20 Sites To Help You Save Right Now
BY: Joy Wallet | March 22, 2020
Making money doesn’t always require working for it. Sometimes you can make money by saving money.
But it’s only made money if you put that savings away. Get a new auto insurance policy that saves you $300 a year in premiums, and then put $300 into a savings account, and all of a sudden you’ve got money.
Here are 20 websites to help you save, or earn, some money. Some can help you save a lot of cash, and others can get you started. A few can help you earn a little money also.
1) Fiona
Fiona matches consumers with offers from providers of loans, savings accounts, credit cards and other financial services. Need a loan to pay for your wedding, but don’t have great credit? Fiona can help.
If you need a loan quickly, Fiona can match you with personalized loan offers in less than a minute, based on your creditworthiness. People with credit scores as low as 580 can get unsecured loans from $1,000 to $100,000. Terms generally range from 24 to 84 months.
You fill out a simple form at Fiona’s website, and it will check offers from its providers in seconds. Loans can be searched based on credit scores, location, loan amount, and your needs. These are debt consolidation, credit card refinance, home improvement, or a large purchase.
You then review the offers and choose one that has the best terms for you. If your loan is approved, you can get the money soon.
2) Aspiration
Aspiration is an online cash management account that pays interest and cash back that most banks don’t offer on checking accounts. You may not even find its benefits in many savings accounts at brick-and-mortar banks.
By depositing $1,000 into an Aspiration account each month, you’ll earn 1.00% APY interest. The first set of checks is free. It offers a debit card that can be used for up to five ATM withdrawals each month for free.
The company has no fees and asks clients to pay what they think is fair. Yes, you read that right. You set the fee — even if it’s zero — and change it whenever and however you want. Extra services such as wire transfers only cost whatever it costs Aspiration to provide.
How much can you save with Aspiration over banks? Aspiration says customers can save up to $545 every year, based on $329 in average bank fees, cash back on debit card spending, and the interest it pays on savings.
3) Earnin
Earnin is a paycheck advance app that’s best used for emergencies of $100 to $500.
If you’ve ever taken out a payday loan, or have heard of the almost 400% interest rates on payday loans, then you'll find Earnin to be a cheaper choice. It can also be used to avoid overdraft fees on your bank account.
It doesn’t charge fees or interest. Instead, it asks that users “pay what’s fair” and choose how much they want to pay for the service.
The app requires access to your checking account, and your employer must pay you through direct deposit. After using Earnin, it will deduct the amount you cashed out when your paycheck is direct deposited.
Other benefits:
- No minimum credit score needed
- Instead of fees, users can donate an optional “tip,” which can add up
- When you request money, Earnin verifies your hours worked
- Electronic time sheet at your workplace required to show that you went to work. If not available, your geographic location data can be provided.
- With access to your checking account, Earnin adjusts its withdrawal limits
- Daily withdrawal limit from Earnin is $100
4) Bestow
For as little as $5 per month you can buy a term life insurance policy from Bestow that could help your family manage without your income if you die.
Coverage ranges from $50,000 to $1 million in terms of two, 10 and 20 years. Did you just move your family across the country to take a high-paying job for a year or two, then a two-year life insurance policy could make sense.
You don’t have to go to a doctor to be checked out. Just fill out Bestow’s online form and you can get a policy quote in minutes. One requirement is that you must be under age 54.
Other benefits:
- Policies are issued by North American Company for Life and Health Insurance, an A+ rated insurer, according to Bestow. In other words, your policy will be around for awhile
- Application process is entirely online
- Best for people ages 21-55, have never had a felony, and are generally in good health
- 30-day cancellation policy
- 60-day grace period allowed for payments
5) AAG
Maybe you’ve seen actor Tom Selleck in TV ads for AAG, or American Advisors Group. What the heck is he selling? Reverse mortgages.
AAG specializes in reverse mortgages. These are loans that homeowners 62 and older can use to access their home’s equity without paying a monthly mortgage or taxes on the proceeds. Borrowers still live in their homes and continue paying property taxes and for upkeep of their homes.
The loan is only repaid when the home is sold or the borrower dies. Any money collected from the home sale beyond the loan amount due is given to the surviving heirs.
Other services AAG offers:
- Mortgage refinance
- Jumbo home loans
- Sell or buy home
6) Credible
Credible is another free online marketplace that helps consumers find the best loans by comparing lenders and rates. Personal loans, mortgages, and credit cards can be compared, but where Credible seems to excel is with student loans.
Credible doesn’t provide loans. It provides borrowers with personalized loan offers from multiple lenders in real time without a hard credit check. Users choose the lender they want, and the lender will contact them to finish the loan process.
There are two ways to use the site for student loans:
1. Private student loans:
- Cover up to 100% of school-certified costs after financial aid
- Flexible repayments such as deferred and interest-only
2. Refinance student loans:
- Federal, private and ParentPLUS loans can be refinanced
- Lower your interest rate or reduce monthly payment
- Compare prequalified rates from up to 10 lenders in two minutes
7) EverQuote
Comparing prices on auto insurance policies is one of the best ways to save a big amount of money. EverQuote matches you to insurers that best fit you with free auto insurance price quotes.
You start by telling EverQuote a little about yourself and your car. It then filters to the best prices/options and you connect with licensed agents.
They say it helps consumers save $500 a year on insurance.
To help you get the best quote, the site helps you:
- Determine what kinds of auto insurance you may want or need
- Know what level of coverage you want, such as $25,000 in property damage vs. $100,000
- Good drivers are known to save $138 a month
8) SmartFinancial
SmartFinancial is another way to shop for many types of insurance:
- Auto
- Home
- Life
- Health
- Medicare
- Renters
- Commercial
Auto insurance seems to be one of its sweet spots. Before giving you insurance quotes to compare, it gives what it calls a Smart Rate estimate of how much you’ll pay based on what drivers like you are paying in your area.
The online questions take only a few minutes to answer. It then compares quotes from more than 200 insurers, and checks for discounts.
9) Savvy Insurance
Savvy Insurance is a different type of auto insurance website. Instead of just comparing other insurers, it connects to your existing insurance to see if you’re paying the lowest price.
It reviews your savings and locks them in with your credit card. Savvy cancels your old policy and reimburses you for any fees.
Other benefits of Savvy:
- You don’t fill out forms. Savvy does this by using your existing insurance information
- You pay in one step, with Savvy coordinating enrolling your new insurance and cancelling your old one for the same date
- Bank-grade encryption is used
10) Chime
The national average interest rate on savings accounts is 0.09% APY, according to the FDIC. That’s well below the 1.10% offered by Chime on its online savings accounts. That’s 11 times greater than what the average bank offers.
Here are some of the benefits of Chime:
- Checking and savings accounts offered
- No monthly fees or overdraft fees
- Purchases rounded up to the next dollar and you save the remainder
- No minimum balance requirement for checking or savings account
- No foreign transaction fees
- Set up direct deposit for your paycheck and you can receive your pay up to two days earlier than traditional banks do with direct deposit
- Chime processes your employer’s check immediately
- Access to more than 38,000 fee-free ATMs
- Mobile wallets Apple Pay, Google Play and Samsung Pay supported
- 1.10% APY paid on savings accounts
- Mobile app highly rated by users
11) The Zebra
The Zebra is another online site to compare insurance policy prices, offering car and home insurance quotes. While some online insurers say they can save you 15% or more, you could save up to 50% (and more for teenage drivers), according to sample rates on the site.
Here are a few details on how the site works:
- Compare options from 204 insurance providers in less than a minute
- As you fill out an online form, discounts show up on the side
- You then get an “insurability score” with tips on how to get better rates, such as by changing coverage
- Free phone assistance is available
12) Lucktastic
Instead of paying to play your state lottery, Lucktastic gives users of its mobile app the chance to win up to $10,000 in a scratch game on a phone.
That’s one of the top prize amounts, though payouts of $2 to $1,500 are more likely.
Here’s how it works:
- The game is free to play, but users watch a 15- to 30-second advertisement before they can begin play
- If you win, you can cash out through an online account, check in the mail, prepaid Visa gift card, or instant gift card. Payout terms are set at certain dollar amounts for each method
- Scratch cards where you must match three items to win aren’t the only way to play. You can also earn tokens, enter contests, and keep a playing streak going to earn more
13) Credit Sesame
Credit Sesame can help you improve one of the most important factors in setting interest rates on car loans, credit cards and other types of loans — your credit score.
With its online tools, Credit Sesame tells you what your credit score is, and provides a credit report card and credit monitoring of suspicious activity. It’s all free. No credit card is required and its work won’t impact your credit score.
From there it shows you what affects your credit and how to improve it. That’s important if you’re looking to get out of debt.
14) Stash
Do you have a $5 bill on you? That’s enough to start investing in the stock market through Stash.
The app can be used to buy fractional shares of individual stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), which are larger funds that hold stocks, bonds or both. Here are some other benefits of Stash:
- Invest in stocks, ETFs, bonds, commodities and real estate
- Online banking accounts and a debit card that can earn you rewards
- Retirement accounts
- Custodial accounts
- Pricing plans starting at $1 per month
- Build your investment portfolio by investing small amounts regularly
- Early direct deposit of your paycheck
15) OppLoans
If you have bad credit, OppLoans can help you bypass the high interest rates charged by payday lenders and other short-term lenders. Borrow $500 to $5,000 with a competitive APR capped at 199% through OppLoans.
That’s still an expensive form of credit, but it’s cheaper than the 300% or more in interest and fees that payday lenders charge. The 199% interest OppLoans charges is as high as it can go, and varies by state to as low as 59%. Most states cap short-term loans at 160%.
OppLoans also:
- Approves online loan applications within one business day
- Has loan terms of nine to 39 months
- Requires borrowers to meet its minimum monthly income requirements and have direct deposit from your employer
- Doesn’t require a minimum credit score to qualify
- Reports to all three major credit bureaus, so regular payments can build credit
16) Fundrise
Buying a second home by yourself isn’t the only way to become a real estate investor.
Fundrise is a real estate crowdfunding site where individuals can pool their money with a minimum investment of $500 per person.
Here are some other advantages of Fundrise:
- Its historical annual returns are 8.7-12.4%
- Average annualized return on Fundrise was 9.47% in 2019
- Fees are 1%
- Diversify your portfolio with real estate
- Invest in private commercial and residential properties
- Invest in real estate investment trusts, or REITs, through Fundrise’s eREITs
- Pool money with other investors to buy land, develop housing and sell it to homebuyers
- Dividends can be paid quarterly or reinvested
- Open to all investors, not just accredited investors
17) Acorns
The spare change in your pocket or at the bottom of your purse could do a lot more for you than buying gumballs or filling parking meters. With the microsaving app Acorns you can use the change from debit card purchases to invest in a diversified portfolio or save for retirement.
Acorns is a simple way to start investing, and is done in a painless way with only your spare change that’s rounded up from your purchases as your initial investment.
Here are some key facts about Acorns:
- No minimum investments
- No trade fees
- Pay monthly fees of $1, $2 or $3, depending on the plan you choose
- Bank-level security and 256-bit encryption
- With Acorn’s debit card, there are no ATM fees, overdraft fees or minimum balance requirements
18) InboxDollars
If you’ve got a few minutes to spare, you could earn a little extra money by taking paid online surveys and doing other short tasks on your phone through InboxDollars.
The site has a $5 signup bonus for new members.
Members are paid in cash, not points. You must earn $30 to cash out.
The site is a survey aggregator, so clicking on a survey will likely redirect you to a third-party site. You may be asked questions to see if you’re in the demographic the company is looking for in the survey. Surveys can take three to 25 minutes to complete and pay from 50 cents to $5 each.
Here are other ways to make money online at InboxDollars:
- Watch videos
- Play online games
- Earn cash back while shopping online
- Read emails
19) Ibotta
Earn $20 or more in a month by shopping with the Ibotta app. It’s like having a never-ending supply of coupons on your smartphone that can be used at stores and on products that you may already be shopping for.
But instead of using coupons, you look at offers in the app for cash back on certain items. When you buy something listed in one of the offers, you buy it and keep the receipt. Once you get home, you can take a photo of your receipt as proof to Ibotta within 24 hours that you bought something with one of its discount offers, and the cash back offer is put into your Ibotta account.
Once your balance reaches $20, Ibotta can deposit the money into your PayPal or Venmo account.
Other benefits of Ibotta include:
- Link your loyalty accounts to earn cash back faster
- More than 400 retailers list offers in the Ibotta app
- Turn on store alerts when you’re near an Ibotta retailer
20) Brigit
If you’re paying overdraft fees to your bank or are taking out expensive payday loans a little too often, the Brigit app can help by giving you up to $250 until your next payday. You won’t pay interest on any advance you take out, and you won’t be charged late fees (or tips).
Brigit connects to your bank account and analyzes your expenses. It notifies you when your account is low, when it offers an advance until your next payday.
Money is deposited to your account in one to two business days.
It only costs $9.99, which is a monthly membership fee. Repayment of any advance is automatically deducted from your bank account and you’re given notice 24 hours before your due date.
If you can’t make a payment on time, your due date can be extended to avoid overdrafting.
Even if you don’t take a pay advance one month, you’ll still be charged the $9.99 monthly membership fee. An individual checking account is needed, and it must be at least 60 days old. No joint bank accounts are allowed.
Your paycheck must be directly deposited into your bank account.