Want to Make Extra Money Now?

Need to make $500 fast? Here are 13 practical (and legal) ways you can do just that online. May you never need to consider selling your old N64 again.

Short on funds and time and need to make 500 dollars fast, now?

Coming up with 500 dollars isn’t going to be easy for most average Americans. However, there are some secret hacks you can use if you are willing to take action. Anytime you read something online that promises you fast and easy money, it is most likely a scam.

But what you can do when you’re in an emergency and need money really fast?

We can help. These ideas are vetted through our personal finance experts on our site, to help you get $500 as quickly (and safely) as possible.

Your best bet is to use multiple ideas to get you to towards the goal of making 500 dollars fast. Ready to put in the work?

13 Legal Ideas to Make $500 Fast Online (and Offline)

I know we all have searched the web for different way to make thousands of dollars online (or just $500).

You can likely stop searching because are here to share our proven strategies that are tried and tested to reach your money making goals.

Whether that is downloading an app, signing up for a newsletter, getting a new bank account, or signing up for a new credit card, you can earn legitimate money online.

So roll your sleeves up and go through this list to see which one works best for you to help you make 500 dollars fast.

1. Make $500 Fast with Instacart, Postmates or DoorDash

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Want to make $500 fast in the next few days just by delivering food around your city? There is a new side hustle for those who want to make some extra cash without compromising their time.

As a shopper, you’ll pick and deliver the items that customers want and get paid for it. There’s no set hours with delivery apps like Instacart, Postmates or DoorDash. Just open the apps and shop whenever it works for you.

With Instant Cashout, you can opt to have your pay immediately transferred to a debit card. Or you can just get your $500 direct deposited to your bank account weekly.

Ready to shop, earn, and be a household hero for the people in your community? Here are the best apps to use to make $500 fast by cashing in on the food delivery boom:

INSTACARTPOSTMATESDOORDASH

instacart

Deliver groceries

As a shopper, you'll pick and deliver the items that customers want and get paid for it.

Work anytime and get 100% of tips
Work from anywhere
Access Instant Deposit
postmates

Deliver anything

Earn at least $425 in your city. for your first 55 completed deliveries, guaranteed. Earn every time you complete a delivery.

Must have an insured car, scooter or bike
You can get paid 100% of tips
Get started in as little as 2 days


doordash
GET STARTED

Deliver takeout food
Drive and deliver with DoorDash and start making money today. Pick your own schedule and use any car or bike. Fast signup, great pay, easy work.

Work anytime
Work from anywhere
Access Fast Pay

2. Make $500 Fast by Investing in Real Estate

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Wouldn’t it be great if you could invest in commercial real estate and apartments without dealing with all the hassle of buying, improving, and re-selling real estate?

You don’t have to be a millionaire to invest in these types of properties. You can now invest in large-scale real estate for as little as $500 with Fundrise .

Get Started >>

Through their real estate investment products, investors earned an average of 8 – 11 percent on their money last year, and all without painting a wall or dealing with unruly tenants.

There is a reason why they currently have over 500,000+ users, this app really pays you!

If you’re interested, I recommend you sign up for more information from Fundrise by clicking here.

→ Sign up for Fundrise here.

3. Make $500 Fast with ZippyLoan

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If you actually need money now, then you can opt for a personal loan. When you need money in a hurry ZippyLoan  is where to go. You apply for a loan through the Zippy Loan site, if approved they send your loan application to one of many loan providers.

Get Started >>

You review the loan details and e-sign if you like what you see. No risk in checking what offers you’ll get. You can borrow between $100 and $15,000 as soon as tomorrow. Loans service for up to 60 months.

make 300 dollars fast

ZippyLoan connects borrowers to lenders through their network of lenders. They’ll find you the lowest interest rate and is one of the best no credit check loan. You can visit ZippyLoan here.

→ Apply for a loan from ZippyLoan here.

4. Earn Cash Every Time You Shop

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It may be hard to believe, but Ibotta  pays you for going shopping.

No, really, it does!

The app presents you with a list of offers currently available on a wide range of products, from food to drinks all the way through to cleaning products.

Get Started >>

Here’s how it works:

  1. Look for a product you were planning on buying, and click on it.
  2. Earn extra money back by completing the extra tasks attached to the item, like taking a poll or sharing the item on Facebook.
  3. Select a participating store that you’re buying the item from.
  4. Upload a picture of your receipt.
  5. That’s it! Simply sit back and wait for the cash to show up in your PayPal.

→ Sign up for Ibotta here.

5. Earn $500 Fast for Watching Youtube Videos

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Many of you have come here by searching “make money fast.”

Well, here you go. This has got to be one of the fastest and easiest ways to make $500 fast.

You can actually get paid to watch movie previews, celebrity videos, news and all sorts of other videos.

You can sign up for sites like Swagbucks  and Survey Junkie  that will pay you to watch certain videos.

They will tell you how many minutes you need to watch the video for and you might also be asked to like the video.

While you not going to make a career out of it, it’s very easy money for pressing a few buttons on your phone in your free time.

There really is no limit when it comes to the question of how to make money online with these two sites.

You can make around $500 a month by spending 15 minutes a day watching videos and taking surveys.

Survey Junkie  pays you watching videos and also pays between $1 and $50 per survey, and many of them take less than 5 minutes to complete.

make 300 dollars fast

Get Started >>

Swagbucks pays you to watch videos, take polls, search the web and get cash back for online shopping. It’s similar to Survey Junkie, but there are also a few other ways you can earn money as a member (including a $5 bonus just for signing up).

make 300 dollars fast

Get Started >>

6. Claim the Best Internet Freebies Online Right Now

When trying to make $500 fast, every dollar counts.

Thankfully, you can easily pad your wallet or purse with cash back apps like Ibotta ($10 sign up bonus), Checkout 51 (free groceries), and Pei ($5 sign up bonus) that pay you for the shopping you do daily.

Sign up for all three and that’s a quick $25 just for downloading three apps – not bad.

Here are some other companies that pay you for downloading:

  • Survey Junkie: Make $2-50 in your spare time each day by taking surveys, participating in focus groups, and testing new products. Join Survey Junkie here.
  • Swagbucks: Similar to Survey Junkie, but with a few more ways to earn (such as watching videos and using their search engine). Get a $5 signup bonus for joining.
  • Rakuten and Dosh: Two cash back apps that essentially pay you whenever you shop; Rakuten offers a $10 signup bonus and Dosh offers a $5 signup bonus.
  • Acorns:  Once you connect the app to your card, it rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and funnels your digital change into an investment account. Sign up to try it risk-free with a $5 sign up bonus

7. Download the Nielsen App and Collect $50/Device

how to make 500 dollars fast

This is an easy way to make your $500 fast in combination with the side hustles above, without much work.

By using the internet as you do every day, Nielsen   invites you to make a difference – and you can make money too.

Get Started >>

You don’t even have to do anything other than registering your computer or phone. Nielsen will pay you $50 per device keep their app on your favorite internet browsing device and they also give away $10,000 each month.

So you can possibly make more than $50 for no effort at all.

→ Sign up for Nielsen here.

8. Get a Pay Raise

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Sometimes the easiest way to make money more is to simply ask your boss for your a raise. I mean, the worst thing they can say is no.

You’ll want to come with some ammunition though, it helps to keep track of all the contributions you’ve made recently and jot them down. Then when you ask for a raise, you can show your boss how much you’ve contributed in the past and how much of an asset you are.

Every dollar counts, even if you were to just get a $1 raise, that’s an extra $2,000 a year for full-time workers. Take into account how much that is, that’s an extra $10,000 every 5 years. Can’t beat that outcome for a simple 20-minute conversation with your boss.

9. Make $500 Fast by Sharing Your Car

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Did you know that you can rent out your car when you’re not using it? And that you can bring in a lot of extra cash in your wallet by doing so?

Do you plan on heading on a vacation soon while your car sits unused at your home? Do you sometimes not use your car on the weekends?  If so, renting out your car while you’re not using it could be an easy way to make passive income.

Get Started >>

A well-known company, Turo  which has signed up nearly 5 million users to its website, according to Bloomberg, lets you do just that.

It’s also really simple to do (and free). Listing your car is quick and easy and takes less than 10 minutes to set up. According to a recent Turo review, somebody listed their car for 5 days every month and made $3,496 in a year. 

Sounds pretty good to me.

Oh, and they also protect your car against physical damage, so you’re fully covered. You can sign up here and start making money with your car.

→ Sign up for Turo here.

10. Drive for Lyft and Get Rewarded with a $1000 Guaranteed Bonus in all Cities

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For a limited time, you can earn $1000 after 125 rides when you become a Lyft driver.

With Lyft, you’re free to drive, earn, and get paid when you choose. You can earn with your own car or even rent one with Express Drive. So if your goal is to make $500 fast, it’s possible with this smart side hustle.

To make the $500 faster, the Lyft Driver app is your key to success, with real-time info and features that make earning easy:

  • Hourly ride predictions for each day — you’ll get an overview of the best times to drive and where passengers need rides
  • Available bonuses for the week
  • Local events (and earning opportunities), if applicable, that are happening nearby

11. Find Legitimate Ways to Lower Your Bills by 500 Dollars

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BillBargain  claims they can negotiate lower prices on your monthly bills to save you time, money and hassle. We all pretty much know basic ways to save money like checking for cable alternatives or getting free internet, so is BillBargain worth it?

We’ve found that BillBargain has an 85% success rate negotiating bills for Cable TV, Wireless Phone, Satellite TV, Internet Access, Satellite Radio, and Home Security.

Get Started >>

Key Takeaways:

  • The larger the bill, the more money they can save customers
  • Best for affluent people 25+ who are married with a family and are homeowners who don’t move frequently indicate they have larger and older bills
  • Pretty much all wireless, internet and cable bill are negotiable.

If you are interested at all in reducing your bills, you can sign-up free here.

→ Sign up for BillBargain here.

12. Get Gift Cards and Rewards for Playing Games

make money with gaming apps

Do you want an easy way to help you earn $500 fast without leaving your apartment? Heck, even if you’re in a waiting room or standing in line, you can pass the time while making money.

You love playing online games. Why not make a few dollars at it?

If you sign up for Lucktastic, Swagbucks or Mistplay you can check out the games library and start earning.

You can make $100-400 worth of rewards per day on gaming apps.

Here are some of my favorites gaming apps that really pay out:

Swagbucks
mistplay
You earn cash incentives for every game you play on your Android device. There are no gimmicks that waste your time. ‎100,993+ positive reviews in the Google Play store.

DOWNLOAD

swagbucksThis app can offer you the opportunity to win valuable cash prizes or cool merchandise for playing free online games. 44,958+ positive reviews in the Google Play store.

DOWNLOAD

13. Make $500 Fast Driving with Uber and Uber Eats

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Driving for Uber can make you an extra $400 to $500 a month, just for a few hours a weekend.

Getting started is pretty simple, you can sign up online with your name, phone number, and details about the vehicle you plan to use, plus a few documents like your driver’s license and proof of insurance if applicable in your market.

Once you’re in, the driver app connects you to a person who is looking for a ride. Every time you complete a trip, you make money.

Get Started >>

To make the most money, the app helps you earn smarter with real-time information. You can find tools in the app to identify the busiest places and times to drive, to navigate to pickup locations and destinations, and to track your earnings. So you can learn how to make well over $500 in your city if you use the app wisely.

If you wanted to make money but not drive people around, you can deliver food with UberEATS. Same earning potential, just without having to drive people around your city.

Enjoy Your $500 Earned!

There you have it. If you’ve finished the list, you’ve just made at least $500 in free money with this list that teaches you how to make 500 dollars fast.

Want more? Check out the other posts in our series on making money:

29 Ways to Make $100 Fast (in a Day or Less)

22 Easy Ways to Make Money Fast  (Up to $200 in a Day)

9 Creative Ways to Make Money Fast (Up to $300 in a Day)

22 Easy Ways To Make $700 Dollars Quickly

How To Make $800 Dollars Quickly Without Gambling Money

How To Make $900 Dollars Quickly NO BS!

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