Two weeks ago, I went to the AMC theater on Broadway and 68th street in New York City to see the cinematic masterpiece that is “Furious 7.”
Fast-forward through two hours and 20 minutes of heart-stopping action and soul-crushing tributes to the late Paul Walker, and I’m gathering my belongings to leave the theater. Before I even get to the exit, I hear a familiar “cha-ching” come from my pocket. It was time to make some money.
I’m not a drug dealer or anything, but I do enjoy making a few dollars on the side. My moneymaking tool of choice is the supercomputer that goes with me anywhere and everywhere: my iPhone 6.
Spare5 and Surveys On The Go (SOTG) are two free-to-download Android and iOS apps that pay users to take surveys and complete simple tasks.
The “cha-ching” from my pocket is the notification sound of SOTG. The app used my phone’s GPS to determine that I was spending time in a movie theater. It sent me a notification saying “there is a $5.00 survey available for you. Would you like to take it?”
The app’s questions are simple. If you are at a theater, it’ll give you a list of all movies that are out, and you select the one that you saw. The survey, which only takes a few minutes to complete, will ask what you thought of the movie and the actors, and if you would recommend that a friend see the same film.
If you are a frequent radio listener, you may be prompted to take a survey about your listening habits, which can pay you up to $4.00.
Spare5 works a little bit differently. Its goal is to help companies make themselves more search engine optimized, so you’ll be flicking through random photos, selecting tags that you feel best describe them. Instead of pulling out your phone to check Facebook again, you can instead make some coin.
Neither of these apps will make you rich, though. Most surveys will earn you 10 cents, and even if you used Spare5 for an hour straight you wouldn’t crack $2. But you’ll find that your downtime can add up.
The next time you’re in a waiting room, label some photos. The next time you’re waiting for your friends to get ready to go out, take a survey.
I just cashed out $12 through PayPal from SOTG. My free time will buy me my next six-pack.
