How to make money from your phone

Looking to boost your income? The key to earning more money could already be in your hands. Literally.

Your smartphone may be the ticket to picking up a side gig and supplementing your income with some extra cash for food, utilities, or other basic expenses.

There aren't many people who fully utilize their phones to make extra money. While 91% of U.S. adults own smartphones, only 4% say they use their phones to earn money by doing gig work and online tasks. But if you want to join their ranks, here are some ideas to help you get started.

4 ways to make money from your phone

1. Creating and selling photos or art
If you enjoy taking photos, your hobby can earn you some extra change. Stock photo websites allow you to upload your pictures, videos, or illustrations and get paid by individuals or companies who want to use your content.

Don't expect to get rich by selling stock photography; stock photo agencies pay an average of $0.32 per royalty-free image. However, if you've already got a large library of images on your phone, you can try uploading some of them to sites like Shutterstock, Alamy, or Getty Images to see what sells.

2. Using cash-back and rewards apps
If you're already spending money on necessities such as groceries or gas, you might as well earn rewards for your purchases. With the right app, you can earn cash or other incentives for your everyday shopping. For example:

• Fetch: Scan your receipts or play games in the Fetch app and earn points that you can redeem for gift cards. Each receipt earns at least 25 points, and you can trade 10,000 points for a $10 gift card.
  
• Ibotta: Choose your preferred retailers in the app. Then, when offers are available, you can earn cash back or gift cards for shopping with those retailers. According to Ibotta, users earn an average of $261 per year.
• Rakuten: Get cash back payments sent to you every three months via PayPal or check when you shop at selected stores. You can also have gift cards sent directly to your online account. For most stores, the cash back rate is 4% to 6%.
  
  You can try using multiple apps to get rewards for the same purchases, and earn even more by using cash-back credit cards for those purchases too. Just be careful not to spend money just to chase the rewards.

3. Watching ads or playing games
It may be boring, but one of the most effortless ways to earn some extra change with your phone is by watching advertisements or playing simple games.

With apps such as Mode Earn or Jump Task, you're essentially rewarded for paying attention to content, whether that be ads, YouTube videos, music, or otherwise. According to JumpTask, casual daily users earn around $20 to $50 a month.

Just note that these types of apps require a lot of access to your phone. For example, you may have to download games and give the app and certain third parties access to your location and browsing activity. So if you want to earn money this way, you might want to get a low-cost smartphone that you use exclusively for this purpose.

4. Sharing your opinion
Most of us share our opinions online for free, but you can get paid to share yours if you find the right app. There are some companies that will pay you to give your feedback in the form of customer reviews, surveys, and more. For example:

• Google Opinion Rewards: You can complete some of their opinion surveys and product reviews in under 20 seconds, and you'll receive $1 in your PayPal account for each one. You get a notification on your phone each time a survey is available.
• TapResearch: Surveys can pay anywhere from 60 to 600 points, and once you've earned 5,000 points (or $3) you can transfer your earnings to PayPal.
• Nielsen: Download the Nielsen app and get paid to complete surveys, or get paid just to use your device and share your anonymous user data. You'll earn $60 worth of gift cards or points per year, and you can earn more by participating in certain surveys or panels.
  
  Identifying legitimate opportunities vs. scams
  With the right app, making spare cash on your phone can be easy. But it's not always safe. Many money-making apps promise big payoffs but fail to deliver valuable rewards, and some apps are even scams designed to access the sensitive information on your phone.
  
  Before you download any app, protect yourself by doing your research. That includes reading app reviews to see what users are saying. Make sure there aren't complaints about late payments or rewards that go missing from users' accounts, for example.
  
  Additionally, make sure you understand how much access the app requires to your phone and your personal data. If the app wants to track your location or sell your data to third parties, consider finding another way to make money online.

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