With the holiday season fast approaching, many are left wondering how they’re going to make ends meet this year
Even the most frugal person can find themselves with empty pockets once the list of presents starts to add up. And if you already have a demanding schedule, getting a second job to cover the season’s expenses likely isn’t an option.
Thankfully iPhone users in such situations now have more options than ever for earning cash, saving them a second job doing seasonal work at department stores and working overtime on the graveyard shift.
All you need is your phone and these apps, which can help you bring in a few extra bucks before Timmy can finish filling out his letter to Santa.
For the Constant Shopper
Remember the The Nielsen Families who were paid to give information on their television viewing 
habits? It’s likely you haven’t heard the name in some time, but now the company is taking a modern approach to obtaining data on the shopping habits of consumers through the Nielsen Homescan app.
When you sign up for the program online, the company will send you a scanning device that you can attach to your iPhone. Users then scan the products they purchase at grocery stores after every trip. The information is uploaded to the app and sent to the company.
Participants earn gift points that can be redeemed for a variety of merchandise of their choosing, a lot of which would make great gifts.
For the Sports Fan
ESPN’s Streak for the Cash is a pretty straightforward way to potentially earn you a hefty amount 
of cash.
To play, users select their predictions of winners for a variety of upcoming sporting events. At the end of each month, the participant with the longest streak in selected wins, or with the most amount of correct guesses, gets $50,000.
The app allows you to make your selections the moment a new game or match is posted. Also, with the “Leaderboard” feature, you can keep an up-to-date account of your standings in the contest compared to other participants.
For the Opinionated
The Penny Hoarder said that the i-Say mobile app is “one of the only legitimate paid survey apps 
out there.”
Its also from a familiar name, as it’s part of the Ipsos company that regularly does the polling around political races.
Users can earn a few bucks in just a couple minutes by giving opinions on ads, products, and companies. You also earn points for each survey, and they are redeemable via PayPal, Amazon or iTunes gift cards among other retailers.
For the Fun Seeker
When thinking about ways to earn some extra cash, “fun” isn’t exactly a word you would use to 
describe your options. While you can potentially earn money using the other apps presented on this list, they aren’t likely to be very entertaining.
But if you consider yourself fairly good at games of chance, you can earn extra cash by downloading bingo app at Betfair.
The controls for bingo are usually easier to manage on smaller screens than those of table games, where every tap of your finger is critical.
Your grandma probably plays bingo at the senior center once a week to try and earn some cash, and now you can too! It’s just in a way that’s more suiting to the 21st century. And who hasn’t wished that they could make money by playing games?
For Those Needing Beer Money
So there’s no rule that you have to put the money towards your weekend beer fund, but Reddit’s DrinkingDollars was created with that precise idea in mind and easy ways for college kids to earn a 
few extra dollars for beer.
The section posts quick and relatively easy-to-complete online jobs or tasks as they become available. Postings run the gamut between field work and surveys to research and transcription jobs.
You can download Reddit’s Alien Blue app and alter the settings so that you are immediately alerted whenever a new job is posted, many of which can be completed directly from you phone.
Payment for each job is different, so make sure that the jobs you take on use a secure medium that you’re comfortable with, such as PayPal.
You can come across a hundreds of get-rich-quick schemes a day, while the number of legitimate sources are few and far between.
These apps probably won’t lead you to being featured on Lifestyles of the Rich and the Famous, but choosing one that fits you best can certainly add a little jingle to your pocket this holiday season.
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