There are a whole load of apps and schemes out there promising to boost your bank balance with minimal effort… but do they really work?
Money-making idea:
WeAre8, a social media site that shares revenue with users for every ad they watch
Tester: Jade Biggs, features writer
Trialled for: Two weeks
We’re all feeling the pinch right now when it comes to cash flow (is anyone else fantasising about winning the lottery about 200% more regularly?), which makes the wave of new schemes that promise ‘free money’ (for little to no effort) sound so inviting. From apps that pledge you a percentage when you buy your regular items through them, to paid surveys, stepcount reward schemes and quick ways to sell bric-a-brac, there are a ton of options. But are any of them actually a good use of time? After all, there’s no such thing as a free lunch, right? Or is there? We put four free-to-download cashback schemes to the test.
So, how was it?
After seeing ads for WeAre8 everywhere, I downloaded the app to see what all the fuss was about. Hailed as being ‘social media with a purpose’, I was enticed by its promise to pay me for watching ads. Seeing as I spend so much time online anyway, I thought I may as well monetise that, right!?
It’s easy to use, too, with the same scroll-through-the-feed set-up that Instagram and TikTok deploy. My mates haven’t joined, though, so there were only the posts of WeAre8 and the odd celeb, who had been roped into promoting the app itself or a fitness plan, on it. As for the money-making? You have to look out for a notification that lets you know there’s an ad to watch. You click on it to find out how much you’ll earn. Then, after you watch it, you answer a few questions and money is deposited into your app’s ‘wallet’ – but you have to wait 30 days to access it IRL.
Sadly, I didn’t have much at the end – not even enough to buy a Crunchie. Most days, there were only one or two ads to watch; on others, there were none at all. Many came with the potential to only earn a few pence at a time, too. One positive is that a portion of your earnings is donated to charity, or you can donate your entire fund. However, if you’re looking to earn major money, this isn’t the way to go. Profit: 49p, plus 9p to charity
Money-making idea:
TopCashback, an app and website that lets you get a percentage of… well, cash back on purchases made from various popular retailers (from Asos to Argos) Tester: Hanna Ibraheem, acting beauty editor Trialled for: Four months
So, how was it?
Between planning a wedding and buying a house, I’m in full-on money-saving mode. During a chat with a friend, in which we were talking about how expensive everything is (a common topic nowadays…), she mentioned TopCashback. She had just finished making
