How To Make $500 Dollars Fast In [year]: 27 Proven Methods

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Need to know how to make 500 dollars fast? If you need money now, here are 27 proven ways to make money fast even while being locked down due to Covid-19.

Contents

TLDR – Here Are The Top Ways To Make $500 Fast

  1. BlockFi – Get up to a $250 bonus in Bitcoin with a deposit
  2. RobinHood – Get a stock worth between $5 to $200 
  3. Ibotta – Get paid for uploading your receipts 
  4. Survey Junkie – Get paid for taking surveys 
  5. Swagbucks – Earn gift cards for taking surveys
  6. InboxDollars – Earn cash for watching videos
  7. Unclaimed Cash – Check to see if you are owed money from the gov’t or banks
  8. Toluna – Get paid for your opinions

Need to make 500 dollars fast?

I’m here to help because I understand the struggle and want to show you how to make money quickly and easily earn cash if you are interested.

A few years ago my own financial situation wasn’t stable enough for me to handle unexpected expenses and I needed to make $500 fast for an emergency veterinary visit.

How to make $500 dollars fast pin

In today’s day and age, expenses can come from out of nowhere, and it feels like you always have so many of them – from sudden medical expenses to unfortunate car accidents to just regular daily costs of living.

Not everybody has money saved up and it’s for these types of people that we really aim to help so you don’t have to hurt your bank account or go for a quick loan.

Maybe a loved one needs some extra cash or you’ve been unexpectedly laid off. Maybe there is a mass pandemic and everybody is more or less quarantined.

Don’t worry, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m going to show you how to make 500 dollars fast.

Some of the methods below will make you $500+ dollars in a single day and some of them will take a little longer. While it may take some time to get the money these techniques require very little of your actual time.

25 Proven Ways to Make $500 Dollars Fast Without a Job

I split up the money-making methods into sections to make it easier for you to find your perfect way to make money.

Some people prefer making money while lounging in front of the TV while other people like doing stuff outdoors.

Whatever you prefer, I have a way you can make X dollars, including this guide detailing how to make $100 fast.

You may want to combine a few of these methods to really take advantage of your money-making potential and maximize your ability to make money fast.

Make $500 dollars quickly for free

How to get $500+ in totally free money

Who doesn’t love free money?! These methods are the closest thing to getting free cash as you’re going to get (besides when your mom hands you money whenever you visit)

Doing all the methods below shouldn’t take more than an hour or two but has the potential to earn you hundreds (possibly even thousands) of dollars.

1. Get a completely free random stock (up to $1400 value!)

For about 3 minutes of work, you can earn yourself a random stock (anything from Sprint to Apple) whose value is anywhere between $5.00 and $200.

This is possible through investing apps Robinhood. They are currently running a sign-up bonus through this link which will give you a completely random stock once you sign up.

There are no obligations to actually invest your money once you sign up – making it simple and easy!

Here’s how it works:

  1. Sign up for Robinhood.
  2. Once you sign-up you’ll be rewarded a random stock valued between $5.00 and $200
  3. Wait three days to sell it and cash out

Completing the sign-up takes about 5 minutes and you don’t need to put any money into the app. Of course, it’s a great app to use to easily buy/sell stocks and cryptocurrency. 

2. Take some online surveys to earn quick money via PayPal

One of the easiest ways to make money online right now is by taking surveys.

However, there are a ton of survey sites out there and, to be honest, most of them are pretty crappy. The secret is to know which ones are worth it and which ones aren’t.

One of my favorites is SurveyJunkie. Unlike many of their competitors, they focus solely on surveys which makes them really easy to use.

They tell you exactly how many points you’ll earn for a specific survey and HOW long it will take. So you can decide upfront if it’s worth taking or not!

I’ve found surveys that pay up to $50! Just signing up and completing your profile will earn you around $2 worth of points.

The only downside is that they don’t have a mobile app, so you have to bring out your laptop if you want to earn $100 quickly while watching TV.

Other popular survey sites are Swagbucks, InboxDollars and Toluna.

With Swagbucks, you get rewarded for doing online activities you already do every day: shopping online, searching the web, watching videos, and playing games. 

You earn SB points which can be redeemed easily for cash or gift cards to your favorite stores.

If you’re into taking survey’s on-the-go or just don’t want to bother with your laptop, I recommend checking out InboxDollars. They have a mobile app that is easy to use and provides decent surveys.

Toluna promises that your opinion will have a direct impact on companies and how they market, distribute or advertise their new products or services.

In exchange for your opinions, they reward you with points that can be redeemed for cash and/or rewards.

Amazon also has a program where you can sign up to be a “Mechanical Turk Worker” and earn money by completing simple tasks online.

Examples of tasks could be completing surveys, identifying objects in a photo or video, performing data de-duplication, transcribing audio recordings and more. 

Here are the links again:

  1. SurveyJunkie
  2. Swagbucks
  3. InboxDollars
  4. Toluna
  5.  Amazon Mechanical Turk

3. Upload your receipts to earn money fast

One of my favorite money hacks is an app called Ibotta.

Ibotta is a cash-back app that gives you money back on certain purchases. It’s super easy to use and doesn’t take very much time at all.

While this method won’t make you $100 very quickly by itself, combining it with other methods, like the credit card mentioned above, will make you achieve your money goals a lot quicker.

How does Ibotta work?

  1. You go grocery shopping (or any kind of shopping really)
  2. Afterwards, you search Ibotta for cash-back opportunities on the items you purchased.
  3. Snap a pic of the receipt as proof of purchase.
  4. Get your money back!

My favorite part about Ibotta is that it remembers what deals you’ve used in the past. Which makes every new trip faster and faster since you already have all the deals that you use often, saved.

It takes like 30 seconds to upload your receipt and make money.

I’m always surprised by the good deals on Ibotta. Just going through the app right now, here are some offers that stand out:

  • 15% cash back at World Market
  • 25 cents cash back on any item
  • 25 cents cash back on any brand of white milk
  • $1.00 back on my favorite Greek yogurt brand
  • And many many more deals

I normally do all my grocery shopping and keep my receipts.

Usually twice a week I spend a few minutes (while on the couch) seeing if any of the items I bought have cash-back deals on Ibotta and then redeeming my receipts.

Ibotta is a super simple way to save a decent amount of money on your grocery budget every month.

4. Earn up to $167 in Crypto while learning Crypto + Get a Bitcoin bonus of up to $250

Bitcoin is hot. There are predictions of Bitcoin going up to six figures by the end of 2021. If you own bitcoin or want to get into it, check out BlockFi .

There are more than a dozen of these courses that you can take for free, and earn $$ in return.

If you are already into Crypto, consider moving your Crypto to BlockFI for the $250 bonus and high-interest rates of up to 8.6% APY.

blockfi payout structure

When you sign up for BlockFi, you can get up to a $250 bonus depending on how much you deposit. It ranges from a $15 bonus to $250.

Plus, if you open up an interest account, you can earn up to an insane 8.6% interest rate, paid to you monthly in crypto!

The interest rate depends on what type of cryptocurrency you hold. For example, if you hold Bitcoin, you can earn up to 6% APY. If you hold GUSD, you can earn up to 8.6% APY.

Blockfi also started offering a new rewards credit card loaded with rewards:

  • Earn 1.5% back in bitcoin on every purchase
  • $250 in bitcoin sign-up bonus if you spend $3,000 within your first three months 
  • 3.5% bitcoin rewards on all purchases in months 4-6 of card ownership, up to $100 in bitcoin 
  • 2% extra APY on your average daily stablecoin balance, paid in bitcoin, up to $200
  • 0.25% back in bitcoin for eligible trades on BlockFi, up to a maximum of $500 in bitcoin each month
  • $30 in bitcoin for every client referral, on top of the base Refer-a-Friend program

Sign up for BlockFi now to get your Bitcoin bonus and earn high-interest rates!
Also, don’t forget to put your name on the waitlist for the BlockFi credit card.

Another great way to earn Bitcoin is with the FoldApp.

FoldApp is a mobile app that rewards you with 20,000 satoshis, or “sats” upon signing up. A sat is worth  0.00000001 BTC. 

Once you sign up for FoldApp, you can spin their prize wheel once a day for a chance to win up to 1 million sats. 

On top of that, you are able to buy gift cards for major retailers like Amazon and Doordash and earn cashback in the form of sats.

You may withdraw the sats at any time to your bitcoin wallet.

Sign up for FoldApp today and get 20,000 sats!

5. Check for unclaimed money

Did you know it’s been estimated that there are about $14 billion dollars of unclaimed money floating around the US?

And some of it may be yours! You could have hundreds or thousands of dollars of money that is rightfully yours just floating in limbo, waiting to be claimed.

You’re probably wondering, how could money be “unclaimed”?

Well, every year hundreds of tax refunds don’t get cashed, utility deposits are misplaced, insurance pay-outs are forgotten about, and much more.

This pool of unclaimed money just sits around in Federal or State government accounts.

You can figure out if you have any unclaimed money here.

6. Watch videos to make money

Inbox Dollars is another get-paid to the app that rewards you for doing different things you love.

One of the ways to get rewarded stood out above the rest. That is, watching videos.

Yep, you can earn rewards just by watching videos.  How good is that?

Check out their offer here.

7. Kill some Subscriptions

Money saved is money earned!

Similar to Capital One Shopping, Trim can help you save money by helping you find subscriptions that you pay for but have long forgotten about.

Trim is an app that will go through and find all the subscriptions that you are currently paying for. It’ll list all the subscriptions with the amount you pay monthly or annually.

If you find any subscriptions that you no longer want, you can use Trim to easily unsubscribe.

When I signed up for Trim, I found a subscription I was paying $5.00/month for that delivered a local newspaper to me.

The catch was for an address that I no longer lived at! That’s some easy and quick money saved.

The best part, of course, is that it’s completely free for you to use!

Next steps: Check if you have any pesky monthly bills you’ve forgotten about by signing up for a free Trim account.

8. Get paid $36.00/year if you’re an Amazon shopper

The question isn’t “do you shop on Amazon?”, it’s “who doesn’t shop on Amazon!?”

Want to get paid $3.00 a month for doing absolutely nothing but being an Amazon shopper?

Well, now you can, thanks to Shoptracker.

What is Shoptracker?

It’s an app that’s run by Harris Poll Online – a company that measures consumer satisfaction for large brands like Starbucks, Amazon, and iTunes.

It anonymously collects your Amazon transaction history, so that it can provide large companies like Amazon with consumer trends, satisfaction, etc.

How does it work?

  1. Sign up for a free Shoptracker account (if you qualify you’ll immediately be rewarded $3)
  2. Download the app
  3. Shoptracker will watch your Amazon transaction history for customer satisfaction, consumer trends, etc.
  4. You get paid $3/month for as long you have the app downloaded

Want to learn more? Read my full Shoptracker review.

Next steps: Sign up for Shoptracker to immediately earn $3 plus $3/month forever.

Make $500 dollars fast watching netflix

How to make $500+ quickly while watching Netflix

I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that when I first come home from work, I like to lounge on the couch and watch Netflix or Hulu for a while.

It helps me unwind from a long day of work.

What if I told you that you can actually make some money online while watching your favorite show?

Well, you can! In fact, I’ve made quite a bit of money over the months during my “de-stressing” time. Here are my favorite ways to turn unproductive time into fast money:

10. Get Paid Hundreds To Open New Checking Accounts

This is one of the fastest ways to make guaranteed money. 

Chase will pay you $150 to open up a checking account with them.

You’re probably asking yourself: why would I need a second (or third) checking account?

Well, I actually have 4 different checking accounts. One for my incoming paychecks set up with a direct deposit, one for a small emergency fund, one for short-term savings (for larger one-off purchases like a new TV), and one for my monthly bills like internet and Hulu Plus.

This helps me keep my finances organized.

So, why not open a new checking account AND get paid to do it? It’s a win-win for you.

To earn your $150 from opening a Chase checking account, you just have to set up a direct deposit with your new account.

Most companies allow you to do that online nowadays, so you could do all this from the comfort of your couch!

In fact, if you do this for 3 or more bank accounts you’ll be able to quickly accumulate $500 or more. Each bank account takes about 30 minutes so in just 2-3 hours you can get the $500 you need.

Next steps: Use this link to get a free $150 for opening a checking account.

11. Get $500 by applying for a new credit card

Every time I’m about to make a large new purchase, I check out what kind of credit card sign-up bonuses I can get.

This can be a great way to make money buying things you need to buy anyways.

For example, recently we took a trip to Europe and before buying tickets I signed up for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card.

Not only is it a great travel card – no foreign transaction fees, baggage delay insurance, trip delay insurance, etc – but it also has a 50,000 point sign-up bonus if you spend $4,000 on it within the first 3 months.

50,000 Chase Ultimate Reward Points are worth $500 or $625 if you redeem the points for travel expenses.

So I applied for the card and used it for the whole trip. Boom! $625 towards our next vacation! Not bad.

Next steps: Check out Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card to get a $500 sign-up bonus.

Alternatives include Chase Saphire Reserve which is also great, but it does require a little fee. Of course that also just means you get more bonuses as a Saphire Reserve card holder.

12. Be a part of an online focus group

Being a part of a focus group can be a fun way to make extra money. You can be paid $100 or so for an hour of your time – they sometimes even give you free food!

But finding local focus groups can be a pain. Finding online focus groups that you qualify for is much easier.

VIP Voice is a great platform for finding focus groups. They’re a company that will reward you for filling out surveys. If your profile qualifies, you can be invited to do these online focus groups for specific products.

Each focus group via VIP Voice will reward you $25 – $100+ depending on the length of the focus group.

Next steps: Sign up for VIP Voice to start taking part in online focus groups

make 500 dollars selling stuff online

Make $500 Fast By Selling Stuff Online

If doing surveys online isn’t your thing, then you may be more inclined to sell things online to make money.

There are so many different things you can sell online. Here are some ways you can make $500 fast.

13. Do some spring cleaning in your closet

I don’t know about you, but I always seem to have too many clothes in my closet. Most of them I don’t even wear!

If you need to make a quick $500, check your closet.

Selling your used clothes online is a fast way to make money. The online clothing consignment is booming.

More and more people are buying their clothes online. And lots of people don’t want to pay full price for their designer clothes.

Next steps: Check out this article on how to sell your clothes online.

14. Sell your photos online for a quick buck

Are you a photographer?

Selling your photos online at sites like Shutterstock is a great way to make passive income in your spare time. Take a picture once, upload it, and every time someone downloads your picture you get paid.

There are photographers out there that make thousands of dollars a month in royalties from their stock photos.

This method works best if you upload photos of places or objects that are in high demand and that not everyone can take photos of.

The best part is that once you upload a photo, you don’t have to do anything else! You’ll be earning money from that photo for a long time.

Next steps: Sign up for Shutterstock to start making money with your photos.

15. Sell your old stuff on Craigslist

Your closet isn’t the only goldmine in your house.

Whenever I move, I like to get rid of as much stuff as possible. That means making some extra money by selling my stuff on eBay or Craigslist.

Stuff that sells well includes (but is not limited to):

  • Electronics (that old TV or game console you never use)
  • Musical instruments
  • The furniture you no longer need

Selling stuff on eBay or  Craigslist will earn you money and declutter your house. It’s a win-win.

Next steps: Learn how to sell your stuff on Craigslist fast

make 500 dollars fast online

Make $500+ Fast with Online Side Hustles

Sometimes the only thing you have to sell is your time and skills.

Luckily, it’s easy to make money online with your skills. There are so many different ways to pick up online side jobs to earn a quick buck.

16. Make quick money with your writing skills

Freelance writing is a great side hustle.

Whether you’re a professional writer, a student or a stay-at-home mom trying to make an extra $500, anybody can turn their writing skills into a profitable side job.

Websites are always looking for people to write content for their site and many of them pay anywhere from $50 to $500+ dollars for a blog post.

Usually, online writers get paid per word. You can command an even higher price per word if you have specific knowledge that not many other people have.

Getting started writing for money is confusing. There’s so much information online that it can be overwhelming.

Elna Cain is a freelance writer who is making thousands each month with her writing skills.

To help other people break into freelance writing, she has created a killer course that walks you through all the steps required to make your first $1,000 by writing online.

I highly recommend checking out the course if you’re interested in making money by writing.

Next steps: Get started making money online with your writing skills by taking the writeto1k course.

17. Teach English online for a quick $100

Teaching English online is a lucrative side hustle. You can make anywhere between $14-$22 dollars per hour from home by tutoring kids.

One of the best platforms to teach English online for money is VIPKID. One of the reasons it stands out above the other platforms is its stronger requirements.

To qualify, you have to meet these requirements:

  • Fluency in English (duh?)
  • A bachelor’s degree in any field of study
  • At least one year of full-time teaching or tutoring experience

If you don’t meet those qualifications, you still might be able to find other ESL teaching opportunities.

Next steps: Apply to teach English online for $14-$22/hour

18. Earn $5 doing gigs on Fiverr

Making $5 a gig doesn’t sound like much money at all. But if you can do hundreds of gigs a month (and you can), those 5 dollar bills sure add up.

Fivver is a gig platform where users sell their goods or services for $5 a pop.

Not sure what to sell on Fiverr? Here are some examples:

  • A 28-day keto meal plan
  • 1000-word article proofreading
  • Logo designs
  • Audio voice-overs
  • And much more

Check out their Fun & Lifestyle category for some more inspiration.

Of course, if you want to make the most money with the least amount of effort, you should sell a digital product that you can sell over and over again.

For example, a 28-day keto meal plan is something you only have to do once but can keep on selling!

Another secret is to list your basic service at $5 but add tons of optional add-ons to increase the value.

If you’re doing logo designs, you can charge $5 for a logo and then another $5 or $10 to do any revisions. Remember, it’s all about providing value.

Next steps: Decide what you want to sell on Fivver and sign up.

make 500 dollars fast in real life

Make $500+ Fast by doing Side Hustles in Real Life

If doing things online isn’t your jam, don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to make an extra $500 quickly by doing things in the “real world.”

In fact, there are so many different methods of making money that writing them all out would fill a book! So here are just a few of my favorite ways to point you in the right direction.

19. Drive people around for quick money

When we go out on the weekends, we always use Uber or Lyft. There’s really nothing better than not having to worry about finding parking or who’s going to be the designated driver.

Of course, someone actually has to do the driving. Driving for Uber or Lyft is a good side-hustle.

The secret is to ride during the popular times – weekend nights and holidays. That’s the best time to make extra money.

If you enjoy driving around and socializing with people, driving for Uber or Lyft could be right for you.

Next steps: Sign up for Uber here or Lyft here.

20. Deliver food to hungry customers

If you enjoy driving but don’t like talking to people, delivering food may be your best option.

Services like Postmates, UberEats and DoorDash allow you to order food to be delivered from restaurants and food places that don’t normally deliver.

These services always need drivers to do the actual deliveries. You can make upwards of $12 delivering food!

You can always sign up for UberEats and DoorDash to maximize your profits.

Next steps: Sign for UberEats and DoorDash or Postmates to start delivering food for the money.

21. Get rewarded for eating out

I recently stumbled upon this sweet app called Seated.

They give you $10 to $50 in rewards every time you make a reservation at your favorite restaurant.

If you’re an avid restauranteur, this is a must-have app. Even $10 in rewards for eating out will pay for an extra drink or two at dinner!

Next steps: Check out Seated to maximize your restaurant visit

22. Watch kids or pets for quick cash

Babysitting is one of the first “jobs” many of us get paid for. It can still be a lucrative side-job for many of you.

If kids are too much to handle, you could also pet-sit.

The best part about babysitting is that once the kids are occupied or asleep, you can work on any of the online methods of making money to maximize your time.

The hardest part about babysitting is getting started. Finding a parent in need can be difficult. Luckily there’s an easy solution.

SitterCity is an online platform that connects parents in need of a sitter with people who want to make extra money babysitting.

They even offer opportunities to pet-sit.

Next steps: Sign up for SitterCity to get started making money babysitting.

23. Walk local dogs for a cool $500+

What’s better than getting paid to exercise and hang out with cute dogs?

The answer is nothing.

Rover.com lets you apply to be a dog sitter or dog walker. You’ll be paid to watch dogs or take them for a walk.

You can make a cool few thousand dollars a month if you have the time and patience to walk dogs every day.

Next steps: Get started making money by walking dogs.

24. Do work around the yard

Another classic. When I was a kid, my neighbor would pay me $20 to mow his lawn once a week during the summer.

If you enjoy working in your yard. Why not get paid to do yard work for your neighbors?

You can make good money if you promise weekly yard maintenance. If the summer heat isn’t your thing, you can always wait until winter and shovel driveways or even get paid to hang Christmas lights.

Every winter, one of my friends makes a decent amount of side money by hanging people’s Christmas lights. It can be a difficult and dangerous job and you get paid for that.

Next steps: Check out your local Craigslist or just start by knocking on doors.

25. Have a yard sale to get rid of your junk

As the saying goes, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.

If you don’t want to sell your stuff online, you can always have a good old yard sale.

This is a great way to start your summer off – extra money and a spring cleaning!

Next steps: Talk to your neighbors to coordinate a block yard sale.

26. Rent out your Car or Motorcycle

If you have an unused car you can rent it out with Get Around so that you can generate some passive income!

It takes a few days to get approved, but once you are it’s very easy to continuously generate income – especially if you have a decent ride.

If you have a motorcycle check out companies like Riders Share, the AirBNB of motorcycles. They’re top-rated for customer service and their site is a CINCH to use.

I personally know the two founders (Guillermo and Brendon) and they’re awesome guys who are working hard to constantly improve the platform.

27. Do Market Research for Some Serious Bank

Remember doing pointless research for papers and projects in school? Well if you don’t do that in your normal job already then this skill will really pay off.

Doing market research and competitive analysis for companies can be very lucrative. Sign up at Upwork to get gigs.

Upwork works even better if you have a desk job or lucrative career such as:

  • Project Management
  • Strategy Analysis
  • Building presentations and decks
  • Programming
  • Digital Marketing

But anyone can excel. You will need to establish yourself on the platform and may have to lower your initial rate for a few gigs in the beginning.

However, once you get some solid reviews you can jack up your price to what you want so that you can get clients on autopilot. Looking for $500 fast? This method will help you skyrocket past this.

How to fail at making $500 fast

If you made it here, you should have plenty of ideas on how to make a quick $500.

But I want you to remember that in the end, the only person limiting your income is yourself and your mindset. There are countless ways to make money.

The only way you can fail at making an extra $500 is to give up. If you stop trying every time you fail, you’re not going to make it.

Don’t give up. Keep trying until you make it.

Helpful Video

Have you made an extra $500 fast? I’d love to hear any strategies I missed.


robinhood

For less than 5 minutes of your time, earn yourself a random stock whose value is anywhere between $5.00 and $200. It is possible through an investing app called Robinhood.

Earn the sign-up bonus by signing to Robinhood now.