Easy Side Hustle For Anyone – Make Money The Easy Way

The question that gets asked the most in all of my RV Facebook groups is “How do you make money while living on the road?”  There is a multitude of different responses everything from MLM to Etsy, only fans to affiliate marketing, dog walking to house sitting.  In this day and age, there is no limit to how you can make money you just have to be a little motivated, and creativity never hurt.  I’m going to show you a side hustle that takes no work at all.

I’ve got a way of making a few bucks doing something that I do anyway… shopping online.  I’ve been shopping online for years!!!  The fewer errands I have to run the better.  I love hunting down deals and having things shipped directly to my house.  This is a little harder for folks who are living the nomad lifestyle, but this system works for picking items up curbside as well.  

Rakuten is an e-commerce company that offers a cash-back program for customers who shop at their affiliated stores. Rakuten also has an affiliate marketing program that allows users to earn a commission by promoting their products. As a side hustle, you can sign up for Rakuten’s cash-back program and receive cash back on your purchases at participating stores. You can also join their affiliate marketing program and earn money by promoting Rakuten’s products and services to your friends, family, and followers. It can be a good way to earn some extra money while shopping or promoting products that you like. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the amount you can earn through these programs will depend on your level of participation and the amount you spend.

Rakuten used to be called ‘ebates’ and it’s been around since 2012.  I personally have been a member since 2014 and I’ve made 685 in cash back.  There’s no catch, it’s not a scam, you can install an extension on your browser and it will tell you if the site you are using offers Rakuten cash back, you click the button that comes up, make your purchase, you get the kickback they are offering at the time.  

Let’s say you’re in the market for some new shoes, or surround sound speakers.  You can either go to the Rakuten Website and search for what it is you’re looking for 

Or you can type it into your browser and if you have the Rakuten plugin it will show you if the site you’re looking at is eligible for a kickback.  Here’s a link to get the add-on for your chrome browser.  For Mac users here’s the link for the plug-in for Safari.

Rakuten is one of the original afiliate marketing websites.  Instead of keeping all the income from sharing afiliate links they give a percentage of it back to their subscribers.  Pretty simple, makes sense!  Why not share the profits and increase their user stream.  

For people like us, it’s really easy to get money for shopping online.  When you become a member you can also get a kickback for getting other people to join.  New accounts will get 30$ once they spend 30$ at any retailer in the Rakuten program, the person who referred them will also get $30. Easy Breezy Lemon Squeezy! Getting paid to do something you are doing anyway, it’s a total no-brainer!!!

Here’s how to get the most out of your Rakuten membership:

• Get cashback rewards. Instead of purchasing directly from Macy’s, Walmart, Nordstroms, Target, or Kohl’s, first, check if your favorite stores are among Rakuten’s thousands of partners. If they are, you could activate the cashback offers by visiting their websites through Rakuten.
• Use discounts and promotions. Some Rakuten partners offer special discounts or promotions to Rakuten members. These discounts might be for a limited time or only for first-time users, so double-check the fine print.
• Use the cashback button. If you do most of your online shopping from your computer, you might benefit from downloading the Rakuten browser extension. This extension automatically notifies you of coupons or promo codes on Rakuten partners’ sites.
• Link your credit card. You don’t have to be an online shopper to get rewards. You could also earn store cash back when you shop in brick-and-mortar locations of some businesses by linking a credit card to your Rakuten account.
• Get a Rakuten Cash Back Visa Credit Card: You can earn additional cashback by getting a Rakuten Cash Back Visa Credit Card. The cashback bonuses could stack up to offer you more rewards and double cash back. For example, you could get cash back if you use a Rakuten credit card that goes on top of the cash back you receive as a Rakuten member.
• Earn referral bonuses. If you enjoy using Rakuten, you could earn more money by referring friends to sign up. Rakuten makes it easy to refer friends by providing a unique link you could send to friends or post on social media. If your friend joins using the link and makes a qualifying purchase within 90 days, you could get a bonus.

This isn’t a get-rich-quick system. If you were doing a renovation or something major you could get a pretty decent payout if you double up your rebate by paying with a cash-back credit card and then ordering from home depot to pick up curbside you could be making a pretty decent chunk of pocket change.

There’s no catch, you’re shopping, you shop using Rakuten, and you get a little gift for doing what you were going to do anyway. Sign up with my link and we will both get 30$, then create your own link and share it with your friends and so on and so on it’s a super simple way to make a quick buck, you’ll be glad you did. You can get paid out in the method you choose.