Are you looking for cool apps that pay you???

You may have heard rumors that it's relatively easy to earn money using your smartphone. It's true!

You can download free money making apps and start earning money right away. No matter your interest there is likely an app designed to help you make money.

Do you like playing games on your phone? Are you looking to make money off your daily walks? Or maybe you're thinking about selling off some of that household junk you have to realize you don't actually need?

Chances are, we've got an app on this list that's perfect for you.

86 Apps That Pay You Real Money

Apps that Pay You to Play Games

Mistplay

Mistplay is one of our favorite apps here at YMG!

The app lets Android users easily make money while having fun and playing mobile video games. The only downside is that you can't get direct PayPal cash, but you can earn free gift cards and sell them online for cash!

Download Mistplay Today

Luckstastic

Lucktastic is an app that allows users to sign up and start playing games and doing scratch tickets in exchange for prizes. Lucktastic is entirely free to play, and users win tokens or cash for every game they play.

The average game lasts about 30 seconds and requires that users also watch a 30-second ad before playing.

MyPoints

MyPoints is one of the best small task sites on the internet. You can easily earn money by playing games, shopping online, watching videos, and completing surveys.

Every task earns you points, and you can choose from your favorite gift cards or transfer your payout to your PayPal account. MyPoints is available for both Android and iOS users. You can even earn a $10 bonus when you reach your first $20 in prizes.

Join MyPoints Today

InboxDollars

inboxdollars

With InboxDollars, users can take surveys, open paid emails, and play games to earn money. The platform sets itself apart from other sites because it pays users with cash rather than points, and they pay you directly via PayPal.

The downside is that it does take a little bit longer to get paid, as the minimum payout is $30. These small tasks, such as watching videos, completing surveys, and playing games, will have you earning more PSN codes in no time. The best part is that you can redeem your cash directly through PlayStation codes!

Join InboxDollars Today!

Microsoft Rewards

If you've been exploring ways to make quick cash online, you've probably heard of Bing Rewards. These days the site is known as Microsoft Rewards, and it is an easy platform to search, shop, or play to earn points. You can redeem your points for gift cards, sweepstakes entries, non-profit donations, and more.

PointsPrizes

Want to find a strategic method as to what you should play to maximize your wins? Try PointsPrizes! It will give you an insight into what will earn you the most rewards so you can make at the fastest rate possible.

Banatic

Banatic is another site that will reward you for playing and testing games. In place of points, you collect “Bananas” that you use as your virtual currency. You can then put your Bananas toward a plethora of reward options, including Google Play codes or game keys. It's as easy as download, play, earn.

Solitaire Cube

Solitaire Cube is unfortunately only for iOS, but it's free, and it lets you play an unlimited number of matches. There are two ways to play. With the Practice League, your wins gain you points called Z Coins, which are redeemable for prizes. You can also play the Pro League, where you play with real money against other players. If you're good at Solitaire or really lucky, you can make big bucks this way.

Blackout Blitz

Blackout Blitz is another iOS-only app that turns a classic game into a quick money maker. With Blackout Blitz, you're playing a fast-paced version of bingo. While you're not going to make a fast $100, if you're lucky, you might be able to make $20 over a weekend. If you like bingo and you like playing games on your phone, this is an easy way to make a few quick bucks.

Apps that pay you to take surveys

Apps That Pay You for Your Opinion

Swagbucks

Swagbucks

Swagbucks will give you $5 just for signing up, and you can make money relatively fast by taking surveys with them. Most surveys pay between $0.25 and $0.50, but some can be worth several dollars. Payout options vary, but for 1000 points, you can purchase a $10 gift card of your choice.

Join Swagbucks Today!

Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie

Survey Junkie is one of the most trusted online survey sites. They connect companies that need market research with consumers in their respective markets. When you take surveys through Survey Junkie, you can make cash fast.

All you have to do is use the website or download the app to sign up. Most surveys pay between 100 and 200 points, which users can exchange for cash and online gift cards. The minimum cash out is $10, and it does take a while to build up enough points to get money back.

Join Survey Junkie today!

Prize Rebel

Prize Rebel boasts easy sign-up to complete online surveys. You earn points with each survey you take, accruing points to buy gift cards from retailers Amazon, Playstation, and iTunes, or you can get direct cash payouts to your bank or PayPal account.

Opinion Outpost

Opinion Outpost is great if you've got some spare time to spend taking surveys. Each survey you take enters you into a $10,000 quarterly drawing. What's excellent about Opinion Outpost is that you don't have to wait to reach a certain amount of money. You can start cashing out at $5 for PayPal deposits or Amazon gift cards.

Additional Survey Sites

Respondent

Respondent pays you real money for responding to surveys on the site. Depending on how many surveys you qualify for on a given day, you could make around $100 for an hour of survey taking. There is a 5% processing fee on the payouts, which are delivered to you via PayPal. The key is matching the demographics of surveys on the site. It's worth signing up for Respondent and checking in throughout the week to make some fast cash.

Harris Poll Online

Harris Poll Online is relatively easy to use. Users create accounts and receive surveys to complete, which they match the demographics for. You can compare your opinions and experiences with other people taking the surveys, which is a unique feature to Harris Poll. Occasionally the surveys you participate in are part of national and international media polls. You earn points, rather than cash with this site, which you can trade in for rewards.

Jobs2Shop

Jobs2Shop lets you become a mystery shopper overnight. Shop, play games, and offer your opinions to earn rewards. Some deals offer generous cash back, while others are incentivized with coupons and shopping deals. You won't get rich with Jobs2Shop, but you'll have a lot of fun.

MindSwarms

Mindswarms is perfect for you if you're comfortable recording video answers for survey questions. They usually take about 15-20 minutes, and each study pays $50 directly to you via Paypal. Mindswarms makes it easy to take surveys by offering a mobile app to take your surveys with you on the go.

Toluna Influencers

Toluna won't make you rich, as some of the highest paying surveys are only $15, but you can have fun giving your feedback. Like most of the other sites, you can choose between a PayPal payout or your pick of gift cards.

run

Apps that Pay You to Walk & Lose Weight

HealthyWage

HealthyWage is a reasonably straightforward fitness app that works best if you sign-up with a team of five or more people (if you can't, HealthyWage will find a group for you!). This app is all about weight loss and tracking your achievements with a little financial incentive thrown in. Start an account, set your weight loss goals, answer a few questions, and the calculator will reveal your prize amount. Once you hit your goal at the end of your challenge, you'll win that prize!

Achievement

Achievement is one of the best apps for walking. Once you set up an account, Achievement will monitor your daily walking, and each step you take translates into points, which translates into dollars! For every 10,000 points you earn, you'll be eligible to receive $10. Once you're ready to cash out, the app will send you the money via PayPal or a deposit directly to your bank. If you're feeling charitable, you can even set up the money to be spent directly to a non-profit of your choice.

Walgreens Balance Rewards Points

Walgreens Balance Rewards offers a points program that is similar to Achievement. To earn points, app-users must complete the reward's challenges. These challenges often encourage users to meet a minimum step goal throughout their day, helping them to incorporate walking into their daily routine. All you have to do is set up an account and start working on the daily challenges.

StepBet

StepBet is a pedometer app that incorporates friendly challenge groups to motivate you to set walking fitness goals and achieve them in exchange for financial reward. Create an account, determine your goals, and start walking. The key to StepBet is that you do have to spend to make money, and the only way you lose is if you don't meet your goals. Adhere to the timeline set forth by your six-week challenge group and make some extra cash off your step-success.

DietBet

DietBet works just like StepBet, allowing you to bet on dieting goals. You've got to spend to earn, but you only lose if you don't meet the goals you set for yourself. If you're planning to diet, this is a great app to cash in on.

Sweatcoin

Sweatcoin is a fitness tracker that can help you make a little extra cash, but you'll have to earn enough points (or “sweatcoins”) to cash-out. If you're looking for a quick $1000 in cash, you'll have to walk around 200 million steps. The only downside to Sweatcoin is that you can't earn your steps on the treadmill, so this app is best suited for users who have safe areas to walk and jog daily.

Lympo

Lympo is a free app for iOS and Android that helps incentivize you to adopt healthy habits by completing daily takes that can earn you money and gift cards. Every day you will find new daily exercise activities to be completed. The great part about Lympo is that the challenges can be done inside or outside, depending on your living arrangements.

Higi

Higi is an activity tracker that won't pay you directly, but it will pay a charity of your choice. There are other ways to earn fun products from Higi. Consistently record and perform your daily and weekly health-related check-ins to earn rewards to buy products and gear through their reward vendors.

Charity Miles

Charity Miles capitalizes on their users' desires to fundraise through walking. If you're hosting a walking event (walk-a-thons are very popular), you can use the app to doubly benefit your cause. Encourage friends and family to walk together on a specific day to earn donations towards the charity of your choice. You can also use Charity Miles to track your individual walking adventures. While Charity Miles doesn't pay you, it can help out a great cause.

Race for the Cure

Susan G. Komen's Race for the Cure isn't an app, but you can find races and walks local to your area that can help you raise money for breast cancer research. It's a great cause to get behind if you love walking!

Heart Walk

American Heart Association's Heart Walk raises funds and awareness through walking, just like the Race for the Cure. Again, you won't be directly earning money — but you're helping a great organization in the process.

stickK

stickK is a free app that incentivizes your exercise goals. The key to stickK is that you do have to spend to earn, but if you're planning on losing weight, this a great way to cash-in. After you create an account, you'll fill out a Commitment Contract and pledge to lose 1 pound per week for six weeks; after that, you put your money on the line.

Maybe you put in $60, so that's $10 a week. If you don't lose the weight, your money goes to a charitable organization that you would hate for your money to go to. One bonus is that your weight loss journey relies upon the honor system, so if you don't lose the weight, you can still say you did.

Apps That Pay You for Shopping

Fetch Rewards

Fetch rewards

Fetch Rewards is a free grocery savings app that rewards you just for snapping pictures of your receipts. There's no cost to join, and it's easy to use. Every time you shop — whether it's a big box store, your corner store, Walgreens, liquor store, or hardware store — just remember to scan your receipts!

Best of all, there are absolutely no hoops to jump through. Fetch doesn't make you fill out surveys, it's ad-free, and it doesn't require you to shop at specific stores to earn points.

Join Fetch Rewards

Rakuten (Formerly Ebates)

Rakuten

Rakuten will pay you to shop online. If you're familiar with incentivized shopping apps, you'll recognize that Rakuten used to be Ebates. Sign-up is free and easy, and they even offer you $10 when you start! But you do have to spend $25 at qualifying shops within the first 90-days to get that cash-out.

You can earn money by referring friends, earning coupons, and getting cash back from everyday purchases. Rakuten can be an easy way to generate a bit of passive income.

Join Rakuten

Earny

earny

Earny is another excellent app to use while going about your regular purchasing. You'll get paid if something you buy goes on sale. The downside to the app is that you do have to pay 2$ a month to use their product, but most users report getting $75 a month thanks to the app.

If you make a lot of purchases or spend a lot of money at hotels each month, Earny might be right for you.

Ibotta

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Ibotta is a cashback site that offers you USD 10 solely for signing up! To get cashback, all you have to do is upload photos of your receipts every time you shop online or in-store. You can even get $5 just for getting friends to sign up for the service too.

Download Ibotta Today!

Honey

Honey is a Chrome extension that follows you around the web as you shop, applying the best coupon codes available. For every 1,000 points you earn while shopping, you can get a free $10 Amazon gift card. This is a painless, easy way to make cash while going about your daily habits.

Wikibuy

wikibuy

WikiBuy is an easy-to-use browser extension that helps users to shop online. It lets users know when there are better prices available on other websites or coupons they can use. Wikibuy must be activated before your purchase is made to earn credits. Once you earn enough Wiki Credits, they can be redeemed for gift cards to partnered stores on Wikibuy directly.

Additional Cash Back Apps

Be Frugal

Be Frugal boasts that they don't make earning difficult by making you rack up points or rewards. Add the extension to your Chrome browser and start shopping. They have around 5,000 stores in their system, so it should be easy to make your regular purchases and get cash back—they payout through PayPal, direct deposits, or checks.

Fluz

Fluz is a creative new app that can be used to generate virtual gift cards for the orders you're already making. By placing your orders through the Fluz app, you earn an extra 1-35% cashback on your orders.

Pei

Pei is an app that earns you cash back or Bitcoin payouts. All you have to do is securely add your credit card (with secure end-to-end encryption) and use it while making purchases at stores and restaurants. You can easily earn an extra 1-10% cashback at your favorites like Target, Starbucks, or any other popular brand.

Dosh

Dosh helps you earn cashback as you shop. Similar to Fluz, Pei, and other cashback apps, Dosh enables you to make while you go about your regular purchasing habits. If you're a frequent traveler, be sure to use Dosh when you book your hotels, as you can earn up to 40% cash back at hotels across the globe.

Receipt Hog

Receipt Hog turns your receipts into cash. The more receipts you upload, the more coins you'll earn, and the more coins you make, the more rewards you'll get! It's a top-rated app, so expect to end up on a waitlist for a couple of days. But once you're in, it's easy to earn coins just by making regular purchases!

Freebird

Freebird is a great way to earn rewards every time you ride in an Uber or Lyft. Before you head out, check the Freebird app to see how you can make during your rideshare. This app is a must-have if you live in a city or metropolitan area.

GetUpside

GetUpside is a site that offers unbeatable deals on gas. You can earn upwards of 25¢/gallon cashback at some of the most popular gas stations along the East coast. This a great app if your side hustle involves driving a lot or if you're commuting to work and looking for a little cash back love.

Yelp

Yelp may be best known as a review site, but did you know you can earn 10% cashback by dining at selected restaurants? All you have to do is set up your credit card on the app and use it the next time you dine-out.

apps that pay you money

Fun & Easy Apps to Earn Cash

FeaturePoints

FeaturePoints helps you find new apps to use, and you earn points for every partnered app you download. Reward payouts come in the form of gift cards from places like Amazon, PayPal, and Xbox.

The app offers a fantastic referral program, so be sure to invite your friends so you can earn 50% on everything they make by using your code.

GrabPoints

GrabPoints operates similarly to FeaturePoints. Advertisers pay GrabPoints to find ways to increase online engagement.; in turn, they recruit members to create a user profile. Once users are hired, users complete online activities, such as downloading apps to try or taking surveys. Once the user completes their takes, they earn free gift cards.

AppNana

AppNana works just like GrabPoints and FeaturePoints by exchanging credit when users download and use apps. With AppNana, you can continue to earn points every time you play the games you've downloaded. The best part of this is that you might find apps you actually like to use and can continue to earn credits for gift cards.

S' more

S' more is an Android-based app that displays ads on your locked phone screen. Weird, right? But every time you click on products that show up on your screen, it's the equivalent of a tap-for-cash reward. It's mindless and as easy as unlocking your phone.

SlideJoy

SlideJoy is another Android-based app that displays ads on your lock screen. Check out both apps and figure out which one works best for you.

Free My Apps

Free My Apps is easy to enroll in. All you have to do is download apps and games, use them, and earn credits that are redeemable for gift cards.

Whaff

Whaff is an Android app available on Google Play. Play Games, take maths quizzes, win trivia games, and earn Whaff Rewards that you can redeem for cool prizes.

PocketFlip

PocketFlip is available for iOS and Android. All you have to do is complete simple tasks, collect coins, and use them to earn free gift cards.

JunoWallet

JunoWallet lets you earn credits by performing tasks. In return, you can use your credits to receive gift cards.

Tap Cash

Tap Cash lets you try out free apps, games, and watch videos to receive rewards. The daily tap incentive will help you get extra boosts, helping you earn gift cards.

Honeygain

Honeygrain helps you earn money online, by letting the website use 10 GB of your unused net traffic. Most users claim they earn up to $30 a month. It's a unique way to make a little extra pocket cash each month.

Apps That Pay You to Do Tasks & Mystery Shop

Uber

Uber isn't exactly a quick way to make money, but if you love driving and you don't mind driving other people around, it might be the best side hustle for you.

Lyft

Lyft, like Uber, is an excellent app if you're looking for a job that lets you set your own hours. If you live in a metro area, where a lot of people use ride-sharing apps, Lyft might be a perfect gig for you.

Instacart

Instacart was already popular, but with COVID-19, it's become an overnight sensation. Become a shopper or sign-up to deliver groceries for customers.

DoorDash

DoorDash hires users to make food deliveries for customers. Most report that they make up to $25 an hour. If you don't mind driving and picking up orders, this might be an easy side hustle for you.

Postmates

Postmates, like DoorDash, hires users to deliver takeout orders for customers. Most users report making around $27 an hour by simply picking up and delivering orders.

TaskRabbit

TaskRabbit is one of the largest platforms centered around running errands, assembling furniture, and doing virtual jobs for other users. Rates vary, but some tasks start at $15 an hour, paying all the way up to $100 an hour for more specialized jobs.

Wag!

Wag! is the perfect side gig for dog lovers. Get paid to walk dogs in your neighborhood. You can set your own rates and schedule your own time for walking.

Rover

Rover is another app that lets you create a portfolio and sign-up to become a dog walker. You can set your own rates and schedule your time for walking. Both Rover and Wag! would be perfect gigs to use in tandem with one of the exercise apps mentioned above.

Field Agent

Field Agent doesn't necessarily pay a lot (most jobs pay between $3 to 10 dollars), but it's a great app to keep in your phone if you happen to be driving around somewhere, and you match with a listing nearby. Most gigs involve checking out store displays or checking on inventory.

Native

Native.io is an Android-based app, looking for data collectors to perform tasks (similar to Field Agent). All you have to do is check out products, prices, and interview people about their opinions on brands.

Shopkick

Shopkick helps you earn gift cards from some of your favorite stores just by scanning barcodes, viewing products online, and following the prompts on the app. You earn points (“kicks”) that rack up and make you fun gift cards.

GigWalk

Gigwalk isn't too dissimilar to Field Agent. You get paid real money to complete gigs in your local area. It won't make you a lot of money, but if you're looking for things to do, it's worth it to make between $3 and $100 per task.

apps that pay you real money

Apps To Sell Items for Cash

Flyp

If you're familiar with our comprehensive post about apps for selling your unused stuff, then you'll know that we are big fans of Flyp at Your Money Geek. It's another great app that pays you real money, by helping you sell off clothing, shoes, and handbags hassle-free. The app pairs you with professional sellers who handle selling your stuff for you.

Bookscouter

Bookscouter is a great way to make money on your used textbooks. All you have to do is use the app to scan your book's barcode, and Bookscouter will search the ISBN to see what your book could sell for on various websites. Once you decide the best site for you, you can list your book and sit back and wait for someone to buy it.

Declutrr

Declutrr is an app that makes it easy to sell your clutter. While most items go for low-prices, the site makes it easy to sell them. One person's trash is another's treasure, after all. One of the best features is that Declutrr provides you with pre-paid shipping labels to make mailing simple.

Poshmark

Poshmark helps you make extra money by selling off your lightly used clothing, accessories, and home goods online. It's particularly handy if you own a lot of designer brands you just aren't wearing anymore. The app does take 20% off the purchase price, but most items sell for decent rates. Like Declutrr, Poshmark makes shipping simple by providing you with a pre-paid shipping label to mail your items USPS Priority Mail.

Amazon Seller

We are big fans of becoming an Amazon Seller. If you have a decent selection of products, you can make big money selling used on Amazon. Some people have taken their Amazon selling hobby and turned it into a full-time job. So who knows what's on the horizon for you if you take the plunge.

Mercari

Mercari is similar to Poshmark, encouraging you to sell unused or lightly used clothing items online. The nice part of Mercari is that they only take 10% out of the items you sell on their site. While it's not as popular as Poshmark, you can make decent money if you've got desirable products hanging in your closet.

Tradesy

Tradesy is another site that's perfect for those trying to sell off their used designer goods. You will have to verify the authenticity of your items, but you can make good money off upselling your lightly loved designer brands like Coach, Louis Vuitton, and Gucci.

OfferUp

OfferUp helps you sell off your clutter locally. People have listed large electronics, furniture, and even cars on the site — making it perfect for clearing to-big-to-ship items out of your house. All you have to do is download the app, take a picture, and post your listing. Unlike Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist, sellers and buyers can be rated to prevent scammers and frauds. If you use OfferUp to exchange money, it should be noted that they charge 7.9% per listing.

ThredUP

ThredUP buys clothing, designer items, and accessories for both women and children. The online thrift store offers users a bag called the Clean Out Kit.

Users receive this bag in the mail, fill it with clothes that they think the website could sell, then send them back. ThredUP will then pay you for the items that they can sell and donate the rest.

LetGo

LetGo is probably the most user-friendly app when it comes to clearing out your house of useless collectibles and products. Download the app, take a picture, and post your listing. You can even find jobs, real estate, and everything else on LetGo.

Facebook

Many people turn to Facebook Marketplace to sell items. This is a convenient way to sell things locally. You may even be able to have buyers come to your home to pick up the items, so you don't have to leave your home to earn money.

You can upload photos of the items you are selling straight from your smartphone and communicate with potential buyers easily with the messenger function.

Unique Apps to Make Money

Trim

Trim

Trim is a virtual assistant app that helps you trim the costs on your bills. It'll analyze your spending and help negotiate you lower costs on your monthly bills.

Getaround

Getaround makes renting your car simple. The app is a peer-to-peer car rental space, allowing you to list your car for rent for other users. If you don't use your vehicle often, you can easily earn $500 a month. This app is particularly useful for users who live in tourist destination spots, where people are looking to rent more excellent cars for their trip.

Turo

Turo is similar to Getaround. The site helps you “carculate” how much your car is valued at and then enables you to list it available for rental. This is a perfect app for users who might have a second car that sits idle most of the time. Make money quickly, and keep your car running!

RV Share

Rv Share

RV Share is another car rental app but is specifically geared towards users who own RVs. If you're an RV owner, but you only use it part of the time, why not list it and make money letting someone else use it?

Outdoorsy

Outdoorsy is similar to RV Share. List your RV, rent it out, and start rolling in the money. Some users report making upwards of $300 a day renting out their RV! The great part of Outdoorsy is that they have a 1 million dollar insurance policy to cover their users.

Airbnb

AirBnb is one of the leading off-beat sites in the hotel industry. If you don't have a car to rent out, maybe you have a spare room or an entire house you're looking to make money off of. AirBnb makes it easy to list a room and turn you into your very own vacation spot. (If AirBnb isn't right for you, check out NoirBnb which caters to marginalized clientele)

Neighbor

Neighbor makes renting storage space easy. If you've got extra space, maybe you'd like to rent it out and make money off that unused storage space. Some hosts boast that they're making upwards of $15,000 a year!

Robinhood

Robinhood is an online brokerage firm that incentivizes sign-ups with free stocks. Robinhood makes investing in stocks easy, fun, and exciting.

OnMyWay

OnMyWay is the only texting and driving app that pays you. Get paid $.05 for every mile you drive and don't text. Even your passengers can get paid for not texting! Sign-ups are incentivized with an instant $10 cash reward.

Uber Eats

Uber Eats is a lot like Uber, but you don't have to deal with passengers, and all you have to do is pick-up orders and deliver them. This is another excellent way to make extra cash by being a gig worker.

DiversyFund & Fundrise

These are both not the traditional money-making app (coming soon) that you're used to, but DiversyFund and Fundrise can help make a passive income stream for you. Invest as little as $500 into this crowdfunded real estate platform and watch your portfolio diversify!

Acorns

Acorn is an app that tracks your spending and invests the spare change from each purchase. For instance, if you buy a coffee for $4.50, the app will round up your purchase to $5 and invest fifty cents! It's a great way to make the most of your financial plan while also getting free money and encouraging you to review your spending.

Stash

Here's another app that both saves and makes you money! They round up your purchases so that you can invest in stocks and ETFs with low expense ratios. As long as the market cooperates over time, this is bound to make you a pretty penny in the years to come.

Apps that Pay You

Apps That Pay YOU

Hopefully, this article helped you find an app that is perfect for you. Whether it's driving for Uber, selling your used textbooks, or playing games for quick cash — Your Money Geek loves helping people find unique ways to make a little extra cash on the side!

Happy app-ing!

Apps to Make Money FAQ

What Apps Make You the Most Money?

You can find the best money making apps in this article. It's quick and easy to make money taking surveys. It's also a good idea to earn cash back rewards on your purchases, which can be more profitable than store loyalty cards.

Especially if you were going to buy those items anyway, when you have a $5 signup bonus or even a $10 signup bonus and may receive compensation, it can make these transactions especially profitable.

What Apps Pay You Instantly?

If you're looking for an app that doubles as a side hustle in which you can make extra cash instantly, check out Uber, Lyft Gigwalk, and Doordash.

Do Any Apps Actually Pay You?

Yes! There are many ways to make money online using apps. Whether you use a percent cash back app, choose to make money selling things, or take surveys watching videos, all of these apps will pay you back every time. You can earn gift cards, have cash deposited directly into your bank account, or even get paid via PayPal account.

What is the Best App to Get Free Money?

By now, you know that there are many ways to make extra money using one money-making app or many! The best way to capitalize on free money is to look for signup bonuses or limited time offers.

For instance, Rakuten gives you a $10 bonus for signing up and making a purchase, or a store you frequently shop at may randomly offer 40% cash back for a few days. Some of the best money-making apps are the cash back apps that are available to you through

This post originally appeared on Your Money Geek.

Most everyone will agree that doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc. are careers with high income skills. But all of these require at least four years of college, if not more. Because these specialized skills need formal education, it’s understandable why they demand a high income.

However, did you know there are skills you can learn to generate six figures without a formal education? Keep reading for a list of 20 valuable skills and how you train for them.

What Is A High Income Skill? The Difference Between A Skill And A J.O.B.

A skill is something you do. Hard skills are things like being able to type, whereas a soft skill would be something more nebulous like “good communicator.” Soft skills are often much more challenging to learn than a hard skill, partially because everyone’s perception of what constitutes a “good” mastery of a skill is subjective.

It is easy to see if you can type 65 words per minute with no errors, while it is not easy to know if you will be able to get along with members of your team.

A job requires you to trade time to start making money. It is where the acronym J.O.B. (Just Over Broke) comes from. You are expected to employ skills to perform work for an employer. In the end, it still is directly trading time for money unless you are being paid for piecework (i.e., x dollars for x pieces of work).

There are very few high-paying jobs that do not require a college degree of some kind. Even for something like project management, most employers will expect some type of underlying college degree.

The Economics Of A “Six-Figure” Income

If you want to determine your take-home pay from a $100,000 job, here is a nifty online calculator that figures it out for you. If you play around with it a bit, you will find that where you live matters. Money just goes further in some states, especially when you look at the cost of living calculators.

The average working month contains 173 hours. A general rule of thumb is that an hourly rate of $50 per hour will result in a six-figure income. By using this as a baseline, any kind of service you choose to provide where you can bill a client $50 per hour is a high-paying skill by this definition.

As you will see, the majority of the list focuses on becoming an entrepreneur. The tax advantages of owning your own business are substantial and can lead to a high income. Not only that, but most of the skills listed can also be used exclusively in an online business, with no brick and mortar storefront required (with a couple of notable exceptions).

Therefore, if you can work from virtually anywhere, there are significant advantages to living where the cost of living is low while earning a six-figure salary. Your money will go much further.

How Do You Develop High Income Skills?

By avoiding formal college classes (not full-time or for a degree), most high-income skilled workers attend a trade or certificate specific training. Almost everything in life requires time and money to learn. There are only a couple of the skills in this list where good looks and charm will get you the money you desire (being a con man is not recommended).

Not every skill will be worth $100k from the start. You will most likely need to suffer through the school of hard knocks to get to the top level of the skill. There is no substitute for hard work. To earn top dollar, you have to BE top dollar. These are not “get rich quick” schemes.

Break Out Of The 9 To 5: Becoming An Entrepreneur

You will find that many of the skills on this list are interrelated. This is the reason the “related skills” section has been included. If you become an entrepreneur, be prepared to start out doing everything on your own until you can afford to hire out some of the more mundane work.

Being an entrepreneur allows you to break out of the J.O.B. by working at your own pace. No other team members are slowing you down, no endless, pointless meetings, no other corporate distractions. It also allows you the freedom to figure out how to create something once and sell it to multiple customers.

This will enable you to break free from trading time for money. If done correctly, the result is usually more time and more money.

The Top 20 Best High Income Skills

These skills are presented in no particular order. For each skill, the training involved and the business ideas where it could be utilized have been provided. There is also a “related skill” section to link skills together that appear on the list. Some are only loosely related, while others are tightly integrated.

1. Copywriting

Copywriting is a specialized form of writing that is intended to sell a product. There are examples of copywriting all over the web. If the words are designed to inform, then it is a form of copywriting. As you will see, this is a very relevant skill and is related to many of the other skills listed here.

How You Can Learn This Skill

Some several companies and organizations teach copywriting on the web. In fact, some of them even offer certifications for the skill, which are useful when starting as a novice copywriter.

How You Can Use This Skill

You can use this high income skill almost anywhere. Good copywriters are few and far between, and if you master this craft, you will never have to worry about money again. Some copywriters make seven-figure incomes merely by getting a percentage of the sales that their copy generates.

I write for several large companies, and they pay me per article. Because I can type faster than the average person, I can quickly produce quality content that converts into money in my pocket. Your earning potential depends on the amount of time and effort you’re willing to use on networking and writing content.

People can make decent money by listing their services on Fiverr and writing articles for bloggers.

Related Skills

Content Creation/Content Marketing, Online Course Creation, Social Media Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, Podcaster, YouTube Creator, Real Estate, Public Speaker

2. Content Creation/Content Marketing

Content creation or content marketing is when you write informative content and sell the content itself or sell advertising on the site you’ve created content for. Content marketing is actually what many people think of, like blogging.

However, blogging is not a business. It is a means to attract visitors to a site where you will sell them something. If you blog without any kind of content marketing associated with it, you have a hobby of producing free content for the fun of it.

Besides creating content for an online company or blog, paid speakers are routinely compensated to present actionable information during conferences and events. Top-level experts in their field with real-life experience can make a substantial income by traveling to give their information in person.

How You Can Learn This Skill

If you have graduated from high school, you have the skill required to become a content creator or content marketer. You don’t even have to have expertise in something to create content. You just need common sense and the ability to research any given topic.

There are also online companies that will provide specific training in content marketing from a business perspective, but the base skills are research and writing.

How You Can Use This Skill

If you can write compelling content that will bring people to your website to sell them e-books, or advertising on your site, you are a content marketer. Note: this is closely linked to affiliate marketing, but the difference here is that the content you are selling is your work, not the work of others.

Related Skills

Copywriting, Online Course Creation, Social Media Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing

3. Online Course Creation

One of the hottest trends in online marketing these days is online course creation. This is where you create an online course and sell it to people who want to learn about what you know and how your knowledge can fix other people’s problems. Of course, you have to have a related skill that you can teach, but this can be overcome with extensive research.

Have you taken an online course that you liked? Do you have personal experience to add to the content of the original course? Then you can emulate the course, making sure not to copy it, but to rewrite the material in your own words, based on your own experience with the topic.

Online courses offer a high opportunity, especially with the recent increase in online events. Even if existing resources exist on the internet for free, people will pay for the work you have done to curate and present the information in an easy to understand format.

There are several learning platforms and software that make course creation simple. The hardest part is the “expertise” piece, but even that can be overcome.

How You Can Learn This Skill

You can learn how to do course creation and increase your yearly income by following the tutorials on any learning platforms such as Udemy. Each specific platform has its method of doing course creation, and other software companies have course-builder software you can implement on a website.

How You Can Use This Skill

Once you learn how to use the various tools that allow you to create online courses, you can sell course creation services to those who have the expertise but do not have the technical skills to complete a course. If you have any skills as a video editor, you can quickly push yourself into the next income bracket with a substantially higher income.

Related Skills

Copywriting, Content Creation/Content Marketing, Web Designer, Social Media Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing,

4. Graphic Designer

Graphic designers create the visual elements of both online and offline advertisements. They are the logo creators, the banner designers, the artists that draw the cute characters that sell products. They should not be confused with web designers who can create websites without drawing a lick. Graphic design requires some artistic talent.

The Arrest Your Debt logo at the top of this page was designed by someone I hired off Fiverr. I also routinely hire graphic designers to create infographics for my pages to illustrate a point I am trying to make. Graphic designers are great at helping small business owners creatively display their personal brand.

How You Can Learn This Skill

You can learn the principles of graphic design online or at your local community college or university. You do not have to complete a degree program to benefit from taking college-level classes in graphic design. If you have a high school diploma, you can learn design skills from many free online sources. There are also technical colleges that may offer programs in graphic design as well.

How You Can Use This Skill

Graphic design is a highly marketable skill. You can hang out your shingle as a freelance or work for an ad agency, newspaper, or magazine. Anything that requires a visual element requires a graphic designer. There are multiple freelance sites where you can display your portfolio of work and land jobs.

Related Skills

Web Designer

5. Web Designer

In this context, a web designer creates websites using one of the website-builders such as WordPress, Wix, SquareSpace, or many others. They do not make custom CSS or JavaScript. That is included in the next skill, web development. Web design is tightly integrated with graphic design, but a web designer does not have to create their images. They can use someone else’s work.

How You Can Learn This Skill

There are multiple online courses, and each individual website-building platform will usually have free tutorials on how to use their software. There may also be classes at your local community college available.

How You Can Use This Skill

This is another highly desirable freelance skill to have. You could also go to work for a large company and design their website, but you are unlikely to command the same salary that you could obtain by doing this as a freelancer.

The high earners in this field are usually freelancers who can charge a substantial rate due to the high value and rare skill sets they offer. Advanced networking through digital media and word of mouth can add credibility to the web design services provided.

Related Skills

Graphic Designer, Web Developer

6. Web Developer

Web developers are the technical gurus behind websites. They are versed in CSS, JavaScript, and other platforms like Joomla or Ruby on Rails. They can build a website without a website builder such as WordPress or Wix. This is a much more technical approach to websites than web design.

Companies such as Microsoft boast some of the highest median wage salaries for web developers in the corporate sector.

How You Can Learn This Skill

There are online classes that will teach you the technical skills encompassed by web development.

How You Can Use This Skill

Again, this is an excellent skill for freelances. There are also jobs for web developers at most major companies as well. However, if you have the resume and work experience to back up freelance pricing, you can make even more as an independent contractor.

Related Skills

Web Designer, Software Developer

7. Software Developer

Software developers create apps. They can also contribute to web development by providing interfaces to back end databases and external applications. Of course, software development is relevant everywhere computers are used. Software developers are the people who bring ideas to life and command computers to do their bidding. Mobile app development is a niche in the software developer world.

How You Can Learn This Skill

You can teach yourself to program using online classes. This is the one skill on this list that might benefit from a formal college education, but many programmers are self-taught. There is even app-building software these days that can help you bring your app to life without knowing how to code.

More than likely, if you do not want to freelance, you will need to take college classes in one or more programming languages such as Java, JavaScript, Python, etc. to learn app-building skills.CodeAcademy is another excellent resource to gain these tech skills and build a strong foundation.

How You Can Use This Skill

You can use this skill to build any app that you can think of, and then sell the app on an app store such as Apple or Google, or freelance as a coder for others who have ideas for applications. You can also work as a coder for companies like HP, Apple, etc., but most of these employers will require a college degree.

Related Skills

Web Developer

8. Social Media Marketing

Social media marketers use social media such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc., to sell products and services. Typical clients include motivational speakers, life coaches, and other professionals who don’t have the time to offer clear communication and networking through social media.

How You Can Learn This Skill

You can learn social media marketing skills by taking online tutorials on the various platforms you want to advertise. In addition, there are lots of online courses available on social media marketing as well to become a sales funnel expert.

How You Can Use This Skill

Social media marketers are in high demand by individuals and companies who want someone to manage their social media presence. Most social media marketers are freelances, and they may have products or services of their own that they promote in addition to working for others. Although there may be some corporate jobs out there for this skill, most openings are designed for freelancers.

Related Skills

Copywriting, Content Creation/Content Marketing, Online Course Creation, Affiliate Marketing, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing

9. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing is what most people think of when they consider making money online. Affiliate marketing occurs when you receive a commission for selling someone else’s product or service online. Most people think of Amazon when they think of affiliate marketing, but platforms like eBay, Walmart, and many manufacturers also offer affiliate commissions to those who sell their products.

How You Can Learn This Skill

There are many course providers online that will teach you the ins and outs of affiliate marketing. Many of the affiliate programs themselves have tutorials on how to be a good affiliate.

How You Can Use This Skill

You use this high income skill to sell products and services on your website.

Related Skills

Copywriting, Content Creation/Content Marketing, Online Course Creation, Social Media Marketing, Digital Marketing, Email Marketing

10. Digital Marketing

In this context, digital marketing is creating content that makes money through ad revenue. You are not selling anything in particular, but using the traffic to your website or YouTube channel to produce advertising revenue from Google or another ad network.

This is the current monetization method I use on this website to continue to offer my information for free. The digital content and information I produce allow me to create an income without selling a physical property. This side project provides me financial security and is a great way to increase my revenue.

How You Can Learn This Skill

There are online courses related to digital marketing. This includes skills such as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and other techniques to drive lots of visitors to your online platform so that you can generate money solely from advertising revenue.

How You Can Use This Skill

SEO experts are in high demand. You can work as a freelancer or work for a digital marketing agency. Usually, digital marketing requires expertise in one or more of its related skills, such as copywriting.

Related Skills

Copywriting, Content Creation/Content Marketing, Online Course Creation, Social Media Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Email Marketing

11. Email Marketing

Email marketing is selling products and services via an email list. You must build an email list of contacts interested in a particular topic. Marketing includes writing useful content in a regular newsletter that contains links to products you where you receive a commission. This includes affiliate marketing, content marketing, online course creation, or advertising space in your newsletter, also known as digital marketing.

How You Can Learn This Skill

There are a plethora of courses on email marketing online. This skill is closely related to copywriting as well, as you intend to sell along with information.

How You Can Use This Skill

Once you build a substantial list of subscribers (1k or more), others may approach you to sell their products or services to your list of subscribers. As the saying goes, “the money is in the list.”

This is not something you can do as a freelancer — wiring emails for others would fall under the copywriting skill, not email marketing. In this case, you need to build and own the list of subscribers yourself.

Related Skills

Copywriting, Content Creation/Content Marketing, Online Course Creation, Social Media Marketing, Affiliate Marketing, Digital Marketing

12. Podcaster

A podcaster broadcasts an audio program designed to either entertain or inform listeners with and provides a great user experience.

How You Can Learn This Skill

This high income skill is another skill that requires you to know something you want to talk about. You might not know anything about the topic you wish to broadcast on, but you would create shows based on interviews with experts or guests. This skill is just talking for a living.

How You Can Use This Skill

You can use this skill to create your podcast or lend your vocal talent to another podcast. You can get started for free using various online platforms, but the money comes from building a subscriber base and generating ad revenue.

Keep in mind, there is a startup cost to become a podcaster that requires base equipment purchases. Studio quality headphones and a production mic are two of the most common components of a podcaster’s business.

Related Skills

Audio Production

13. YouTube Creator

how to make money on youtube high income skill

Having a popular channel on YouTube is very lucrative. Being a YouTube creator requires rudimentary video production or animation skills, and a topic or theme for your channel.

How You Can Learn This Skill

The YouTube Creator Academy will teach you everything you need to know about creating and growing your YouTube channel.

Create a YouTube channel, build a following, and generate ad revenues when your videos go viral. This job requires creativity and rudimentary video production skills.

How You Can Use This Skill

Create your own YouTube channel or create YouTube videos as a freelancer for others who have a channel on YouTube. It does require some kind of video production or animation skills to do this successfully unless you hire freelancers to do the videos for you.

If you haven’t already, please follow my YouTube channel!

Related Skills

Video Production, Animator

14. Audio Production

Audio production is the process of making professional-sounding audio tracks using various audio production tools. Some of these tools, like Audacity, are free.

How You Can Learn This Skill

Again, online classes and tutorials for the various software tools. You might also consider college classes as well, but a degree isn’t generally required unless you’re trying to get a job for someone else.

How You Can Use This Skill

Podcasting, creating soundtracks for videos, working with independent music arts to produce tracks, there are lots of ways to put this skill to use as a freelancer. Most industry jobs will require some kind of technical degree, however.

Related Skills

Podcaster

15. Video Production

Video production can be as simple as creating videos with your cellphone. It can also be as sophisticated as working in broadcast journalism as a camera operator. There are tons of tools available to create and edit videos. Video editing software can be quite expensive, so be ready for significant startup costs if you want to be a videographer.

How You Can Learn This Skill

You can learn how to produce a video from online courses, helping out someone who is already doing it and needs an assistant, college or technical school, etc. Again, as with most of the skills on this list, all you have to do is search for a way someone else has done it, and then replicate the steps they have used.

How You Can Use This Skill

You use this skill to make videos for yourself or others.

Related Skills

Video Production, Animator

16. Animator

Believe it or not, you no longer have to know how to draw to be an animator. I have absolutely no animation skills yet I was able to produce the video above in about ten minutes. The proliferation of “doodle” videos online gave rise to dozens of platforms that can create these videos using a stock set of characters already embedded in the software.

How You Can Learn This Skill

You can learn this high income skill through the tutorials provided in your animation software. It will teach you how to make the images move, apply soundtracks to your animation, and import images from outside the standard image set into your program.

How You Can Use This Skill

You are creating doodle videos to market products or services for yourself or others.

Related Skills

YouTube Creator, Video Production

17. Sales (Offline)

There is some element of sales in many jobs and professions. Companies hire salespeople to sell their products face to face, usually in business to business (B2B) type endeavors.

How You Can Learn This Skill

Sales is a talent. Yes, you can be trained to sell anything with the right script, closing techniques, etc. But the most successful salespeople are those born with “the gift of gab.” They tend to be likable people with prominent personalities. They are an excellent judge of people and just always seem to know just what to say.

How You Can Use This Skill

You can sell products in multilevel marketing (MLM) type of organization such as Pre-Paid Legal Services, Amway Mary Kay, Avon, Tupperware, the list is endless. While many MLMs are now moving online, think of other things like car sales or any time of door-to-door sales that still markets face to face.

Related Skills

None, if purely focused on offline sales.

18. Real Estate

Real Estate is the selling of property. You can act either as a buyer’s agent or a seller’s agent. Typically, the agents split 6% of the sales price of any property. So if a property sells for $100,000, then the buyer and seller agents would get $3,000 each on the sale.

As you can see, this money can mount up very quickly if you sell a high volume of properties. There are other revenue streams available, such as listing fees, referral fees from related services, etc.

How You Can Learn This Skill

Every state has different laws governing the licensing of real estate agents. You will need to find a class in your area that teaches you what you need to pass the real estate exam in your state. Initially, you will go to work for another real estate broker, as most states do not allow someone to become a broker until they have had multiple years of experience as agents. Once you become a broker, you can hang out your shingle.

How You Can Use This Skill

You use this skill by joining a real estate agency under the tutelage of a real estate broker.

Related Skills

Digital Marketing, Email Marketing, Video Production, Sales (Offline}

19. Public Speaker

Anyone can hang out their shingle as a public speaker as long as they have information that people are willing to pay for. Most speakers can command $2,000+ depending on the topic. You may also be able to charge per diem rates for travel as well. Your public speaking can be combined with book sales if you are an author.

How You Can Learn This Skill

You can learn everything you need by joining Toastmasters.

How You Can Use This Skill

Becoming a public speaker is a matter of learning to tell your story and then selling it to the people who want to listen to it. Anyone can establish themselves as a public speaker. Have you done anything noteworthy?

Examples:

A runner who has completed a marathon in all 50 states speaks to business groups about how running helped him be a better employee.

A formerly incarcerated individual who speaks on the topic of prison reform.

A director at a nonprofit who speaks at conventions that are related to their topic.

None of the examples above require a specific skill, although it does help. Passion is what drives many of these individuals.

Tony Robbins is a successful entrepreneur and a great example of a public speaker.

Related Skills

Although many of the skills on this list would help promote yourself, none of them are required to become a public speaker.

20. Sports Arbitrage

This is perhaps the most unusual high income skill on the list. Sports arbitrage is where you bet on both sides of a given sporting event across multiple bookmakers so that no matter what the outcome of the game is, you will still make money. This is because different bookmakers place different odds on the matches.

This is perfect for the sports fan who is good at math and has some kind of bankroll to start with.

How You Can Learn This Skill

There are multiple books and online tutorials on sports arbitrage.

How You Can Use This Skill

Gambling on any kind of head-to-head contest. Caveat: You must live where this kind of sports betting is legal. There are many online bookmakers to choose from. You will need multiple accounts to get started and can increase your bets over time. This is a great “side hustle.”

Related Skills

None.

BONUS: High Income Skills Not Specifically Related To A Single Profession

The skills in this section are often referred to as “soft skills.” They are sometimes more of a talent than a skill because they are not easily taught in a book. Skills that can be taught are considered hard skills.

Here are five soft skills that everyone should try to develop:

Listening — A good listener becomes an effective communicator, and effective communication is at the heart of all successful endeavors.

Efficiency — Look for the little things that save you time. Time is money.

Persistence — Sometimes, that last bit of effort makes all the difference in the world.

Kindness — When you are in business for yourself, you will stand out from the other guy if you are always kind to your customers and clients. Send thank-you notes with large orders, send birthday wishes, mention customers in your newsletters, etc. These small gestures add up over time.

Generosity — Be socially conscious. People gravitate toward people who give of themselves to causes that they believe in.

Use these soft and high income skills to take your earning potential to the next level. While starting out on your own may seem like a great idea, according to Fundera, 20% of small businesses fail within the first year and a total of 30% fail in the second year. To make matters worse, 50% fail after five years.

I don’t cite these statistics to scare you, but to make you recognize that in order to be successful, you have to be better than your competitors and refuse to give up.

This post originally appeared on Arrest Your Debt.

Whether you’re saving for something in particular or you just want a nest egg for a rainy day, a savings account is a great place to start.

When you’re saving, interest is everything. If you choose an account that offers a high-interest rate, your savings will grow quicker – which is something I’m sure any saver would find appealing.

There are many savings accounts out there that are okay – but you should be looking for an account that has it all – a good interest rate, online services, and even bonuses!

There’s a savings account for you out there – keep reading to hear more about some of the best savings accounts in 2020 – including a list of their pros and cons.

CHIME

Pros

Over 38,000 ATMs free to use

Convenient mobile app full of features

ZERO monthly maintenance fees

Generous 1.0% interest rate

Great saving tools

Cons

No physical locations

If you’re looking for a convenient online-only savings account, then CHIME may be the perfect choice. The useful mobile app enables you to do everything you need – transfer money, automatic savings, deposit checks, check balances – it has it all.

Any banking that you can’t do online can be done at a Green Dot location – including cash deposits. There are also over 38,000 MoneyPass and Visa Plus Alliance ATMs you can use for free, which is great for mini statements and checking your balance. Other ATMs are usable, but you’ll be charged $2.50 per transaction.

There’s a useful tool that helps you save – it rounds any purchase up to the nearest dollar and deposits the remainder into your savings account. This essentially means you can save with zero effort – the pennies add up without you even noticing they’re gone. Thanks to the convenient saving tools and the 1.0% interest rate, your savings will surely grow over time.

Synchrony

Pros

Competitive 2.5% interest rate

No minimum daily balance requirements

ATM cost reimbursements

No monthly maintenance fees

Cons

Only has one physical location (New Jersey)

Synchrony doesn’t offer checking accounts and only has one physical location in New Jersey – which makes it an ideal account if you’re wanting to keep your funds somewhere without being tempted to withdraw all the time.

The interest rate is a competitive 2.5%, which is higher than most savings accounts. There are no minimum daily balance requirements, which means you can start your savings journey with a small balance. You won’t need to worry about monthly maintenance fees either – so your savings can keep growing without getting hit by monthly charges.

Synchrony also has a great perks program, including ATM fee reimbursements and travel discounts.

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

Pros

Excellent customer service

No minimum deposit

Zero hidden fees and charges

Generous 2.25% interest rate

Access to other Goldman Sachs financial facilities

Cons

No physical locations

Generally, most high-interest savings accounts come with high starting balances and monthly fees – but this isn’t the case with Marcus by Goldman Sachs.

With this savings account, you can start your savings journey from the very beginning – instead of needing a lump sum to get started.

The 2.25% interest rate is notably higher than most others, and there won’t be any monthly charges digging into your savings – so you’re sure to save more with Marcus by Goldman Sachs.

Their customer service team is excellent and available seven days a week. Although there aren’t any physical branches, you can do pretty much everything you need online. You can also link to other bank accounts, making it quick and easy to send money out and receive it.

Once you’re a customer, you’ll have access to other Goldman Sachs facilities, including their personal loans!

Ally

Pros

Zero monthly maintenance fees

Quick and easy Ally eCheck Deposit

Perfect for big and small savers

2.20% interest rate

Great online facilities

Cons

Charges for overdraft, outgoing wire transfer, and returned deposit items

Whether you’re starting your savings journey with thousands of dollars or with one dollar, you can start earning from the get-go and take advantage of the 2.20% interest rate.

You won’t have to worry about maintenance fees digging into your balance either – but you may get charged $25 for being overdrawn. You can also incur charges by having a returned deposit item ($7.50), and for outgoing wire transfers ($20).

The mobile app is easy to use, and you can pretty much do everything you need on it. You can deposit checks quickly and easily with the Ally eCheck Deposit – all you need to do is take a picture from your phone, then mail the paper copy. It’s a quick process, and the funds will be accessible in no time.

You also get free incoming wire transfers (including international transfers), free deposit envelopes with pre-paid postage, and free ACH transfers to any other bank accounts.

This post originally appeared on Arrest Your Debt.

The closure of many public establishments, such as restaurants, movie theaters, and clubs, have forced many in the labor force to pursue jobs where you work alone without real human interaction.

Yet, even before the pandemic, workers have increasingly turned to jobs that do not require physical attendance at an office. People who would rather work alone and enjoy working from home seek flexibility, solitude, and the absence of conflicts that inevitably come from public gatherings.

If you seek a job where you work alone, chances are you might have motivations that include the ability to spend more time with family or be your own boss. You may also find yourself among the 25 to 40 percent of people identified as introverts.

This personality trait might involve limited public interaction, but it does not necessarily constrain your job or career path. In reality, the opportunities for introverts are diverse in terms of job descriptions and benefits.

Are You An Introvert?

Being labeled as an introvert does not mean you have a phobia of people, anything outside your home, or that you generally hate human interaction.

In reality, introverts likely prefer to work alone or with a small group of people. Limiting the reason for being an introvert as fear of large crowds does injustice to this personality trait’s meaning. If you are an introvert, you likely have an inward approach to how you address work, surroundings, and life in general.

Introverts, in general, possess these characteristics:

A need or desire for quiet surroundings or solitude

Self-awareness, or being aware of your own thoughts and experiences

Small, but close circle of friends and acquaintances

Social interaction and group activities make the person feel exhausted or drained

Prefer to express or communicate in writing rather than orally

Not very talkative

May take a long time to make decisions or take actions

Solve problems with daydreams or imagination

The broader definition of introverts reflects the idea that you really cannot work in isolation or avoidance of all humanity. You must communicate and otherwise interact with people to obtain jobs, assignments, instructions, feedback, and pay.

However, you might be an introvert that shapes your tendencies to react with thought, reflection, and perhaps even a refreshing sense of carefulness and prudence.

The Benefits Of Working Alone Or At Home

More Productivity

If you are an introvert, you tend to produce more when you have few, if any, co-workers or people in your surroundings. In a generally isolated or contained setting, you concentrate more on the task at hand rather than taking on the identity of a “people person” and socializing in your free time. Absent are distractions such as interoffice politics and co-workers’ complaints about bosses, fellow employees, or matters not related to the particular assignment.

You likely limit your contact with others and rarely request information or clarification to finish the work. You may prefer to write rather than talk which promotes fewer disputes over expectations, agreements, assignments, and the scope of particular tasks.

Working From Home

For introverts, working from home may come as a natural choice. Whether by choice or necessity, workers have gravitated more toward using their homes like offices. Nearly 42 percent of workers call their place of business or employment their home. In addition, technology helps encourage a workforce that increasingly does not need to report to a physical office.

Certainly, not all economic activities can be conducted at home. For those who like to work alone at home, the ability brings several family, personal, and financial benefits:

Parents with at-home work avoid the need to find childcare. Surveys have placed the weekly price tag for a daycare center at $215. Nannies cost, on average, $565 per week.

Those who work at home save gas and reduce their risks of being involved in a motor vehicle crash because of reduced commutes to and from work.

You are available to quickly respond to emergencies or events requiring urgent action, such as a sick family member or sudden damage in the home.

You have the opportunity and ability to perform tasks at home while you work. These might include preparing meals, paying bills, and housekeeping, such as laundry or cleaning rooms.

Additional Income

You might seek a job where you work alone to give you the ability to add a side hustle. Such jobs provide a source of extra money in addition your full-time or typical job. You also have a hedge against the uncertainties of your full-time job or the industry in which you work.

Making The “Best Jobs” List

Our list of best jobs for introverts and those working alone doesn’t merely rank salaries. To be accurate, many of these jobs prove potentially lucrative. The higher-paying jobs typically require a bachelor’s or even advanced post-secondary degree.

In these jobs, you may very well report to an office but generally work by yourself or in a tiny group. Some professional jobs for introverts do allow for at-home work. Introverts can even find jobs that take them on the road. Within our list, you will find many opportunities that require a minimal amount of training or education and let you employ your creativity.

These jobs capture the essence of what it means to be an introvert in the workforce. They tap your strengths and preferences for writing, research, and relying on solitude for your productivity. You will also find the diversity of opportunities whether you seek a side gig or full-time income.

The 20 Best Jobs Where You Work Alone

1. Accountants

Accountancy can take you to jobs with corporations or major firms. If you are an introvert, you can practice accounting from a small or solo office or your home. Your contact with clients involves getting financial records, such as pay stubs, checks, invoices, and sales receipts.

The end product can include cash flow statements, balance sheets, profit, loss statements, and income taxes. Introverts can thrive in accounting because you can work by yourself and produce findings in writing or calculations.

Required Education

Becoming a certified public accountant (CPA) starts with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance, or accounting. Skills in computing, math, and statistics also help. Most states require you hold a license to practice public accounting.

As a prerequisite to the CPA examination, you must earn 150 hours of college credit. This typically translates to a five-year college track in which you work toward a combined Bachelor of Science and Masters of Accounting degree.

Demand for specialty solo accountants will come due to the constant adjustments in federal and state tax laws. Even with the availability of online tax preparation products, those with businesses or more complicated financial situations may need accountants to prepare returns and find tax credits and deductions accurately.

2. Actuaries

As an actuary, you rely on math and statistics to determine the chances of some event occurring and the event’s financial impact. Risk analysis involves the probability of death, workplace accidents, storms, fire, other natural disasters, crime, motor vehicle crash, and other incidents or occurrences that cause loss.

Actuaries are full-time jobs and often work for companies involving life, health, property and casualty, liability insurance, and other insurance products. Nearly seven out of ten actuaries find employment in the insurance and financial services industry. Your services as an actuary also benefit companies seeking to identify and reduce their risks and companies’ associated costs in formulating benefit plans.

Required Education

A job as an actuary typically requires a bachelor’s degree in a field such as math, statistics, or actuarial science. It helps to have courses in finance, business administration, economics, and computer science. You will find spreadsheets and PowerPoint applications useful for presenting data and findings to your employers or clients.

How much you can make

For actuaries, the annual median wage stands at $108,350, with the top ten percent of earners making above $193,000 per year. The increasingly regulatory landscape of healthcare and the overall need for insurers and companies to appreciate and mitigate financial and other losses should afford many opportunities for actuaries.

Between 2019 and 2029, the expected yearly job openings could increase by 18% in employment, from 27,700 in 2019 to 32,600 by 2029.

3. Affiliate Marketers

In affiliate marketing, companies use you to tout their products, services, and brands to online consumers. As an affiliate marketer, you find a particular item or service and promote it. Your content explains the benefits of and how to use the product.

If you run a successful blog or popular website, affiliate marketing can allow you to expound on a subject that involves the product. For example, if you perform affiliate marketing for a generator company, you might blog about the hurricane season or the impacts of hurricanes such as power outages. In your content, you link readers interested in hurricanes to the company’s particular generator or generators.

If people click on your affiliate link, you can be paid for this referral. More commonly, you earn commissions when a customer buys a product from the link you provided on your blog or product page.

How much you can make

As a beginner, you can expect a potential income of $300 per day from affiliate marketing. With more experience and volume, your earnings can climb as high as $3,000 daily.

If you prefer to influence via writing rather than orally, your introverted nature will serve you well in affiliate marketing. You will need to use your words to create an image of the products or services for customers. Also, photography or video skills may come in handy. Social media users and online shoppers often look for visuals to capture their attention to the items you wish to market.

4. Chemists and Materials Scientists

Laboratories offer considerable solitude. Within these environments, scientists conduct experiments and other research and record observations.

Here, we profile chemists and material scientists. Increased awareness of medical and health issues have fueled advances in treatments, including the development of medicines. Pharmaceutical firms and health care providers employ chemists to research, test, and help develop treatments.

With growing movements in industries for environmental protection, manufacturers need chemists and material scientists to experiment and discover new processes and materials for construction and manufacturing.

Even with the demand for their services, the chemists and material scientists’ field should remain relatively small. From 2019 to 2029, the expected yearly job openings are predicted to increase by 4,300. This low increase is due to the academic rigors that you will encounter.

Required Education

At a minimum, you will need a bachelor’s degree in chemistry or engineering to land even entry-level jobs. Drugmakers may prefer job candidates with degrees in biochemistry or biology. The higher-level research positions generally require master’s degrees or PhDs in chemistry or related fields.

How much you can make

If you find work as a chemist or material scientist, you can expect reasonably healthy pay. The median income for chemists stands at $77,630, with those who work for the federal government making on a median basis of $111,840. Among materials scientists, median pay runs at $96,810 per year. Those in the upper tenth of earners see income above $157,780 annually.

5. Data Entry

In a data entry job, you type and otherwise place information from hard copies or other sources into a database, spreadsheet, or other organization platforms. What you enter depends upon the particular industry or employer.

For instance, retail companies use data entry clerks to compile into lists: customers, sales prices, or outstanding amounts owed, due dates, and payments made. You might enter the names, phone numbers, and addresses (mailing, physical, or email) of customers, clients, vendors, or others involved with the business.

Data entry makes an ideal job where you work alone because you can perform your work from home or even other remote locales with internet access. If you choose to work from outside the house or the employer’s office, verify the employer or person you contract does not object. Performing data entry over public Wi-Fi networks might expose sensitive data to the risk of exposure. If you work at home, make sure your network is secure.

How much you can make

On a full-time basis, data entry workers earn on a median basis of $33,490 per year. However, you can use data entry as a part-time gig. Many reputable sites advertise data entry jobs, and many companies rely on independent contractors as a cost-cutting measure which increases your opportunities.

6. Dog Sitting

Imagine you have planned the perfect get-away. Unfortunately, you cannot take your dog, and you prefer not to leave your furry best friend alone or at a shelter.

The solution? Professional dog sitters. These service providers watch, walk, feed, and care for dogs and other animals for clients who have extended trips or want their animals to receive care while at work or on vacation. The increasing demand for dog sitting can afford you an opportunity to earn extra money as a side gig or as a long-term business.

You can advertise yourself locally through your social media, website, or the Nextdoor app to those in your community who may travel or just need help with dog grooming and other care. Leads to clients also come through the site Rover.

When you open an account through Rover.com, you join a pool through which customers can find a sitter. You have access to veterinarians’ help should the dog you are watching develop illnesses or suspicious symptoms. Flexibility takes the form of schedules and the breeds and sizes of dogs and other pets, which you cand either accept or turn down.

7. Economist

An economist at heart is a collector and analyzer of data that explains the health of the economy. In this role, you study and report employment figures, gross national product, inflation, stock market growth, and other economic growth markers or decline. Much of this work involves research, statistics, models, and predictions.

As with many jobs for introverts, economists generally work independently or individually. Unless you are a professor or have a teaching role, you will generally present your findings in a written report for use by fellow economists, media members, or government members.

Some economists consult investment firms, manufacturers, retailers, or industry and trade associations on the effects of economic trends upon the value of assets. They also influence the price companies should charge for goods or services.

How much you can make

Economists enjoy a median annual salary of $105,020, with those in the top one-tenth of earners making above $185,020 per year. Among the jobs we profile here, economists have among the highest standards for qualification. Specifically, many positions require either a doctorate or a master’s degree.

Such educational prerequisites help explain why the economist field is small, with 20,500 in 2019 and expected yearly job openings of 23,500 jobs by 2029.

8. Family Therapists

Remember that introverts do not necessarily fear human contact. In reality, they thrive in intimate settings. As a family therapist, you counsel clients with marital issues or family discord in private surroundings.

These stressors and challenges to married couples and families may include divorce, substance abuse problems, unemployment, other financial deficits, anger problems, or mourning the loss of a loved one. You may counsel families whose children exhibit behavioral problems in school or at home or persist in using drugs or engaging in unhealthy and risky activity.

Those who come to you for help need comfortable spaces and privacy to fully and frankly discuss their problems, the root causes, and solutions. They also rely upon the thoughtful and empathetic qualities of therapists.

Family services organizations, clinics, and health care companies or agencies employ a fair share of marriage and family therapists. If you want a job where you work alone, you can open a private practice. Almost half of these professionals maintain private practices. You can even counsel out of your home if your local zoning codes or subdivision rules allow it.

Required Education

To become a marriage and family therapist, you will need at least a master’s degree in family or marriage therapy, psychology, mental health counseling, behavioral science, or other mental health disciplines. The requirement of a master’s degree comes from the licensing rules of many jurisdictions for therapists.

You might find that your care of a client complements the work of other professionals for the client. The move toward integrated care, in which substance abuse, mental health, and other counselors work with you as a team, has spurred an expected growth in marriage and family counselors’ employment. By 2029, the field could increase by 14,800 workers.

9. Graphic Designers

With your computer, imagination, and creativity, you can design layouts for brochures, flyers, advertisements, displays, and reports. You can make book covers and promotional items such as bottles, pens, hats, and clothing as your platforms for designing layouts. While brochures and flyers involve print, users of digital media may engage graphic designers for layouts.

Graphic design includes selecting and placing images, text, fonts, colors, background, and other content. You interact with clients about their objectives and perhaps others, such as landscape architects or artists. The use of technology allows you to work remotely, including from home. To be a graphic designer, you need skills in using computers and design applications. Generally, a bachelor’s degree in graphic design or art can prove helpful in attracting clients.

How much you can make

On a median basis, the annual wage for graphic designers stands at $52,110. The highest ten percent of pay rises above $89,210. Your best prospects for graphic design gigs exist in the digital and computer area. Tablets, smartphones, and computers have grown in prominence, and print media such as newspapers and magazines have waned in use and popularity.

10. Network Administrator

Computers and information networks are indispensable to several businesses, including in the financial services and medical fields. Network administrators assume responsibility for the proper operation of computer systems and networks within an enterprise.

As a network administrator, you install software, applications, and hardware (keyboards, monitors, printers, and scanners) and establish communication lines between or among various computers in an office. These networks may be wireless or local area networks (LANs) and help users within and between offices share information. You upgrade hardware drivers, software, firewalls, and anti-virus measures on the system. Computer users may call upon you to provide technical support.

As many computers can be controlled remotely, you can generally perform most network administrator duties without being at the client’s office or facility. This promotes the work-alone environment that introverts seek. If you pursue this as a career, you may expect opportunities for openings and substantial pay.

How much you can make

Between 2020 and 2022, the network administrator field could see 42,000 new job openings. The median annual pay rests at $83,510. For top earners, salaries can exceed $132,520 per year.

11. Online Sales

An online business selling gig affords you many of the benefits of working alone. If you sell through the site Etsy, you can combine your creative side or interest in a particular hobby with the ability to either earn extra money or even pursue full-time income in a regular business.

Sellers on Etsy offer crafts and gifts such as face masks, soaps, other personal care items, wall decor, calendars, and organizers. Establishing an Etsy account is relatively simple and does not consume much time.

Your creative talents and perhaps collectibles such as sports memorabilia can earn you extra money on sites such as eBay or Amazon.

Some successful businesses create an online course, free workshop, or digial products to offer additional ways to create leads and increase their income potential.

12. Photography

Nearly 64% of photographers work on an independent contractor basis. Freelance photography shares many of the same aspects of freelance writing for introverts. As an independent freelance photographer, you can select your assignments, schedule (adhering, course to deadlines), multiple clients, and pay rates.

Assignments take you to scenic views such as mountains, lakes, oceans, beaches, and other natural monuments. Those who are willing to pay for this work may have you photograph city scenes and human-made landmarks. You may have products or human models as your subjects.

For introverts, while photography is a job where you work alone, it does not translate to stay-at-home or even creature-comfort work. Some clients or employers may send you into extremes of hot or cold, strong winds, and other difficult natural elements.

Those breathtaking views of mountain ranges or overlooks or remote areas may require the stamina for long walks, hikes, or even climbs. You may have to enter areas of unrest or even war in some of the more daring assignments. Steadiness is key to clear photography.

In addition, you can sell your images to stock photography sites who will pay you each time your image is downloaded.

Interested in a bit more of a challenge? Open your own photography business and try your luck at being a small business owner. While small businesses require a great deal of hard work, they allow you to focus spending time on a career path you love.

13. Software Developer

Software development represents one of our top jobs for introverts, especially for its job growth. The field could see 316,000 new jobs between 2019 and 2029. In 2019, an estimated 1,469,200 employees held positions as software developers. That number could reach 1,785,200 a decade later.

The significant prospects of job openings arise from the prevalence of smartphones, tablets, laptops, desktops, and other digital or computing devices in the commercial, industrial, and personal spheres. The financial and healthcare industries use software created by developers to forecast the growth of investments, enrollments in healthcare plans, and operating expenses for medical providers or other sectors.

Even manufacturers of appliances, televisions, and other consumer electronics rely upon software developers.

Software developers design applications by understanding customer need for functions, performance, and securities. The tasks include testing the design, identifying security gaps or other functionality problems, measuring performance, and forming instructions for the programmers who supply the code.

Required Education

Majors in computer science or software engineering are common for software developers. You need computer programming courses, information technology, and subjects specific to the field you might work in. For example, software developers for banks may need classes in finance and marketing.

How much you can make

The potential for significant pay affords another reason for you to consider software development. The median annual wage for these professionals is $107,510.

14. Teaching English From Home

Remote and online teaching has grown among many institutions of higher education. With a pandemic in effect, it has become the preferred choice of many public and private elementary, middle, and high schools.

Aside from the preferences or necessities of staying at home, virtual teaching in subjects such as teaching English online allow teachers to make extra money to supplement a full-time instruction or stay-at-home housekeeping duties.

While you may interact with students, you work from your home and likely will not have much idle talk because of language differences. Your students probably do not quite have the grasp of the English language to have lengthy conversations in it.

The demand for virtual English teachers comes from half a world away in China and other parts of Asia. To meet this demand, platforms such as DaDa, iTudor Group, QKids, Teach Away, GoGokid, and VipKid pair teachers with overseas students.

Given a time difference around 12 hours (depending on the time zone) between the United States and China or other parts of east Asia, domestic teachers may be able to teach English online during the after-hours from their regular jobs.

Required Education

Most virtual English teaching jobs require a bachelor’s degree, with English being a major choice. You might find some courses in Chinese or other Asian languages helpful.

15. Transcriptionists

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, even with a median pay of $33,380 per year, medical transcriptionist jobs make great work opportunities at home or alone. Your primary equipment consists of a computer and an application that converts audio dictation from a physician or other medical provider to text.

Once you’ve accomplished the conversion, you proofread the text for obvious errors and then send the finished product to your client. If you’re not looking for a full-time income from a medical transcriptionist job, orders sent your way by clients can provide extra money.

Indeed, you can find opportunities if you work as an independent contractor for those needing notes of surgeries and diagnoses transcribed. Hospitals and medical practices may turn to the outsourcing of transcription to increase productivity and reduce cost.

Transcriptionist jobs also exist in the legal profession. Otherwise known in many circles as court reporters, these workers transcribe trials, court hearings, and depositions. Unlike medical transcriptionists, those who transcribe legal proceedings typically do not perform all their work from home.

However, this job works well for introverts because settings such as a courtroom or a lawyer’s office may not lend themselves to too much idle chatter. Usually, you are focused upon accurately recording testimony, judges rulings and instructions, the objections, examination, and legal counsel arguments. Furthermore, you will use equipment to capture the participants’ audio in the legal proceeding and convert them to text. Completing the transcript often occurs at home.

How much you can make

Court reporters earn a median annual wage of $60,130. Those in the top 10 percent fetch north of $106,210 per year.

Required Education

In becoming a medical or legal transcriptionist, it may help you to be familiar with the terminology. Thus, transcriptionists may need courses and health sciences, biology, and basic legal principles. Brief on the job training may help you operate computers and any other equipment used in preparing a transcript.

16. Truck Drivers

At first blush, you might not associate truck drivers with an introvert personality trait. These workers communicate with dispatchers, personnel at loading and receiving docks, and fellow drivers via CB radios. However, a truck driver’s trip includes several hours to hundreds of hours alone, on rural highways and isolated or remote places.

With long hauls come days or even multiple weeks away from home or other opportunities to socialize. In some aspects, being an introvert may prove necessary to perform truck driving.

The trucking industry lends itself to many introverts because of the opportunity many have to work for themselves. An estimated 587,000, or nearly one out of every three, workers in the trucking are self-employed. Nearly one in every two specialized freight drivers is an independent contractor. Drivers of technical freight haul items with non-standard (often oversized) items.

Required Education

Truck driving also brings fairly stringent qualifications. To be a long-haul truck driver, you must complete fairly extensive training with commercial trucks and earn your commercial driver’s license (CDL). Meeting additional standards allow you to be eligible to transport hazardous materials.

Once you obtain the CDL, you must avoid speeding or other traffic violations and pass a physical every two years to keep the license. You might lose your CDL if you fail a drug or controlled substances test. Many of these tests are random and unannounced.

Full-time truck drivers have an annual median pay of $46,730.

17. Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants perform many of the duties of secretaries and administrative assistants who report to a physical office. Within the scope of work lie tasks such as scheduling appointments and meetings, tracking deadlines, answering customer inquiries, and responding to emails. For some virtual assistants, scheduling deliveries and service calls are part of the work.

A virtual assistant is a great side hustle gig, especially if you’re savvy with social media. Younger generations are able to make quick work out of social media requests for corporations and make a significant amount of extra income on their own time.

Being computer and technologically savvy plays a critical role as a virtual assistant. You might use Microsoft Outlook, Google Calendar, and other applications that help you with scheduling, task and appointment reminders, and sending emails.

Additionally, virtual assistants need to know how to use Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms to create content and send announcements or news about events, services, and products. You might use graphic applications and software to prepare charts or other presentations. Virtual assistants may use computers for research projects.

The virtual assistant job description also involves the use of customer service skills. You might send thank you notes, follow-ups to customer surveys or concerns. Effective customer service requires you to be able to speak and write. While a high school diploma usually suffices, some employers or clients might prefer virtual assistants with a bachelor’s degree.

How much can you make

For virtual assistants, the pay can reach as high as $60,082 per year.

18. Web Design and Development

The prominence of computers, tablets, smartphones, and other wireless devices makes web developers and software developers workers in high demand. From 2019 to 2029, the web development field expects yearly job openings of 1,400, based upon 14,000 new positions during that decade.

Websites entertain, inform, and provide convenient ways for users to pay bills, order merchandise, and transact other business. The web developer designs the site’s overall appearance, focusing on the arrangement of content and links. To ensure the site’s technical soundness, developers test the designs to evaluate and improve speed, accessibility, capacity to handle users and functions. Web development also involves writing the codes for the photographs, links, videos, text, and other content.

Required Education

The education and training depend on whether you work as a front-end or back-end developer. In the latter category, you concentrate on the site’s technical aspects, such as coding and instructions. For these jobs, you likely will need a bachelor’s degree in computer science or computer programming. An associate’s degree or even high school diploma will suffice for front-end developers, whose work impacts the visual aspects.

How much you can make

Web developers earn on a median basis of $73,760. The highest salaries rise above $142,080.

19. Writing

Introverts prefer, as a rule, to communicate in writing rather than through the spoken word. Writing jobs involve research, outlining, drafting, revisions, and other tasks that, for many, are best accomplished away from crowds or the distractions of background noise or conversations of others.

I frequently write for various online publications that pay me per post. This is a great side hustle I have found to make an extra $1,000 a month with a minimal amount of work.

Freelance writing opportunities abound, primarily through the internet for writers and blogging. Several freelance writing sites allow you to receive assignments from multiple clients. Depending upon the particular freelance portal, your projects can fetch you a few dollars of extra money or several hundreds of dollars. If you treat writing as a full-time income source, the annual median wage for writers and authors registers $63,200.

With freelance writing, you can have a flexible schedule to meet the client’s deadlines. The flexibility also includes the types of assignments available, which allow you to choose those items that closely match your interests, knowledge, and expertise. Many of these sites do not require you have extensive or even any prior writing experience. For some, your acceptance comes from passing a short test of your creativity and grammar.

Independent contractors populate the writing field. Approximately 63 percent of writers and authors are self-employed.

Within the freelance or online writing field lie bloggers. While many freelancers may serve multiple clients, a blogger tends to have recurring assignments for a single employer or a smaller set of clients. Many brands, such as GoDaddy.com, American Express, and Starbucks, use bloggers for content online or social media.

20. Technical Writers

jobs where you work alone technical writer

Technical writing belongs in a category separate from more general freelance writing and blogging. If you land such a gig, you will prepare content such as owners’ or instruction manuals, installation guidelines, and frequently asked questions. These gigs are usually for appliances, electronics, vehicles, power tools, lawnmowers, and other products that require some technical knowledge.

The need to accurately deliver technical and specialized information requires you as a technical writer to have maximum concentration and minimal, if any, distractions.

Required Education

Due to the expertise needed for technical writing, these jobs may require degrees or backgrounds in construction, engineering, manufacturing, and business. English or journalism majors also have good chances of landing these jobs.

How much you can make

The full-time income figures reflect the specialized nature and expertise required for these positions.

On average, technical writers earn $75,500 per year and hold a median annual pay of $71,850. Those at the top of the pay scale enjoy salaries above $114,930 annually.

Creating a portfolio of scientific, medical, and engineering publications or as interns for industrial manufacturers, healthcare providers, and academic institutions affords experience and illustrates your talents.

Choosing The Right Job Where You Work Alone

Whether you’re chasing financial freedom or a high-income job where you don’t need to work with people, working alone can be a great way to stay focused. There is an almost unlimited number of ways to land clients and make an attractive income by working alone on your computer.

Take your passion and find a way to bring value to others with that passion. Use your spare time to build up your ideal career and focus your time and energy on making it the best side hustle turned full-time job in the future!

This post originally appeared on Arrest Your Debt.

While I would like to believe Arrest Your Debt is the only financial education website you ever need to visit, I realize there are many other great free resources available on the internet. At the risk of sending people away from my site, I feel it is my job to make sure my readers know about the best free financial education resources on the world wide web – even if they are not mine.

This list is updated continuously with the most up to date information to keep it relevant. Whether you’re just starting on your finance journey and trying to build a budget or want to begin investing, these resources will put you on the right track.

These are some of my favorite resources, but I’m always open to new information sources. Do you know of any other great free websites? Drop me a line at ryan@arrestyourdebt.com, so I can get it added to the list!

1. Pigly

I recently stumbled upon the website Pigly, which offers a wealth of resources focused on financial education. There is a real effort to educate families about proper financial planning and children’s financial education for free!

While Pigly offers a large selection of free personal finance calculators, I wanted to point out the Inflation Calculator. On my website, I have not yet covered the impact and importance of inflation regarding retirement and financial planning.

For example, I wanted to calculate how much $1,000 in today’s dollars was worth in 1980.

Pigly’s free inflation calculator can be adjusted to calculate just about any scenario and show its impact has on our money. The results were shocking.

Based on inflation calculations, $1,000 in 2020 has the same buying power as $322.67 in 1980. In other words, if you had $322.67 in 1980, you would need to grow it to $1,000 over 40 years just to stay even!

This graphic shows how important it is to invest your retirement funds early and get compound interest working in your favor. Yearly inflation can have a devastating impact on your finances if you only put your money in a savings account.

Check out Pigly to use this calculator on your own and see the other great free resources they have to offer.

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2. MyMoney.Gov

MyMoney.Gov is chartered and run by the Federal Financial Literacy and Education Commission. The goal is to offer financial education across the United States to increase financial literacy and improve the economy.

MyMoney.Gov has a large library of information about earning money, borrowing, saving and investing, spending, and protecting your income.

In addition to free financial information, the site also includes free resources such as budget templates and economic research.

3. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is a United States government agency that oversees banks and lenders to ensure they are working within the law and treating customers fairly.

While fairly is quite subjective, the CFPB offers financial education for consumers to protect themselves from predatory lenders.

Tracking money milestones in children is one of the free resources CFPB offers. There are activities, conversation starters, and printables you can use to assist your children with financial education. The financial education is tailored to specific categories to include young children through adulthood.

4. Khan Academy

khan academy free education resources

As a 501©(3), Khan Academy operates exclusively off donations. This nonprofit organization’s mission is to provide free education and is separated into sections to assist students, teachers, and parents.

A significant focus of the Khan Academy is on mathematics. Khan Academy resources can help students get ready for upcoming traditional math classes or create basic mathematical building blocks.

The online learning environment can be taken at your own pace, whether you are an adult learner or helping your child navigate their financial and mathematical knowledge.

Knowledge in math is the foundation of sound financial literacy skills. If you or your kids need additional tutoring in math, the Khan Academy is an excellent resource.

5. Next Gen Personal Finance

Next Gen Personal Finance is a nonprofit organization with a core mission of making free financial curriculum and educators’ resources.

What I like about Next Gen is their ability to curate some of the best information and curriculum based on personal finance best practices. They are a one-stop-shop to find all the necessary resources to educate students on proper money management.

Next Gen Personal Finance is one of my go-to resources when I need additional materials for my personal finance classes. You can easily spend hours on the site perusing their free financial education resources in whatever area you want to learn more.

The Takeaway

These are my favorite free financial education resources that focus on educating others rather than profiting from them. I’m a fan of nonprofits because it takes a great deal of focus and commitment to bringing value to others to survive as a 501©(3).

In addition, no one knows everything or has all the answers. It’s essential to expand our horizons and look at other perspectives to give us a well rounded financial background.

Personal finance does not need to be boring, and many of these resources use engaging games to keep kids focused. With the vast amount of free financial education resources available on the internet, be sure to check out these resources before you decide to spend a bunch of money on a financial education program.

This post originally appeared on Arrest Your Debt.

You’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t aspire to start their own business and work for themselves. And for a good reason. Apart from being able to make more money and a flexible schedule, it also presents us with the opportunity to work on the things that matter to us rather than serve as little more than a mere cog in someone else’s machine.

But as the saying goes, nothing worth having is easy. And this statement is true, especially when it comes to starting a company. After all, the road to business success, regardless of industry, is usually paved with many hardships and difficulties. And it shows in the numbers. Approximately twenty percent of new businesses typically go under within two years.

Fortunately, it’s not all doom and gloom. Despite all the challenges that it presents, you can achieve where many others before you have failed with some careful planning, preparation, and research. And in this article, we will discuss seven essential things you need to know when starting a business.

1. Begin with a detailed business plan

They say that if you don’t have a plan, then you’re planning to fail. And when starting a company, you must begin by creating a detailed plan. This is important for a number of reasons. For starters, it will help break down all the elements of your business and make it much easier to absorb and comprehend.

From the budget and milestones to tasks and the expected results, having an outline of what you hope to attain will make it much easier to achieve.

A detailed business plan will also show any potential investors the feasibility of your venture. And you’re far more likely to secure the funding that you need to establish your company if you present lenders with a complete proposal rather than a brief and straightforward plan of action.

2. Understand your target audience

We all know that marketing is essential to the success of a business. All companies need to generate awareness and exposure to any products or services that they offer to generate sales. And to achieve the desired results for your advertising efforts, you must first research and conduct an assessment of your target audience to gain a better understanding of how to reach them effectively.

You can start by looking into what other similar businesses like your competitors are doing for guidance and ideas. Gathering information on their marketing methods may sound tedious, but it will make forming your strategies much easier.

3. Start small

Many inexperienced entrepreneurs and first-time business owners make the mistake of going big as soon as they get their startup off the ground. Only to realize later that they’ve bitten off more than they can chew and get themselves into a lot of financial troubles soon after. Instead, it’s always a better approach to start small.

While this might mean limited jobs, projects, and less revenue, it will allow you to get acclimated to running your business without overextending yourself and putting the company in financial risk.

4. Explore before you commit

Expenditure is an unavoidable reality of doing business. There’s no getting around this fact. But if you want to generate more revenue for your startup, it’s critical that you explore every avenue before you make any financial commitments.

From the equipment and the services your company requires to operate to essential coverage like workers comp at Next Insurance, the time that you invest in carefully considering all available options now will undoubtedly help in minimizing your overheads. And, as a result, improve your profit margins.

5. Learn from the experience of others

There’s no denying that it can be more than just a little challenging to make sound decisions if you’re an inexperienced business owner. As such, it makes sense to try and learn from the experience of others. And you can achieve this by joining associations and attending conferences or seminars if the opportunity presents itself.

In this way, you won’t have to take any unnecessary risks with your company through a trial-and-error approach as you’ll save yourself a lot of trouble by learning from those who, at one point in time, was in the same position as you have been.

6. Don’t be afraid to outsource

One of the most common errors made by startups is trying to shoulder all of the work to keep expenditure low. However, this can quickly have the opposite of the intended effect if you spread your resources too thin. So, if the business can ill-afford to take on the job, don’t be afraid to outsource it to another company. Doing so might result in additional expenditure, but it’s an investment well worth taking if it means that you can help your business maintain a consistent level of productivity.

7. Monitor the financial affairs of your business

It’s always a good idea to monitor the financial affairs of your startup. When you get right down to it, not only will you have a better understanding of how your business is doing financially. But it may also help you find ways to cut costs without compromising the overall quality of the products or services that your company offers.

So, make sure to keep a close eye on all transactions made by your business. Hire an accountant if you need a professional to address your bookkeeping needs. It can go a long way in keeping your startup from falling into dire financial straits.

More and more people are taking the entrepreneurial road these days. After all, it’s much easier and more accessible to start a business venture now than it ever was in the past. But this doesn’t mean that it’s without its fair share of challenges. So be sure to adopt the practices and strategies listed above. You’ll have much better chances of achieving the desired results in doing so.

This post originally appeared on Arrest Your Debt.

Whether you’re saving for something in particular or you just want a nest egg for a rainy day, a savings account is a great place to start.

When you’re saving, interest is everything. If you choose an account that offers a high-interest rate, your savings will grow quicker – which is something I’m sure any saver would find appealing.

There are many savings accounts out there that are okay – but you should be looking for an account that has it all – a good interest rate, online services, and even bonuses!

There’s a savings account for you out there – keep reading to hear more about some of the best savings accounts in 2020 – including a list of their pros and cons. For a more in-depth look at savings accounts, you can head on over to crediful.com or click here for more information.

CHIME

Pros

Over 38,000 ATMs free to use

Convenient mobile app full of features

ZERO monthly maintenance fees

Generous 1.0% interest rate

Great saving tools

Cons

No physical locations

If you’re looking for a convenient online-only savings account, then CHIME may be the perfect choice. The useful mobile app enables you to do everything you need – transfer money, automatic savings, deposit checks, check balances – it has it all.

Any banking that you can’t do online can be done at a Green Dot location – including cash deposits. There are also over 38,000 MoneyPass and Visa Plus Alliance ATMs you can use for free, which is great for mini statements and checking your balance. Other ATMs are usable, but you’ll be charged $2.50 per transaction.

There’s a useful tool that helps you save – it rounds any purchase up to the nearest dollar and deposits the remainder into your savings account. This essentially means you can save with zero effort – the pennies add up without you even noticing they’re gone. Thanks to the convenient saving tools and the 1.0% interest rate, your savings will surely grow over time.

Synchrony

Pros

Competitive 2.5% interest rate

No minimum daily balance requirements

ATM cost reimbursements

No monthly maintenance fees

Cons

Only has one physical location (New Jersey)

Synchrony doesn’t offer checking accounts and only has one physical location in New Jersey – which makes it an ideal account if you’re wanting to keep your funds somewhere without being tempted to withdraw all the time.

The interest rate is a competitive 2.5%, which is higher than most savings accounts. There are no minimum daily balance requirements, which means you can start your savings journey with a small balance. You won’t need to worry about monthly maintenance fees either – so your savings can keep growing without getting hit by monthly charges.

Synchrony also has a great perks program, including ATM fee reimbursements and travel discounts.

Marcus by Goldman Sachs

Pros

Excellent customer service

No minimum deposit

Zero hidden fees and charges

Generous 2.25% interest rate

Access to other Goldman Sachs financial facilities

Cons

No physical locations

Generally, most high-interest savings accounts come with high starting balances and monthly fees – but this isn’t the case with Marcus by Goldman Sachs.

With this savings account, you can start your savings journey from the very beginning – instead of needing a lump sum to get started.

The 2.25% interest rate is notably higher than most others, and there won’t be any monthly charges digging into your savings – so you’re sure to save more with Marcus by Goldman Sachs.

Their customer service team is excellent and available seven days a week. Although there aren’t any physical branches, you can do pretty much everything you need online. You can also link to other bank accounts, making it quick and easy to send money out and receive it.

Once you’re a customer, you’ll have access to other Goldman Sachs facilities, including their personal loans!

Ally

Pros

Zero monthly maintenance fees

Quick and easy Ally eCheck Deposit

Perfect for big and small savers

2.20% interest rate

Great online facilities

Cons

Charges for overdraft, outgoing wire transfer, and returned deposit items

Whether you’re starting your savings journey with thousands of dollars or with one dollar, you can start earning from the get-go and take advantage of the 2.20% interest rate.

You won’t have to worry about maintenance fees digging into your balance either – but you may get charged $25 for being overdrawn. You can also incur charges by having a returned deposit item ($7.50), and for outgoing wire transfers ($20).

The mobile app is easy to use, and you can pretty much do everything you need on it. You can deposit checks quickly and easily with the Ally eCheck Deposit – all you need to do is take a picture from your phone, then mail the paper copy. It’s a quick process, and the funds will be accessible in no time.

You also get free incoming wire transfers (including international transfers), free deposit envelopes with pre-paid postage, and free ACH transfers to any other bank accounts.

This post originally appeared on Arrest Your Debt.

With the global pandemic, everyone is feeling the pinch, and money is tight for a lot of people looking for a way to make some extra cash. Thankfully, the gig economy took off well before the current extenuating circumstances, so you have a wealth of options at your disposal to scrounge together some extra scratch to help you get by.

Of course, the gig economy is a great way to make extra money on the side as a part-time job even if you already have a steady income. Even better, this situation gives you much more control since you are only looking to supplement your income rather than replace it.

Either way, figuring out the gig economy in our contemporary times can be trickier than you might expect, with plenty of unscrupulous actors looking to take advantage of people who do not know better. To help make sure you set out on the right foot, we break down the gig economy from top to bottom, providing all of the information you need to thrive.

What Is The Gig Economy?

Initially, the term “gig” was coined by jazz musicians and referred to a musical performance or studio set that was inherently temporary. That temporary mentality carries over to the use of the term today, where a gig job generally means anything temporary, whether the gig lasts for an hour, day, or longer.

The gig economy has technically been around for as long as civilization, but rarely did people have the infrastructural and logistical tools to make use of it. More often than not, a gig job before the internet relied on you knowing someone who regularly hired people for one-off jobs or as a temporary employee.

The temporary part of a gig job means that you are not a true employee of the person hiring you and that you are likely going to need to find another gig once the current one finishes. Thankfully, the gig economy is flourishing, and one of the best benefits is that you get to choose which gigs you take rather than a boss telling you what jobs you have to do.

What Is A Gig Economy Job?

As mentioned prior, a gig economy job is not like “traditional” jobs that you might be used to when working for a larger corporation or even a mom and pop establishment. For starters, most gig economy workers are not even “employees” in any legal or technical sense.

Instead, gig economy jobs are filled by what is known as an “independent contractor,” which has both advantages and disadvantages when compared to traditional employees. One of the biggest selling points about being an independent contractor is you technically do not have a boss or anyone else with absolute authority over you.

Alternatively, an independent contractor is considered their own “boss” who signs a contract with another person or entity, and the terms of the agreement dictate the working relationship. Granted, this differs from gig to gig with some companies or employers stipulating more authoritarian rules and guidelines into the contract.

Full-Time vs Part-Time Gig Economy Jobs

One thing to consider when getting into the gig economy is how often or how much spare time you want to put into your side hustle jobs and how much extra income you need. Because of some of the benefits a gig affords, especially as it relates to personal freedom, it can be tempting to get a taste of success in one gig and decide you want to do it full-time.

While that is certainly an option, we recommend you take a gig as a secondary form of income to your traditional full-time job – at least until you establish yourself within the gig’s field. Part of the issue comes from the fact that many gigs, especially those with less oversight, can be a bit streaky.

Some weeks or months you may find yourself inundated with more work than you know what to do with and can make a lot of money in short order. On the other hand, other months may dry up and leave you with leaner prospects that can create a strain on managing your budget, especially if you live in a household with dependents or you are the primary breadwinner.

Generally, you should only move to the gig economy as your primary source of income if you already make close to as much money compared to your traditional job and still have to turn clients away.

Keep in mind, you should likely perform your gig for a year or more to note if the field suffers from seasonal ups and downs (often after Christmas and during the summer season).

Pros and Cons of the Gig Economy

Pros

These are the reasons a job in the gig economy is better than a traditional job.

Who’s the Boss?

Being your own boss is easily one of the best things about the gig economy as you technically accomplish your tasks how you want and can set your own pace.

Though, as mentioned prior, some clients may want you to agree to more oversight, potentially as much as a traditional job.

While these are not always bad premises, it is worth noting that a gig contract that provides the clients with more authority undercuts a lot of the benefits of being an independent contractor in the first place. In that instance, you get all of the downsides of having a boss without any of the benefits or protections of being a legal employee.

I Want It My Way

Regardless, one of the best qualities of a gig is that you do not have to do any job that you do not choose to do with the tasks of the gig spelled out in the contract.

However, this also places a bit more responsibility on you to figure out what the gig demands before accepting the contract to make sure you are not expected to do tasks you did not want to.

Granted, this depends on the gig in question where some gigs use an aggregating system to manage the gigs available, and the gigs follow a specific set of expectations. However, other types of gigs might be a bit more freeform and require the client to define the terms of a completed task.

Setting The Pace

Another great quality of the gig economy, arguably one of the best given how this form of employment should be used, is the flexible schedule. While some gigs may put you in a bit of a crunch depending on the situation, especially if they have a hard deadline, most gigs allow you to work when you want.

If you only want a part-time gig, this is great as you can pick up the gig when you have the free time without having to worry about losing the gig when you get busier. That said, this often requires you to manage your time more than with a traditional job where you clock in and out at a regular time every day.

Wherever I Wander

This benefit is a bit dependent on what gig you choose as some gigs are limited in terms of how and where you work. That said, if your gig simply gives you an assignment with or without a deadline and the freedom to complete the task as you see fit, there is no reason you have to sit at home and do it.

As we will get to, working outside of the house in a public or semi-public setting can not only be invigorating but may help stave off one of the cons commonly associated with gigs. Still, if you have ever been trapped in an office on a beautiful day, lamenting the fact that you could not go and enjoy the outdoors, you may not have that issue with some gigs.

Alternatively, if you like the hustle and bustle of a coffee shop or the quiet public peace of a library, many gigs allow you to work in those locations without issue. Of course, most of these gigs still require you to work on a laptop or smart device, so make sure the location has access to an internet connection or a cell signal before trekking out there.

Cons

These are all the reasons gig economy jobs may be difficult compared to the traditional corporate system.

Quality, Not Quantity

Depending on the field, gigs are just as often determined by their quality as well as quantity, which means you can end up in a situation where the client refuses to pay you until you meet some (often vague) standard. This can turn into a situation where the contract drags and drags as you are asked to make revision after revision or redo the work.

While this is somewhat understandable, it is essential to note that the wording of the contract can rope you into a gig where the client requires you continuously redo your work until the number of hours spent on the gig is far more than would equal minimum wage for the pay.

That is why it is essential, if at all possible, to obtain a clear understanding of what the prerequisites for a completed gig are before signing the contract and getting to work. Do not be afraid to ask either as some clients may not have a lot of experience and could use questions to help define for themselves what they expect.

On Your Own

While having so much freedom may be invigorating in one sense, it also requires you to accept an equal amount of responsibility which can incur financial costs. Because the gig economy centers around independent contractors, those contractors are expected to cover the overhead costs of completing the assigned job.

For some gigs, these costs may not amount to much, but for other gigs, these overhead costs can be upwards of hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars. If a gig is likely to have overhead costs, it pays to do some research to make sure that the client covers the overhead costs that are necessary to complete the job.

This also means that you need to prepare and file your own taxes using the 1099 form instead of the W-9 and W-2 forms. On top of that, independent contractors are expected to file quarterly instead annually which can require significantly more time and more rigorous record keeping.

Survival Of The Fittest

Another potential concern with gig economy workers is that, unlike employers, the client does not need to provide any additional benefits outside of the agreed-upon payment for the job. This means that the gig economy is a bad place to look for a retirement plan, health insurance, car insurance, or any other kind of insurance policy you might otherwise get at a traditional job.

While the gig economy is great to make extra money on the side, people who try to use it as a replacement for full-time employment often find they make less when you add up all of the benefits a traditional job normally provides.

The gig economy requires you to pay for your own benefits and most gigs only offer a modest increase in competitive pay compared to a traditional full-time job in the same field.

All By Myself

The final major concern you should consider is how isolating gig work can be, though this may matter more depending on your general sociability. However, even those who think of themselves as introverts (when most of us are actually ambiverts) can be shocked to realize how secluded from the rest of society they feel.

You may think you hate that one guy at the office who will not stop talking about his favorite sports team, but hours of continued silence outside of the noise of your own work can be deafening. Even if you generally prefer to be alone, the degree of social segregation gig work can impose may leave you missing coworkers you once complained about.

Thankfully, those gigs that allow you to choose the location of your work open up the possibility to go somewhere public and substitute the office for a more open area. You should definitely invest in some noise-canceling headphones if you take this route, but it can offer a nice middle-ground between isolation and a busy atmosphere.

Gig Economy Statistics

Whether you want to supplement your income with a part-time gig or strike out on your own and be your own boss full-time, it helps to have some data at your fingertips. When it comes to the gig economy, the data is a bit sparse since it is so new, but all of the signs seem to be pointing up.

Upwards of 10% of Americans, or over 16 million people, were considered full-time gig economy contractors as of December of 2019. Of course, with the rise of the global pandemic and the massive number of job losses following the various lockdowns, that number has almost certainly risen by leaps and bounds.

That said, those numbers are likely even lower, with close to 57 million Americans or close to 20% participating in the gig economy in some capacity. This means that over half of the gig economy contractors are part-time and use various kinds of gigs to supplement their full-time income.

But do not worry that you have already missed the boat if you are interested in getting a gig as the US Bureau of Labor expects that number to rise another 10% over the next couple of years. It is also important to remember that the gig economy is still in its adolescence, so the labor market is liable to swing back a bit in contractors’ favor as more and more companies look for gig workers to cut overhead costs.

Granted, where you live plays a vital role in your ability to find gigs with states and rural areas showing some of the lowest rates of contractors and available gig clients.

Thankfully, the gig economy seems to be age agnostic with retirees making up the largest share of contractors at a whopping 24.1% and those aged 45-64 making up another 26.5% – that means over 50% of gig contractors are over the age of 40.

How Much Can You Make In the Gig Economy?

How much you can make in the gig economy depends heavily on which field you go into, the local market, and how much time and energy you put into it. If you go into a field that many people take part in, the sheer numbers of people available will drive the cost of labor down and reduce your profits.

Likewise, if you live in a region with a lot of people, chances are there will be more potential clients, but there will also be more competition with other contractors.

Finally, whether you work part-time or full-time will also play a role as well as how much initiative you take in promoting yourself depending on the field and platform.

How To Land A Gig

That said, many gig economy jobs do not have a particular company managing them and function more through modified modern classifieds.

Bidding And First Come, First Served

There are often a couple of ways you can land a gig depending on the platform in question, but they tend to boil down to “first come, first served” and bidding. The former method is pretty self-explanatory, where there is a pool of potential contractors, and the first person to accept the contract gets the gig and pays a fixed price.

This method works great for the contractor, though it also tends to find more clients who do not really know what they want or what they are doing. First come, first served contracts also often lack defining instructions, which may lead to conflicts with the client about the quality of the completed work.

Contracts that require you to bid on them can be a bit tricky, though they can also be far more lucrative – depending on your field. One of the potential issues with bidding contracts is that it often becomes a race to the bottom where each contract worker tries to bid lower than the competition.

Pay Discrepancies

Depending on how the contractors are screened, the expertise of the client, and the size of the labor pool, can lead to a situation where most people only secure contracts by working for less than minimum wage. This is especially common in creative fields where people who live in poorer countries can bid significantly lower than people who work in more affluent countries and still make good money for their region.

Of course, not every field is created equally, and there are plenty of gigs that tend to pay reasonably well regardless of the region or market competition. If you look for a gig in a field that requires a highly technical or specialized skill set, you can often make far more when stringing contracts along, even if you have to bid for them.

Regardless of the type of allocation method used, one way to help land a gig is by carefully reading whatever prompt the potential client provides and asking relevant questions that highlight your familiarity with the field. Granted, this may not work as well for first come, first served situations as someone else can just come along and snatch it up.

But for bidding on contracts, a curious mind that highlights potential ambiguities, unclear expectations, or potential pitfalls provides the client with some confidence in your previous experience and willingness to work through problems. However, make sure to avoid coming off as too pushy since some clients may not know precisely what you want and can better be served by helping guide them through the process.

Where To Find Gig Economy Jobs

Most solid gig economy jobs have some type of app or website that makes finding and applying for gigs much easier than before the internet existed. That said, there are still some traditional media outlets, like the newspaper, that will occasionally post gigs, but they generally still require you to sign up to a website or app.

Depending on the platform, you might even be able to sign up for a website or app and get email notifications when a potential gig opens up, keeping aware of job openings. Google is a great place to find gig apps and websites.

To help give you a jumpstart in your search for a great gig, we compiled a list of some of the best gig websites and apps on the online market.

14 Best Gig Economy Jobs And Apps

Pretty much all of these platforms have mobile apps that work on virtually any smart device (whether Android or iOS), making it even easier to get started in the highpaying gig economy. Just be aware that some of these platforms have a more thorough vetting process than others and have the necessary information on hand.

On top of that, not all platforms pay through the same mediums, though PayPal tends to be a pretty safe bet. Even better, most clients have to pay using a credit card or another digital payment method, so you never have to worry about getting stiffed like before online contracting.

#1. Fiverr

Fiverr is one of the old-school gig apps and, as the name implies, truly did begin its career as a place where people could sell their skills for $5 a pop. Thankfully, Fiverr expanded a bit since then and now allows a wider range of different services with the option to set your rates to make an actual living wage.

#2. TaskRabbit

While not as internet venerable as Fiverr, TaskRabbit has still been around a while. However, it was recently purchased by Ikea due to the high demand of users to put together their furniture. Of course, TaskRabbit gigs may have you performing all kinds of odds and ends labor jobs, including running errands, moving things, or even standing in line.

#3. Upwork

Upwork started primarily as a low-end app for entry-level freelance writers and was dominated by non-Western writers. These days, however, it is a reliable option for anyone in the creative or developing gig markets and even increased their standards to serve as a barrier for entry to ensure skilled contractors and higher pay.

#4. Freelancer

Similar to Upwork in both how it started and where it is today, Freelancer has positioned itself a bit more towards the creative market. However, they still offer plenty of options for semi-technical contractors as well. This is a great app for someone who has social media or other marketing experience as well as website design.

#5. ThumbTack

ThumbTack is another labor-based gig app, but they focused more on skilled labor that requires some kind of certification than general labor. As such, if you are a plumber, electrician, or other construction-related contractors, ThumbTack makes it easier to find clients without having to work for a corporation.

#6. Roadie

Roadie is a delivery gig app, but unlike some of the others that are more popular, this gig can cover pretty much any delivery and span a large distance. While you might often find food delivery gigs, you can also find gigs that need someone to move furniture or even travel out of state.

#7. Instacart

InstaCart, similar to Postmates, is a more traditional kind of delivery app in the sense that it focuses exclusively on delivering food, mostly groceries in this instance. InstaCart makes it easy for the client to choose which groceries from which store as well as let you get in touch if the store is out of something, and you need to make a substitution.

#8. FlexJobs

FlexJobs is an excellent place for high-skilled, technical contractors to find jobs, but it does come with the overhead cost of a monthly subscription. However, only Upwork and Guru come close to competing with this gig platform when it comes to robotics, cryptocurrency, VR, or any other highly technical gig.

#9. Rover

For people who love animals, Rover is a godsend in the gig economy as this app connects pet owners to workers for dog-walking and pet-sitting. While it may seem a bit low-end for those just starting, anyone with a legitimate background in animal care can earn substantial pay, especially for overnight stays or when working with animals that have disabilities.

#10. Care.com

The complement in the care industry to Rover, Care.com may not be quite as agile on the internet as Rover but offers a wide range of potential services and clients. If you have relevant work experience in hospice and caring for people, this is an excellent option for finding high-paying gigs.

#11. Doordash

DoorDash is one of the premier prepared food delivery apps on the market and saw massive growth in use and pay during the pandemic. While there may be a bit of a slowdown when things get back to normal, this should remain a great way to make money fast on the side for a while.

#12. Uber

Uber is the big daddy of ride-sharing apps and can be found in even most small to medium-sized cities across America. That said, Uber has plenty of issues with how they handle their contractors but balance those difficulties by being more popular and offering better pay.

#13. Lyft

Lyft might be seen as the “little brother” to Uber in a lot of the bigger cities across the US, but in other places around the world, it is the favored rideshare option.

#14. AirBnB

AirBnB, or the automotive equivalent Getaround, is the go-to app for renting out your property to travelers when you are not using it. Even better, this is a gig that does not occupy your time or energy (with little overhead costs too), allowing you to spend more time on gigs that require your time and effort.

What Are the Different Gig Fields

Rentals

This field covers all of the different items that you but do not use all of the time that you can rent out to other people. By far, the most famous of these types of gigs is AirBnB, which is a great way to make a little extra cash if you have a second property or plan to be out of town for a couple of days.

That said, there are other types of rental gigs, too, with the next most common allowing you to rent out a vehicle in a similar way as Airbnb. Though that service tends to require a bit more thorough background as any renter needs a driver’s license, and your personal vehicle requires broader automotive insurance than just liability.

Delivery

Delivery gigs may have taken a bit longer to get off of the ground, but with the social distancing and lockdown imposed by the global pandemic, this service shows no signs of slowing down. More often than not, delivery services involve delivering some form of food, but it can come from a couple of different places.

While prepared food from local restaurants might be the most popular right now, one of the first forms of a food delivery service came from gigs that delivered groceries. Though it might not be as well known or publicized, Amazon even offers a delivery gig called Flex that allows you to deliver packages from Amazon warehouses to its customers.

Driving

Of all the different types of gigs on the market today, perhaps none of them are as famous and commonplace as driving gigs. Rather than paying a wage and the overhead of taxi cabs, driving gigs like Uber and Lyft allow anyone with a clean(ish) driving record and insurance to hustle some cash as a part-time driver.

It is worth noting that both Uber and Lyft face some harsh criticism from worker’s rights groups and even a couple of states’ governments. Part of this comes from the fact that you have to cover all of the overhead costs for your vehicle, which can make the profit margins of gig slim compared to others.

Caregiving

Like many of the fields on our list, caregiving is a broad term that covers several similar gigs that have slight differences between them. Perhaps the most classic gig in this field is babysitting, which now has the power of the internet to make it easier for both clients and contractors to find the right match.

Less common but growing is the gig of in-house hospice care where you take care of an elderly or infirm person, though this gig tends to require more background knowledge and certifications. Finally, dog-walking and pet sitting is a great gig for anyone with a bit of free time that loves to hang out with animals.

Creative

While this may be a general field, the creative gigs available cover a much broader range of skill sets than some of the other gig fields on our list. While these kinds of gigs have existed for decades and known as freelancers, the need for more content on the internet has seen their numbers swell.

Probably the most common type of creative gig is freelance writers, though you may want to be careful if you are worried about attribution as many of these gigs are for ghostwriters. After writing, visual mediums tend to dominate creative gigs with graphic design, photography, and general art, taking the top spots.

Labor

This is another gig field that has been around for as long as civilization but finds a breath of new life thanks to the organizing and logistical tools of the internet. Some of the most common types of labor gigs involve simply performing various tasks around a house or other property with plenty of apps to help get you started.

Of course, if you have a genuine skill, handyman gigs are quickly becoming a way for carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and more to find new clients. Also considered a labor gig is the secret shopper who has been around since newspaper classifieds. Just make sure to vet the company first as this gig tends to have scams more than others.

You might also consider customer service in this group, but they can again often slip into other groups depending on the breadth of their jobs.

Marketing

While large brands with a nationwide or even global influence often hire large advertising firms, a small to medium-sized business owner might turn to marketing contractors to fill that role. Unlike many of the previous fields mentioned, marketing gigs have much higher pay than average and are easier to turn into full-time work if you want.

That said, you will definitely need a bit of internet savvy, and it helps to be an internet native if you want to break into the marketing gig fields. Some of the marketing gigs focus more on social media or even individual platforms, but the more consistent and profitable marketing gigs focus on internet marketing in general.

Marketing or managing Instagram, LinkedIn accounts, or other professional networks can also be quite lucrative for those with many followers of highly sought after skills, respectively.

Technical

Out of all the different gig fields available, those that require high-level scientific technical skills by far pay the most. These types of gigs can pay anywhere from $30/hour to well over $100/hour at the high end, which makes them a great candidate for someone with the appropriate knowledge and education to get out of the rat race and become their own boss.

Granted, the pay tends to correlate to the rarity of the knowledge required, not necessarily the skill of the contractor, but that does not change the fact that this field is booming. Everything from website design to coding sits at the mid-level with skills related to VR and robotics paying near the upper end of this field.

A Wide Variety Of Popular Gig Economy Jobs

This is a comprehensive list of some of the most popular and high paying gig economy jobs.

Delivery Jobs

Deliver Groceries

Deliver Prepared Meals

Deliver Packages

General Delivery Driver

Rental

House Rental

Vehicle Rental

Designer Rental

Consumer Goods Rental

Caregiving

Pet Walking/Sitting

Babysitting

Hospice

Labor

Driving

Mystery Shopping

General Labor

Handyman

Creative & Design

Writing

Proofreading/Editing

Photography

Video/Audio Editing

Graphic Design Branding

General Graphic Design

Clothing Design

Printable Designs

Marketing

Digital Marketing

Social Media

Online Ad Management

Technical

Virtual Assistant

Coding

Web Designer

Deep Learning

Ethical Hacker

Blockchain Architect

Cryptocurrency

Robotics Engineer

Information Systems/Information Technology

Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality Programming

Conclusion

As we can see, there is plenty of opportunities (and money) for an enterprising individual willing to take the initiative. Granted, some of these gigs are better left as secondary sources of additional income, but if you have a highly technical skill that is in high demand, you may be able to quit your day job altogether.

That said, regardless of the kind of gig you go for, make sure you understand what you are getting yourself into ahead of time – especially if you are trying to make it your primary source of income. Know the legal difference between an employee and an independent contractor so you will not lose benefits you might otherwise need.

Even if you do not plan on quitting your day job anytime soon, it never hurts to browse our list of helpful apps that can get you started on making some extra scratch or “fun money.” With all of the different fields and jobs available, pretty much everyone can find a gig or two that appeals to their interests, fits their schedule, and relies on their skills.

This post originally appeared on Arrest Your Debt.

Qube Money is turning the traditional cash envelope system on its head by creating digital cash envelopes. As financial technology (fintech) continues to move forward in the app space, Qube Money is a smart banking solution by moving “cash is king” to the digital world.

Changing Our View Of Money

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers have been reluctant to accept cash for services or products. I have seen numerous signs state, “credit or debit only” as a form of payment.

For those of us who have struggled with debt, we have grown to love our cash envelope budgeting system which keeps us from overspending. In fact, I wrote a detailed post about how to budget with a cash envelope wallet to keep you on track with your spending.

I have speculated for the past year or so for the need for a cash envelope alternative. However, the only alternatives have been credit cards and debit cards that are easy to blow past your budget.

Qube Money

I first learned about Qube Money from Fincon 2018. Qube Money was a startup company in the beginning stages but I absolutely loved their business concept. In the most simplistic terms, Qube Money offers a digital version of the cash envelope budgeting method by utilizing a debit card attached to their app. Their idea is a modern solution to spending digital cash while staying on budget.

Before I get further into why I love Qube Money, let’s learn more about the company and its founders.

Qube Money Founders

Ryan Clark and Shane Walker founded Qube Money in 2016 during their time as financial planners. Ryan and Shane helped their clients with their finances and routinely suggested the cash envelope system.

However, if you have ever used the cash envelope system, you know how archaic and inconvenient it can be. My wife and I used the age old method of cash envelopes for about a year, and while it was extremely effective to change our spending habits, the process of frequently going to the ATM was burdensome.

How do you make online purchases with a cash envelope system? You get my point.

This is where Ryan and Shane came up with their digital cash envelope system. Users are able to integrate a debit card with real-time purchases by loading money from certain categories directly onto the card.

The First Launch: ProActive Budget

In 2017, the dynamic founders launched ProActive Budget which utilized the concepts of paying for items with digital cash envelopes with digital banking. The launch was met with huge success and over 10,000 people started using the app.

Due to the increasing popularity and workload, the company ProActive partnered with to process payments was unable to meet demands. Because ProActive was ready but the other company couldn’t deliver the promised integrations, Ryan and Shane were forced to close down the mobile banking app.

As with most startup companies, this first launch involved a lot of trial and error. Armed with this information and the roadmap for success, Ryan and Shane started over with the Qube Money app.

How Qube Money Works

We have established that the Qube Money app uses a digital cash envelope approach, but what exactly does that mean?

The company’s approach to cashless transactions involves the same techniques of separating money into categories but makes it easier with an app and debit card. Each budget category on the app allows the user to give each dollar a purpose.

The debit card, by default, carries a $0 ballance. Before each purchase, the user selects on the app from which category they are making a purchase and how much is currently in the account. With the click of a button, the money is instantly transferred to the debit card for the transaction.

After the purchase, the remaining money is transferred back to the account and the debit card resets to $0.

The safety of a continual $0 balance makes unauthorized transactions due to a lost card or stolen number virtually impossible.

Qube Money Partner Accounts

With the Qube Money platform, several people can be connected to the same account. For instance, a married couple can each have their unique debit card integrated into the app. When one spends money, the balance shows the change and the other users receives an updated balance.

This partner system keeps couples on track financially while increasing communication and transparency in a relationship

If one or both of you have a spending problem, there is an option to require both users to approve a purchase before it is allowed. While not ideal for all couples, this may be the perfect solution for spending issues.

Qube Money makes sticking to a budget easy. Users have stated spending $440 less per month just by using it.

Qube Kids Accounts

Qube understands the need for children to learn how to budget money and manage their finances from an early age. Because of this, they have also integrated the cashless system to provide kids with debit cards as well.

By teaching your kids the importance of working for money, you can pay them for the chores they do around the house and load the money onto their debit cards when they want to make a purchase.

If your teens have phones, they can also check their balances with the different parent permissions you can set up. Parenting permissions allow parents to transfer money to their category and monitor or allow spending activity.

How Much Does Qube Money Cost?

The moment you all have been waiting for. Qube seems almost too good to be true which is why most of us have been wondering how much this service is going to cost us.

To my surprise, Qube is much cheaper than I thought and they even have lifetime memberships! Check out the monthly and lifetime plans below.

The Basic Plan

You read that right; the basic plan is FREE!

What’s Included In The Basic Plan

Individual Qube Account

10 Qubes

Mobile Wallet

Peer-To-Peer Transfers

Bill Pay

Payday 2 Days Early

The basic plan is enough to get you started with Qube, but the company is confident you won’t be able to resist the additional features on their paid plans.

The basic plan is definitely a good starting point if you’re on the fence about leaving your old cash envelope method behind!

The Premium Plan

The Qube premium plan is only $8 a month – or slightly more than a cup of coffee, depending on how fancy your coffee is.

What’s Included In The Premium Plan

All Features In The Basic Plan

Unlimited Qubes

Qube Groups

Budget Automation

QubeShare

Qube Notes

Subscription Controls

Companion Cards For Couples

Partner Permissions

Partner Notifications

For couples just starting out with digital cash envelopes, the Premium Plan is the perfect option. The Premium Plan is also appropriate for people who want more control over their budget and advanced features.

The Qube Family Plan

For only $15 a month, the Family Plan incorporates all the features of the Basic and Premium Plan but includes additional services for families.

What’s Included In The Family Plan

All Features From The Premium And Basic Plan

10 Kids Accounts

Adult Debit Cards

Teen Debit Cards

Kid Debit Cards

Parent View

Parental Controls

In-App Money Requests

Chore Tracking

The Family Plan is definitely a great option to get the entire family on board with a budget and to build good financial habits in children. With the subscription service being month to month, $15 is an easy amount to budget in or cancel if it doesn’t work out.

The Platinum Plan

The Platinum Plan is currently coming soon, but will open up at $25 a month. This plan adds several additional benefits planned for power users.

What Will Be Included In The Platinum Plan

All The Previous Plan Features

A Member Rewards Program

Corporate Partner Benefits

Qube Master’s Training

Qube Partner Metal Card

Qube Money Lifetime Plans

I have followed the Lifetime Plans since Qube first came out and they have slowly increased since the initial launch. If these lifetime plans seem reasonable to you, I would purchase one sooner than later to save money.

The Premium Lifetime Plan

For a one time payment of $216, you are guaranteed to work with Qube Money for as long as you and the company are in business. With a solid roadmap, I’m confident Qube Money is on the cutting edge of the digital envelope scene and will continue to improve and grow.

What if you spend the money and don’t like it? Don’t worry, Qube Money also offers a 100% money-back guarantee! They are that confident in their product.

What’s Included In The Premium Lifetime Plan

All Features In The Basic Plan

Unlimited Qubes

Qube Groups

Budget Automation

QubeShare

Qube Notes

Subscription Controls

Partner Debit Cards

Partner Permissions

Shared Account

Because I’m a money nerd, I wanted to know how long it would take me to break even with a lifetime plan. The Premium Lifetime Plan is comparable to the Premium Monthly Plan.

By dividing the lifetime plan amount of $216 by the monthly plan of $8, it would take exactly 27 months to reach the break-even point. So if you plan to use the digital envelope system for more than two years, it makes sense to buy the lifetime plan.

The Family Lifetime Plan

The Family Lifetime Plan is one payment of $324. This plan is comparable to the monthly Family Plan and includes several of the same features.

What’s Included In The Lifetime Family Plan

Everything Included In The Premium Account

10 Kid Accounts

Adult Qube Card

Teen Cards

Kid Cards

Parental View

Parental Permissions

In-App Money Requests

Chore Tracking

If you plan to use Qube Money for an extended period of time, the Lifetime Family Plan may be perfect to save you money in the long run. The break-even point for the Lifetime Family Plan is 21.6 years. So if you plan to use Qube Money for at least two years, you will be saving money each month.

Qube Money Review – My Opinion

I am a big fan of the cash envelope system for financial health and I have recommended it to many people. However, over the last couple of years, I have recognized a need for a different strategy.

There are many places to get great deals online and a cash envelope system forces you to visit brick and mortar stores. Unfortunately, visiting a business in person is not always the best way to get a good deal.

I’m a big fan of Rakuten and Honey, which are online cashback and rewards apps. The traditional cash method doesn’t work well with this strategy. Frankly, one of the reasons my wife and I stopped using cash envelopes was due to how difficult it was to use them in everyday life.

I Wish I Came Up With The Idea

When I learned about Qube Money, I was blown away. To be completely honest, I wish I would have thought of this concept years ago. Qube Money is an apples to apples comparison for cash envelopes.

Frankly, my wife is sick and tired of me talking about Qube Money. I believe this financial service will eventually change the way people budget their money. Sadly, I also think this is the beginning of the end for cash envelopes.

Financial freedom is still possible, but the way in which we achieve it will continually change in the age of financial technology (fintech). Financial fulfillment will now come in the form of digital banking and a modern-day spending behavior directly in contrast to the previous cardless money movement.

Click here to try Qube Money!

This post originally appeared on Arrest Your Debt.

In an ideal world, no one would be in debt, let alone consider getting a personal loan to pay off credit card debt. However, in reality, there are situations or circumstances when taking out an online personal loan may be a great strategy to get ahead financially.

There are many reasons why taking out a personal loan is a good idea to quickly repay credit card debt. Unlike credit cards, the interest rates for personal loans are, for the most part, much lower. Additionally, the approval rate is reasonably fast.

What’s more, a personal loan can boost your credit score as well. Read on to learn the pros and cons of getting a personal loan to repay credit card debt.

When A Personal Loan Makes Sense

If you’ve ever wondered, “do I need a personal loan to pay off debt?” you’re not alone. However, many people usually run to a payday loan company to “rescue” them. Payday loans are notorious for keeping people in debt, and most borrowers end up in worse financial positions than they were before the payday loan.

However, a personal loan is an option to consolidate your debts into one manageable loan rather than trying to manage a series of credit card debts. A personal loan can offer significant benefits for those who are eligible for a low-interest rate.

The following are some cases where using a personal loan for consolidating debt can make sense:

You Want A Debt-Free Life

The problem with credit cards is they make it painless and convenient to purchase things you can’t afford. If you struggle in the will power department, credit cards can be your worst enemy. Small insignificant purchases quickly pile up into unmanageable high-interest debts that continue to snowball out of control.

The ultimate goal is to get to a point in your life where you don’t need to use credit cards and refuse to buy things you don’t need. When you can make that mental shift, it’s time to start your debt-free journey.

Shuffling debt around with personal loans and 0% interest credit cards is a fruitless endeavor if you are going to go right back into bad financial habits. However, if you have made the decision to change your life and have a plan to get out of debt with a budget, a personal loan can save you hundreds, and possibly thousands, of dollars.

Personal loans offer a fixed repayment schedule with one monthly payment and a set interest rate. In addition, using a debit or cash card instead of credit cards can be a game-changer to stay on budget.

To Secure A Lower Monthly Payment

After you make the decision to change your life, you need to evaluate your credit card balances and the interest rates associated with them. It’s not uncommon for credit cards to carry interest rates of 16% to 25%. If you have a considerable amount of debt, it can be like using a bucket to bail out a sinking ship.

A personal loan can be used to combine all of your high-interest debt into one personal loan with a significantly lower interest rate. Some people are able to secure a fixed interest rate of less than 10% depending on credit history and the amount of debt.

To know for sure, use a debt consolidation calculator. However, it is possible to obtain a lower monthly payment with a longer repayment timeline and a lower annual percentage rate (APR).

You Want To Consolidate Debts Into A Single Payment

If, for example, you have many different credit cards with different APRs and payments, it can be a real pain to create a debt repayment plan and ensure you are maximizing and making your payments every month.

With that said, taking out a personal loan to repay debt can help you remove or eliminate multiple payments. By doing this, you can go down to a single payment each month, with a lower APR.

To Qualify For A Lower Interest Rate

For the most part, being eligible for a personal loan with the best terms and interest rates usually requires at least a 670 FICO score. Even so, a FICO score of 670 is only the minimum score you will want to possess for a company to consider you an average borrower.

To get the best rate, the higher your credit score, the lower the interest rate you will be offered. Based on the current personal loan interest rates, the standard rate is around 5.99% APR. If you have been paying more than 20% interest with your credit cards, this significant drop means you will be able to pay the debt off much faster with more money going towards the principal.

When A Personal Loan Doesn’t Make Sense

In certain situations, taking out a personal loan to repay credit card debts can help save a substantial amount of money. However, there are situations when it is not a good idea to consolidate your debt.

The following are some of the red flags:

You Need Help To Get Out Of Debt

There are cases where you may have so much debt you feel it is impossible to get out of debt on your own. In these situations, you may need professional help to put together a debt management plan rather than trying to consolidate your debt on your own.

Without a plan ahead of time, your debt repayment or consolidation may be difficult to successfully achieve without going back into debt.

Other options including bankruptcy or other credit counseling services. Other options may be necessary depending on your current financial situation and your desire to get out of debt and remain debt-free.

You Bear A Small Amount Of Debt

When you have a small amount of debt you can repay quickly, it doesn’t make sense to consolidate or secure an additional loan. Make a plan to pay off your debt and stick with it.

Paying off high-interest credit card debt should be the number one priority that will lead you to financial freedom and doesn’t always require other options.

Takeaway

Envision a life never having to worry about another credit card bill. By aiming your attention on debt repayment and creating a plan to be successful, I guarantee you will be surprised how quickly you start to pay things off.

However, if you have a plan and are sick and tired of being broke, consolidating all of your unmanageable high-interest credit card debt into one fixed interest personal loan can be the secret weapon.

Lower interest payments and laser focus will help you make significant progress to pay off credit card debts and finally live the life you deserve.

This post originally appeared on Arrest Your Debt.