How to Get Money for Free: 12 Simple Hacks

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Best ways to Get Free Money

Ok, you’re wondering if there is a thing as free money and simple together?

It’s ok to be skeptical. But you’re audacious, so find out anyways.

There is legitimate free money in the form of rewards, cash backs, bonuses, savings and unclaimed cash.

That’s what we’re talking about and you can find it by taking simple actions. Check these free money hacks.

Not everyone will be entitled to obtain free money from all sources. But, you can try and see what happens.

Find Unclaimed Lottery Money

Lottery prizes go unclaimed every year by players who never checked their tickets or lost them.

You may ask yourself, who forgets to cash the winning numbers? Well, things happen.

The unclaimed lottery money is estimated at around $2 billion dollars made up of States prizes.

Generally, the big prizes like Mega Millions or Powerball don’t go unclaimed, but smaller prizes in the thousands do add up.

Prizes have an expiration date, depending on which states they are from. For example, New Mexico has a 90 days expiration day rule, others have 6 months.

States like California, New York and New Jersey have one year expiration date for lottery prizes.

So, if you don’t claim your lottery prizes by the required date, the money gets return to the State. This money is often used for school funding.

How to claim unclaimed lottery money?

Each State has a database of unclaimed lottery prizes. You can look up your state lottery website and see if the list of unclaimed prizes is online. If you don’t see this information on the website, contact the Lottery office.

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Use Service Contracts

Home ownerships require maintenance to avoid big surprises when something breaks down or doesn’t work.

Services such as plumbing, heater maintenance and upkeep of old appliances can run in the thousands of dollars.

You can avoid some of these costs by entering into service agreements. These contracts are mainly about maintenance, so that things won’t break down.

For example, a Plumbing service agreement can provide your pipes maintenance so that they’re less likely to clog or break down.

The same thing applies for old appliances, you can get into service agreements for the main large items.

Plumbing, heating system maintenance and electric appliances repairs can cost a lot of money. You can save by having a service plan in place and find free money.

Search Banks Bonuses and Promotions

Banks free bonuses and promotions consist of cash awarded to you in exchange for opening a new account.

The banks use these promotions as incentive for you to transfer your money to them.

Generally, if you’re already a customer of the Bank, you won’t qualify for the bonus. So, you’ll need to find a new bank.

For example as of this writing, Chase, HSBC and Bank of America have bonus offers for new checking account openings. Bonuses range from $100 to $200, just for opening an account.

So, if you’re interested in a new checking account, you can get free money as bonuses in some banks.

Find Unclaimed Money at Banks

Do a free search for unclaimed money at banks and other financial institutions.

US banks have billions of dollars in unclaimed cash belonging to heirs, trust clients and others.

This money come form forgotten or lost saving accounts, stocks, checking accounts and others.

You can check for your name or family member name to find unclaimed money at these institutions.

The most popular ways to search for these funds is by using the sites Missing Money.com and Unclaimed.org. But, you can also use your States unclaimed money site.

Related content: 8 Tricks to find unclaimed money

Get Money from your Employer – 401K Match

Contributing to a 401K and receiving a match from your employer is the best free money hack ever.

No matter what percentage that match is, it is free money flowing thru your 401K plan.

This in exchange for contributing to the plan. Basically, your employer pays you to save up for your retirement.

For example if you contribute $100 and the match is at 6%, you’ll get $6 additional dollar deposited to your account. Do this every paycheck and it adds up.

Another way your 401K makes you money is paying interest and dividends. The funds in the plan are invested in bonds and stocks which in return pay interest or dividends.

Earn Money from Credit Cards

There are different ways to get free money from credit cards.

If you have a Cash Back Credit card, you get paid a percentage of your purchases back annually. This is free cash you earn by spending with the card.

Another way is to reduce your interest rate and pay less money on interest every month.

To reduce your interest rate, you can get your credit report and review.

See if there are opportunities to clean up some entries so that you can get a better credit score.

You can leverage a good score by talking to the credit card company and using it to lower your interest rate and payments.

Related Content; 3 Practical ways to boost your credit score

Search for Unclaimed Tax Refunds

You may be due a tax refund check that was lost or never claimed. If you are wondering if there is an uncollected check from a refund, visit the IRS website and search.

Refund checks may have been returned to the government due to incorrect or old address.

Earn Money when you Buy Gas

Credit Cards
Loyalty Program Apps and cards

There are two ways to earn free money when you buy gas. One method is using a gas reward credit card. These are issued by banks and major credit card companies.

Using your card you earn money every time you fill at the pump.

The second method for earning money with gas is by using a reward card or App thru a Loyalty Program. These are issued by the major gas companies and sometimes by supermarkets and saving clubs.

These are 3 gas loyalty programs.

BP Amoco Rewards
Exxon Mobile Rewards
Speedway Speedy Reward

Get Paid to Complete Surveys

One way to earn free money is by participating in focus groups and completing surveys.

You have to register with a legitimate focus groups and when they invite you to participate in a group, you make money.

These groups surveys people for industries like entertainment, consumer products and politics. You can make $75 plus with some of these groups.

Earn Cash Shopping Online

Shopping online? Earn some free money doing it.

Rewards sites and Apps give you bonuses when you shop or do simple tasks online. You can also earn reward points for your favorite shops.

Swagbucks FREE – is an online rewards site and App that gives you free gift cards for online activities, including shopping.

Other reward sites and apps include; Ibotta, SavingStar and Rewardable. you can register for these apps online.

Look for Unclaimed Pension Funds

The Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation, PBGC, holds unclaimed money from beneficiaries.

These are companies that may have gone out of business thru bankruptcy or terminated their pension plan.

Do Simple Tasks Remotely

This is not entirely free money, but by completing some simple micro tasks you can earn some cash.

Most of these are remote tasks you can do from anywhere. These are some of the places where you can find small tasks to earn. Just search for “micro task”.

Microworkers
Amazon Turks
Idealist.org (job board)
Indeed.com (job board)
Sell your photos – 15 ways to sell photos

I got a windfall, what are some things I can do with it?

You found yourself some free money and want to know how to use it. There are too many ways to count, but here are some ideas.

First, should you tell anyone if you found a nice size windfall? Up to you.

Spend the Extra Money

Spend your free money on things or education.

Get yourself something you really want and have been waiting to buy.
Do some home improvement projects.
Buy a Gym memberships
Get some personal finance books
Save it for traveling

Make Extra Payment on your Credit Card

Pay down debt to save on interest payments or to catch up or get ahead with your bills.

Invest your Money

This option is particularly good if you found a nice size windfall. But, also if you want to start investing with little money.

Open a brokerage account or get an App. Deposit your windfall and start investing.

Here are some ideas if you want to start investing with little money –

Start a Low Investment Side Business

Many of the side business online don’t require a lot of money, just some time commitment.

You can use your skills and talents or you can sell things to make extra money.

Blogging – You can start to build a blog with little money. If you have the time and motivation here is how to start blogging

Sell stuff online – There are may new and used items you can sell online. Here are some low-cost resale products ideas 7 things to sell online

Sell your skills online – Freelance writing, editing, virtual assistance, customer service jobs are among the many you can do remotely.

9 simple ways to make an extra $1,000 a month

And, there you have the hacks

These are just a few of the ways to find free money. They don’t require a lot of efforts, just some activities mostly online. Others just require minor adjustments in spending.

Finding unclaimed cash, negotiating debt, using your skills and entering into service contracts can put free money and savings in your pocket.