption. That’s nerd talk for “this is totally safe.”
4. Add $225 to Your Wallet Just for Watching the News
Following the news has never been more impactful on everyday decisions we all have to make. But while the news is more important than ever, it’s also more political than it has ever been.
Whether you feel like it or not, your opinion on the news truly matters. It helps shape the way media outlets cover the news as well as the content search engines and social media platforms show you.
Your opinion matters so much that some companies are willing to pay you money to find out what you think - that’s refreshing, considering how it’s common for tech companies to trade details of our online activities behind our backs.
You could add up to $225 a month to your pocket by signing up for a free account with InboxDollars. They’ll present you with short news clips to choose from every day, then ask you a few questions about them.
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 to watch the news.
5. Let This App Pay You up to $83 When You Win Solitaire Games
Lots of us already play Solitaire on our phones for fun or just to pass the time. Want to see if you can win money at it?
There’s a free iPhone app called Solitaire Cash that lets you play for real money. You could get paid up to $83 per win.
You might be thinking: There’s got to be a catch. This is definitely one of those spammy apps, right?
Wrong. There really isn’t a catch. Sure, you can pay to play in some higher-stakes tournaments, but there’s no pressure. And, in fact, there aren’t even any annoying ads.
With each game, you’ll battle it out against at least five other players. Everyone gets the same deck, so winning is totally a matter of skill. The top three players who solve the deck fastest can win real money — anywhere from $1 to $83.
Over on the App Store, it has over a million downloads and more than 15,000 ratings, averaging 4.7 stars (out of 5).
To get started, just download the free app and start playing your first game immediately.