4 Creative Ways to Use the Internet to Pay off Debt

Finnegan Pierson

Being in debt could be holding you back from becoming financially independent, and paying it off might be taking longer than you expected. Loan payments can often feel like kicking a can down a road, with no end in sight. But making passive income can be a great way to speed up your journey to freedom, and the internet is here to help you do it.

1. Cryptocurrency Investments

It's almost impossible to engage online without hearing about cryptocurrency in one of its forms at some point. And that's for a good reason - cryptocurrency is promising to become one of the biggest tech innovations of this century. It's a "decentralized" form of currency, meaning that it isn't held by a bank or governmental institution. Since various retailers and some entire countries have started to accept forms of cryptocurrency as payment, it's now a practical part of some people's everyday lives. 

As far as paying off student loans goes, cryptocurrency can make a lucrative investment option. If done with the proper care and research, investments are an excellent way to create a stream of passive income. All you really need to start investing is an app on your phone and some starting funds. As with all investments, cryptocurrency comes with some risks, and may not be a good option for those living paycheck to paycheck. However, it is an up-and-coming investment option that also lets you participate in an exciting movement. 

2. Buying and Selling Gold

While buying and selling gold is a long game that may not be helpful for your upcoming loan payments, it can be a really great long-term plan for financial freedom. This is because gold, unlike other forms of currency, doesn't fluctuate with every movement of the economy. Like money in the bank, gold increases its own value over time and gives its owner a sense of security. Various companies allow gold owners to buy and sell on their platforms, making it easy to invest in a certain amount and sell over time, as needed. 

3. Side Gigs

Anyone with marketable skills, such as programming and copywriting, can make extra money through side gigs. Websites like UpWork make it easy for skilled workers to create gigs that others can hire them for. You have total control over your rates, so you may be able to make more through side gigs than you do through your day job. Although it can be difficult to get noticed on such platforms, as long as it isn't your main source of revenue it's worth a shot to put yourself out there. Plus, you'll be able to add more projects to your resume in case you ever need to look for work.

4. Product Promotion

If you have a decent number of followers on social media or think you have the potential to gain more, you might want to look into affiliate marketing as an opportunity for more income. The concept is simple: you reach out to brands with your profile statistics as your resume and request an affiliate link. If the brand agrees to your offer, you'll post to your profile with links to their website. Arrangements will differ, but usually, you'll gain a small amount of revenue for every click the website gets via your profile.

Blogs can also be a great place for affiliate marketing. If your followers trust your opinions and like what you've told them about in the past, you can quickly attract more marketing opportunities. This approach to passive income isn't so passive, as it requires a lot of initial work and consistent strategy to pull off successfully. But if you do manage to make it work for you, it can be as easy as posting about your favorite things every day. Thanks to the internet, there are so many interesting ways to make extra cash and pay off your loans a lot more quickly.