Date night… with myself.
I promptly drove home, slipped on sweatpants, plopped on the couch and flipped on Bravo. When I got tired of “The Real Housewives,” I switched to “Broad City.” Then I flipped to Netflix and finally started watching “Queer Eye.” I laughed, and I cried. Somewhere in there, I napped. Maybe more than once.
I’ll stop there, before I really embarrass myself.
We all have guilty pleasures. But there’s no need to feel guilty — especially when you can turn them into cash.
13 Ways to Turn Your Guilty Pleasures Into Cash
Your turn to confess: What are your (PG-rated) guilty pleasures?
Could you turn those into cash? We’ve brewed up a few ideas to get you thinking creatively.
1. You Love Watching Cooking Shows — or Really, Anything on TV
If you love watching anything and everything on TV, consider signing up for a service that’ll pay you to watch videos online.
There are a couple options out there, but we suggest starting with a reader favorite, Swagbucks. Run by a company that’s A-rated by the Better Business Bureau, Swagbucks is a rewards site that’ll pay you to watch videos.
Pick your favorite genre: cooking, celebrity gossip, politics or fashion.
For each video you watch, you’ll earn SBs, which you’ll exchange for gift cards to big retailers like Amazon, PayPal or Walmart. You could earn up to $90 a month watching Swagbucks videos.
Heck, you can even mute the videos and open Hulu in another tab.
Bonus: You’ll snag $5 when you sign up.
2. You Buy a Scratch-off Ticket Each Time You Fill up
We get it. Scratch-off tickets are tempting. You pay $2 for a chance to win $100. But when’s the last time you got lucky?
Instead of paying for disappointment, you can play digital scratch-off tickets on a free app called Lucktastic.
Each day, it releases new tickets with instant winnings ranging from $1 to $10,000. You can also earn tokens you can exchange for free gift cards to retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Kohl's and Sephora.
The app is supported by advertising, which allows it to keep the payouts high and the games free. For more info, check out our full Lucktastic review.
3. You Pass Hours — Sometimes Days — Playing Video Games
You spend hours trying to get to the next level, but guess what? You can play games and take your savings to the next level.
OK, that was a cheesy line from someone who’s obviously not a gamer, but listen: WinWin is an iOS app that helps you boost your savings when you play mini-games like pinball and breakout.
You’ll connect your bank account and set up an automatic amount to stick into your WinWin Savings account.
The more money you’ve saved, the bigger the prizes you play for. Have $25 saved? Play to win up to $25 every day. Have $50 saved? Play to win up to $50. And so on…
You’re saving money without thinking about it.
The app is free to download. You can use it for free for 60 days, then it costs $2 per month after that. Note: You can withdraw your money or cancel your account at any time.
4. You Buy Too Many Snacks From Trader Joe’s
Have you ever walked into Trader Joe’s for two things and walked out with a cart-full of cheese, cookie butter, mini quiches and ice cream sandwiches?
Uhh… yeah… me neither… Anyways…
If you want to automatically earn rewards each time you shop at TJ’s, download Drop. Connect your credit or debit card, and set Trader Joe’s as one of your preferred stores. Then, you’ll earn 12 points for every $1 you spend.
Drop will reward you for shopping at other retailers, too, like Target, Whole Foods and Starbucks.
When you hit 5,000 points, you can start exchanging points for gift cards to Starbucks, Best Buy, Sephora or Amazon, to name a few.
5. You Take to Social Media to Complain
I get it. Venting into a void on Facebook is somewhat satisfying, but I’m going to be honest: No one truly cares about your political opinions.
Instead of opening a can of vicious troll-worms, get paid to share your opinion on survey sites. There are a ton out there — some pretty spammy — so here are a few we’ve tested and know are legit:
- Harris Poll: Most surveys pay between $3 and $4 each for 20 minutes of your time. Larger panels are hosted locally. These usually require two to four hours of your time — and you don’t get to watch Netflix while you’re at it — but they pay up to $75.
- VIP Voice: These surveys are relatively quick to complete and reward you with points you can redeem for cash or gift cards. Plan to login a few times each week. You’ll have no trouble earning an extra $30 this month with almost no work.
- InboxDollars: This site offers several short, daily surveys you can take. If you take all of them each day, you could earn an extra $730 a year — not too bad.
Surveys aren’t a get-rich-quick type of income. However, it can be a good way to make extra money when you’re lounging around.
6. You Indulge in a Cheap Bottle of Wine Every Now and Then
You gotta do what you gotta do.
Because I don’t know much about wine, I use the Ibotta app to help make my decision. (I can’t be the only one who gets overwhelmed in expansive wine aisles, right?)
I open the app, choose my preferred grocery store and peruse the cash-back deals on wine. I can get $2.25 back on Seven Daughters wine? Let’s do it! Once I check out, I take a photo of my receipt and — boom — earn some cash back.
Sometimes Ibotta’s deals align with in-store promos, too, so I can get a bottle for a steal.
Once you download the app and claim your first cash-back offer, you’ll snag a $10 bonus.
Pro tip: Don’t drink and drive. (Duh.) Ibotta offers $1 cash back on Uber rides, too.
7. You Consider Yourself a Professional Napper
Just because you, a full-grown adult, value naptime, doesn’t mean you’re lazy. No, you can still hustle while you’re sleeping… Ever heard of passive income?
Here’s a simple way to get started: Invest in real estate. “Simple?” you scoff. Yes! And you can start with as little as $500. Hear us out.
Through the Fundrise Starter Portfolio, your money will be split into two portfolios that support private real estate around the United States.
This isn’t an obscure investment, though. You can see exactly which properties are included in your portfolios — like a set of townhomes in Snoqualmie, Washington, or an apartment building in Charlotte, North Carolina.
You can earn money through quarterly dividend payments and potential appreciation in the value of your shares, just like a stock. Cash flow typically comes from interest payments and property income (e.g. rent).
(But remember: Investments come with risk. While Fundrise has paid distributions every quarter since at least Q2 2016, dividend and principal payments are never guaranteed.)
You’ll pay a 0.85% annual asset management fee and a 0.15% annual investment advisory fee.
8. You Might Sorta, Kinda Impulsively Shop Online
I failed to mention… in the midst of my binger this past weekend, I bought a swimsuit online. Yeah… after eating all that cookie dough. I don’t know what came over me.
Before you make your next impulsive purchase online, you’ll want to check out Ebates, a cash-back site that rewards you nearly every time you buy something. For example, at the time I wrote this, you could score up to 5% cash back on Amazon. Or up to 8% cash back on Jet.
Simply sign up, and search the retailer you’re shopping with. It’s connected to thousands, including Walmart, Amazon and Target.
When you make your first purchase of at least $25 within 90 days of signing up, you’ll pocket a $10 Walmart gift card.
9. You Can’t Get Enough of Those Poorly Written Romance Novels
Maybe, just maybe, someone’s looking for a book review of one of your guilty pleasure reads.
We rounded up several websites that’ll pay for your online reviews. Rates vary, but some pay up to $100 per review. Not bad for a guilty pleasure!
10. You Love a Good Cuddle
Disclaimer: We don’t recommend you just willy-nilly go out and start offering paid cuddling services.
However, you can gleam some creative inspiration from Samantha Varnerin, the “Top Snuggler of Massachusetts.” Varnerin, a construction project engineer by day, can make over $1,000 some months by cuddling with clients. She uses the extra money to pay rent.
Varnerin shared her professional snuggling experience with us.
11. You Go to the Movies by Yourself
Venturing out to the movies is an expensive hobby nowadays. But there are ways you can get paid to see a movie.
Back in the day, The Penny Hoarder’s CEO Kyle Taylor earned $20 for going to a “Harry Potter” premiere. How? He was mystery shopping.
Theaters and movie studios want to collect data about their audiences — you — through “in-theater checks.” To apply, you’ll need to fill out an application with the mystery shopping company Market Force Information.
The application is just a few questions long, and nearly everyone in the U.S. and Canada is eligible.
Once you're accepted as an auditor, keep an eye out for email alerts for new assignments in your area. You can accept or decline any assignments — so if a movie's not even worth watching for $30, you don't have to see it.
In-theater checks don't come with huge pay days, but you'll get a free movie and earn about $10 to $20 an hour for your time.
12. You Blast Spotify’s “Summer Hits of the ’00s” Playlist and Sing Along
All right, you might want to turn it down a bit, but if you love cranking up the music, letting the windows down and driving around town, why not drive with Lyft?
To be eligible, you’ll need to be at least 21 years old with a year of driving experience, pass a background check and own a car made in 2007 or later.
We talked to Paul Pruce, who’s been driving full-time with Lyft for over a year. He earns $750 a week as a driver.
Best of all, he does it on his own time. You can work days, nights or weekends — it’s up to you!
13. You Know You Dine out Too Frequently (But C’mon — It’s So Good)
Nothing beats takeout… except Chinese takeout… and earning cash back on takeout.
Yelp has a cash-back program that rewards you when you dine out. Here’s how it works: Sign up and register your most-used debit or credit card. That’s it!
Each time you visit a participating restaurant and use one if your linked cards, you’ll automatically earn 7% to 10% cash back.
Note: You cannot earn cash back for online orders or delivery. However, pick-up and to-go orders are fair game.
Carson Kohler (carson@thepennyhoarder.com) is a staff writer at The Penny Hoarder. She revealed way too many embarrassing personal details in this post.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.