15 Realistic Ways to Make $500 Fast

Looking to learn how to make $500 fast? This is an exhaustive list of things that anyone can do, today, in order to make 500 dollars of fast cash today.

The number #1 rule of personal finance is to spend less than you earn (live within your means). What if you are not a fan of changing your lifestyle — how about just making more money? If you were able to make an extra $500 a week, that's another $1,200 a month, and another $24,000 added to your salary.

Personally, that is a good amount of money and can pay for a year's worth of rent in most parts of the United States. If you want to get your rent paid for this month — check out our list of ways to make $500 fast (or more).

How to Boost Your Income and Make $500 Fast?

If you actually need $500 right now, then you can learn how to get paid today. When you need money in a hurry — Dave is where to go.

Dave will spot you up to $500 through this link so you can make ends meet.

That's right, they will send you $500 from your next paycheck straight to your bank account. Just repay them when you get paid. Easy.

There is no credit check. Not even a soft inquiry. So your credit score won’t be affected.

And there's no fee to get your paycheck early and no requirement to tip when you request an advance. Dave only costs $1/month.

You can visit Dave here to see if they have any ongoing new member offers going on.

Get up to $500 today
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  • Join 12+ million people using the mobile banking app
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  • Start saving, earning and budgeting for free
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Next, use the following ideas to earn your $500 dollars fast:

1. Earn $500 fast with Survey Junkie

$100 per surveyTaking online surveys to make extra money is a no-brainer!

You definitely won’t get rich with surveys alone, but you won’t waste much time, and you can make some money the easy way. Here is my favorite (and highest paying) survey site:

Survey Junkie: This is a free survey app for your phone that pays you to take online surveys, participate in focus groups, and try new products.

And, I really mean free all around – free to join and they don’t charge anything to be a member (they will actually pay you in cash via PayPal).

make $200 fast

You can get a free registration bonus for free when you join through this link. Survey Junkie pays up to $5 per survey, and many of them take less than 5 minutes to complete.

It is one of the highest paying survey sites that actually works!

2. Make $500 fast with Swagbucks

Swagbucks is another great survey site to make some extra money in your free time. As a new member, you can earn up to $10 per survey!

 They are known for giving out fun, top-paying surveys. And you can also get paid to play games and watch TV!

It’s similar to Survey Junkie, but there are also a few other ways you can earn money as a member (including a $10 bonus just for signing up).

swagbucks

Other ways you can make money with Swagbucks outside of surveys:

Swagbucks is conveniently offering a $10 bonus just for signing up through this link, so act fast.

3. Work up to $500 fast with Nielsen

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

This company will pay you $50 a year to keep their app on your favorite internet browsing device and they also give away $10,000 each month.

Nielsen has been around for decades, has over 40K employees, and has one thing on its mind… collecting data. Every app on your phone already does this — wouldn’t it make sense to get paid for it?

Just know that it’s a super unique program that pays for your data.

nielsen

It’s so simple: just sign up, install the app, and start earning today. You don’t have to take boring surveys, just let them know about your interest usage by having it’s app installed. Easy.

You don’t have to do anything other than initially registering your computer or phone.

4. Make $500 fast with Fundrise

fundrise

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. Fundrise allows you to now invest in large-scale real estate for as little as $10.

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 200,000+ users, this app really pays you!

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

5. Make $500 fast with Blackout Bingo

blackout bingo

Blackout Bingo is a fun new gaming app that brings a social aspect to online gaming and allows you to compete for a variety of real rewards as well as real money in some cases (areas where this is available).

Make money playing bingo for free with this brand-new bingo-style game. With over 61K positive reviews in the App Store, it's a legit way to make money.

6. Make $500 fast with InboxDollars

inboxdollars

The next thing you can do is sign up for InboxDollars which pays you, in cash, to watch fun videos & take surveys and they'll also give you a $5 free bonus just to give it a try.

By spending just 5-10 minutes per day on this (either on your lunch break or during TV commercial breaks) you can earn and save an extra $50/month. This is a great way to make money when you're retired and want to earn from home.

More people should be doing this to make 500 dollars fast.

If you're interested in learning how to get paid to watch videos, check out our full review here.

7. Make $500 fast with Instacart

Instacart delivers groceries from local stores in two hours from stores like Whole Foods Market, Target, Costco and Petco. Why should you care? Because this is a lucrative opportunity for you to make that $200 fast.

If you wanted to become an Instacart personal grocery shopper, you'll earn an average of $15 per hour!

make $200 fast

Here's how it works:

Sign up as a personal grocery shopper and start to receive grocery orders through an app on your smartphone and then shop and deliver groceries to the customer’s door.

  • Start earning quickly, and get paid weekly
  • Select hours based on your schedule
  • Shop and deliver the customer’s order
  • Get to know the city by delivering to new and familiar areas

Click here if you are interested in learning more

8. Earn $500 fast with Acorns

Acorns app bonus

Acorns lets you start investing without risking big bucks. Once you connect the app to a debit or credit card, it rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar and funnels your digital change into an investment account.

With the app, you’ll start small and stack up change over time with the Acorns “round-up” feature. 

That means if you spend $15.25 on your connected debit or credit card, for example,  75 cents gets dropped into your Acorns account and gets invested.

CNBC calls Acorns “the new millennial investing strategy.” Sign up to try it risk-free with a $10 sign up bonus. You've got nothing to lose. I told you this was easy!

Sign up through here.

9. Bring home $500 fast with DoorDash

DoorDash, a food-delivery service, is looking for people who want to start delivering food to earn extra $500 fast and work on their own schedule.

You choose the hours you work and get paid cash per order (once you have access to fast pay). Rates will vary by location.

doordash driver

Once you sign up to become a dasher, DoorDash will reach out about an orientation. Complete the orientation, and you’re on your way towards getting paid for every completed delivery PLUS 100% of tips received.

This is such an easy way to make money by delivering on your free time while making extra cash and funding your personal goals.

10. Get $500 fast today with Zippyloan

If you actually need $500 right now because you got laid off or lost hours, 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.

  • 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.

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.

11. Supplement some rent by getting paid to try new games

Earning rent money by playing games sounds crazy. But a free Android app called Mistplay lets users play new games to earn points that can be redeemed for gift cards like VISA, Amazon, Target, Walmart and more.

If you download the free app you will get a list of all the available free games to play for money. The longer you play (the app tracks the time), the more you earn! Plus, they even offer some big in-game rewards — up to $20.

It takes minutes to sign up and it's totally worth it if you want to get paid to play games.

12. Refinance your student loans and save $500 fast

Swapping your existing student loans for a new loan with a lower interest rate is known as student loan refinancing. It will save you a lot of money over time as rates are currently at 2-year lows.

Whether you should refinance your student loans depends on your circumstances. You should consider refinancing your student loans if:

  • Your finances are rock solid. Refinancing federal loans will not qualify you for benefits like loan forgiveness and student loan relief associated with the coronavirus pandemic. But if aren't eligible for these programs then refinancing makes sense.
  • You would save money. There's no need to refinance your loans unless you end up paying less interest. Find out how much money you could save by refinancing your student loans using a site like Splash Financial.
  • You can qualify. You generally need a credit score at least in the high 600s to be able to refinance student loans with top refinancing sites like Splash Financial.

Make $500 Fast with Survey Sites

I sat down and studied all of the best survey sites to find out for myself which ones are legit (and high paying), and which ones are not. Here's the list:

13. Make $500 fast with Swagbucks

swagbucks

Who doesn’t love Swagbucks? This survey site lets you earn money in so many ways like taking surveys, shopping online or playing games, but many of my readers love racking up SB (Swagbucks) watching videos in their spare time. You can cash out your SB as gift cards to hundreds of merchants or get your cash by PayPal. Many claim this to be one of the easiest survey sites to help you make money online fast.

14. Make $500 fast with Survey Junkie

survey junkie

Survey Junkie’s interface is super smooth and intuitive (unlike the majority of survey company websites that look like they were built in 1997), and members are paid in cash via Paypal. Oh, and Survey Junkie also has an 8.9/10 rating on TrustPilot — the highest of any online survey company. This is one is the more reputable survey companies out there and I use it often. You can make $500 in around two to three months of use.

15. Make $500 fast with InboxDollars

inboxdollars

Earn cash, not points. InboxDollars pays members to read emails, take surveys online, play games, and search the web! Overall, Inbox Dollars is super easy to navigate. I’ve tried other paid survey sites and just end up overwhelmed. It also does a nice job of breaking down the offers into categories. And you’ll always see the amount of money you’ve earned at the top your window, which is exhilarating! Right now they are offering a $5 cash bonus just for joining.

What Should You Do With an Extra $500?

If you’re short on money and need the $500 to get the bills paid, then that money is already spoken for.

But if you have some flexibility in your budget, here are smart ways to use that extra cash:

  • Start an Emergency Fund: It's important to start an emergency fund because you never know when you'll face an unexpected bill or expense. An emergency fund can help you avoid going into debt or using high-interest credit cards to pay for unexpected costs. Having an emergency fund is a key part of financial planning and can give you peace of mind in knowing that you have a cushion to cover unexpected costs.
  • Open a Robo-Advisor Account: Acorns is a leader in this space. Acorns is one of the most popular microsavings platforms. It literally lets you turn your spare change into investments. Join through here (must complete application) and get a $10 welcome bonus.
  • Easily Invest in Rental Homes: Arrived is a very easy-to-use site that allows individuals to easily invest in rental homes. This option is best for users who want to make money consistently and let their money make them money. Start Investing Now.

Stay Consistent on Your Journey To Earning $500 Fast

Now that you know my top 24 ways to make $500 fast, it’s time to get cracking!

But remember:

If you want to make three hundred dollars, you need to be consistent. Most people give up on the first hurdle.

…So please don’t do that!

Instead, stick with your side hustle, be persistent and never give up! It might take a day for one person or a while to earn that 500 bucks, but it’s 100% worth it.

Need some more tips on getting started? You can view more ways to get a $500 loan in case you really need it or drop a comment below and let us know your questions.

Brian Meiggs
Brian Meiggs
Brian Meiggs helps you discover clever ways to pay off student loans, make extra money, save money, be resourceful and stay curious. With over 10 years of experience in the financial industry, Brian has developed a reputation for his in-depth knowledge and practical approach to personal finance. He holds a bachelor's degree in Finance and has been recognized by several industry organizations for his contributions to the field. Brian is passionate about educating people about personal finance and has been featured in several national media outlets, including Insider, AOL, Discover, and Yahoo! Finance. With his unique perspective and proven track record, Brian Meiggs is a trusted voice in the world of personal finance.
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