We’ve all been there. Whether an unexpected bill pops up, a concert ticket is calling your name, or you just want to cushion your emergency account, sometimes you need to make 50 dollars fast.
We’ve listed several solid strategies to help you get $50 instantly. You can make cash quickly by doing anything from playing on your computer to opening an investment account.
Consider your schedule, interests, and how to combine multiple ways to make fast money. You might just unlock a passion that turns into a profitable side hustle in the process.
21 Simple Ways to Make $50 Fast
Here are the best ways how to make 50 dollars fast:
- Take Online Surveys
- Play Games Online
- Get Paid for What You Already Do
- Use Cashback Apps
- Get a $50 Cash Advance
- Sign Up with a Micro-investing App
- Test Websites and Apps
- Get Paid to Get Fit
- Leave Your Computer Running
- Save Your Way to $50
- Deliver Food
- Shop for People
- Sell Used Textbooks
- Get Rid of Old Stuff
- Get $50 for Your Old Devices
- Sell Unwanted Gift Cards
- Donate Plasma
- Pet Sit or Walk Dogs
- Teach English Online
- Do Easy Gigs Online
- Use Your Skills on Freelance Sites
1. Get $50 Instantly with Online Surveys
A super easy way to make $50 is by taking online surveys for money. Most survey sites award you points for sharing your opinions. You can redeem these points for cash or gift cards.
Here are a few of my favorite survey sites you can use to make $50:
- Branded Surveys: Get paid via PayPal or a bank transfer once you earn $5. You can earn referral and sign-up bonuses, too.
- Swagbucks: Take advantage of Swagbucks’ $10 welcome bonus and get paid with instant PayPal transfers once you earn $3.
- InboxDollars: Grab a $5 sign-up bonus and earn cash directly rather than points for completing surveys and other tasks.
2. Make $50 Playing Games Online
Believe it or not, you can get paid to play games on your phone. There are several legit game apps that pay money when you play.
Here are a few sites that can help you make money fast:
- Blackout Bingo: Blackout Bingo is an app that pays cash in select states when you win at Bingo.
- Solitaire Cube: Solitaire Cube pays you for playing Solitaire online and lets you cash out when you earn $1 with PayPal.
- Mistplay: Mistplay is a highly rated app that pays real money for playing popular games. Each prize on Mistplay has a different cashout threshold.
3. Get Paid for What You Already Do
You don’t necessarily have to play games or take surveys to make money online. Some of the top survey sites also pay you to do everyday online tasks in your free time, like browsing, watching videos, reading emails, and shopping online.
I recommend Swagbucks, Inbox Dollars, and MyPoints if you want to go this route. You can also make up to $60 with the Nielsen Mobile App for sharing your internet usage. This is a safe, 100% legit way to contribute to market research and earn extra cash.
4. Use Cashback Apps to Save $50
Cashback apps are another helpful tool you can use to get $50 quickly. These apps ensure you don’t leave any money on the table when you shop.
Take Rakuten, for example. It gives you an average of 1-5% cashback on purchases from its 3,500 retail partners, including Amazon, Target, and Best Buy.
You should also consider signing up for Capital One Shopping. When you install the Google Chrome extension, it automatically applies eligible coupons to your purchases and notifies you if the product is available for less somewhere else.
5. Get a $50 Cash Advance
If you need $50 to tide you over until your next paycheck, instant cash advance apps can help.
These apps help you avoid overdraft fees by spotting you cash until you get paid. Albert is one of the best cash advance platforms, offering up to $250 advances with no fees or interest, although there is a small fee if you get your funds deposited immediately.
If you have a Chime online bank account, you can take advantage of SpotMe, a free feature covering up to $200 overdrafts without fees.
6. Sign Up with a Micro-investing App
Download a micro-investing app to earn $50 and start investing in your future. These apps are great for investors and allow you to invest small amounts of money in stocks without worrying about commission fees.
Robinhood is my favorite micro-investment app. It’s free to join and trade. The platform even gives you a free fractional share of a stock when you sign up.
SoFi Invest is another great stock trading platform with a fun signup bonus. When you fund your account, you could win a free stock valued at $5-$1,000.
7. Test Websites and Apps for Cash
Similar to online survey sites, some companies pay you to test their apps and websites and provide feedback on their user experience. You could easily make $5-$10 on a 10 or 20-minute test.
I recommend signing up for free with uTest and UserTesting. Both sites work with well-known major brands and ask screening questions to match you with the right testing opportunities.
8. Get Paid to Get Fit
If you want to have a little fun with your fitness goals and make money doing it, you can sweat your way to $50.
There are a handful of apps that will pay you for completing exercise goals and losing weight. For instance, HealthyWage lets you opt into fitness challenges and wager on your weight loss goals.
If you’re down to earn virtual currency, Sweatcoin is an app that links up to your phone’s fitness data and rewards you with virtual coins when you walk.
9. Get Paid to Leave Your Computer Running
One of the easiest ways to earn $50 is to share your computing power. Thanks to distributed computing, you can get paid for leaving your computer running when you aren’t using it.
While it sounds complicated, it’s actually pretty straightforward and a great source of passive income. Companies and institutions will pay you for extra computer processing power. All you have to do is sign up with a distributed computing app, let your computer run, and get paid.
Kyrptex, LoadTeam, and HoneyGain are some of my top picks for renting out your computing power.
10. Save Your Way to $50 with Money Finder Apps
If you’ve lost track of all the subscriptions you’re billed for, making $50 could be as simple as downloading a budgeting app.
Here are a few apps to help you cut your expenses and find extra money in your budget.
- Rocket Money: With Rocket Money, you upload your most recent bills from service providers or link your bank account, then allow the service to negotiate lower rates for you.
- Trim: Similarly, Trim uses your account data to negotiate bills, eliminate unwanted subscriptions, and find lower credit card interest rates.
11. Deliver Food for a Quick $50
If you live in a city with high demand and have a reliable ride, you could potentially make $50 in a couple of hours working as a food delivery driver.
You can set your own schedule and choose which orders to accept or decline. These delivery apps usually pay you a base amount per hour or delivery, plus 100% of tips from customers.
DoorDash also offers Peak Pay incentives, which pay Dashers more for making deliveries at certain times. In addition to DoorDash, I also recommend checking out UberEats and Grubhub.
12. Make $50 Shopping for People
Want to do more than just deliver food to customers? You can also make money grocery shopping for people.
Instacart pays you an average of $12-$20 per hour to buy groceries for app customers.
You can opt to shop and deliver groceries on whatever schedule you’d like, or you can be an exclusive shopper and schedule up to 29 hours of work filling orders and then handing them off to drivers.
13. Sell Your Old Textbooks
You spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on college textbooks; why not make some cash off them when you’re done?
There are a few routes you can go here. You can resell to your college bookstore if you want cash on the spot, just know that you’ll likely only get paid pennies on the dollar.
To maximize your profit, check out a site like BookScouter. The platform connects you with over 30 vendors who make offers on your books. You can compare prices and choose the highest bidder.
14. Get Rid of Your Stuff
This is by far one of the easiest strategies for making a quick $50. Whether you have old jewelry, brand-name sneakers wasting space in your closet, or a piece of furniture, there’s likely someone interested in buying it.
You can sell your stuff on Poshmark, Mercari, or eBay or keep it local with a garage sale, Craigslist, or a local consignment shop.
You can also make money selling your goods on social media with a Facebook Marketplace listing.
15. Make $50 On Your Old Devices
If you’ve got some old tech devices collecting dust, you can make 50 dollars fast selling them on Decluttr.
The site pays competitive rates for items like phones, tablets, laptops, DVDs, CDs, and video games. Decluttr pays for you to ship your items in, professionally inspects them, and makes an informed offer. If you accept, you get paid the next day.
16. Sell Your Unwanted Gift Cards
Chances are, you’ve got a gift card in your wallet or desk drawer that you never intend to use. Enter Raise, a site that pays you cash for your gift cards.
Raise lets you list your gift cards, set a price, and get paid for them via PayPal or direct deposit. You can sell new or partially used gift cards, making the most of that random $2.52 balance that’s been hanging around.
17. Donate Plasma for $50
Medical centers are always in need of plasma donations. Most donation centers let you donate twice a week — and the best part is that each session pays an average of $50-$75.
Some plasma donation centers even pay bonuses to first-time donors as an incentive. This is one of the best ways to get $50 quickly and know you’re making a positive impact.
Take a look at donatingplasma.org to find donation centers in your area.
18. Make Money Walking Dogs or Pet Sitting
If you enjoy walking or taking care of pets, you could easily make $50 by offering your services to pet owners in your area.
Rover is a great platform for marketing your pet services. You can make a profile introducing yourself, set your rates, and book gigs on the site. As you build up positive reviews, you can increase your rates, get seen more, and build a solid client list.
19. Get Paid to Teach Online
There’s a high demand for people who can teach English as a second language. If you’re fluent in English and have a college degree, you could make $50 in a couple of hours of online English classes. I recommend checking out Skooli and VIPKid to get started.
You can also make money tutoring in other areas of expertise. Chegg pays an average of $20-$30 per hour for online tutoring across a variety of subjects.
20. Do Easy Gigs for Cash
Micro-jobs can quickly add up to help you make 50 dollars fast. These are easy one-time tasks you can complete for cash. Clickworker is an awesome source of these types of online gigs.
It pays you for completing easy routine tasks that require minimal expertise, like categorizing information, proofreading, and uploading pictures from your phone.
If you want to get more hands-on, check out TaskRabbit. The app matches you with jobs in your area, such as mowing lawns, running errands, and putting together furniture.
21. Put Your Skills to Use on Freelance Sites
Whether you’re a blogger, editor, web designer, or virtual assistant, you can build a side hustle that reaches well beyond $50 on freelance sites like Fiverr, FlexJobs, and Upwork.
You can use these sites to connect with clients, book jobs, and build up your portfolio. Take a look at the services and projects listed on these sites, then see where your skillset fits in.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the best side hustles to make 50 dollars fast?
Some ventures are more profitable than others. While online surveys or distributed computing are really easy sources of income, they won’t make you a ton of money. Some side hustles are more lucrative, like starting a blog, renting out your spare room on Airbnb, driving for Uber or Lyft, or investing in real estate.
How can kids make 50 dollars fast?
If you’re a kid, you won’t be able to use some of the ideas in this guide, like delivery driving or teaching English online. But you can make quick cash by taking surveys, playing games online, doing odd jobs, selling your stuff, and pet sitting.
How can I make $50 an hour?
It’s possible to make $50 an hour, especially if you have an established side hustle or freelancing business up and running. Research market trends to determine how much to charge in your industry.
