21 Bizarre (But Legal) Ways for Guys to Make Extra Money

Do you find yourself short on cash for the weekend?

Tapped out of things you can sell and odd jobs you can offer your neighbors?

Have you tried renting yourself out, testing beer or selling whale vomit?

If not, you haven’t tried everything.

Sometimes you have to get creative to put a little extra money in your pocket. If you’re coming up dry, I’ve found 21 new, weird ways to make money — especially for guys.

Next time you find yourself short on cash, give one of these a shot:

1. Take a Picture of Your Receipt

My natural reaction is to throw away every receipt I’m handed, or it disappears into the dark crevices of my pant pockets (only to end up resembling a paper mache art project after the washing machine takes over).

But, get this: There’s a company that’ll pay you for your receipts!

The company is called Receipt Pal and at the moment, they’re looking for guys to participate in a panel where you share every receipt you’re given.

Here’s how it works:

1. Download the free Receipt Pal app here. At the moment this is app is only accepting male participants.

2. Everytime you take a picture of a receipt, ReceiptPal will reward you with points that can be redeemed for gift cards. The more receipts you submit, the more you earn.

3. The ReceiptPal team aggregates your receipt data anonymously with those of other ReceiptPal members, and develops market research to help brands create better products.

2. Divulge Your Secrets to Google

Google (along with its competitors) want to know what websites you’re visiting, how long you stay on Facebook, what time of day you browse the web and with what browser.

If that doesn’t creep you out — get this, they’ll pay you to share!

Download both of these free apps, agree to share your web history, and you’ll earn up to $300/year.

Media Insiders Panel: This one pays you $5 a month and you can install it on up to three devices, making your total possible earnings up to $200 a year.

Smart Panel: This can be downloaded for free on any smartphone. Once you’ve qualified and downloaded the app, they will give you $5.

If you keep it installed for at least two weeks, you’ll earn another $10. And then for every month that you keep the Smart App installed, you’ll get another $5.

3. Look for Whale Vomit

Have you ever heard the word ambergris?

If so, you might know it’s a coveted ingredient in most high-end perfumes — and that it’s also known as whale vomit!

Gross, I know. But, get this — if you find some, it’s worth $5,000 per pound!

Ambergris is usually secreted by the whale via fecal matter. However, in the rare event that the mass is too large to pass through the digestive tract, it’s vomited up (and out) by the whale.

These lumps usually float around the ocean — but sometimes come ashore.

In fact, we recently shared a story about a guy who found $60,000 worth while walking his dog on the beach one day!

If you’re anxious to start combing the beaches in your area, read more about identification techniques and storied discoveries by visiting Ambergris Expertise & Buying Worldwide.

4. Watch Movie Previews

Most of you already know about Swagbucks, but did you know it’ll pay you to watch movie previews, along with dozens of other videos?

Plus, it gives you $5 just for signing up.

You’ll need to watch all of the shows in a specific playlist to earn your bucks, so be prepared.

InboxDollars lets you know how long the playlist runs before you start watching. Playlists range from a few minutes to about a half hour.

And it’s possible to earn up to $225/month watching these videos!

5. Become a Test Subject for NASA

Finally, an excuse to lay in bed and watch football all day!

The folks over at NASA are paying $5,000 per month to participants in their bed rest study. It lasts for 87 days and is designed to help them research the effects of zero gravity space travel on the human body.

The study takes place at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. In addition to this being a cool way to help the NASA program, this study could fatten your bank account by more than $15,000.

Here’s the full run-down.

6. Yell About Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton

Do you think Donald Trump is crazy? Do you believe Hillary Clinton lied about Benghazi?

Political polling companies want to know, and they’ll actually pay you for your rants.

Ipsos Panel and Opinion Outpost are two of the largest and rated A+ with the BBB. I participate every election cycle and I’m usually able to pocket around $100 a month.

7. Put Your Gaming Addiction to Good Use

Apparently, the U.S. recognizes professional eSports (“electronic sports”) players as professional athletes.

Last year, we wrote about a team of five men in Los Angeles who make more than six figures in cash, sponsorships and living expenses by playing League of Legends.

If the money impresses you, the hours will seal the deal: The team wakes up around noon and plays the game until about 3 a.m. On top of free rent and sponsorship deals, each team member is paid more than $60,000.

8. Sell Your Junk Mail

I don’t know about you, but I get a ton of junk mail.

My email inbox and mailbox are both full of crap from different cable providers, credit card offers, car insurance, etc.

If you’ve ever wondered what you could do with all the junk mail besides recycling it or sending it to your email’s trash folder, SBK Center has the answer.

This market research company will happily accept your junk mail and email and give you Visa prepaid cards for it, which work just like debit cards.

9. Sell Jellyfish

Yes, there’s a market for pet jellyfish. And they’re not cheap.

The first retailer of its kind, JellyfishArt.com sell jellyfish, their specialized LED-lit tanks, food and other products. The least-expensive kit at the site costs $330.

How do you break into this bizarre business?

There’s a bit of a learning curve, but it’s not impossible: Alex Andon founded Jellyfish Art with less than $100 for advertising, plus loads of guts and creativity.

10. Get Paid for Your Sperm

You’ll find a wide range of opportunities for sperm donation, with as much of a range in pay.

The Seattle Sperm Bank, for example, requires an application, medical history and physical exam to approve you as a donor. Once approved, you can donate two to three times a week and receive $70 for every approved donation.

On the other hand, we found a recent posting seeking a donor with highly specific requirements:

• GPA of at least 3.4

• Considered very attractive and athletic

• 5’10 or greater

• Have blood type: A+, A-, O+ or O-

• Attend a 4 year college or hold Bachelor’s degree (or greater)

• At least 50% Italian (Southern Italian/Sicilian a plus)

• Have had only female sexual partners

• Be able to substantiate the above

• Interest in football, mathematics and history added plus

For the right fit, the recipient was offering $6,000 for a donation, plus the promise that, “there would be complete confidentiality involved and you would be legally absolved of any on-going responsibilities.”

11. Get Paid to Wear T-Shirts

From 2009-2013, Jason Zook made money promoting businesses wearing their T-shirts through his business IWearYourShirt.com.

He and several “shirt wearers” worked with more than 1,600 businesses before deciding to move on to other projects.

So, there could be a hole in the market…

What creative ways can you think of to promote small businesses?

Zook even used his notoriety to make money selling his last name — over the years, he’s been Jason Sadler, Jason Headsetsdotcom and Jason SurfrApp!

12. Sell Your Friendship

Get paid to be someone’s buddy! I’m not kidding.

You can register to become a Friend at RentAFriend.com, where paying users can contact you to attend concerts, sporting events, family functions, VIP events and more.

You can charge up to $50 an hour and set your own schedule.

Friends working full time (five days a week) earn up to $2,000 a week, plus free dinners and access to those events I mentioned.

What could you do as a “Friend” for 40 hours a week?

First of all, the site clarifies that it is “solely a platonic friendship website” — beyond that, options are endless.

If you have a special skill, like cooking or foreign language, you could teach them. Some people traveling or new to an area hire a Friend to show them the town. Some people just want someone to talk to.

13. Be a Street Performer

Have a weird talent like performing magic tricks, making balloon animals or just stepping into an unusual character with a little face paint?

Turn it into cash as a busker, or street performer in a busy area of town.

Your workday might be long without a huge payoff, but this can be a fun way to earn money when you need it fast.

14. Try Virtual Gold Farming

This is a less-spectacular way to make money playing video games, but it’s how some workers in China make their living.

In virtual factories, employees play World of Warcraft for hours every day, looting virtual gold, the Guardian reports.

They sell the loot to players in the game who want to level up or obtain a particular item without going after it themselves.

15. Hang Out at Bars

Sign up for the Bar Integrity Mystery Shop through the Mystery Shopping Providers Association to get paid to go to bars.

As a mystery shopper, you’ll pose as a regular customer — while secretly rating each bar on speed of service, friendliness, accuracy, cleanliness and other factors.

MSP offers other types of mystery shops, as well. Choose what fits your schedule, so you can pick up retail shopping and restaurants, too, if you want to round out your day.

16. Make Money Test Driving Cars

Working through a company like BestMark, you’ll go to car lots and pose as a potential buyer.

So you get to test drive a car, which is pretty cool.

It also means you listen to the sales pitch, which is less exciting. But then you report back on your experience and get paid!

I used to do automotive mystery shopping, and I’d make $60 for each dealership I visited.

17. Get Paid $5 to Rate Your Local Pizza Place

Awww…yeah! Who wouldn’t want $5 and a free large pizza?

One of the most popular types of mystery shops is for pizza companies (both Papa John’s and Pizza Hut regularly conduct mystery shops at all of their locations).

As part of the assignment, you’re required to time their delivery service, quality of pizza, etc.

It’s pretty easy to do and you can do it several times a year. If you’re interested in giving it a try, here’s a list of my favorite mystery shopping companies.

18. Watch More Television

Alright, just hear me out on this one.

It’s definitely possible to get paid to watch TV… There’s a new company called “RewardTV” that pays you to answer trivia questions about last night’s TV shows.

Do you know who they killed off on Game of Thrones last week? Tell them about it and they’ll pay you.

Know which contestant got kicked off “The Voice” this week? They’ll pay you.

You’re not going to get rich doing this, but it’s a fun way to make an extra $15-$20/month. Pretty cool, right?

19. Open a Second Bank Account

We’ve put together a huge list of banks that’ll pay you just to open a bank account!

There’s no harm in having multiple bank accounts.

In fact, I often find it’s helpful to have multiple places to save (I’m less likely to touch the money), so I have separate savings accounts for my Christmas and vacation funds.

The top bank bonus is $500 right now — head over to this list to see all of the banks in your area offering free cash.

20. Drink Free Beer

When you get the perfect pint of craft beer from your local pub, it’s because someone trained the bartender in the minutiae of stocking, maintaining and pouring that beer.

Someone gets to make sure everything is running just right. That someone could be you.

Companies like Cask Marque in the U.K. hire beer experts to travel the country drinking pints and awarding plaques for quality.

21. Review the Latest Gadgets

If you’re obsessed with the latest releases in smartphones, laptops, 3D printers, drones and other gadgets, this is a cool way to be the first to see them.

Working for a publication like Tom’s Reviews or Laptop Mag, you’ll get to try new technology products and write reviews, how-tos, buying guides and other articles.

Your Turn: Guys, what’s the weirdest gig you’ve ever done to earn extra money?

Disclosure: We don’t hesitate to pick pennies off the sidewalk when we spot them. But the affiliate links in this post help our earnings grow even quicker. Plus, it’s a lot cleaner than sidewalk money.

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We Pay the President $400K a Year. Should We Pay the First Lady, Too?

The president’s annual salary is $400,000, as reported by Business Insider.

It’s almost a joke compared with the existing incomes and net worth of the people who hold or wish to hold the office.

Donald Trump, probably the most extreme example, reports earning somewhere in the ballpark of $300 million a year.

While he’s been president, Barack Obama’s total annual income actually comes closer to $800,000, which means his passive income from book royalties and investments matches what he makes doing the very active work of being president.

The position of President of the United States has only received five pay raises in its more than 200-year history.

Adjusted for inflation, George Washington actually earned more than Obama. And Bill Clinton. And Ronald Reagan.

But that’s not news. I learned about the president’s salary back in high school, when Congress doubled it in 2001 from $200,000 to $400,000.

What’s more surprising in current news is the bit that Business Insider included, almost as an afterthought, in an article detailing the history of the president’s salary:

And if you were wondering, the first lady doesn’t get paid a dime.

The question of a salary for the first lady of the United States probably doesn’t cross your mind much.

But then you learn definitively that it’s zero… and suddenly you can’t stop wondering about it.

Should the First Lady Receive a Salary?

It’s no big secret to the public that we don’t pay a salary to the first lady.

But the unofficial position does come with a lot of responsibilities and expectations. Michelle Obama, arguably, serves the public as much as any elected official.

For the implicit work duties FLOTUS embraces, many argue the person holding the position should be paid. President Obama himself has invoked this issue several times in conversations about equal pay.

On the other side is the argument that the first lady is compensated quite well in perks for what is not an official job. Laura Bush responded to Obama’s 2012 comments to say no, the first lady shouldn’t receive a salary.

The question, Bush pointed out, is actually whether the president’s wife or husband should be able to have a career “in addition to serving as first lady.”

As it is, a spouse’s existing career is typically set aside during the presidency, which is why The Guardian argues the position is outdated and should be eliminated altogether.

“First lady of the United States” is, in fact, not an official position of the government, but rather a circumstance of marriage.

Because of its murky status, the matter of pay comes with a host of social, legal, logical, cultural and historical implications, so it’s no surprise we haven’t seen it solved yet.

But as our culture grows in such a way that we can no longer simply expect a dutiful stay-at-home-mom to grace the White House alongside whomever we elect to run the country…

It’s probably a matter that should cross our minds more frequently.

Your Turn: What do you think? Should the first lady be paid a government salary?

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more.

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Raising a child 'costs more than a house'

Moira O'Neill

smashinghouse.jpg

The cost of raising a child from birth to 21-years-old is more than a house, according to new research by LV.

The cost of raising a child from birth to 21-years-old is more than a house, according to new research by LV.

The insurer’s ‘Cost of a Child’ report, finds that the price of raising a child to age 21 has risen to an all-time high of £231,843 - or £878/month.

Back to the register

read more

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No Joke: This Comedian Doubled His Income When He Started Driving With Uber

By spring of 2014, Stefan Davis had been working full time as a comedian for more than three years, a job he loved. He performed across the country, traipsing everywhere from Seattle to Tampa, Albuquerque to Philadelphia.

He was on the road most weekends, sometimes spending weeks away from home. The grind was paying off with better gigs, pay raises and recognition among other comics.

But the money wasn’t quite cutting it. At 31, Davis was still only earning “enough to survive.”

He needed a way to put more money in the bank, and knew he had the time to do it.

“I pretty much had Monday through Wednesday absolutely free every week,” Davis explains, “and I didn’t spend that time wisely. Mostly watching Netflix and [surfing] the Internet.”

What he didn’t have was a stable schedule, which would allow him to get a traditional job. He traveled often for comedy gigs, and needed the flexibility to take weeks off at a time to be on the road.

That’s when Davis discovered Uber. His fellow comedians around the country were earning extra cash driving for the rapidly growing rideshare company between gigs.

With Uber, you “wouldn’t have to worry about getting fired or reprimanded or letting co-workers down” to prioritize a career in comedy, Davis realized.

His friends said the best part was they didn’t hate the work. They were actually enjoying it.

So when Uber launched a new market in Madison, Wisconsin, Davis seized the opportunity — ready to move beyond barely making ends meet.

If you’re considering driving with Uber to earn a few extra bucks, here’s a guide to getting started and advice from drivers who have figured out how to make it work.

How Much Money Can You Earn Driving With Uber?

Let’s start with the big question.

Davis drove for about a year and a half in Madison during 2014-15. In a 40-hour week, he’d earn enough to match what he made doing comedy on the weekends. That’s the pay that came from Uber, which is 80% of everything you earn as a driver (Uber keeps 20%).

Davis leased an iPhone from Uber for another $10 per week. The optional Uber phone allows a driver to connect to limited services, like the Uber Partner app, Apple Music, Maps and the phone’s camera. Uber covers the service and data charges.

If you choose to use your own device (iPhones and Android devices running on at least iOS 7 or Android 4.0), you’re responsible for data charges.

The median net earnings in Madison at the time was $15.41, according to Uber, which would mean grossing about $600 for a 40-hour week. The driver covers the cost of gas and vehicle wear and tear.

Because Uber rider rates vary with demand, you have a lot of control over how hard you’ll work and how much you make.

Davis says he chose not to work the frenzied “bar shift” (after 9 p.m. until Wisconsin bars close around 2 a.m.), when demand and rates were high.

Driving day shifts meant he had to work more hours and choose other busy times, like rush hour, to make what bar-shift drivers would make Thursday through Saturday.

The Challenges of Starting a Side Hustle

Working for yourself isn’t always easy, but the transition was pretty smooth for Davis.

“I was already doing it with comedy,” he says. He was already his own boss, setting his schedule, motivating himself and managing his income as a contractor.

This could be a natural side gig to pick up if you’re already used to contract work as a performer, writer or artist. For a road comic, the work is a no-brainer — owning and maintaining a car that can withstand some extra miles comes with the territory.

Uber Driver Requirements

You can drive with Uber’s basic rideshare service, UberX using your personal vehicle without a commercial license. Your car must:

• be a four-door

• seat at least four passengers (excluding the driver)

• be registered in-state

• be covered by in-state insurance (Uber provides additional insurance with coverage that varies depending on whether you have a rider in your vehicle.)

Vehicle year requirements vary by city and state. In many states, the requirement is a 2000 or newer, but some cities require the vehicle be made in the past 10 years.

If your car seats six passengers or more, you could also drive with UberXL, the basic service for larger groups.

Additional services include Uber PLUS (a.k.a. Uber SELECT), Uber SUV, Uber BLACK and Uber LUX. These options come with more strict vehicle requirements and are only available in select markets.

Once you sign up, your car has to pass Uber’s vehicle inspection. In many cities, you’ll have to have the car inspected, but Davis just had to submit a photo of his car in Madison.

The inspection basically ensures your car is safe and clean. Uber looks for “windows intact, [good] tread on tires, all lights and signals working and a clean interior,” Davis explains.

As a driver, you must also:

• be at least 21 years old

• have at least three years driving experience

• have an in-state driver’s license

• have a clean driving record

• pass a criminal background check

Figure Out Your Driving Strategy

Once you’re signed up and watch a few orientation videos to learn how to use the Uber Partner app, your success is really up to you.

“You’re pretty much on your own to figure out how you’ll use the market,” Davis says.

Uber reps are available for questions or issues that arise. Davis says they were always pretty easy to get in touch with and responsive to problems. But it’s up to you to decide how you’ll run your side business.

“In Madison, I didn’t have to learn how to use the area [right away] because there were so few drivers [when I started],” explains Davis. “Once it got popular, you find the places to hang around where it’s busy. I learned to hang out in the cell phone lot at the airport.”

Different cities have different rules for Uber at airports. For example, some restrict how long a driver can wait at the airport — others allow dropoffs, but not pickups.

Figure out your city’s rules before determining your driving strategy.

Davis recommends driving around the city while online the first few days. Pay special attention to which areas give you the most requests for rides.

Once you get a feel for the areas you want to drive, the best strategy is to park and wait. Don’t drive around looking for ride requests, Davis warns. “You’ll just waste gas and lose money doing that.”

How to Be a Good Driver

The Internet has plenty of Uber driving tips: Offer water bottles, candy and other treats to riders.

How does this benefit the driver?

“These can help keep a driver’s rating up,” Davis explains, referring to the 1- to 5-star ratings drivers receive at the end of a trip (and vice versa).

Refreshments aren’t necessary, he says. “Just being a courteous, safe and efficient driver was more than enough to keep my rating up.” He averaged 4.8 of 5 stars for most of his Uber tenure.

Water bottles may not be vital to your Uber success, but keeping your rating up is important.

This is one of the only ways Uber evaluates drivers — the company doesn’t want to work with partners who consistently make bad impressions on riders.

Depending on the market, your account can be deactivated if your driver rating drops below 4.5 — so be sure to offer your best customer service!

What It’s Like to Drive With Uber

Speaking of customer service, Davis says Uber driving certainly tried his skills.

“It definitely punishes introverts, because the rider gets to decide whether to have a conversation or not,” he explains. “I always enjoyed people just being on their phone and not talking.”

He worked in the service industry for years. And he knew how to schmooze with the audience after a comedy show. But driving was different.

“There isn’t any other job where you’re in that proximity to the customer for that amount of time,” he says. “As a cashier, you make small talk for five minutes, but in an Uber you might be in the car with one person for forty-five minutes.”

It’s an opportunity to stretch those social skills!

“I got things wrong all the time with people,” Davis jokes about himself. “I was a bumbling idiot constantly …

“I picked a couple up at the Emergency Room once. The woman had a broken leg, with a cast on and crutches. Naturally I assumed she was the one visiting the ER.

“Turns out, it was the guy. He got rear-ended and had whiplash. She had broken her leg four weeks prior. It wasn’t until halfway through the ride that I realized she wasn’t the one who had gotten in the car wreck.

“So I was being really nice and helpful with her, and this poor guy who almost broke his neck was just standing there alone.”

He says the gig does let you meet interesting people, and learn things about your city you otherwise wouldn’t know.

Being personable might even land you some unique opportunities…

“I once got a request to pick up riders at a tour bus downtown,” Davis says.

The beginning to his favorite Uber story wasn’t anything new. Bands and other performers from out of town frequently use Uber to leave venues and hang downtown after their shows.

“As always, I asked what band they were with, and they said ‘Against Me’ — it was the drummer and guitar player,” Davis explains. “That’s one of my favorite bands!

So we got to talking about music, other bands, whatever. Someone asked if I was coming to the show the next night, and I said I just didn’t have the money for it.

“So they said, ‘We’ll get you in free’ — and I got a ticket and a plus one to go to the show!”

How to Deal With Bad Riders

If you’re not an introvert, you still might have reservations about letting strangers in your car.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, people are awesome,” Davis says. “Half are quiet and don’t want you to talk to them.

“The other half are really talkative and personable. You have great conversations with people you wouldn’t otherwise.”

For the few difficult riders, Davis explains his approach.

“You’re not beholden to riders … If someone is being disrespectful, you reserve the right to cancel the trip and ask them to leave,” he says. “I would just email Uber immediately to explain what happened and ask for a refund for the rider.”

Uber is quick to provide refunds in tricky situations. Davis didn’t have to worry about short-changing a rider when he made decisions to protect himself or his car.

Uber also covers reasonable cleaning costs if your car sees the worst of the late-night bar crowd.

As for animals? You’re only legally required to transport registered service animals, but you may pick up riders taking a pet to and from the vet or airport.

Many Uber Partners worry about a mess or damage to their vehicles, but Davis (who doesn’t have one of his own) recommends accepting pets.

“It’s not that big a deal to be in the car with a dog for 15 minutes,” he says. “People don’t bring bad dogs into other people’s cars. They’re usually small and well-behaved.”

“A lint roller is cheap, if you even need that,” he says.

“It’s your car,” Davis explains, “and it’s your business. There are perks to being a contractor! You work for yourself. You can opt out.

“That’s what has always been attractive to me about contract work (in comedy, as well). You can opt out of anything you don’t want to do.”

Should You Become an Uber Partner?

This work isn’t for everyone, but can be a good opportunity. A few things to consider:

You Have to Like Driving

If you hate being behind the wheel or get easily stressed in traffic, Uber driving could be a nightmare for you.

If you find solace on the road and enjoy finding the best route across town, this is a great way to make money doing it!

You Should Know Your Town

Knowing your way around will save time and gas. It also means understanding local events and trends that drive business.

You Should Be Personable

It’s good to have customer service experience.

As Davis illustrates, you don’t have to love people or be an extrovert. But you’ll have to be comfortable chatting with riders and offer quality service.

You’ll Need Some Business Sense

As an Uber contractor, you’re responsible for setting your schedule and motivating yourself to work — no one is keeping tabs on you.

You’ll Have to Manage Your Income

Know how many hours you need and which ones to work to hit your weekly income goals. You’ll also be responsible for paying income taxes and noting contractor deductions or credits.

Ready to get started? To sign up, head over to Uber.com.

Your Turn: Are you considering being an Uber Driver Partner? What questions do you still have about the sign-up process or getting started with Uber?

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a Staff Writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more. She lived with Stefan through comedy and driving with Uber, and can attest that an on-hand chauffeur is easier to live with than an on-hand comedian.

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Why Making $4K Selling Clothes Online was Actually Terrible for This Woman

We often talk about selling clothes online here at The Penny Hoarder.

It’s a great way to make some extra money, while also clearing clutter out of your closet. But could it go too far?

Could you get addicted to selling items — so much so you needed an intervention?

It happened to Christina Najjar.

Her “harmless side hustle” became an “all-consuming, money-losing disaster,” she wrote on Refinery 29.

Keep reading to learn more about the dark side of selling clothes online.

How She Made $4K… and Lost Control

Najjar’s habit started harmlessly enough.

Like many of us, she wanted to get rid of the extra items in her closet while also making a bit of side cash.

In six months on the platform, she earned over $4,000.

Besides the extra money, she thought selling her clothes would ease her self-proclaimed shopping addiction.

It actually made it worse.

“Making money on Poshmark gave me the illusion of having an easy out,” she explains. “Final sale online? No problem — if it doesn’t fit I can always resell it… I was high on selling — and in denial about how much money I was losing.”

When her roommates staged a “Poshtervention,” Najjar realized she had “gone too far” and pulled back the reins on her side hustle.

“This is simply a cautionary tale of one girl who couldn’t handle the full power of this app,” she writes. “Poshmark — like most everything else — is only validating, fun, and worthwhile… in moderation.”

Because we’re always encouraging you to find new ways to make money on the side, we thought Najjar’s story was worth sharing.

Before entering into a new side hustle, make sure it’s a healthy avenue for you — and that you’ll actually earn money!

Your Turn: Have you sold clothes on Poshmark?

Susan Shain, senior writer for The Penny Hoarder, is always seeking adventure on a budget. Visit her blog at susanshain.com, or say hi on Twitter @susan_shain.

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Want a Free Degree? These 9 Colleges Will Cover Your Tuition

The class of 2015 is the most indebted ever.

Pennsylvania’s St. Francis University tops the list of colleges leaving graduates with the most debt. The average there is more than $50,000! Who wants to start their work years with that kind of a burden?

A degree can be expensive! But help is here.

The Penny Hoarder has previously explained how Starbucks workers can get free college tuition, and how to go to college free overseas. You also might be eligible for one of 100 weird college scholarships.

What if none of those options fit your plans?

Fortunately, you can get a free college education without slinging coffee, leaving the country or applying for a “Zombie Apocalypse Scholarship.”

Here are nine colleges that will automatically cover your tuition once you enroll.

1. Berea College

Located in Kentucky, Berea College offers the “Tuition Promise Scholarship” to every student admitted.

The amount is adjusted according to other aid you receive, so that, “The actual cost to students and their families is $0.”

With tuition at more than $24,000 per year, that saves you almost $100,000 over four years.

2. Deep Springs College

An accredited two-year liberal arts college located on a cattle ranch and alfalfa farm in the high desert of California is unusual enough.

But this financial arrangement is even more uncommon.

Every student accepted by Deep Springs College receives a full scholarship worth over $50,000, along with room and board. You’re required to do 20 hours of labor each week, and the school only accepts about a dozen new students each year.

3. Curtis Institute of Music

Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the Curtis Institute of Music “provides full-tuition scholarships to all of its students, ensuring that admissions are based solely on artistic promise.”

You’re expected to first apply for aid from other sources, and then Curtis covers the remaining tuition.

This scholarship is valued at more than $38,000 for undergraduate students and more than $50,000 for graduate students.

4. U.S. Service Academies

There are five U.S. service academies associated with the various military branches.

They all offer a Bachelor of Science and cover your tuition, TodaysMilitary.com explains, but with a catch: You have to serve at least five years in the military upon graduation.

Of course, not many other colleges offer free tuition and a guarantee of a job for five years.

5. Barclay College

Located in Kansas, Barclay College has undergraduate and graduate programs for Christian students from “all evangelical faith traditions.”

Resident students “automatically receive a $12,500 full-tuition scholarship upon acceptance.”

Most degrees are in Christian-related fields (example: Master of Arts in spiritual formation), but the school also offers business management and psychology degrees.

6. Webb Institute

A small New York college with about 90 students, the Webb Institute offers a Bachelor of Science program in naval architecture and marine engineering.

It also offers U.S. citizens and permanent residents full-tuition scholarships, valued at $45,500 as of this academic year.

7. College of the Ozarks

Missouri Christian liberal arts college College of the Ozarks advertises on its homepage, “Don’t Pay Tuition” and “Work for an Education.”

You have to put in 15 hours of weekly work, plus two 40-hour work weeks each school year.

You might be outdoors doing landscaping, or in the kitchen, or another of the “over 80 diverse and fulfilling work areas.”

8. Macaulay Honors College

Although the competition for admission is fierce, if you make it into Macaulay Honors College in New York City (part of CUNY), your tuition is covered — and it’ll even give you a laptop and some help with housing.

The college offers 475 majors across eight different campuses. But you have to be a New York resident to qualify.

9. Alice Lloyd College

Alice Lloyd College guarantees it’ll cover your tuition if you live in one of the 108 counties it serves in the central Appalachian mountains (in Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia) — and you’re a full-time student.

The school offers Bachelor of Arts and Science degrees.

Your Turn: Will you apply to any of these tuition-free colleges?

Steve Gillman is the author of “101 Weird Ways to Make Money” and creator of EveryWayToMakeMoney.com. He’s been a repo-man, walking stick carver, search engine evaluator, house flipper, tram driver, process server, mock juror, and roulette croupier, but of more than 100 ways he has made money, writing is his favorite (so far).

The post Want a Free Degree? These 9 Colleges Will Cover Your Tuition appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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Customers get a jolt: Stroudsburg Dunkin' Donuts closes for remodeling

Your next jolt of java may come with a free face-lift.Dunkin' Donuts, a staple on Main Street in Stroudsburg, closed Sunday for remodeling.Disappointed customers pulled up to a parking lot packed with trucks and vans Monday. Workers ripped out counters, flooring and fixtures, forming a gloved caravan bringing debris to a dumpster. A man swung a sledgehammer out in the freezing cold, reducing what was once a workspace into shards of wood.“We have to do this every [...]

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Simple Preparation, Big Savings: Fourteen Ways to Spend a Bit of Time and Money Now to Save More Money and Time Later

On the back page of my pocket notebook for the last several months, I’ve been jotting down the little things that I’ve noticed or done in my life to save a few dollars here or a few minutes there without any real effort or change.

These little strategies don’t seem like too much on their own, but like all useful little life hacks, they end up adding up to a better life. A few dollars here, a few minutes there, and suddenly life feels more manageable than before.

Here are fourteen of my favorite strategies from the back page of my pocket notebook.

Plant a Free-Range Herb Patch

This is about as easy as possible. There are several different herbs that grow almost without effort: basil, oregano, chives, mint, parsley, and thyme basically take almost no work at all.

All you have to do is get a packet of seeds and sprinkle them on the ground somewhere convenient for you in the early spring. We have a small patch by the steps of our back deck that we use for our “chive patch,” for example. Work them in just a little bit with a fork or something, just so that they’re below the surface of the soil.

There’s no need to do anything else. In a few months, some of those herbs will emerge and be ready for cutting. You don’t need very much to make this worthwhile and, with those hardy herbs, you’ll end up with a large bounty of herbs. Most of those herbs are perennials, too, which means they’ll come back in the same spot year after year. We’ve been enjoying chives from the same spot for almost a decade with zero additional effort.

Buy Stationery on Sale and Pre-Address and Pre-Stamp Them

Whenever I see a discounted batch of blank stationery, I’ll always pick up a pack. I like to choose items with very simple and tasteful covers that work for a wide variety of purposes.

Then, when I’m sitting around in the evening, I’ll go ahead and put stamps on the envelopes of about 80% of the cards. I’ll also go ahead and put a return address on those envelopes with stamps, and I’ll stick the envelope inside of the card so I can see the cover.

That way, whenever there’s a reason to send someone a card – sympathy, thanks, congratulations, whatever – I can just pull out a blank card, write a quick thoughtful note, drop it in the envelope, write their address on the front, and drop it in the mail. No paying full price for greeting cards. No hunting for the “perfect” one at the store. No hunting for a stamp. Everything I need is right there in the stationery box.

Take Your Spare Change to the Grocery Store

I keep my change in a jar on my bedside table. Whenever I empty my pockets and find change, I just toss it in there.

Then, the next time I go to the grocery store, I’ll grab a cloth bag and dump whatever change I have in that bag – usually $5 or $10 worth.

When I’m there, I use the self-checkout (which I do anyway), and when I go to pay, I’ll dump the change that I collected into the self-checkout machine. I’ve done this at several stores with a self-checkout and they’ve all taken all of the change I’ve dropped without charging a fee of any kind. Then, I pay for the remainder of the bill with my usual method.

Not only does this provide an easy way to use my change without any additional fees, it also ensures that I’m using it on something smart.

Sort Online Reviews by “Newest First”

When you’re about to buy a new item that you intend to use for a while, you should rely on more than just customer reviews from an online retailer. More homework is in order – try looking at reviews from publications focused on that kind of item, for example

However, there is one incredibly valuable aspect of online reviews. They can quickly tell you if there’s been a change in build quality recently for an item that you’re interested in. For example, if a manufacturer has changed to a new facility in a different country and the items aren’t quite up to their previous quality, online reviews can let you know about this far faster than other publications.

So, how do you find this information? Go to an online store like Amazon that has a lot of reviews for the item and sort those reviews by “newest first.” Read those reviews, covering the last year or so. Are there any indications that the item isn’t made like it used to be made in the past? If so, that’s a great sign to avoid that item.

Avoiding a cheaply made new version of a previously well-regarded item will save you time and money over the long run.

Keep a Ready-to-Go Emergency Kit in Your Closet

Sometimes, emergencies happen in life. A family member dies. A friend needs you. A work trip suddenly becomes vital.

Whatever the reason, you have to leave – and soon. You’re probably in an emotionally fraught state, too. The result? As you’re packing your bag, you’re going to forget some things and forgetting those things is going to cost you time and money later on in the trip.

Instead, just take a bag, pack it with toiletries, clothes, medications and other materials for several days of travel. Include both nice and casual clothes in the bag.

That way, if an emergency strikes, all you have to do is grab that bag and go. You don’t have to worry about making sure you have the right stuff. You also don’t have to worry about the time or expense of having to find or buy things once you arrive at your destination. It’s all right there in your bag.

How should you pack it? Just pack everything as you would for a five day trip that will require you to dress in at least business casual attire for some of the trip. That includes clothes, toiletries, medicines, cables, and so forth.

Disable Useless Animations on Your Phone

One of the biggest unnecessary drains on your phone’s battery comes from the useless animations that appear all the time during use. Things like background animations, the sensation of movement on the screen when you’re moving the device, and so on – it all eats battery life. The more battery life that’s eaten, the more likely you are to end up with a dead phone when you need it and the more you’re going to spend charging it.

If you have an iOS phone, you can turn off the most egregious animations by going to Settings, then to General, then to Accessibility, then look for the Reduce Motion option and turn it on.

For Android, go to Settings, then General, then About Device, then tap “Build Number” seven times. This will turn on developer options. Press back once, then go to the Developer Options menu. Turn off Window Animation, Transition Animation, and Animation Duration by setting those scales to zero.

These simple changes will help conserve the battery life of your phone by getting rid of animations that do nothing whatsoever but gobble battery life. This will help extend your battery life a little, reducing the chances of an inopportune dead phone and save a little bit on the energy cost of recharging the phone.

Keep Instructions with Your Jumper Cable and Your Spare Tire

If you ever find yourself with a dead battery (because you forgot to turn off an interior light or something) or with a flat tire, you know that you’re probably in for a long wait or an expense.

However, fixing things like these is actually pretty easy, and if you have a set of jumper cables in your trunk and the usual items that come with a car, you have all the gear you need to make these fixes yourself and save a lot of money and time.

If your car has an instruction manual with very clear and detailed instructions for jump starting a car or putting on a spare tire, then you don’t need this tip. However, many cars – especially older ones – are missing the manual and some have very unclear instructions for this step.

The best strategy is to just print off very clear instructions for changing a tire on your car as well as instructions for jump-starting your car. Find them online, print them off, and keep a copy in a Ziploc bag in your trunk near where you keep your spare tire and jumper cable. That way, you’re ready for whatever may come.

Keep a Small Power Strip in Your Travel Bag

The ability to charge up all of your devices in an airport or at a coffee shop can be really useful. Of course, the problem is that wherever there’s an outlet, there’s usually someone already plugged in there.

The solution is to have a power strip. Just pull it out and ask if you can plug in there as well, moving their plugin onto your power strip and allowing you to charge your devices as needed. This also enables even more people to jump in and charge their devices off of a single outlet as needed.

Not only has this enabled me to keep my cell phone, my Kindle, and my laptop simultaneously charged while in an airport or a coffee shop, it’s also saved me a few cents while out and about. It’s also helped me connect with people who are on my flight while at the airport.

If You Have Children, Buy Good Age-Appropriate Gifts on Sale and Keep Them in the Closet

I have three elementary school aged children. That means that practically every weekend one or another of them is invited to a child’s birthday party, or there’s a gift exchange at school, or some other event necessitating a small gift pops up.

Rather than heading out to the store to find some item at MSRP every single time that one of these events comes up, we just buy several age appropriate items when they’re on sale, as well as plain gift bags when they’re on sale. Then, when there’s a party coming up, we let our children choose from among the items we have for a gift for that event, pop it in one of the discounted gift bags, and they’re ready to go.

This saves us money by guaranteeing that our child’s party gifts are purchased at a sale price (along with the gift bag or wrapping paper), but it also keeps us from making redundant trips to the store, where we’re paying full price for the gift (and likely the wrapping) and usually winding up with unnecessary extra stuff, too.

Put Silica Packets in Your Junk Drawers and Toolboxes

Here’s the reality: tools sometimes rust. Sure, they might say “stainless steel” on the package, but they still sometimes end up with a layer of rust that ends up corroding tools and making them less effective.

One solution to this problem is to make sure that your toolboxes and “junk drawers” are as dry as possible, and the trick to making that happen comes for free in many items that you buy. Those little silica packets that come in all kinds of different items are there to keep things dry, so simply take silica packets that you would otherwise dispose of and put them in a junk drawer or in your toolbox.

These little packets will help keep the humidity in those areas very low, which will inhibit rust growth.

In fact, you might also want to keep a packet or two off to the side in your refrigerator, reducing the moisture level in there and helping to inhibit (at least a little bit) bacteria and mold growth in the fridge. Since it’s basically effortless and costless to do this, there’s no reason not to give it a shot!

When Your Children Are Bored, Take Them to the Library or the Park

On lazy weekend days, you’ll often find that children complain of being “bored.” Even the most imaginative child can run out of things to do and when that happens, it can be really frustrating for a parent. The easy solution is to start grabbing things around the house for them to use or play with or make art projects from, but even those things have costs associated with them.

Our favorite strategy for these situations is to give the children a choice: we’re either going to a park or to the library. Within those two choices, there are a lot of options, too. There are multiple libraries fairly close to our home, as well as several different parks with a variety of things to do within a reasonable radius.

Sometimes, they want to go to the library and find a new book. At other times, they might want to go to a playground. At yet other times, they might want to go to a special event at the library. Sometimes, maybe they’ll want to geocache at the park. Maybe they’ll want to find a movie at the library, or maybe they’ll want to go on a hike at the park.

All of those things are basically free. They’re a great way to spend time as a family. They can also easily eat up a whole afternoon that doesn’t involve paying admission somewhere or blowing through a ton of art supplies at home or making a complete mess of the house.

You can prepare for this by getting to know the services available at the libraries and parks and recreation services near your home. Do they have children’s activities? What trails do they have available? Do they have a lot of geocaches to find? Do they have movies that you can check out? Do they host movie nights? Do your homework so that you’re prepared for a great free solution to a child’s “bored” afternoon.

When Buying a Used Car, Take It to Your Preferred Mechanic and Ask for a Pre-Purchase Inspection

I recommend that virtually everyone spend their car-buying money on late model used cars. Provided that the cars are in good shape, late model used cars are almost always the best “bang for the buck” in car purchasing in terms of the reliable miles you can get out of the car for the dollar you pay.

Still, whenever you buy a used car, there may be unexpected problems waiting under the hood. The best way to find out about those things is to go to the mechanic you trust the most with this car and ask for a “pre-purchase inspection.” This won’t cost you very much – some mechanics will even do it for free – and they’ll usually find any significant upcoming problems pretty quickly.

This very strategy kept me from buying a truck many years ago. The truck looked beautiful and seemed to run like a dream, but the mechanic pointed out upcoming brake issues and transmission issues and advised me not to buy. Instead, I wound up buying a different vehicle that lasted for several years.

The time and small expense spent on taking your car to a mechanic for a pre-purchase inspection can add up to a lot less heartache, headache, and expense later on.

Put a Sticker on the Back of Your Debit Card with a Fake PIN on It

This is one of my favorite protections against theft of your debit card. Just put a little sticker on the back with a random 4 digit number on it that’s not your PIN.

That way, if someone steals your card, they’ll see that sticker on the back and head off to an ATM. They’ll try to use your PIN a few times, it won’t work, and after the third failure, the ATM will eat your card, not giving it back to the thief.

Sure, this won’t work every time, or even the majority of times. However, given the simplicity of the trick, if it even works 10% of the time it’s worth the effort.

Just look for a little sticker that you can affix to the back of your card and write four numbers on it – maybe the four numbers on the next license plate you see. Just make sure it’s not anywhere close to your PIN.

That way, there’s a chance that the thief may just feed your debit card to an ATM and watch as the machine safely eats your card, keeping it away from the thief.

Make a Fake Email Address for Rewards Programs

Many stores offer customer rewards programs, which are great for earning points for your purchases or getting discounts. They’re never enough to get me to change my buying habits, but they can add up to some significant perks over time.

The catch is that such programs always want your email address, and with that comes a bunch of junk mail that I don’t want. My solution was to start a new email address just for signing up for such customer rewards programs. I use that email just for signing up for such programs.

That way, I can use that address (or my phone number) to look up my account when shopping there. I can also search that email address for special discounts whenever I know I’m going to a place for which I already have a rewards card, just to see if they’ve sent out any discounts. I also check it on my birthday because many businesses send out freebies on your birthday (of course, to get those rewards, you have to complete the full sign-up process for many rewards programs).

Final Thoughts

Many money-saving and time-saving strategies are simple things that you can do up front on a lazy weekend afternoon without much stress at all. Those little steps ripple throughout your life, turning a simple positive move one day into something that saves real time and money at a later date.

The more time you spend throwing little pebbles into the lake of your life, the more waves you’ll find springing up later on.

Take advantage of these opportunities now. Most of these things only take a minute or two and many can be done while you sit there at your computer, yet the benefits will be tremendous when the time comes.

The post Simple Preparation, Big Savings: Fourteen Ways to Spend a Bit of Time and Money Now to Save More Money and Time Later appeared first on The Simple Dollar.

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How I’m Going to Save $420 This Year Without Even Trying

I’ve never been good at saving money.

The idea of it sounds great — and simple. But in practice, I seem to have trouble squeezing anything extra out of my budget, especially just to set aside without a specific goal.

But this simple savings trick helped me kick off the new year with a $100 bonus in my bank account! I think I’ve found a way that even I can save money.

Back in mid-October, I took my fellow Penny Hoarders’ advice and downloaded an app called Acorns onto my phone.

I connected my bank account, selected a few settings and set the whole thing aside after about 10 minutes. Then I forgot about it.

On January 8, I checked back in, and my Acorns account balance was $116.

Nice surprise, right? Here’s how it works.

Automate Your Savings With Acorns

What I loved about this $116 balance was it felt like free money — but that’s not really what it is.

Instead, it’s just insanely simple saving and investing.

The balance on my Acorns account came from my digital change, what Acorns calls “Round-Ups.”

The app rounds up purchases from a connected card to the next dollar and saves the difference in my Acorns account.

How Much Can You Save?

Over the four months I’ve been using it, I’ve put aside an average of $35 a month using Acorns.

Because the money comes out in increments less than $1, I haven’t felt an impact in my bank account.

If I withdraw my Round-Ups each month, I’ll save $420 a year — without thinking twice.

That’s a round-trip flight.

It’s Christmas presents for my whole family.

It’s groceries for two and a half months.

It’s probably the cost of the next thing that stops working on my car.

I was excited to see the surprise balance in my account in January, but I wanted to take a closer look at the app to see what I could really save over time.

What Does Acorns Do With My Money?

When my account hits $5, Acorns withdraws the money from my bank account and invests into a fund.

I didn’t choose exactly where to invest my money. Instead, I answered a few questions to create a financial profile and state my goals.

Acorns uses this to build my investment portfolio options — which range from conservative to aggressive. If I really wanted to know the details, the app breaks down what types of funds comprise my portfolio.

Because the amounts are so small, the gains with this kind of investing won’t blow your mind.

During these past four months, my account total has actually dropped $6.06, or 4.11%. But that’s a small window for investment.

Let’s look at the long term.

With my conservative portfolio and an average monthly investment of $35, my account is projected to gain $1,126 over 10 years, for a balance of $5,327.

If I choose the most aggressive option (more on that below), the gain is projected to be $2,376, for a balance of $6,577.

You can also deposit money directly into your Acorns account, in addition to the automatic Round-Ups.

For example, if I supplemented my Round-Ups with additional monthly deposits to invest $100 total each month, my portfolio is projected to be worth $16,370 (a gain of $3,796) in 10 years.

Why I Use Acorns

Aside from my workplace 401(k), I don’t have other investments.

I’m a bit risk-averse, and I don’t have major chunks of spare cash to invest with services like Etrade.

Acorns lets me enjoy the spoils of saving and investing with almost no barriers to entry. There’s no minimum deposit or balance and no restrictions or fees on withdrawals.

You only need a bank account and an Internet connection to get started.

How Much Does It Cost to Use Acorns?

For an account with a balance below $5,000, the monthly fee is $1 plus 0.5% (there’s no fee for a zero-balance account).

Even if I don’t gain anything, or my investments lose a couple dollars over time, the cost is totally worth it for me.

I’m not using Acorns as a serious investment strategy. There are plenty of better (higher-priced) tools if you want to invest a lot of money and learn more about the stock market.

But I’m using Acorns to make saving easy.

The price is totally worth this service to help me save a few hundred dollars this year, and several thousand over the next few. It’s something I know I wouldn’t achieve on my own.

Want to start using Acorns yourself? Here are a few details to note:

Connecting a Bank Account

You can connect as many bank accounts (including a PayPal account) as you want for Round-Ups on purchases.

But the money for all of your Round-Ups will come from one connected checking account.

When you withdraw funds from your Acorns account, the money will be deposited into that checking account.

Add Your Digital Change to Your Acorns Account

Your Round-Ups don’t have to be automatic — it’s a setting you choose.

You can also add Round-Ups to your Acorns account manually by going through a list of transactions in the app.

Note that Acorns does not cover overdraft fees for its withdrawals. So if you tend to maintain a low bank account balance (less than $5-15), you probably don’t want to use automatic Round-Ups.

What Am I Going to Do With The Money?

Now that I’ve taken a closer look and understand just how much I stand to save over the next year, five or 10 years, I have to decide what to do with it!

If I want to withdraw money every year, I think it’ll make the perfect holiday shopping fund.

Or maybe it’s the perfect amount to get started with more serious investing.

If I want to keep those savings in my Acorns account and let the investments and compound interest do their magic, I have to look further ahead.

What will I do with $10,000 in seven years?

That’s what I’ll have if I top up my Round-Ups to invest $100 each month, and it could buy me a new (used) car. A down payment on a house. An investment in a business that lets me work from home.

What about $16,000 in 10 years?

That could be a new — new! — car. A year of rent. A college fund for my niece — how’s that for a Christmas present?

And I could get all this just from using my debit card as usual? I’m pretty glad I took that advice from my co-workers.

Your Turn: How much would you save this year if you rounded up your digital change?

Disclosure: This post includes affiliate links. We’re letting you know because it’s what Honest Abe would do. After all, he is on our favorite coin.

Dana Sitar (@danasitar) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She’s written for Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, Writer’s Digest and more. To be clear, she knows investments earn money through math, not magic… but also kind of magic, right?

The post How I’m Going to Save $420 This Year Without Even Trying appeared first on The Penny Hoarder.

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8 Awesome Tools That Help You Donate to Charity Without Spending an Extra Cent

You know it’s important to give back.

You wish you could give more to the causes you admire, but you’ve already maxed out your charitable giving budget.

Or maybe things are especially lean this year and you’re not sure how to carve out any extra money to give.

Don’t feel bad.

Thanks to a slew of what you might call “cash-back sites with a conscience,” you can now donate to your favorite charities and causes — without spending a dollar more than you already spend everyday shopping.

Much like traditional cash-back websites, these sites, extensions and apps help you donate a percentage of your online purchases to charity.

We especially like these eight tools:

1. AmazonSmile

If you’re like many savvy shoppers, you already buy everything on Amazon.

Why not put some of those dollars to good use by shopping through AmazonSmile instead? Prices are the same as shopping through the regular URL, but a percentage of your purchase helps out a charity of your choice.

Simply designate your charity (there are nearly a million to choose from), and every time you make an eligible purchase, the AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase amount to your selected charity.

Tens of millions of products are eligible. Just look for the “Eligible for AmazonSmile donation” marking on each product page.

However, unlike the other sites on this list, if you don’t see your favorite charity listed, you can’t add it yourself unless you’re an organization administrator. But you can send the head of your favorite charity here if they’re interested.

2. Goodshop

Do good and save money by shopping through this charitable site.

Through Goodshop, you can shop at more than 30,000 participating online stores and support more than 110,000 charities and schools (you can add yours if it’s not there already). The site also offers over 25,000 discounts, deals and coupons to make giving even more enticing.

Search for the retailer of your choice to find out how much of your total qualifying purchase will be donated. Percentages usually range from 1% to 30%.

Just click through to that retailer’s site and shop your heart out.

Qualifying purchases are determined by each retailer, so check out each store’s Goodshop page to determine which purchases it counts.

3. iGive

With more than 35,000 causes to choose from and more than 1,700 participating online stores, iGive is another easy way to be philanthropic with money you’re already spending.

Just activate the iGive Button, a web browser and smartphone app, or shop directly through the site.

Charities receive an average 3% of your qualifying purchases, determined by each retailer. Check out each store’s iGive listing for its particular exceptions.

Don’t see your favorite cause? List it yourself here.

4. Shop2Care

With an average rebate of 5% and more than 700 participating retailers, Shop2Care may not be as large as some of the other sites listed.

But it’s a good choice if you know what type of cause you’d like to support, but don’t have a particular charity in mind.

Choose from five categories: hunger, children, health, human services and education.

Shop2Care will channel your contribution to one of its carefully selected charities, vetted for “creating recognizable impact” with their efforts — so you know your donation will really be put to good use.

5.  Buy4

When it comes to numbers, Buy4’s are impressive.

It has more than 1.5 million registered charities, more than 2,500 participating merchants and up to 30% earnings on eligible purchases.

As with other sites, donation percentages and eligible purchase terms vary by store. Be sure to check out each merchant’s page for further details.

If your favorite charity’s not currently listed, add it to the Buy4 database right here.

6. GiveBuy

Download the GiveBuy web browser extension or shop directly through its site, and up to 10% of your purchase will go to a deserving cause.

A relatively new site, GiveBuy currently lists about 400 major online retailers and 100 charities, though it’s growing.

Register your charity here if you don’t see it listed. If you’re not sure who to choose, your earnings will automatically go to GiveBuy’s monthly featured charity.

7. eScrip

EScrip works a little differently than the other sites on this list.

It allows you to select up to three charities or schools to support. Earn donations by shopping both online and locally in two ways: Register eligible store loyalty cards and debit/credit cards and use them normally, or shop through the eScrip Online Mall.

Earnings percentages vary by retailer — but can be as high as 16%. You can also earn donations by dining out and booking travel.

The site lists thousands of participating merchants, charities and schools. If you don’t see yours, add it here.

8. Giving Assistant

With Giving Assistant, your charitable donation is up to you.

You’ll earn around 5% back (depending on the retailer) from each eligible purchase you make through the site, but you choose how much you keep and how much you donate.

So you could use Giving Assistant as a combination of a cash-back site, personal savings goal fundraiser and charitable giving tool.

Just add the Giving Assistant extension to your web browser, search the store you want to shop and you’ll be taken to a page that gives you all the info about the store’s policies, cash-back percentage and more.

Giving Assistant has thousands of participating stores and charities available.

If you don’t see your favorite organization, send an email to help@givingassistant.org to learn how to add it to the list.

Your Turn: Which of these sites are you most excited about using? What causes would you like to earn some money for?

Kelly Gurnett is a freelance blogger, writer and editor who runs the blog Cordelia Calls It Quits, where she documents her attempts to rid her life of the things that don’t matter and focus more on the things that do. Follow her on Twitter @CordeliaCallsIt.

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