Get Paid To Have Fun This Spring: Earn Cash From Walking, Gardening, & Shopping
Cash in on your favorite spring activities.
Look forward to enjoying all your favorite spring activities? Maybe you’ll go on long walks outside to watch the flowers bloom, spend time planting and wedding in your garden, or purchase a new warm weather wardrobe. No matter what activity you end up choosing, believe it or not, there’s a way you can earn money just from participating. Read on to discover how you can get paid to have fun this season.
Rack up cash by heading outdoors.
Can’t wait to start walking in the fresh air after being cooped up inside for months? You can earn money with every step you take! That’s because more and more health insurance companies are rewarding members for being active. For example, Oscar’s Step Rewards program (HiOscar.com/app) will pay you up to $75 per year in an Amazon gift card when you download their app and sync it with your Apple Health and Google Fit app to track you as you walk. And UnitedHealthcare’s Motion program (UnitedHealthcareMotion.com) lets you earn $3 to $4 a day toward a health savings account when you use an activity device to track your steps. Call your health insurer to find out if they offer a rewards walking program. Another option: Download the free Evidation fitness tracking app (Evidation.com) to earn up to 80 walking points a day, redeemable for $10 when you hit 10,000 points!
Earn green from gardening.
If your idea of a perfect spring day is spending time digging, pruning, and watering, great news: It can fatten your wallet! Since the cost of gardening supplies has climbed at retailers, garden enthusiasts like you are turning to their neighbors for deals on their planting needs. So you can sell all sorts of items from your garden (plants, cuttings, flowers, fruit, vegetables, herbs, mulch, and even dirt!) on websites that cater to local sales, such as Facebook.com/marketplace and Nextdoor.com. Simply list what you have, choose your prices, then arrange for folks to pick them up — no packing or shipping needed!
Have extra room in your yard? You can rent out garden lots to folks who don’t have space at YardYum.com. Each 200-square-foot plot could bring you up to $100 per year. Or you can opt to receive a portion of the gardener’s crops as payment, saving you a bundle on fresh produce and herbs!
Tip!
Enjoy turning your yard into a spring oasis? Share its beauty by renting it out for photo shoots or events at Peerspace.com. Post a free ad and choose your price — the company provides insurance and charges a 15 percent fee; you keep the rest!
Make bank on road trips.
Whether headed to the countryside or big city, you can get paid for just driving safely! The free OnMyWay app (OnMyWay.com) gives you 5 cents for every mile you drive without texting! As you accrue cash, you can use it at participating stores in the app or have it transferred to your bank account. Like to use Lyft or Uber to get to restaurants, sporting events and other fun activities? Download the Freebird app (FreebirdRides.com), connect it to your rideshare account, then book your request directly through this rewards app. You’ll earn points from each ride that can be converted into cash.
Nab gift cards by refreshing your wardrobe.
Love a spring wardrobe shopping jaunt? You already know that coupons, sales, and cash-back credit cards can help you save. Now you can earn gift cards as you shop too! Just download the free Drop app (JoinDrop.com) or add the Drop extension to your Chrome web browser on your computer (search “Drop” on Chrome). Then shop at any of the more than 500 participating retailers to earn points that you can redeem for gift cards to retailers and restaurants, like Amazon and Starbucks. Tip: Link your credit card to your Drop account and you’ll earn even more points, stacking your earnings.
Profit booster!
Spring signals the start of yard sale season. If you get a thrill out of setting up a table and earning on stuff you don’t need, here’s an easy way to rake in even more cash: Price locally made merchandise (such as furniture and quilts) higher and inform customers that they’re locally crafted on signs and when chatting with them. A study in the Journal of Marketing reveals that folks are willing to pay more for locally sourced products because they feel they’re worth the extra cost.
A version of this article originally appeared in our print magazine, Woman’s World.
