Here’s is my fourth installment in how I managed to save and make extra cash during a month. I’ve decided to not include the results of junk I sell on craigslist because that will vary widely among people, so that number here is not very helpful. Let’s get right into it!
Power
Electric Bills Suck. Here’s a few Power Company related ways to get some extra cash.
OhmConnect – $17.54
This is a relatively new company that will pay you to reduce your power usage, typically for one to two hours a week. The better you do, the more this company pays you. They get paid by power companies to figure out a way to reduce power usage during peak hours. They do this by passing on some of that money to you, when you do well. Warning: you will lose points if you can’t reduce your usage. No, you won’t owe them money, but it will make it harder to reach the $10 threshold to cash out.
Get $10 when you sign up with OhmConnect using my referral link!
Arcadia – $5
This is also a new company that allows you to support renewable sources of energy. For free, they will outsource 50% of your energy needs to renewable sources, for a small fee of 1.5 cents per kwh, you can outsource 100% to renewable sources.
The best part is that you can pay your energy bill through Arcadia. WITH A CREDIT CARD. So you can keep the credit card points, effectively giving you an additional discount on your power bill.
I personally made $5 off a referral link. If you would like to sign up and get a $5 credit, you can use this link. I will make $5 off of it too, so it’s a win-win!
Get $5 when you sign up with Arcadia using my referral link!
SDGE EV Credit – $500
This is a huge bonus if you live in San Diego and drive an Electric Vehicle (EV). SDGE will give you a credit on your power bill if you submit proof of your EV ownership or lease. This is also renewable every year. This year they gave me a whopping $500. This is truly amazing since my power bill last month was only $7 because of my solar panels.
Rewards Programs
Grabpoints – $21
I literally just watched videos with ads on this website and racked up $21 (accounted for $9 last month).
Get bonus points on Grabpoints when you sign up using my referral link!
Perk – $80
As with grabpoints, I did nothing but watch videos with ads. Simple.
Get after it with bonus points with my referral link!
Swagbucks – $11
Start swaggin with some bonus swagbucks!
Shopkick – $8
I’ve recently started using this because it can get kind of boring watching my wife shop. Even when we are grocery shopping together, she takes plenty of time browsing products, despite coming in with a shopping list. With Shopkick, I can pass the time by simply entering the store, and scanning barcodes of their mission items. Each card is worth $2.
Download on the app store and use referral code: SAVE708203
Fetch – $3
Scan any grocery receipt for rewards. Best option is Amazon Gift Cards in my opinion. This is slow, but the gift cards add up!
Download on the app store and use referral code: R6ANK to earn 2000 points ($2 value)
Drop – $10
Link a credit card and go shopping in the places that you normally shop. Simple. You are effectively increasing your cashback rewards in certain stores.
Download on the app store and use referral code: RQEFS to earn a bonus 1000 points ($1)
Google Rewards – $2.01
I would say collectively it took less than 5 minutes to earn this $2.01. Because it takes seconds to answer a survey when it pops up, and surveys are mostly asking you if you’ve been to a certain store recently and if you bought anything.
ReceiptPal – $4
You can scan almost any receipt here, not just groceries. 16 valid receipts will get you a whole $1 in Amazon Gift Cards. Not the best by itself, but these add up!
Credit Card Cashback
USAA – $36.73
Chase – $24.08
I spent significantly less on my Chase credit card than on my USAA card, but the rewards is about 66% of USAA. This is because I only used my Chase card on bonus categories, which end up giving a cash back reward of 6%! Stack this with other ways of saving, and you will have a major discount on retail prices.
Sign up for one of the highest rated credit cards here!
Money making money
USAA Savings Account – $7.48
USAA Brokerage Dividends – $28.53
Not counting the CAP gains here, just the dividends. Pro tip – automatically re-invest dividends as often and as early as possible to drive up your compound interest. When you retire, the dividends can be something you can live off of.
M1 Finance Brokerage – $61.04
Although it says $77.23 worth of gains, I have only gained $61.04 since the last time I featured M1 Finance on an extra cash report. Honestly, there are many robo advisors out there that offer free trades. I just love M1’s pie style investing.
Get a free $10 to start your investment journey!
Grand Total – $819.41
This is my highest month so far. I fully recognize $500 of this comes from an annual credit, but I keep it in here because it is repeatable by many of you. $319.41 of this is definitely repeatable by all of you and takes no special skill at all. You just need determination to obtain your goal. Heart > Talent.
