Most money advice talks about side hustles, effort, strategy, time and commitment. But sometimes you just want something simple. Something that earns while you carry on with life. Something that feels effortless.

That’s where this idea comes in. You’re looking for ways to make money doing nothing. Not tasks. Not selling. Not showing up. Just set it up once and get paid with no ongoing effort.

There aren’t endless options. But there are a handful of clever tools, systems and setups in the UK that work quietly in the background. Some cost nothing to use. Others involve investment or equipment. But once you’re set up, the day-to-day earning requires absolutely nothing from you.

Let’s go through them.

Cashback cards and linked reward accounts

This is one of the easiest ways to make money doing nothing. You choose a credit or debit card linked to a rewards system and then carry on buying the things you’d normally buy. You don’t change your habits. You don’t need to activate offers each time. You don’t need to remember anything.

You just spend as usual and earn points, cashback or discounts automatically.

The key here is discipline. Cashback only works if you’re already spending responsibly and paying off your balance in full. That way you’re genuinely earning money from nothing, rather than paying interest or buying things you don’t need.

For example, I use a Tesco Clubcard credit card to do all our daily spending, and even to pay some bills like our water bill and energy bill as these let me use a credit card to pay our bill on their websites. I manage all our day to day spending, so I keep tabs on what we’re spending, and pay back the credit card in full each month as we only use it to spend our usual monthly budget.  

We get Tesco Clubcard points without doing anything extra, wherever we shop, and I change these for double their value for restaurant vouchers, giving my family a couple of free meals out each year.  

It doesn’t have to be a points card like this though, even though I see it as free money - many banks also offer actual cashback cards which refund the cash onto your credit card, or add the cashback to your balance if it’s a debit card cashback account.

See what your bank offers, or whether it makes sense to switch banks to a cashback or rewards style card instead.

Oh, another perk we have is with Natwest where our main income is paid, and our direct debit and standing order bills are set, is a rewards account linked to our bill expenditure.  We pay £2 a month for this account, at the time of writing, and if we spend so much on household bills, we get a £5 reward each month. 

So really we get a £3 reward each month.  We don’t have to do anything special.  We just chose this account at one point a few years back, and we essentially get £3 of free cash per month for doing nothing.

Once set up, rewards build in the background with no extra effort.

If you don’t mind spending a bit more effort to get some free cash, then check out my huge list of free money offers in the UK!

And if you're wondering how you can take advantage of a credit card without getting into debt, if you have the discipline then read my article about smart ways to use a credit card where I share how we use them for their benefits.

Airtime Rewards

Airtime Rewards is a good example of true “earn while doing nothing.” You link your payment cards once. When you shop at participating UK retailers, cashback is automatically added to your Airtime Rewards balance. You don’t need to scan receipts or click a link. It just happens quietly in the background.

When the balance builds, you can use it to reduce or pay off your mobile phone bill. It’s passive and simple. Once your card is linked, you don’t need to do anything except let it run in the background.

It’s basically like automated cashback and some free money for shopping as you usually would at many popular UK High Street stores and big names.

Also, you can get £1.50 in free cash as a welcome bonus to get you started!  Simply download Airtime Rewards for free and enter my code FTT7WY7W for 50p free cash when you sign up, and get an extra £1 if you spend at one of their partnered retailers within 7 days.

Gener8

Gener8 lets you earn rewards just from browsing online. Instead of companies collecting your data for free, this browser extension lets you share it on your terms and earn points for doing nothing.

You install it. You browse the way you always do. And points slowly build. These can usually be traded for vouchers or certain products. The value varies, but it’s effortless once installed.

It’s not life-changing money, but it meets the brief: no extra work.

Check out Gener8 by clicking here.

Pawns and similar bandwidth-sharing apps

Some platforms let you share unused bandwidth from your devices in exchange for money. Once installed and running, it works in the background. Earnings vary depending on your location, your internet connection and how often your devices are on.

It’s important to read the privacy policy carefully so you’re comfortable. But in terms of effort, it’s as close to zero as it gets. Install once. Forget about it. Payments trickle in as long as the app is active.

Get up to $3 for free if you sign up to Pawns.app using my exclusive link

Make money online doing nothing with passive browsing extensions

Some UK browser extensions automatically find cashback or discount codes when you shop online. They sit quietly in the background. You carry on browsing and shopping normally. When you buy something, savings or cashback appear without needing to manually search.

It’s pretty much automatic as you never need to remember anything.  Just click to activate the cashback with one click of a button without leaving the website you’re shopping on, and free cashback will be added to your account if you purchase something on that website.

While I use a lot of cashback websites and apps in the UK, the three I use with browser extensions that help me earn cashback with virtually no extra effort, aside from one mouse click, are:

1. TopCashback: My longstanding favourite cashback website which often has the highest cashback offers of the lot. Click here to sign up to Top Cashback today!

2. Quidco: Another firm favourite of mine that sometimes has cashback offers not available on others. Click here to sign up to Quidco today!

3. Budgey (recently changed its name from Widilo): This one has a higher minimum payout threshold, but sometimes has offers not found on the others. Click here to sign up to Budgey today!

Are you new to these sorts of cashback apps and websites and don’t understand how they work?  Check out my helpful article about how to get cashback on your everyday purchases to learn more.

Dividends from investing

This one isn’t free, and it’s never a guarantee. But once set up correctly, dividend-paying investments can provide income with zero involvement.

The idea is simple. You buy shares or funds that pay dividends. Then each time the company shares profits, you receive a payment without needing to do anything.

Many UK platforms also allow automatic reinvestment. So instead of logging in, checking markets and making choices, everything compounds quietly.

Of course, investments come with risk, and values can go down as well as up. But if we’re talking about long-term “earn money doing nothing” strategies, dividends are one of the purest examples.

There are many platforms available for this type of investment, but I personally use Trading212 which is very user friendly and has a great community for support and knowledge.

Interest from savings accounts

Saving money isn’t exciting, but earning interest from it can be.

High-interest savings accounts, easy access accounts and some Premium Bonds alternatives pay interest or rewards just for keeping money there. After setup, nothing else is required from you.

It’s not a hustle. It’s not a job. It’s simply letting your savings work without lifting a finger.

Rent out a parking space

If you live somewhere with limited parking and you have a driveway or spare space, renting it can become a passive earner.

Once you list it, set availability and accept your chosen system’s terms, income can come in monthly without you doing anything. The buyer parks. The app handles the rest.

If there’s no key handover, no coordination, and no maintenance, then it’s truly passive.

Car wrap advertising

Some companies pay drivers to display adverts on their cars. Once the wrap is applied, you just drive normally. You're already using the car. You don’t change routes or add effort. Over time, you get paid simply for being visible.

It requires upfront signup and agreement, but once it’s in place, the income comes in without any extra steps until it’s time to have the advert removed or changed.

You obviously have to be happy with having your car completely covered in company branding or an advert for this one!

Solar panels generating income

Solar panels cost money upfront, but once installed, they generate ongoing benefits. You can save money on energy bills as well as get paid for exporting surplus electricity back to the grid, depending on your setup.

There is no work involved once fitted. The system runs independently.

This falls into the category of “ongoing return from an investment.” Not everyone will want or need it, but it’s one of the few ways to literally get paid while doing nothing.  But obviously it comes with a large upfront cost and is a longterm investment.

We have solar panels and literally have no energy bills all summer, and reduced bills in the winter.  In the summer, we generate more than enough energy so we cover our electric bill.  We leave the extra money we earn from the solar panels on our account which then covers our gas bill for the summer!  Bonus!

In our old home, we were sent a cheque every three months for our surplus solar panel electricity.

At the moment we use Octopus Energy and sell our energy back to them as they paid us the highest amount at the time we got the solar panels.  We also use them as our energy supplier.  You can read why we like Octopus and how to get £50 credit if you switch with my referral link in this blog post.

So, can you actually get rich doing nothing?

For most of these, the income is small and steady rather than huge. You’re not going to earn a full-time income from cashback, bandwidth sharing or browsing extensions. But you can earn something. And for many people, “something for doing nothing” still feels satisfying.

The bigger earners come from investments, property and renewable energy. Those require money upfront. But if you want long-term extra income without any ongoing effort, they’re worth considering.

Final thoughts

Making money without doing anything sounds like a fantasy. But there are real ways to earn passively once everything is set up. Some are free. Some require investment. But all of them share the same benefit: no ongoing work.

If you’re looking for ways to make money doing nothing, start with the free and simple options, then build up to the investment-based ones when you’re ready.

Small steps can turn into long-term gains with zero additional effort.

 

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Quick article roundup:

Making money doing nothing means setting something up once and letting income flow without ongoing work. In the UK, options include cashback cards, Airtime Rewards, passive browsing apps, dividends, savings interest, car ad wraps and renting out parking spaces. After setup, they earn automatically with no extra effort.

Extra reading:

I’ve tried many ways to make money from home and online since 2012.  I share 60 ways I’ve made money online and at home if you’re interested in side hustles and extra pocket money!

Did you know you can make money from your paper shopping receipts?  That's right!  Learn how to make free money from you receipts in my article explaining all.