How To Make Money By Doing (Almost) Nothing

I recently saw an article titled, Eight Ways to Make Money by Doing Almost Nothing. And as a fan of both making money and doing nothing, I had to check it out. So in today's video, we're going to go through this list to see what's smart, what's shady, and what should be loaded onto a rocket and launched directly into space. Looking at you, Katy Perry. Send her back. There's a GoFundMe to legitimately send her back to space, and I am here for it. I will support that GoFundMe with outrageous generosity. How do you feel? I feel super connected to love. Anyways, at the end of the video, I'll share some actual ways you can make money by doing almost nothing. But before you start not doing anything, give those like and subscribe buttons a click for me. Go ahead, I'll wait. Just kidding, here we go. Okay, what really grinds my gears about this article is the way they're talking to someone who's struggling with money. You've got just enough money in your bank account to last until Friday, but then Monday rolls around and you're in the same situation again. Food, bills, rent, gas. They dry up every bit of your take-home pay, but it doesn't have to be this hard. With a few smart moves, you could supplement your income without doing much extra work or even getting a side job. Okay, so let's see what Finance Buzz thinks is a great idea for this person who's living paycheck to paycheck. Number one on their list, pay no interest on balance transfers until 2027. Okay, we're starting strong here with the old transfer your debt trick. Now, before I get to why this is a terrible idea, especially for someone who's already broke, here's the catch with these no interest balance transfers. You're charged a transfer fee anywhere from 3% to 5% of the transfer amount. Oh, and that 0% introductory rate, it doesn't last long and it doesn't solve the root problem, which is the debt. So transferring balances is not a money-making move. It's a stalling tactic. You're not making money and you're still in debt. This is like saying, oh, you're drowning? Here, just switch pools. Truthfully, I haven't heard advice this bad since that time my uncle told me to sit on the front row at Blue Man Group. There's a reason it's called the splash zone. Pacho! And of course, there is an affiliate link here where Finance Buzz can make some money by recommending the City Simplicity card. So what's the smarter option? Well, how about instead of moving your debt around, you just pay it off? Cut up the cards, use the debt snowball method to get completely debt-free and never look back. All right, let's hope this next one's better. Tennessee driver, cancel your car insurance. Okay, I assume this heading changes to different states based on your IP address. So well-played Finance Buzz. But no matter where you live, again, this is not a way to make more money. Now, what they're actually advocating for here is shopping around for better insurance rates, which is actually not a bad idea. I'm for that. But this is not gonna get you out of a financial bind or stop you from living paycheck to paycheck. But credit where credit is due, reshopping insurance could free up some money in your budget. So there you go, one point for you, Finance Buzz. Number three on their list, stop overpaying when you shop online. And they go on to say shopping online has its perks. It's super convenient, but it can be time-consuming to find the best deals. Hold on. Okay, what they're pushing here is karma? And this is a browser extension that can help you compare prices and save money, which is great. I'm all for finding good deals. But tools like this could become an excuse to buy stuff you don't need just because it's on sale. And reminder here, this person is paycheck to paycheck. So promo codes are not the solution. And again, you're not increasing your income by any stretch. So here's my final tip on this. Everything's 100% off if you don't buy it. Moving on to number four on their list, earn up to $360 in cashback on everyday purchases with this rare account. All right, what they're promoting here is the Discover Cashback Debit Checking Account that gives you 1% cashback on your debit card purchases. You know who's not gonna be a fan of this one? Bernie Sanders. That guy hates 1%. He's always talking, the 1%, the 1%, they get all the soup. No soup for you. Anyways, to be fair, I actually don't hate this one. It is a way to earn some cash back without a credit card, which is awesome, but it's not gonna do much for you financially. Don't think of cashback as income. Cashback is a little bonus on stuff you were already going to buy, which is not how most people treat it. Instead, they try to spend their way into more rewards. And so there's the catch. That 1% cashback only applies on up to $3,000 per month. I did the math for you. You would have to spend $36,000 of your net income to get the maximum cashback of 360 bucks. So you didn't save anything. You just spent quite a bit. And my biggest beef with cashback is that psychologically, you end up spending more to get more rewards. There's 100% chance you would save 360 bucks a year by being intentional, using a budget, and not playing the rewards game at all. So it's not worth the hassle. And again, finance buzz, not a money-making scheme by any stretch. Nice try though. Next up on their list of brilliant ideas to make more money by doing almost nothing, don't pay a cent to contractors for home repairs until you do this. And of course, they're pitching a choice home warranty, which is dressed up as a financial tip. Now, listen, if you've watched the channel, you know I never recommend home warranties. And yes, stuff might break, but that's what your emergency fund is for. So if you're paycheck to paycheck, start with a $1,000 starter emergency fund, which should cover most basic emergencies and repairs. Now, once you're out of consumer debt, save up a fully funded emergency fund of three to six months of expenses, which is plenty enough to cover the fridge breaking, the new roof, or the brood of squirrels that started having babies in your attic again, and you have to make another call to Steve from Critter Gitters. At this point, get that guy on speed dial. What are you doing? He's your emergency contact at this point. Thank you very much for giving me these delicious walnuts. I like them very much. You are a nice person. I will be sure to come back tomorrow. And besides, home warranty companies are notoriously difficult to deal with, and they word their policies in very intentional ways that allow them to avoid paying for a lot of basic things. So the bottom line, don't pay a company for peace of mind when you can have your own peace of mind tucked away in a high-yield savings account where you have full ownership and control. Next on their list, earn money online by taking surveys. Okay, I gotta read this first sentence to you. This is wild. $55,000 might sound crazy, but with a company called Survey Junkie, it's possible to get your share of it every day by taking their simple surveys. Are they really trying to tell you that you're gonna make $55,000? Get your share of $55,000 daily by signing up here. Okay, if it sounds too good to be true, it is. And once again, they're pushing an affiliate link, this time to a site where you can make money by taking these stupid surveys. And these sites are the digital equivalent of digging through your couch cushions for change. According to Lifehacker, here's the real stat. In some cases, you'll end up earning less than a dollar per hour, and at most up to $6 an hour if you were hustling nonstop. So here's the bottom line on this one, the juice ain't worth the squeeze. Now, if you've got some free time in your week, you will make way more with a part-time job or with a side gig than you would by telling some marketing company how often you buy frozen peas. Avoid this one, you can do better. Number seven on their list, unlock up to $1,070 in value over the next year with this incredible card. And of course, they're pitching the Discover It cashback credit card. They've really given up on the plot at this point. So they're just pitching you more cards, more debt to somehow get you out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle. Make it make sense. And sorry to rain on your plastic parade here, but if you have to sign up for a credit card and go into debt to get cash to get you out of a bad situation, I would not call that rewards. I would call that bait, which gets you further into their maze. Every study shows that the average credit card user spends more, pays interest, and somehow they still think they're winning because they earned some rewards or got a few cents back when they bought a Shake Weight. So trust me, if you're struggling to make ends meet, this credit card or any credit card for that matter is the last thing you need. Instead, cut it up, use your own money. You'll make way more than any rewards could give you. All right, number eight on their list, get out of $20,000 or more in credit card debt. Hmm, okay, this one made my eye twitch a little bit because now they're pitching a debt consolidation company. So what these companies promise like turbo debt, I don't think putting turbo in front of debt is a good thing. Does that mean more debt, a more aggressive debt? What these companies promise is that they'll combine all of your debts into one easy payment by taking out another loan to pay off your existing debts. And they promise this one easy payment, but they bury you in fine print with balanced transfer fees, variable interest rates, and sneaky loan terms that can drag out your payments and your pain for years. And think about this, more debt to pay off debt, not a good idea. You're just shuffling your debt around. And most people that do this keep spending, never changed the behavior that got them here. And so they end up with new debt on top of the old debt. That's sheer insanity, I'm out. And the major problem with this one payment, one giant loan is that you can never overcome it. With the debt snowball method, you list out all your debts from smallest to largest, you keep them separate, and you attack the little one, free up a payment, apply to the next one. So you lose all the momentum of the debt snowball if you combine it into one giant scary loan. So here's the deal, stay away from debt consolidation companies and for that matter, debt settlement companies, debt relief companies, and any other shortcuts that seem too good to be true. These are terrible solutions. The best way to get rid of your debt fast is that debt snowball method. It's a proven plan that works. And I made a whole video about how to do this. So I'll drop a link below if you want to check that out. Okay, is that it here? Oh no, they have a little bonus one. Number nine, identity theft. In 2023, Americans lost over $10 billion to identity theft and fraud. I'm a little confused here. How is this a money-making scheme? All right, identity theft is not a joke, Jim. And I don't condone that kind of behavior to make money, to steal other people's identity. It's disgusting finance buzz. But upon closer inspection, they're just pitching an identity theft protection plan, which I do believe is a good thing to have, but it's not a way to make or even save money. It's a way to safeguard what you already have. So it's protection, not profits. And it for sure does not belong on this list of ways to make money by doing nothing. But then again, I don't think any of these really do. But there are a few ways you can really make some money by doing almost nothing. And an easy way to do that is with a high yield savings account like the one offered by Laurel Road, a sponsor of today's video. If you've got a lot of money sitting in a regular old dusty savings account earning dismal interest, it is time to upgrade. With Laurel Road, your account balance earns top tier APY. So if you're saving up for a new car or stashing away a hefty sum for a VIP Splash Zone seat at Blue Man Group, all that money could be making you more money. Plus, with Laurel Road, there's no minimum balance required to open an account, your deposits are FDIC insured, and there's no hidden fees. Learn more by going to laurelroad.com slash George, or click the link in the description below. And while it's fine to make money, you gotta protect the money you make from online bad guys and phishing scams. And it's not just shady emails anymore. Thanks to AI, they're getting really good at sounding like your boss, your bank, even your own family. And where do they get the info to make those scams so believable? From data broker sites. And that's where Delete.me comes in, a sponsor of today's video. Delete.me will find and remove your personal info from hundreds of these broker sites, cutting off access at the source. And you get regular reports showing exactly where they removed your data and how much time they saved you. With my special link, you can get a plan that comes out to about nine bucks a month. So to get that 20% off deal, go to joindelete.me.com slash George, or just click the link in the description below. All right, let's talk about some ways you can actually make money by doing almost nothing. And we're gonna start with investment accounts, like your company 401k or a Roth IRA. Thanks to compound growth, the money you put into these accounts will grow over time. And the only thing you really have to do is consistently invest and leave it alone. That's the only truly passive income in my book. Another way to make extra income with minimal effort is to sell or rent out stuff that you own. Now, there is some work involved here, so it's not quite passive. That solid oak curio from the 90s, it's not gonna shabby chic itself. All right, you're gonna need a good hour with a piece of sandpaper and some Annie Sloan chalk paint to make it happen. Really bring it back to life. Another way to make money by doing almost nothing is from royalties. This is where you create something one time and you make money from it in perpetuity. Maybe it's an ebook that you wrote, a physical book, an Excel file, printable artwork, some stock photos, or for me, it was music. I made an album one time and then I licensed the songs and instrumental versions through different music licensing libraries and I ended up making a few thousand bucks, which accelerated my debt payoff journey. Now, obviously the music thing is not the right side hustle for everyone, but the point is, ask yourself, what is my version of this? What's a passion, skill, or talent that I have that I could turn into some extra money? It's not super easy, but this is gonna do a lot more for you than just taking surveys online, making a dollar an hour. And remember, most easy money financial articles like this one are full of dumb advice wrapped around affiliate links to things that will just distract you from real financial progress and get you to stay in debt longer. In reality, there are very few ways to make truly passive income because in general, money comes from work and the more value that you add through your work, the more money you'll make. It's that simple. So if you're willing to get creative, put in the effort, there are so many ways that you can make an extra buck. And if you want some help getting started, check out my side hustle quiz that will help you find the right side hustle for you. It's completely free. You can take it at georgecampbell.com slash side hustle or click the link in the description below. Now here's the deal. Making more money is great, but it's only half of the equation when it comes to creating margin with your money. The other half is finding ways to spend less. So if you want some creative ideas on how to cut back, keep watching this next video to see 17 things frugal people refuse to buy and number 16 will preach. I'll drop a link to it in the description as well. Thank you guys for watching. We'll see you next time.