Five Fun Apps to Help You Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas

Money still doesn’t grow on trees. But it can quickly mount up with smartphones. Mobiles cost us a small fortune each month so why not use them to make money on mobile apps? Check out our guide to the best five apps to help you earn some extra cash before Christmas:

Receipt Hog

This app, available for iOS and Android, turns your receipts into actual cash to spend. Instead of chucking away receipts for your food shopping or a new dress, take a quick snap and upload them to this app for free.

All you have to do next is complete a super speedy question about your shopping experience and you are rewarded with ‘coins’ depending on how much you spent. You can then save up coins and convert them into cash – paid directly to your PayPal account or in the form of an Amazon voucher. What’s not to love?

The more you use the app, the more you progress through the levels – the higher up you get, the more coins you’ll be rewarded. You can also earn more cash by referring friends to use the app.

Receipthog.com

Foap

We snap pics on our mobiles all day long, so why not get paid for your precious pictures? Whether they are of your dog or when you went gallivanting around the sites of Barcelona, people may be willing to pay you to use your photos.

The app, available for Android and IOS, allows you to select, upload and tag your photos, while keeping your copyright when your snaps are sold. Most buyers are looking for photos that haven’t been edited too much.

Foap.com

Field Agent

Ever fancied being James Bond? If you’ve got an iPhone, the Field Agent app could be your best friend. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, it to complete small market researching tasks sent out by companies.

You might have to eat in a restaurant, buy a drink or simply check prices and take pictures of products. Payments are between £2 and £10.

But if you want to take part, you need to be rapid, as you are competing against everyone else for jobs.

app.fieldagent.net/

Webuybooks.co.uk

You probably have a kindle and your books are now gathering dust. This app helps you sell your unwanted books for fast cash. Whether or not your item finds a new home or is sent to the recyclers, the company handles loads of books – and now CDs and DVDs every year.

All you need to do is scan the barcode and the app will provide an instant quote. If you’re happy, you can accept the offer and select your preferred payment type. Package labels are provided so that you can post for free. Once your items are received and condition-checked, you received cash the next day. Hey presto.

www.webuybooks.co.uk/app/

Swagbucks

This is a fun survey app that pays you for completing short online tasks in virtual cash - you can then exchange this for real money; PayPal credits or gift cards to spend at Amazon, M&S and more.

Tasks include filling in polls, watching videos and searching using its page instead of Google. Advertisers pay Swagbucks to publicise their wares or do market research, and the site passes a cut to you. The more dedicated you are, the more you earn, though every task pays a different amount.

Swagbucks.com

As you can see, there are lots of great ways to use apps to make money online. However, if your mobile develops a fault, they may not work. We have mobile insurance to help protect your precious gadgets and save you from a costly repair bill.

*The information in this blog is designed to provide helpful information on the subjects discussed. Please seek a professional for expert advice as we can not be held responsible for any damages or negative consequences upon following this information.

Dropped iPhone - Please Help!

You went out with your friends to play some football; the match was going fine and you positioned yourself to kick the ball towards the goalpost. Running towards the ball, you kick it with all your might and you realise that you just scored a goal. Your team cheers for you and just when you felt a sense of pride, you noticed that your iPhone is lying on the ground, right on the spot where you made your goal.

When you pick it up, the screen is blank and it is not responding, no matter what you do. Panicking, you decide to take it to the nearest service centre. But hold your horses! There are a few fixes you can try on your own to revive your little companion.

- Dropped My iPhone: Try Hard Resetting it

Press the home button and the sleep/wake button simultaneously and hold them together for about 10 to 20 seconds. You need to hold them until the Apple logo appears on the screen. If your phone powers back on and works normally, there was nothing wrong with it in the first place. In fact, your phone didn’t even turn off; rather it was on the entire time, but the software had crashed. Hence, the black screen

- Dropped My iPhone: Charge Your iPhone

If that doesn’t work, you can try plugging your iPhone into the wall charger. If the Apple logo appears, the phone might have switched off itself as this is a common problem in an iPhone. If the wall charger doesn’t work, use your laptop’s USB port.

- Dropped My iPhone: Connect it to iTunes

Another option is to connect your iPhone to iTunes using the charging cable. In the event that iTunes recognises your phone, back it up straight away. In some cases, this signifies a hardware problem such as a damaged screen, even though there are no physical signs of damage on the screen itself.

If iTunes displays an error message, try a hard reset while it is connected. If iTunes gives you the option of recovering your phone, go for it. If nothing happens, your iPhone has developed an internal fault.

In the case that your iPhone develops a hardware fault such as a cracked screen, the only solution is to get it replaced. If your phone is under warranty, Apple will replace it. Otherwise, you will need to go to an iPhone repair centre. In some situations, your iPhone could have soaked up water; maybe the football field was wet or maybe it was raining.

If that’s the case, then you can try a home remedy. Place your phone in a bag of rice or better yet, packets of silica gel. Leave it overnight and try powering your iPhone the next day. Rice or silica gel is good at absorbing moisture; silica gel being the better bet as it is a better drying agent.

Remember, it's always a great idea to get your phone covered for situations like this. Check out our phone insurance.

Row.co.uk Blog