Most of us have been told from a young age that hard work and perseverance are the keys to success. You can’t expect to make money overnight, but if you’re patient and resilient, you’ll get there one day! At this point, however, you’ve probably realized that life isn’t fair. And working a grueling job for extremely long hours doesn’t always pay off. On the other hand, for some lucky individuals, making money takes very little effort!
Redditors have recently been recalling the easiest money they’ve ever made, so we’ve gathered their most amusing stories below. From getting lucky at a casino to making smart investments, enjoy scrolling through these painless ways people earned cash. Keep reading to also find a conversation with Tom Allingham, personal finance expert at Save the Student, and be sure to upvote the paths to paydays that you’d like to experience too!
#1
Not me, but my son. When he was 10, my elderly neighbor lost her cat. He was gone for days and she was devastated. My son was at the bus stop a block away , I’m with him but I’m chatting with other parents and not paying attention. Suddenly, he takes off running between the yards and I’m like - WTF, so I take off after him. He runs down like a hundred yards and there is the missing cat. The cat seemed scared, but recognized us and let him pick her up. We walk up the street (bus is gone) and knock on our neighbors door and of course she breaks down in tears and offers him a reward, which he refuses. She knocks on our door later to thank him and again offers the reward, which he again refuses. Fast forward a few years when she passes away, we get a knock on the door from her son who tells us his mother’s will included a provision that $25,000 be placed in a 529 account for my son’s education.
294points
#2
I used to freelance software development.
I had a regular client who had a project that I was contributing to here and there.
He’s in the US I’m in Ireland.
One night, at 3am, I woke up to go to the toilet and saw an email on my phone with “urgent” in the subject line.
I read it and he said “man if you can fix this one last bug the project is complete… I’ll send you whatever is left in the project budget if you can fix this in the next 2 hours”.
I grabbed my laptop on my bedside table…. saw the bug … fixed a simple variable name. Closed my laptop and went to bed. All in all it took 40 seconds.
When I woke up there was £5500 in my Stripe account.
£5500 for less than 1 minutes work is pretty good going! I wish they were all like that. 😂😂.
I had a regular client who had a project that I was contributing to here and there.
He’s in the US I’m in Ireland.
One night, at 3am, I woke up to go to the toilet and saw an email on my phone with “urgent” in the subject line.
I read it and he said “man if you can fix this one last bug the project is complete… I’ll send you whatever is left in the project budget if you can fix this in the next 2 hours”.
I grabbed my laptop on my bedside table…. saw the bug … fixed a simple variable name. Closed my laptop and went to bed. All in all it took 40 seconds.
When I woke up there was £5500 in my Stripe account.
£5500 for less than 1 minutes work is pretty good going! I wish they were all like that. 😂😂.
189points
#3
My friend dragged me to the Casino with him and convinced me to play a slot machine. I walked around for a bit and found a cool looking monopoly slot machine (1$ machine).
First spin I hit the bonus wheel which ended up paying out about $3000. Cashed out and didnt play anymore 😆.
First spin I hit the bonus wheel which ended up paying out about $3000. Cashed out and didnt play anymore 😆.
169points
To learn more about making easy money, we reached out to Tom Allingham, personal finance expert at Save the Student, who was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda. First, we wanted to know if Tom had ever earned money in a surprisingly simple way.
"I think probably the easiest and best way I've ever made money (and still do!) is through referral codes," he shared. "I don't know exactly how much I've made over time, but it's definitely into the thousands of pounds. This is mostly thanks to the higher value ones, especially an old energy supplier I was with who used to offer £50 per person you successfully referred to the company, and occasionally boosted that to £100."
"But I've used loads of others too, including banks," Tom continued. "Basically, the message is: check all the products and services you use to see if they have a referral scheme. If they do – and, crucially, if you would honestly recommend them – then encourage all your friends and family to sign up via your link."
#4
$50k retention bonus at work when I had no intention of leaving.
I started not carrying about work, so I would take half days off randomly to do stuff I enjoyed.
My boss thought I was interviewing for other companies so fought to get me the retention bonus. Free money. I'll take it.
I started not carrying about work, so I would take half days off randomly to do stuff I enjoyed.
My boss thought I was interviewing for other companies so fought to get me the retention bonus. Free money. I'll take it.
136points
#5
I used to be friends with a guy who, although he had a corporate day job, moonlighted as a private investigator. Most of his clients were married people who suspected their spouses of cheating, so they would hire him to try to catch them in the act.
In order to be discreet and not arouse suspicion, he’d hire a female friend - sometimes me, sometimes my sister or another woman - to pose as his date. I’d put on a nice dress and heels and get gussied up, and he’d pick me up. I’m not sure how he located his targets - I’m not a P.I. myself so I don’t know the ins and outs of the job, and I didn’t concern myself with it - but if they were at a restaurant, he’d take me there for a nice dinner.
After dinner, almost invariably, the targets would end up at the only motel in the area that charged by the hour. He’d book the room next to theirs for a few hours, so it looked as if we, like most people who visited that particular motel, were getting it on.
In reality, of course, he was actually spying on them. So I’d sit on the bed and watch TV for a couple of hours while he set up a bunch of surveillance equipment, tape recorders, etc. and listened in on the illicit lovers next door.
Then he’d drive me home, hand me $200 in cash, and that was it. So - $200 and a free meal at a nice restaurant for roughly 3 hours of pretending I was a nice, non-creepy guy’s paramour. Unquestionably the most unusual source of extra income I’ve ever personally had, but also the easiest money I’ve ever made in my life.
EDIT: Having had a couple of comments seem to suggest that what I did was morally wrong because it violates people’s privacy, and even compare me to a prostitute (or suggest that I was one), let me address this: you know what’s morally wrong? Cheating on your spouse. If you don’t cheat, you and your illicit lover won’t be tailed by a P.I. and have your “privacy” invaded. If you’re not happy in your marriage, or you want to be with someone else, get a divorce. (I’m not talking about abusive or controlling marriages here, either; someone being abused and controlled is almost certainly not going to even have the option to cheat.) Private investigation is a legitimate business. It’s not illegal. And I was not a prostitute. I was acting. There was literally no physical contact between me and the P.I. aside from me taking his arm in public to keep up appearances. No sex, no kissing, no canoodling, no hugging. Zip, zilch, nada sexual or romantic contact whatsoever. The next person to suggest such a thing is getting reported for BNBR. Thanks.
In order to be discreet and not arouse suspicion, he’d hire a female friend - sometimes me, sometimes my sister or another woman - to pose as his date. I’d put on a nice dress and heels and get gussied up, and he’d pick me up. I’m not sure how he located his targets - I’m not a P.I. myself so I don’t know the ins and outs of the job, and I didn’t concern myself with it - but if they were at a restaurant, he’d take me there for a nice dinner.
After dinner, almost invariably, the targets would end up at the only motel in the area that charged by the hour. He’d book the room next to theirs for a few hours, so it looked as if we, like most people who visited that particular motel, were getting it on.
In reality, of course, he was actually spying on them. So I’d sit on the bed and watch TV for a couple of hours while he set up a bunch of surveillance equipment, tape recorders, etc. and listened in on the illicit lovers next door.
Then he’d drive me home, hand me $200 in cash, and that was it. So - $200 and a free meal at a nice restaurant for roughly 3 hours of pretending I was a nice, non-creepy guy’s paramour. Unquestionably the most unusual source of extra income I’ve ever personally had, but also the easiest money I’ve ever made in my life.
EDIT: Having had a couple of comments seem to suggest that what I did was morally wrong because it violates people’s privacy, and even compare me to a prostitute (or suggest that I was one), let me address this: you know what’s morally wrong? Cheating on your spouse. If you don’t cheat, you and your illicit lover won’t be tailed by a P.I. and have your “privacy” invaded. If you’re not happy in your marriage, or you want to be with someone else, get a divorce. (I’m not talking about abusive or controlling marriages here, either; someone being abused and controlled is almost certainly not going to even have the option to cheat.) Private investigation is a legitimate business. It’s not illegal. And I was not a prostitute. I was acting. There was literally no physical contact between me and the P.I. aside from me taking his arm in public to keep up appearances. No sex, no kissing, no canoodling, no hugging. Zip, zilch, nada sexual or romantic contact whatsoever. The next person to suggest such a thing is getting reported for BNBR. Thanks.
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135points
#6
Goodwill flip. Found a worn copy of *A Christmas Carol* and figured it was cool. Ended up being a 1st American Edition, 1st Printing. Sent it to one of the big 3 auction houses which authenticated it. 50¢ buy turned into $9800 after fees and taxes.
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122points
As for why earning money is usually so difficult, Tom says, "Unfortunately, for the most part, nobody's going to give you money for nothing. So usually you'll have to get creative or simply work if you want to make some money."
"That said, we do have a list of ways to get free money that require little or no effort from you whatsoever," he added. "Referral codes are one of them, but there are other things like signup offers and even making money from walking."
#7
As a kid, a sweet older couple in my neighborhood always asked me to water their plants while the were away, and the would alway, without fail, overpay me to an extreme. My mom would always try to give the money back, but they were having NONE of it. If only money were that easy to make now.
96points
#8
Boss set some ridiculous pricing as a dare for anyone willing to send us overtime work over Christmas.
Well someone actually did and wanted to hire a full shift. I volunteered to sign on (remote work) and do the overtime.
We charged them for the full 8 hour shift. They only sent in 5 minutes worth of work.
$1,000 / hour. I got 8 grand working online for 5 minutes in my PJs while watching Christmas movies.
Well someone actually did and wanted to hire a full shift. I volunteered to sign on (remote work) and do the overtime.
We charged them for the full 8 hour shift. They only sent in 5 minutes worth of work.
$1,000 / hour. I got 8 grand working online for 5 minutes in my PJs while watching Christmas movies.
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95points
#9
For three quarters at school I got paid full T/A salary for watering plants in a greenhouse and watering and feeding animals in the animal room on the weekends. Less than an hour a day.
81points
We also asked the financial expert if there are any reliable and sustainable ways to earn money that don't require a ton of effort.
"There are loads of easy ways to make money, and again, we've listed dozens of them on our website. Some of them will earn you a relatively modest amount, like paid survey sites. But others could earn you hundreds of pounds a year, if not per month, like renting out your parking space," Tom shared.
"If you live near a major transport hub, sports ground, or anywhere else where parking is at a premium, people will pay good money to rent out your parking spot for a few hours or days," he noted. "It requires next to no effort from you, and it's an absolute no-brainer if your driveway is currently sat empty!"
#10
Used to do electronics design consulting on the side. Got a call from a company I had done business with: can you make a device which makes a precise (IIRC) 2800 hz tone and which fits inside a walkie talkie? I said "I don't know - can you send me the walkie talkie and the technical manual?"
They send me the stuff and I studied the schematic. Very quickly I realized one of the internal oscillators was something like 16,384 times 2800 Hz. I could do this for less than $2. So I call them back and I say "Sure I can do it, but I can't make any money off this because it is so cheap." And they say "We'll pay you $50 per unit - this is the remaining piece of a multi-million dollar tender."
I sold hundreds of these things. I even farmed out the manufacturing. I paid for my first house with them.
They send me the stuff and I studied the schematic. Very quickly I realized one of the internal oscillators was something like 16,384 times 2800 Hz. I could do this for less than $2. So I call them back and I say "Sure I can do it, but I can't make any money off this because it is so cheap." And they say "We'll pay you $50 per unit - this is the remaining piece of a multi-million dollar tender."
I sold hundreds of these things. I even farmed out the manufacturing. I paid for my first house with them.
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77points
#11
Box of new Braun electric shaver replacement heads at the thrift store. 77 of them new in individual packages marked $4.99 each. They go for $15-20 on eBay and would be easy to sell as a lot so I grabbed the box.
"How much if I buy all of them?"
Them: "Umm, well there's a lot of them in there, how about $40?"
"Uhh, sure"
They sold for $1,000USD within a week (~$12 each).
"How much if I buy all of them?"
Them: "Umm, well there's a lot of them in there, how about $40?"
"Uhh, sure"
They sold for $1,000USD within a week (~$12 each).
71points
#12
Stripping. I had a lot of older regulars that would literally pay me to just eat dinner with them. Cool dudes. Not weird. (You can choose your clients)Lots of physically disabled and foreign guys. Some girls did all that extra rubbing that I never did. Got to meet some very cool people. They just wanted someone to listen. $1000+ a night for 3 hours of sitting with an older man in a while we ate burgers. (Yellow Rose in Austin still has bad a*s burgers). He paid my fees for working and bought me a Honda civic del sol. Being multilingual helps. Miss you, old man Rick. RIP. You were always a gentleman.
71points
#13
Furniture flipping in an affluent area. Partnered with a junk remover. He'd get paid to take stuff to the dump... wealthy folks would throw out of like-new designer furniture simply because they were redecorating. Free for me, sold it online at big discounts.
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69points
#14
I made $100k selling d***s.
I thought up a play on the old "eat a bag of d***s" insult, and made a website to anonymously send people a bag of gummy d***s with the message "eat a bag of d***s". Simple.
After getting the website live over a few drinks, I shared it with some friends, posted some pics on Imgur saying "look what I got in the mail!" With a link and boom... Within 3 days there was $100k in orders and offers to buy the company (I sold it).
Spent about $100 for the domain and a dozen bags of gummies, then went to a distributor for wholesale when things took off.
I thought up a play on the old "eat a bag of d***s" insult, and made a website to anonymously send people a bag of gummy d***s with the message "eat a bag of d***s". Simple.
After getting the website live over a few drinks, I shared it with some friends, posted some pics on Imgur saying "look what I got in the mail!" With a link and boom... Within 3 days there was $100k in orders and offers to buy the company (I sold it).
Spent about $100 for the domain and a dozen bags of gummies, then went to a distributor for wholesale when things took off.
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66points
#15
Voiceover work. Once made $4500 for 2 hrs of reading/recording.
64points
#16
$500 to use my Jeep in a Selsun Blue commercial. I sat in an air conditioned trailer for 2 hours.
63points
#17
Signed up for a casino card and they gave me $10 voucher which I put into a machine that gave me $1500.
61points
#18
Temp work at a chemical company. They made all sorts of cleaning products. Clock in, then all of us drones had to grab an order form off the stack and get to work filling cans and buckets. 100 (1) gallon buckets of eyesting solvent, 250 (5) gallon buckets of lungschorcher fluid, whatever. I soon discovered the golden ticket: their bubble bath gel. It shipped in 55 gallon drums, was thick, and warm, and smelled like candy. Best of all, it was slowwww. I’d set up the empty barrels on pallets, insert the nozzle, and wait….30 minutes or so per barrel. We weren’t allowed to leave a nozzle while a container was being filled. Kind of boring, but in a pleasant smelling, easy money kind of way. I made sure to get to work first so that I could flip through the orders and get the good stuff.
59points
#19
I wrote a throwaway script in half an hour for a coworker that singlehandedly got me a $20,000 bonus.
56points
#20
My parents lived on a 17 acre tract in North Raleigh. It was on the county tax rolls valued at $500,000. They had paid just $250,000 for it 10 years earlier and my dad was convinced it was overvalued. He had appealed the value but lost.
He called me one day to say that he was going to sell out, “some fool” had offered him the same price as the tax value. I asked what the property had appraised for, and he said he didn’t have it appraised, anyone knew it was not worth the offer price.
I offered that I would pay for an appraisal just to satisfy my curiosity. If the appraisal is higher, we can split the difference 50/50. We got the appraisal and it was double the offer. My dad said there’s no way it would sell for that.
I said humor me, it costs nothing to find out, we just put a For Sale sign in the front yard.
I said let the process run out, it sold for more than the appraisal and I made $250,000.
He called me one day to say that he was going to sell out, “some fool” had offered him the same price as the tax value. I asked what the property had appraised for, and he said he didn’t have it appraised, anyone knew it was not worth the offer price.
I offered that I would pay for an appraisal just to satisfy my curiosity. If the appraisal is higher, we can split the difference 50/50. We got the appraisal and it was double the offer. My dad said there’s no way it would sell for that.
I said humor me, it costs nothing to find out, we just put a For Sale sign in the front yard.
I said let the process run out, it sold for more than the appraisal and I made $250,000.
55points