Can’t bear to be parted from your mobile phone?
We know the feeling.
But, at MoneyMagpie, we have decided to put our mobile phone addictions to good use and even make some money out of it.
Here are fifteen fun ways to make money with your mobile phone:
1. shore up your savings with mobile surveys
Surveys are fun, right? You get to fill out quizzes secure in the certainty that as the customer, you’re answers are always right.
Companies need customer feedback for every little thing, and this means that they are now willing to pay you for marking out a few tick boxes.
All you have to do is download one of the below apps, start scrolling, and make money online with your mobile phone!
InboxPounds
Sign-up to InboxPounds and earn cash for reading emails, completing surveys, watching videos and more.
You can simply lounge on the couch, phone in hand, and make money as you watch TV.
You even get a pound just for signing up!
ipoll
iPoll, for example, is available in any country in the world and even gives you an upfront payment of $5 just for signing up.
The minimum amount iPoll will pay out is $10 but you have to wait until you reach $50 to actually receive your money in cash form. Before you reach that amount, your earnings can be redeemed via gift cards or magazine subscriptions.
Watch out, though, because iPoll charge you a 3% deduction on PayPal pay-outs, which take two to four weeks to be received. Although this can be avoided with the prepaid Visa card, it is important to check for hidden costs when using any of these apps.
To maximise your money, SurveyChris advises filling out the profile questions first to save time and sticking to surveys that give you $1 per minute.
Some of the top survey apps include:
2. Clear out your clutter
Here at MoneyMagpie, we love all things that will get you sorting out you mess. See lots of ideas for this in our Clear Your Clutter section.
Some of the best online buyers of your old junk now have mobile apps that make it even easier to clear out.
The Ziffit app, for example, has the handy feature of a barcode scanner which means all you need to do is take a picture of the back of your battered book with your mobile phone for an instant price evaluation.
The app is completely free and can get you up to £4 for one otherwise unsellable book. When you’ve got a few of your old books together, the pay out rises and you don’t even have to worry about delivery or transaction costs. I’d say that’s an easy-peasy way to make money with your mobile phone!
Other apps are:
Click here for our top tips on selling on your old stuff and celebrating a clutter free day.
3. BROWSE FOR BIG BUCKS
Join inCompass and earn £20 for your first month
Join Ipsos MORI inCompass and earn £20 for your first month and £10 every month after.
All you have to do to join is complete a five minute questionnaire and then install the free app.
They are currently only looking for Android users.
If that sounds like you then what are you waiting for?
MobileXpression
MobileXpression is an app that pretty much pays you to keep on browsing!
It’s potentially one of the easiest ways of making money as its aim is to understand how average people use the mobile internet and determine the rank of websites. One of the questions the website asks is if the use of the internet is the same on mobile phones as it is on non-mobile phones (i.e. PCs, tablets etc). It’s similar to the way in which TV analysts look at ratings to get a clearer idea of the demographics of different shows.
After you have installed the app, it just sits quietly in the background of your phone, monitoring your internet activity to see which sites are the most popular.
The information you submit is completely anonymous and even more unrecognisable once compiled with other users to create a broad report on Internet trends and activities.
Join up today and you will start by receiving an Amazon gift card after only one week!
Being a member is also good for the environment because after 90 days, MobileXpression will plant a tree with Trees for Knowledge in recognition of your participation and thereafter for every month you remain a member.
Before you sign up, though, make sure that you check out what other people say about the app online as survey forums often hold need-to-know information and top tips on how to maximise your profits.
Also try:
4. rake in rewards by listening to music and watching videos
Now if you really want to make money with your mobile phone and fancy spending a few hours a day just caching up on the latest online videos, then this is the app for you!
Don’t kid me, you already do it but probably when you’re actually meant to be doing something else.
Now you have an excuse to do it as you could get paid to watch music videos and adverts from your mobile phone.
Viggle, for example, gives you points every time you switch on the TV. You can also get stuck into red button activities and answer questions if you want to get ahead. Viggle even gives you extra points for binge-watching a series!
Points can be redeemed for vouchers and gift cards from over 800 places such as Starbucks, Foot Locker, Groupon and Best Buy.
It takes 600 points however, to make around $0.01 and so it takes perseverance to make a profit: it is probably only worth it if you do spend every day in front of the TV.
Liked Viggle? Then love:
5. Get addicted to apps
At Money Magpie, we love apps that pay us to try out the cutting edge of the market because it means that we can stay ahead of the game!
An app that is worth a try is UserTesting as this rewards you for to trialling apps that haven’t yet been released.
Sign up at usertesting.com to do a sample tests and start being paid for your honest opinion.
Feedback is submitted by voice recordings and a $10 payment via PayPal is made for every 20 minute session.
Feature Points also pays you to try new games and gadgets and gives big bonuses if you get your friends on board too. Make sure they log in with your referral link and you’ll get 50% of the points they earn!
As 600 points are roughly equivalent to $1, this can give you a big boost to your earnings.
You can trade in your points for gift cards from top brands such as Amazon, Starbucks, iTunes and XBox.
Why not check out some of these apps also?
6. Snap up cash
Are you a photography fan? Maybe you’re even looking to get into it after school or university?
Well why not get some easy experience under you’re belt by submitting your mobile phone snaps to apps like Foap and get some money?
Foap is a stock photography website and so looks out for high quality phone photos of almost everything under the sun.
Once you’ve uploaded your photos to the site, you get paid $5 every time someone buys one of yours. 20 downloads later and you could have raked in $100 – not bad for some stylish snapping!
If you’ve already got a pretty solid following for your photos on Instagram, then make sure you check out PopularPays. Brands use the app to get Insta-famous photographers to use their products and they will send them to you for free.
If you have around 500 followers, for example, you could be starting every day with a photogenic cup of free coffee! Not, exactly, a bad way to make money with your mobile phone!
Like the sound of this? Then make sure you give these a go also:
7. Become a corporate spy
Ever fancied a bit of espionage?
Then this is your chance to transform yourself into the shopping sleuth you have always wanted to be: the Moneypenny of Bond Street.
Task orientated crowdsourcing apps like Field Agent are available for iPhone users and pay you to check up on the retailers near you.
Agents download the app and then have a two hour time frame to complete their chosen task.
Missions can include:
- checking prices with a photo or scan of a barcode
- product reviews
- surveys and polls
- verifying business locations
- brochure placement
Tasks are released on a first come first served basis but the more points you get, the more higher paying challenges come exclusive to you.
The amount paid for each job can vary from $3 to $12 and so after a few missions, money can really mount up.
Also try:
8. Get rewarded for your routine
App manufacturers have cottoned on to the fact that people like to make money while being efficient with their time. This means that you can get money for simply going about your daily business.
Locket, for example, is one of the easiest to use as all you have to do is install a specific variety of ads on your home screen and then every time you open your lock screen you get paid.
So, we’re basically saying that you’re going to get paid for simply opening your messages and checking the time on your phone!
The app (which is only available for Android users) is capped at a $0.03 earning an hour however, which means a realistic max of $0.48 a day if you unlock your phone 3 times an hour for 16 hours.
Locket also only allows you to withdraw money in cash form once you’ve reached $10. This means you’ve got to commit to it for about 3 weeks before you see any results.
ShopKick is another app which rewards you with points for simply popping to the shops. Using GPS, the app figures out your location and sends appropriate offers, then increasing your total if you spend money with your card.
The company told TechCrunch that, dating to April 2017, Shopkick has driven over 200 million store visits, over 270 million product scans in aisle, and over $2.5 billion in total sales from brand and retail partners.
But points don’t depend on purchases and can then be exchanged for gift cards and discounts from big brands such as Mentos, Ragu, Ben & Jerry’s, Ruffino Wines, Sargento and Starbucks.
Another app you should try is Sweatcoin. You get paid simply for walking. So, if your daily routine includes a job where you walk loads, this could be the app for you! Rewards range from top-of-the-range shoes to the latest iPhone.
Why not also try:
9. sell your old handset
If, like me you don’t know what to do with your old phone handsets when your upgrade comes in, then Giffgaff are buying old handsets for cash. Prices vary depending on the make and condition of your gadget. For example, selling an Apple iPhone 11 128GB on gigaff would bring you about £230.
So, go have a look on giffgaff’s site and use their really simple tool to see how much your phone is worth, it’s as easy as that!
10. CONVERT YOUR currency INTO GOLD
Always wanted to own something other than money but that has high value? Well, why not convert your money into gold?
Glint is a game-changing app that allows you to spend gold digitally. You’ll get your own MasterCard and be able to use the card anywhere at home or abroad where the MasterCard sign is displayed. You top-up the card by bank transfer or debit card.
The best part is that every time you buy an ounce of gold, that same bar is physically allocated in a vault in Switzerland. It’s allowed because Glint is working with Lloyds Bank as their deposit holder.
Another thing, if you don’t want to keep your money in Sterling but are unsure about gold too, the app will allow you to store your money in another currency such as US Dollars or Euros. How good is that!
So, if you want to make money, just convert your currency into gold and wait for the gold price to soar!
Note: The app points out that it is not a bank. But each bit of gold you own is protected by Lloyds of London.
11. call other countries for free
Now is the moment to wave goodbye to summer time sadness as you never need to pay money for messaging and calling again.
This is because apps such as Whastapp, Facebook Messenger and Skype make it really easy to call your friends on holiday for free.
Compare this to standard international call rates from most mobile phone providers and could find yourself avoiding charges of up to £1.49 (TalkMobile) a minute.
These apps also enable you to send voice recordings, videos and photos for free and even allow you to video chat!
Of course, this all depends on internet access but if you are abroad and you need to call your parents for the annual check-in, WiFi is often readily available and even if your in the depths of the Sahara or the heights of the Himalayas, you can buy data before you go and link up that way.
Now you have no excuse not to ring home!
12. beat back at your bills with our price comparison tools
It is now easier than ever to keep control of your energy bills as useful apps such as Hive and Nest monitor your house for you.
Did you know that the average heating bill can cost as much as up to £1,494 a year?
Well, despite the first initial outgoing of £249 which is needed to buy the system, Nest can help you reduce your household expenditure by up to 15% a year. This will more than pay for that initial spend!
When you buy it, you receive a small white box which you have to wire to your boiler to get the thermostat to link to the internet. When you’ve downloaded the app, this enables you to control the temperature of your house from your mobile phone as the device sends a signal using your WiFi to your boiler.
After using the app for a few days, Nest remembers your heating habits and generates a regular plan for you. This means that you no longer have to worry about fiddling around with the thermostat on your boiler and that you can sit back and relax as your phone makes you house efficient and environmentally friendly.
An even easier way of cutting down on your bills from your mobile phone is to check out the MoneyMagpie price comparison tools. These ensure that you are getting the best value for your money when it comes to your energy, mortgage and bank accounts, and you can do it while on the go.
13. Wire money via WhatsApp and get it paid straight to your phone
Everyone has that one friend who always seems to have left their wallet at home or to have lost their card.
Well, Whatsapp has come along to solve that awkward situation by introducing peer to peer mobile payments.
Hammel-Bonten, Chief Product Officer at PPRO Group says, “WhatsApp has over one billion daily users, meaning the vast majority of smartphone users will be able to make and receive payments via the app. Offering payments inside the app will help friends transfer money on their favourite messaging app quickly and securely without having to carry physical cash. This functionally will presumably be released on the UK version of the app, which will mark another seismic step towards a new cultural phenomenon – the cashless society.”
This will minimise the amount of spare change you will have lying around and so will help keep you and your friends on top of your finances in the future.
14. keep track of your spare change
Spending 99p can often be annoying because, while its true that every penny counts, often the small change just gets lots down the side of a car seat or in the lining of your bag.
Acorns is an app that rounds up your online purchases to make investing seem like a small and accessible task rather than a massive and overwhelming one. This means that, if you spend £7.35 on headphones, for example, the app will round up to a pound and put £0.63 towards your chosen exchange-traded fund.
Acorns has raised nearly $97 million in venture capital so far, closing its latest round of funding in May 2017. It’s made investing so easy, you don’t even have to think about it!
KiTTi is another app which helps you stay on top of your purse strings.
The app is powered by Santander and allows up to 100 users to pay money into a collective digital piggy bank which can be accessed by a pre-paid MasterCard to pay for anything.
It reduces the hassle of buying a joint birthday present for someone and makes it less messy to split a bill.
15. Recycle your mobile phone for cash rewards
If you’ve finally had enough of your mobile phone then you can still get some money from it as websites will pay to have its parts.
Here at MoneyMagpie, we have made it super easy for you to recycle your phone as we have set up a nifty new comparison tool which you can access by clicking here.
This tool lists some of the top recycling companies and the prices they will pay for your specific model. Some of the major recycling companies include:
Most recycling companies will even accept phones that are broken as each phone is given an individual evaluation, and free postage means that you don’t even need to worry about delivery and transaction costs!
To find out more, read our guide to recycling your mobile phone for cash.
Oh, and don’t forget to get the best deal on your phone!
Last, but not least, if you’re going to use these methods to make money, make sure you get a good phone contract. It’s no good earning money from your phone if you’re paying a fortune for your data.
Use our comparison tool to find the best mobile phone contract for you.
