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Do you wish Santa Claus put you on the ‘nice’ list this year and get a gift of shopping money for Christmas? You are not alone. Many wonder how to get free Christmas money, and we’re here to tell you.
Christmas is a time to share joy, spread love, and bond with friends and family. It is a particularly exciting time for children for whom the holiday means lots of presents.
But Christmas presents can be expensive and leave a massive dent in your finances. Budgeting is getting even harder: everything gets more costly by the day. It’s a constant yearly challenge to save up for Christmas.
Earning extra cash each month is surely a good thing. A little boost in your budget can make the difference between going broke or coming out of this Yuletide season relatively unscathed.
Since this is a season of giving, there are indeed a few ways to receive your “free” Christmas money, not necessarily inside a stocking, under the tree, or from St. Nick.
Without further ado, let’s go over all these ways, shall we?
Table of Contents show
20 Ways to Get Free Money This Christmas
1. Surveys
Surveys are an easy and quick way to earn extra money. You just need your mobile phone and spare 10 to 15 minutes.
By taking the online surveys, you will earn points that you can redeem for gift cards or quick cash into your PayPal account.
Here are some popular survey apps you can use to make money online:
- Swagbucks. This rewards program lets you earn points by browsing the web, shopping online, and taking surveys. Signing up with Swagbucks is completely free. Your points are then converted into free gift cards or cashback. Read our full Swagbucks review here.
- InboxDollars. Sign up, start doing the online tasks, and earn extra cash with InboxDollars. Take the surveys, redeem coupons, play games online, watch videos, search the web, and more. Making money can’t get any easier than that! Read our full InboxDollars review here.
- Survey Junkie. You can earn extra cash through Survey Junkie by completing online surveys or sharing your data. You will be paid with gift cards or cash through Paypal. Read our full Survey Junkie review.
2. Side Hustles
There are many side hustles that you could do throughout the year to prepare for the Christmas season. These passive income methods will help you make some extra money on the side:
- Buy and sell goods at online flea markets. You can either sell your own preloved or unused goods in these online flea markets.
- Flip items for profit. If you are good at finding saleable goods and reselling them at a profit, there are many online sites like Craigslist, Letgo, eBay, and Amazon where you can earn cash by buying and selling. You can buy secondhand items or sell your own preloved or unused goods in online flea markets.
- Drive, deliver, and earn. Make money delivering food using your own car or bike. You can make as much as $500 a week with DoorDash. Read our DoorDash review or check out our comparison of DoorDash vs. Postmates and see what best fits you.
- Become a YouTuber. Find your niche, create your content, and build your subscriber list, and you can earn a lucrative income from YouTube through sponsorships, vlogging, banner ads, your own web series, and more.
3. Cash Back
You can save money by using cashback applications. These applications work by offering you deals.
Upon availing of those deals, you get back a certain percentage of your money, allowing you to save money online or through grocery shopping.
Money saved is money earned using these excellent cashback applications.
- Rakuten. Want to get a cashback while you shop at over 3,500 stores? Check out this rewards site to save some shopping money. Read our full Rakuten review here.
- MyPoints. In this rewards platform, you can earn points from shopping online and doing microtasks, such as taking surveys, watching videos, playing games, and more. For more details, here is our complete MyPoints review.
- Fetch Rewards. An easy-to-use, mobile-only application, Fetch Rewards offers you the chance to earn points for redemption as gift cards or extra money. Here is our full Fetch Rewards review to give you an idea of this app’s benefits.
4. Signup Bonuses
One of the easiest ways to earn money is signup bonuses offered by apps and survey sites upon signing up on their platform. Then, that extra money can be transferred to your bank or Paypal account.
Aside from Rakuten, MyPoints, Swagbucks, and other survey or cashback sites, here are other platforms for various purposes that offer sign-up bonuses:
- Ibotta. When you sign up with Ibotta, you get a $20 bonus with this link. Get more information on what this site has to offer with our complete Ibotta review.
- Mintos – This app is a peer-to-peer lending platform. Use this link for a 1% cash back in the first 90 days. Check out the full Mintos review here.
- NeoFinance. This is a “FinTech company that provides spending, savings, and rewards programs.” Get your €25 sign-up bonus using this Neo Finance link.
5. Watch Netflix
Earning money by watching Netflix, isn’t this the dream? No, it isn’t, and you can make money through this. You could use several methods, such as completing tasks on InboxDollars or Swagbucks or working as a tagger.
InboxDollars offers more compensation compared to Swagbucks. You simply have to make an account and complete the listed tasks. Netflix hires people to watch movies and series and then appropriately tag them. You can make a nice amount in your downtime watching movies.
[Related Read: Swagbucks Vs. InboxDollars – Which Site Fits You?]
6. Investing
How can you make money by investing when you’re already short on cash? Don’t worry: you don’t need a lot or need to learn everything about investing to earn extra cash.
You can use applications that will handle all of the work for you. Acorns is at the top of the list. When you use Acorns to purchase something, it rounds up the spare change and invests it. You can also choose the option you want to invest in.
To know more about the platform, read our full Acorns review here.
Get My $20 Bonus Here >>
7. Get Paid to Walk
You could be walking to work or walking home from work, or you could be walking to your nearest grocery store. Since you’re already doing the activity, why not get paid to walk?
There are apps such as Sweatcoin that will pay you to walk. You just have to sync the app with your GPS and fitness data, and you’re good to go. Read our full Sweatcoin review here.
8. Get Paid to Lose Weight
What could be better than getting a workout in, and instead of paying a gym fee, you get paid for losing weight? HealthyWage is an application that enables you to do exactly that.
You enter how much weight you can lose and how much time it will take you. For example, you have to lose 20 pounds in 5 months. The app will calculate how much you’ll win upon completing the challenge according to the information you’ve entered.
You can win up to $10,000! Perfect for getting in shape so you can fill your stomach with all that delicious food on Christmas and your pocket with some extra cash.
You may read our full HealthyWage review for more details on the platform.
Make Money Losing Weight $$$
9. Play Games
It just keeps getting better, doesn’t it? Applications such as Mistplay allow their users to earn money while playing games.
It’s an easy and straightforward way to turn your downtime into a session of earning money. You simply have to download the app and start playing games. You will earn points that you can later redeem for gift cards.
Check out our full Mistplay review for more details.
Play Now With Mistplay >>
10. Sell Stuff
There are always some items lying around the house that you haven’t used in years. Find it for an excellent opportunity to get rid of that space-filler while making a quick buck.
Decluttr is one of the applications that you can use to achieve that. Here is how it works: you list the items you want to sell, the app quotes you a price, and then; you ship the items to the listed address. CDs, DVDs, mobile phones, books, wearables, etc., are some items you can sell using Decluttr.
Make Money Selling Online
11. Personal Shopper
As the holiday season gets closer, the shopping scene gets more hectic. Some people can go out shopping while others are stuck. This frantic season is a great time to become a personal shopper.
You can work with platforms like Instacart or just advertise yourself and start shopping for others. With Instacart, you can make up to $20 an hour. This job is great because you can get something for yourself while you’re out shopping for others, saving you an additional trip.
12. Trim
Trim is a great application that you can use to save up on bills, insurance, and subscriptions.
You can save up a lot by using this app. Trim will negotiate better offers for insurance on utility bills, analyze your spending and cut unused subscriptions. You just have to download and link it to your bank account and credit card. After that, you sit back and watch the magic happen.
Read more details from our full Trim review.
13. Virtual Assistant
You can earn cash on the side by being a virtual assistant. You can be a virtual assistant for a researcher, writer, designer, administrator, etc.
The good thing about being a VA is that you don’t have to work full time. A set amount of hours will earn you a good amount, and you can do something else with the time you have left. Also, you can work from anywhere as long as you have a laptop and a stable internet connection.
You may check Fiverr, Flexjobs, and Upwork for openings.
14. Focus Groups
Being a part of the highest-paid focus groups can be an interesting experience. Various companies and brands conduct research of which you can be a part. They keep your data anonymous, and you get a nice amount for your participation.
You can earn an estimated $30 to $150 per focus group.
15. Web Testing
Every product and service has a mobile application and a website. Most of the time, these platforms are developed from scratch, and developers need a human touch.
So, to ensure that the website’s design and flow is easy to understand and maneuver, they hire testers.
You need a laptop and an internet connection at the minimum, and you’re good to go.
16. Clinical Trials
Taking part in clinical trials can earn you a significant amount of money, depending on which phase you become a part of. Of course, the earlier the phase, the more you’ll get paid, but that comes with its fair share of risk.
Testing new treatments and medicine can have side effects that you’ll need to keep track of or stay in the facility till the trials are over. So, you got to lose some to win some.
17. Sell Plasma
Plasma is just as important as blood, but people focus more on donating blood. For some patients, a plasma transfusion is crucial such as those suffering from malaria. It’s a great act of charity that could save someone’s life, and you could earn a little on the side through this.
You can donate plasma two times a week, and per donation, you can receive a minimum of $20 to a maximum of $50.
Make sure not to go overboard and take care of yourself first.
18. Referral Bonuses
Assuming that you’ve tried one or all of the applications mentioned here, you’ll be happy to hear that the money-making hasn’t stopped yet.
Cashback, survey apps, etc., all of these apps offer some kind of referral bonus. You could refer a friend and when they join you’d get a bonus. Some apps offer anywhere from $5 to $20.
If your friends are already on such platforms, you could use their referral link to get that bonus.
19. Advertisem*nts
Did you know that you can use your car for advertisem*nts and get paid for it? You don’t have to do anything extraordinary. For example, Wrapify uses your car as a panel for advertising different brands and companies.
You will simply use your car as you usually do, drive around, run errands, and get paid at the end of the month—a simple and easy way to make money.
20. Car Rental
If your car doesn’t see a lot of action, then you can register it with apps like Turo, which will rent it out, and you’ll get paid for it. You can stay at home playing games or completing surveys to make extra money while receiving cash from renting your car.
Some Tips for Enjoying Christmas on a Low Budget
You need to understand that you don’t need to be a millionaire to enjoy Christmas. It’s the little things that bring joy to our lives.
- If you expect to be on a tight budget during this season, you can prepare for it in advance.
- Get a side hustle. As mentioned earlier, you can save and earn for the holiday season. That way, Christmas won’t be a massive blow to your budget.
- You should set a limit for how much you will spend on presents. Remember, it’s the thought that counts.
- Better yet, make your own presents. It could be as simple as baked goods or creative crafts. If you’re an artistic type, how about writing a poem or sketching a caricature of the recipient?
- How about recycling what you already have and are not using? There’s a saying that one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. This kind of gift will be practical, helpful in decluttering and contribute to less wastage.
- Inexpensive and DIY gift wrapping is also sensible, perfectly acceptable, and even trendy.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) – How to Get Free Christmas Money
How to Get Free Christmas Money?
You can get free Christmas money by taking online surveys, playing games, renting your car, and micro-investing.
What Do I Do If I Can’t Afford a Gift?
The Salvation Army and the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul give away money, presents, and toys for Christmas. But if you prefer giving a gift from your hard-earned money, you can choose one (or more) way of earning the cash cited above, such as playing games or selling plasma.
You can also opt for these stay-at-home jobs to add to your Christmas budget.
How Can I Have A Good Christmas with No Money?
You can have a good Christmas with no money by redeeming gift cards that you can get through various apps, reusing old decorations, etc.
Conclusion – How To Get Free Christmas Money
Remember that saying there’s no free lunch? It’s the same during Christmas: no matter if you’ve been naughty or nice, no cash-dispensing Santa will actually give you free money. For families in need, there are religious or sectarian charities that can do that. But then it’s also better to give than to receive, right?
If the job opportunity comes and you still have the juice, working those side hustles and buying Christmas presents with your hard-earned money would be more satisfying than any free cash.
For merry holidays, You might find these related reads useful:
- 19 Gift Ideas For Women Who Have Everything
Marjolein Dilven
Founder of Spark Nomad, Radical FIRE, Journalist
Expertise: Personal finance and travel content
Education: Bachelor of Economics at Radboud University, Master in Finance at Radboud University, Minor in Economics at Chapman University.
Over 200 articles, essays, and short stories published across the web.
Experience: Marjolein Dilven is a journalist and founder of Radical FIRE, a personal finance platform, and Spark Nomad, a travel platform. Marjolein has a finance and economics background with a master’s in Finance. She has quit her job to travel the world, documenting her travels on Spark Nomad to help people plan their travels. Marjolein Dilven has written for publications like MSN, Associated Press, CNBC, Town News syndicate, and more.
