44 ideas to make extra money

Make extra cash

1. Rent our your spare room

 

If you’ve got an empty bedroom, why not take in a lodger? You can earn up to £4,250 tax-free income on your spare room, and with a summer of sport including Wimbledon and The Ashes coming up, there’s never been a better time to advertise your room. Check out SpareRoom, Gumtree and Easyroommate to advertise your room for free.

2. Save £££ with Direct Debit

Switch your utility bills to being paid by Direct Debit – it could save you over £300 a year. Npower, for example, is giving its customers who switch to Direct Debit an annual discount of up to £100. Just make sure you still regularly check your bills – and make sure you’re with the best-value energy supplier to start with (use our simple energy comparison tool to quickly check whether you’re on the best deal).

3. Sell unwanted DVDs and CDs

Make some extra cash selling your old, unwanted DVDs, CDs, games, books and tickets on websites like Play.com, Amazon.co.uk, eBay and MusicMagpie. In fact, why not de-clutter your whole house and sell everything you no longer need?!


4. Make cash from your driveway

If you don’t use your garage or driveway you could rent it out for money – particularly if you are in London or another parking-unfriendly city. Just register with a site like ParkatmyHouse, put your postcode in and wait for desperate would-be parkers to contact you.
For more details read our full article on making money renting out your driveway or garage.

5. NHS secretaries – make money transcribing

If you’re a medical secretary you can make extra money by transcribing medical notes in your spare time. Companies, such as DICT8, will pay you to write up medical notes and the best bit is that you don’t even have to leave your own home, as they’ll send all the information you need to your computer. You can do as much or as little as you want, and you’re paid on a ‘per line’ basis.

6. Have your true story published

Sell true-life stories to newspapers and magazines can be fairly lucrative, you can earn between £200 and £2,000 depending on the story. Take a Break magazine offers up to £1,000 for sensational stories, so if you’ve got something to say don’t hold back!
Check out our full article on how to sell your story.

7. Take part in clinical trials

Did you know you can make up to £4,000 taking part in clinical trials? Volunteering for clinical trials doesn’t have to involve taking risky drugs. Many trials are perfectly safe – some are simply sleep studies or psychological tests. The exact nature of the trial (along with any possible risk of side effects) will be clearly explained so you can make an informed decision.
If you’re in any doubt about any aspect of the trial, ask. If you’re still not convinced, don’t sign up for anything you’re not happy with – risking your health or your peace of mind for a bit of extra cash isn’t worth it. See GPGP.net, Trials4us and GlaxoSmithKlein to find trials in your area, and check out The British Medical Association for more information on clinical trials.

Get paid for your opinion

8. Fill out surveys

Online surveys are a great way to make some extra cash or store vouchers. Never pay to join an online survey site and set up a separate email account so your personal one doesn’t get flooded with spam.
Survey sites we recommend include:

 
9. Review products for money

If you have some free time, Ciao.co.uk will pay you £3 for each review you write. Find out more about Ciao.co.uk.

10. Mystery shopping

Mystery shopping is a fun way to earn some extra money while shopping, or testing services at local restaurants and pubs. Sounds like a dream job! TNS is looking for new shoppers nationwide to assess a variety of different businesses such as shops and restaurants. Read our essential article about mystery shopping for more useful links and information.

11. Proofread

It can be very boring to read pile of unedited work; however the pay is decent at £10 an hour for a novice and up to £30 an hour for someone with qualifications. Look at the home working directory and go through the companies that are looking for proofreaders.
 

 Make money online

12. Get cash for your ink cartridges
 
 The Recycling Factory will pay up to £4.10 per empty cartridge, whilst Cash for Cartridges will pay as much as £4.50 a time. You’ll be doing your bit for recycling, while making a tidy sum into the bargain! If you can collect your friend’s and family’s unwanted cartridges, you can make even more.
Also find out what your employer’s policy is towards used ink cartridges. Many needlessly throw hundreds away each year – so why not take them off their hands? Read our article – make money recycling your old gadgets.

13. Grab freebies and discounts

Websites like Gumtree and Freecycle have loads of adverts for free things – quite often they might need repairing or doing up, but you could find a real bargain. For group discounts and deals check out great sites like Groupon, Mighty Deals, Groupola and Wowcher.co.uk.
Take a look at our regularly updated article on freebies, discounts and vouchers for more great bargains.

14. Join Twitter

OK, so just joining Twitter won’t make you a millionaire – but it is a fantastic, quick paced forum for picking up little extra  jobs to make money on the side. Try @extrapeopleltd who tweet ads for lookalikes and extras or go to TwitJobSearch, type in what work you want to do and see how many tweets pop up!

15. Post your skills for free

Want to do some babysitting in your area, or cleaning, or if you’re good at DIY and could put up other people’s shelves? Post yourself and your skills on Gumtree for free. It’s an online forum that anyone can advertise on. If you need someone to mend your computer or cut your lawn for you, you can go onto the site and find someone who can do it for you.

16. Make money blogging

There are occasionally websites seeking bloggers to write daily posts, reviews and adding links. It won’t pay really well but it can be a useful little earner for little effort – particularly if you already enjoy writing your own blog. Check on Gumtree under both the part-time work and the media, design and creative tabs.

  Jobs for students

17. Get paid to party

Become a consultant for The Body Shop. The Body Shop recruits people to sell their products at special beauty parties in people’s homes. If the party goes well, you could earn over £100 in just one evening as well as receive lots of beauty products for free. What’s more, as you get to decide when you want to host these evenings, you can work as little or often as you like.

18. Promote clubs

Like clubbing? Do you have lots of friends? Make money by bringing them into clubs. Go to Velvet PR for free. Tell them where you live and they’ll let you know which clubs need promoting.

19. Get paid to buy alcohol

Are you 18 or 19 years old? Looking for a well-paid part-time job? How about getting paid to go to the pub?  Plus you get to keep the drink! All you have to do is have a valid passport or driving licence and right to work in the UK. Head to Serve Legal to find out more.

20. Festival staff

Festaff supplies casual staff for over a dozen music festivals in the UK including Bestival, Creamfields, Wickerman, Camp Bestival, Isle of Wight Festival, Sonispshere, Rockness and Beachdown. This work is seasonal, they’re always recruiting, so if you fancy going to a festival next year for free keep an eye on Festaff for recruitment opportunities. Pay is minimum wage – but you do get free entrance to the festival and camp facilities.


21. Work at events

Promo Agency provides a directory of promotional staffing agencies for you to get in touch with and get work for anything from marketing campaigning to modeling or waiting on tables. If you’re a student and want to get some bar experience whilst earning money, or if you’re just looking for a convenient part time job, sign up with 247 recruit and work at trendy events like the Sonisphere Festival, T4 on the beach and many more! The pay is £6.65 – £7.65 plus lunch and uniform and you can choose which events you do so it’s nice and flexible. Visit 247 recruit to search for part time or full time work . There’s also plenty of opportunities for promotion once you start.

22. Become a life model

If you’re comfortable with nudity, you could make good money as a life model. Pay depends on where you are in the country, but you could earn between £8 and £10 an hour. Take a look at our article on how to make money as a life model for details of how to get started.

 
23. Distribute free papers
Earn yourself as much as £10 an hour handing out the Evening Standard, or The Metro (which is distributed all over the UK). Apply to The Network and find out more about getting paid to deliver.

24. Get paid to review music

If you’re a music fan, you can sign up to the unique Slicethepie website for free and become a scout. This basically involves getting paid to listen to the music of unsigned bands from all over the world and review it. Obviously, your reviews have to be competent and fairly well informed, but need only be a few sentences long.
Initially you won’t make much, but as you get a better scout rating (i.e. the more reviews you make, and the more they agree with the majority of reviewers) you can make more and more.


25. Be a pedicab driver

Driving a pedicab/bug/rickshaw is a great way to stay in shape, meet loads of people and offer emission free transport to London’s visitors. The Bugbugs Community offers training with an accredited National Cycling Certificate awarded. The cost of training is £50, with a £100 deposit required for the duration of your employment, you keep everything you earn, so the harder you work, the more you make.
To find hundreds of job opportunities, as well as all the best offers and discounts for students, check out Studentbeans.com.

 Get creative
26. Sell your photos

You don’t have to be a pro to sell your photos. Nor do you need to albums full of dramatic shots. If you have a library of decent, ordinary digital snaps – you may be able to sell them through online agencies like 123RF, Fotolia and Picture Nation. You’ll get a royalty fee each time a picture of yours sells. You’d be surprised at how many websites and businesses will be interested in using your pics – and are willing to pay for the privilege.


27. Make money from your creativity

If you’re good at arts and crafts, there’s a big market out there for your talents. Sites like Coriandr, Folksy and NotMassProduced.com are crying out for people like you to sell their handmade goods online. These sites normally take a small commission of any sale you make (usually around 2-3%), but in return give you a ‘virtual shop’ for your goods. You could set up your own blog and sell your goods online, of course, but this is an easier route if you’re not web savvy. Plus, these sites attract a lot more customers than you would do if you set up a site on your own. Definitely worth a look!

28. Sell cards

To make a bit of money on the side you could start up your own card business. Starting up your own business sounds like a lot of work, but with Phoenix Trading it doesn’t have to be. To start off you simply order an Introductory Pack, which contains an application form which you then fill in and return along with your first order for cards.


29. Work as an extra

Want to be in a movie with your favourite celebrity? Always thought it would be fun to see your face on the big screen? Acting extras are ordinary people that are essential to setting up scenes in films or television shows. You can earn £65 for 9 hours of work, with a £20 bonus… not to mention the bragging rights if you are in the same shot, even momentarily, with lead actors. The Acting Website offers loads of information on how to become an extra, and you can see a directory of extra’s agents on UK Screen.


30. Create web pages

One of the most popular sites in the US is Squidoo. It is a site where people create a lens (their own webpage) on their favourite topic. The site then makes money from advertisers and links. It then pays 5% of its profits to charity, retains 45% to cover its admin costs, which leaves 50% of the profits for the writer or the charity of their choice. So get started writing about any of your favourite topics, it is free to set up and you can start earning some royalties.

31. Write travel guides

Get paid to write travel guides at SimonSeeks. They are looking for intelligent, well-written and grammatically correct guides of holiday destinations. Register and upload your guide, await approval from the site’s editorial team, and get paid based on its popularity.

32. Write a story

If you’re a budding writer, you could try your hand at writing a short story for Clonepod, who produce science fiction and fantasy podcasts from work its users send in. They’ll pay you $25 through PayPal for a 2,000 word story that they like, and they don’t ask for any rights to the work at all – which is great if you want to try selling the story over and over again. Go to the Clonepod website to find out more.

33. Become a voice-over artist

Get paid around £50 an hour using your voice. Subscribe with Voices.com, upload a sample of your voice and quickly and easily apply for voice-over jobs. (You may find that you get head hunted if you have a distinctive voice!) If you are successful, you will be on your way to recording and cash!

Earn money helping others

34. Host and teach foreign students

Can you teach English language? If you have time on your hands and a spare room, you could host a foreign student in your own home and earn extra money giving them tuition. People needed around the country. To host and teach English in your home visit the In Tuition Languages website. You could also rent your spare room out to a foreign student and get a bit of culture at the same time. For more useful information have a look at our article on hosting foreign students.


35. Become a nanny

If you’re looking for some part time nanny work, you can just be an after school nanny so it doesn’t take up your whole day. You’d be responsible for picking up the children from school at around 3pm and then taking them home and looking after them until their parents get home from work. The job involves supervising homework and playtime, preparing tea and ferrying the children around to any after-school activities they take part in. After-school nannies have to have at least 2 years of childcare experience, but no formal qualifications or age limits apply. For more information have a look at the After School Nannies website.
Check out our articles for more information childminding.

36. Become a personal tutor
If you’re a graduate, and eligible to work in the UK you could earn extra cash as a home tutor for a range of subjects and levels, usually on a one-to-one basis at the clients’ home. See London’s Learning website for details on tutoring in London or agencies like Personal Tutors for more information on nationwide tutoring.


37. Become a dog walker

If you’d like to combine your love of the outdoors and animals then dog walking can be a great way to earn some extra money too! Earnings range from £6 to £10 per half hour. Register your self as a dog walking company at Petpals. For more information read our article on how to make money from dog walking.

38. Earn money for yourself and for charity

Become a charity fundraiser and do your bit for good causes whilst you earn! Charities are constantly on the lookout for people to stand on the street and persuade passers-by to pay monthly amounts to their cause. You can earn between £8.50 and £11 an hour, on average, and the work is flexible. It involves being outside and meeting people, of course, but you could get a lot of abuse from pedestrians. There are several commercial organisations that run campaigns but they keep a percentage of the money raised. Better to work direct for the charity if you would like to do this. Just a few of the organisations looking for fundraisers directly are Shelter and Concern.

39. Make money referring friends to jobs

There are more and more companies offering to pay you to refer your friends. The website Refermehappy has a load of companies that do it, and you can join as either a ‘referrer’ or a ‘friend’ and you both get a referral bonus from the company. Plus, we’ve got loads more companies to look out for in our article on referring friends.

Make money part time

40. Become a ‘virtual assistant’

If you’ve got secretarial experience, you could work for small businesses – from the comfort of your own home! Experienced virtual assistants charge up to £25 an hour, visit societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk.


41. Get paid to iron

By doing other people’s washing and ironing you can make cash when it suits you, whilst catching up with the EastEnders omnibus! Bring in customers by putting an advert in the local paper, handing out leaflets in your local area or, for more professional advice, check out Mark & Sue’s Ironing Service. If you want to start up your own ironing service business you can buy a starter kit for £175 (which includes your own website, flyers, business cards, and the like). This is quite a comprehensive kit but you could probably do it cheaper yourself – see our article on how to make money by running an ironing service.

42. Earn and get free accommodation
Check out the job opportunities at Mrs Hunt’s agency for cleaning and household opportunities all over the country. Probably best for those of a practical nature and most of the time accommodation is included.


43. Use your Slivers of Time to work locally
A new government-backed website called Slivers of Time can match people with just a few hours to spare here and there with local work that’s just part-time. You just register with the site, get a calendar and then when you’ve got a few hours to spare coming up, put your free time on the calendar. Then these spare hours are sent to local agencies and businesses like call centres, catering companies, retail outlets and distribution centres who regularly have part time vacancies.

44. Find new jobs every day
The Jobs Group website has new jobs coming in all the time. Check it out and sign up for as wide a variety of occupations as you think you might be able to fulfil. If you want to keep your identity private then you can create a new email address on Gmail for example (this is free, of course). If they ask for a CV up front then upload a blank word or text document.

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