There are scores of legal and legit ways to add to your income,
whether selling stuff, working from home or going online. After all, no
matter how good a MoneySaver you are, a bit more money's always useful.
Too many of us let cash languish in accounts or in products paying
rotten returns. Shake off this laziness and make your money work harder,
plus hunt down any forgotten funds or concealed cash. You may be amazed
at what you find.
Give yourself a 25% pay rise
There's nowt more powerful than sorting out your own
finances. By shifting to the best deal on every product, you can give
yourself a 25% pay rise, without cutting back. Before anything else,
this is the most important starting point.How much? The average UK family could gain £2,500 to £5,000 a year doing this.
How do I do it? Use the step-by-step Money Makeover guide.
Get paid every time you spend
Cashback credit cards pay you back a proportion of what you spend each time you use them.Set up a direct debit to pay the card off in full each month, so there's no interest cost, and you can earn £100s/year. Just use the card for all your normal spending.
How much? The top cards pay 5% cashback
for the first three months. It's also possible to get 3% for
petrol/transport and 1% for supermarkets. How do I do it? For updated best buys, see the Top Cashback Cards guide.
Don't accept pitiful savings rates
Make sure you're getting the most out of your savings.
Too many people leave their savings in pitiful high street bank accounts
where former best buy rates have dropped massively.Even worse, you may have it in a current account earning just 0.1%. Stop! Five minutes' work will let you increase the interest massively.
How much? For every £5,000 you have in a top easy access savings account, as a basic rate taxpayer you'd earn at least £41 a year more than in a poor account - potentially much more if you're able to tuck it away for a couple of years.
How do I do it? See the Top Savings Accounts, Starting Saving and Best Bank Accounts.
Pay off debts with savings
Most people who try to save while they're in debt are simply throwing their money away. The amount you pay in interest to borrow is much more than you earn on your savings, so pay the debt off with savings and you're quids in.
How much? Someone with £5,000 on a
credit card and £5,000 saved is likely to be around £800 a year better
off by paying off the debt with the savings.Get the benefits/state pension you're entitled to
There's a plethora of benefits available - the key is working out whether you're entitled to them. The rather nifty tool from benefits specialists Entitledto in our Benefits Checkup guide does the work for you. Its regularly-updated calculator works out everything you can get.Plus it may be possible to get more in your retirement by purchasing extra National Insurance Contributions (NICs), though there are drawbacks. Read the full State Pension Boosting guide.
How much? If you've a family income under £42,000 it's worth checking. But in rare cases families with £72,000 can qualify, as you could get any of these: working tax credit; housing benefit; council tax support; pension credit; child benefit and child tax credit. By boosting your state pension, you could end up £1,000s better off.
Use your credit rating to stooze
Many credit card companies are willing to lend you money at 0% interest, so why not use this cash for everyday spending, replacing all other credit & debit card spending?This means you'll now have debts on your 0% card (make sure you make the min repayment each month) and a similar amount in your current account, which you can save in an ISA or high interest savings account.
Pay off the full balance before the 0% ends, having earned interest on the money saved. This is known as stoozing. It's legal and can be profitable, yet it's only for the really financially-savvy.
How much? This depends on what you'd normally spend. It's this amount that will be gaining interest in a top savings account, but if you stoozed £5,000 in a top rate ISA, you'd earn around £77 over the year.
How do I do it? Use the step-by-step Stoozing: Make Free Cash guide.
Flog what you've got - declutter and sell it!
Whenever you finish using something, whether it's kids' clothes they've grown out of or an embarrassing old CD... flog it!Remember, if the buyer needs you to send items via registered or special delivery, this is an additional cost to take into account when calculating if it's worth it. Some sites also require a minimum number of items or overall trade-in value, so check these first.
Flog on eBay for best prices
If you've got it, and don't need it, flog it. Selling on eBay* usually pays best, yet to really get the eBay cash rolling in, you neeed to know the etiquette and shortcuts.
Our 40+ eBay Selling Tricks
guide offers a crash course, including tips on getting the best prices
and cutting eBay fees by using no-charge listing weekends. Plus there
are tools to create multiple listings in advance and bulk-upload
them, and lots more. How much? Dedicated sellers make £100s on the side.
Got an eBay question? Join eBay nerds in the eBay and Auctions forum board.
Flog old handsets, iPods, cameras & more
eBay usually pays best, yet if you want speed and ease, there's a whole industry set up to help. If you've unwanted gadgets, such as mobiles, cameras or MP3 players lying around the house, several firms will happily take 'em off your hands.Not only could this bag you £100s but, by not throwing it out with the rubbish, you'll also be doing your bit for the environment.
How do gadget-buying companies work? The idea is simple. You go to the website, find your gadget and it'll tell you what you can get for it. If you agree, it'll send you a freepost bag or label. You then send the gadget to it (make sure you send it registered) and the cash will be transferred or you'll receive a cheque. Some sites even arrange free collection for heavy items.
Mobiles
How much? It depends on the phone and
demand, but some of the higher-end handsets will easily net up to £200
- more for some models. It only takes five minutes to check out what
yours is worth. How do I do it? Use MSE's MobileValuer tool to quickly find the top payer.
iPods
How much? From £30 to £160, depending on your model. How do I do it? Do an iPod selling comparison on MobileValuer.
Cameras, other MP3s, sat navs, games consoles
How much? Again, as a rough guide,
cameras tend to get £3-£15 (some of the snazzier models can fetch more),
sat navs up to about £20 and games consoles up to about £40. It really
depends on the make and model though, as prices vary widely. How do I do it? Use the MobileValuer - just select the type of item you've got from the list along the top of the page.
Laptops
How much? It varies, but generally you can get up to about £80 for an old laptop in top condition.How do I do it? There aren't many recycling sites that include laptops, although there are a few listed in MobileValuer.
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Quicker cash for old CDs, DVDs & more
Several sites let you quickly trade in old CDs, DVDs,
computer games and Blu-rays for cash. The sites are easy to use and
give instant quotes, so if you've got loads to get rid of, you could
speedily make a bit extra. Also see how to get max cash for old books. How do I do it? Type in the barcode, ISBN or product name on the site to get an instant valuation. Each site is different, and some offer more for certain items than others, so always compare a few. Some also have a minimum number of items you need to trade in, or a minimum overall value needed, so you may need a few to sell.
Once you've compared and found the top payer, you simply accept the valuations and send your stuff to the them. Postage is usually free, but always check. Always ensure items are packed well, as, in most cases, any that fail basic quality checks will not be sent back to you.
You'll then get paid, either by cheque, bank transfer, vouchers or store credit, depending which service you've used. All these companies aim to send payment for accepted items within about seven or eight days of receiving them, though forumites' feedback suggests it can be longer.
How much? The amount you'll make depends on what you're flogging. As a rough guide, you'll generally get up to about £1 for CDs, £1.50 for DVDs and £15 for computer games, though it can be a lot less. Where these websites win is convenience.
The top trade-in sites. This table shows the main players, and what you can trade in with each. They have been chosen based on feedback from the forum. If you've had a positive or negative experience with any of these, please post in the individual forum threads.
Remember there's no protection if things go wrong or a site goes bust. We don't check companies' solvency.
| Blu-rays | Books | CDs | DVDs | Games | What's feedback like? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Music Magpie* | Music Magpie is well-established and feedback's reasonable, though prices aren't always top. Please feed back your views. | |||||
| Amazon Trade-in* | Amazon is an established player, but prices aren't always best. Please feed back. | |||||
| WeBuyBooks | Forumites' fave WeBuyBooks.co.uk can be the top payer for books, and some DVDs and CDs. Please feed back your experiences. | |||||
| CeX | CeX has been trading for 20 years, and offers cash or store credit for trade-ins. Please feed back what you thought. | |||||
| GameXchange | GameXchange is generally best for retro games (postage isn't free). Please feed back. | |||||
| Momox | Forumites rate Momox for trading in books, though CDs/DVDs aren't so well paid. Please feed back what you thought. |
Get max cash for old books
Listing books one-by-one on eBay* may get the most cash, but it'll take some time. One of the best options for selling old books is Amazon Marketplace*, as you need only search for the book and write a short description. Your listing stays up till it sells.Amazon provides full reviews of most from its database - if you're listing a few in one go, this saves time. It automatically adds 47p for delivery, so ensure your sale price covers postage if it's a heavy tome. If you're a professional seller then you will have to pay £25 a month, but if you're just selling a few items it's 75p per item. For books Amazon then charges 15% on top as a fee. (It's different for other items, for a full list see Amazon fees.)
Also popular with MoneySavers is online second-hand bookshop Green Metropolis, which is especially good for old paperbacks. All books cost £3.75, of which the site pays sellers £3. The £3 must cover your postage costs too, though you can add an extra fee for heavy books.
Use trade-in sites for less hassle. If you need speed and ease, trade-in websites let you enter details, they offer a price, and you post goods free. For books, two of the best are WeBuyBooks.co.uk and Amazon Trade-In*. Prices can be lower than selling them yourself and you get credit instead of cash if using Amazon.
For more on how Amazon Trade-In prices compare with other methods, see the Amazon Trade-In launches MSE news story. See the Quicker cash for old CDs, DVDs & more section for a full list of trade-in sites.
How much? Potentially £100s if you're selling pricey textbooks, less if it's old paperbacks.
Find out more: See the forum's Sell Your Books thread.
Spot & flog from car boot/garage sales
If you've an eye for car booty, buy items cheaply and sell them at a profit on eBay or other auction sites. Be sure to arrive early to beat other bargain hunters. You can use Car Boot Junction or Carbootsales.org to find your nearest car boot sale.
The big money lies in spotting collectables to sell
on, so research online first or (subtly) use your mobile phone's web
browser. There's a quick way to glean a product's market value on eBay*. Fill in the search box and tick 'completed listings' on the left-hand grey bar. It'll come up with a list of prices similar auctions have already fetched. Then sort by "Price: lowest first". If the price is red, it means no one bought it. Green means it sold.
How much? The earning potential increases with your knowledge of rare items and collectable brands, and a little luck doesn't go amiss either. If you're in the right place at the right time, this could net you £100s extra a year.
Find out more: Read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add yours in the Spot & flog on eBay thread. More hints are in the eBay, Auctions, Car Boot & Jumble Sales board.
Flog old gold
“Sell unwanted gold for CASH!” TV, mags and billboard
ads pulse with promises, yet rarely seem to live up to them.However, amid the scrap are shining examples – meaning £6 per 9ct stud earrings and £60 per 18ct gold ring is possible.
How much? Do it the right way and, depending on how much bling you unearth, it's possible to make jaw-dropping sums, as MoneySaver Goochie did.
I sent off 32g of gold (old broken earrings and chains that I haven't worn for 20+ years) and 35g of silver yesterday afternoon by special delivery (by 1pm), and got £272!
- Goochie
Sell your story
Journalists are always looking for dramatic stories. If you've been in an extreme situation, come close to death or have any other gripping or extraordinary tales to tell about your life, why not get paid and have it published? Even amusing photos can earn good cash prizes in some magazines.
Many magazines pay a premium for interesting letters and photos. Love It! magazine pays £100 if your printed pic wins its Cute Wars comp (email cute@loveitmagazine.co.uk). Woman's Own's Smart Shopper page pays £20 for every money saving reader tip that it uses. (Email womansown@timeinc.com). Love It! also pays out £50 for shameful holiday snaps (dodgy sunburn, tanning disasters) that win its You’ve Been Shamed category (email shamed@loveitmagazine.co.uk). Love It! doesn’t pay for every printed pic.
How much? A 'star letter' will usually fetch at least £20 in magazines. If you go direct to Love It! rather than through a press agency, you can earn from £100 up to £2,000, depending on the article's length.
Recycle old printer cartridges for cash
Printer cartridges are expensive, sometimes even more
costly than the printers themselves. So, next time one runs out, offset
the cost of a new one by recycling the empty one for cash, or Tesco
Clubcard points.There are lots of recycling sites out there, so do a bit of research to find out which are the best payers for your cartridges - some pay as much as £3 per cartridge (eg for a Canon PG 540 XL). Try Cash For Cartridges, Recycle Ink Cartridges and Infotone.
Though some recycling sites will take your empty cartridges, they may only pay for certain ones, so check feedback and compare prices. There are lots of suggestions in the forum.
Alternatively, recycle the empty cartridges with Tesco and earn up to 100 Clubcard points for each cartridge. Each point is worth 1p in store but up to four times as much if you redeem on goodies with Clubcard Boost such as breakdown cover, days out and holidays away. See The Recycling Factory for full details.
Read more about Tesco Clubcard: There's more on maximising Tesco Clubcard points in the Boost Tesco Points guide.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' recommendations, or add your own, in the Recycling printer cartridges for cash thread.
Rent it out for cash
It's amazing what you can rent out for cash, especially if you live in a desirable area. Ensure you get the most out of your property - even your parking space can be profitable.Take in a lodger or play guesthouse
If you're renting a room out, you've two options to legitimately reduce tax. You must choose one:
-
The 'rent a room' scheme: The
'rent a room' scheme means you can take in a lodger to live in a
furnished room in your home. It has a special exemption meaning you
won't have to pay tax on the first £4,250 you make each year (this is
halved if you share the income with your partner or someone else).
This is a huge tax break for most people and really ups the gain. Better still, as a landlord you'll be expected to ask for a month in advance, which means ready cash comes in quickly. See the Gov.uk info on the Rent a Room scheme.
- Deducting expenses: Alternatively, HMRC allows landlords to deduct mortgage interest costs and certain other expenses from any rental income. This can be a bigger saving in some cases. See Gov.uk for full info.
If you're living in a council or housing association property and considering getting a lodger to help avoid the bedroom tax, check it's allowed under your tenancy agreement first.
How much? With a full-time lodger, you can take home £4,250 without paying a penny in tax (but it might affect the amount of benefits you can claim). If you've a desirable property and don't mind paying income tax on anything above this, you could easily make more.
Find out more: Read the Government info on renting a room and see the forum's Take in a lodger discussion. For more on Airbnb, etc, see the Rent a spare room discussion.
Get cash for spare storage space
If you've unused space in a loft, garage or spare room, the website Storemates lets you rent it out to others looking for cheap storage. It's free to register, search and list, but charges 15% of the monthly rent via GoCardless if you find a successful match.How much can you get? It automatically suggests a price but you can charge what you like. Storemates recommends charging 50% of commercial prices. So charging £10/week for 15 square feet of storage space could bring in over £500 a year.
Is it worth doing? Frankly, we've no idea as this still relatively new - some forumites report earning up to £40 a month but others say they've had no response. While it could be an easy money-spinner, equally it could be a damp squib. Please don't see its inclusion here as a recommendation, more a heads-up about an interesting concept that's starting to get attention.
How do I join? Register on the Storemates website and list a storage space. If someone's interested, they'll contact you via the site and arrange to check out your space. It also provides a template legal contract to help sort the terms, but you need to arrange rent payment yourself.
Forumites also recommend similar site ShareMyStorage - if you try either of these, or any other sites, please feed back in the Rent your storage space discussion.
Anything else to watch for? Be prepared to settle any disputes yourself, and check you're comfortable with what's being stored. Don't agree to store valuables, and always check with your home insurance policy first in case you'll need to claim. This is because if you have to claim for damage to someone else's items, most standard insurance policies won't cover this.
Rent out your parking area
If you live in an area where parking is expensive or hard to find, yet have an empty parking space in your driveway, you could rent it out to others looking for a space.Online parking marketplaces such as JustPark* or Yourparkingspace let you list your space in their databases and set your price, taking their cut only when you're successful.
You can also set restrictions on use if you're likely to need the space yourself at certain times. For full info on this, read the dedicated Rent Your Parking Space guide.
One thing to note is that some more officious local councils have deemed renting out your space a 'change of use' to your property, asking for a £385 planning application fee.
Yet the Government's announced renting out one parking space without planning permission is fine in England, provided it's not a nuisance to neighbours. Elsewhere it's a grey area, so some councils may ask you to apply for planning permission to keep doing it.
How much? Spaces in London can fetch £200 per month or more, though security is also likely to be a factor in determining price. Do note, while listing a space is free, these sites generally take a fee when you successfully rent it out.
Find out more: Read the Rent Your Parking Space guide, then join the discussion and read other MoneySavers' suggestions or add yours in the Selling parking spaces forum.
Rent out your house as a film location
Film and TV production teams are always on the lookout for homes and areas they can shoot in. Your home needn't be palatial to qualify either; all shapes and sizes can be desired, and the rates of pay can be pretty good.
There are a number of online agencies that'll list your
property for free (usually taking commission once your property is
chosen for a shoot).Sites mentioned in the forums include MyHouseYourShoot, see the forum discussion for more suggestions and feedback. Never use any that charge a large upfront fee.
How much? It varies widely, but if your property's chosen, as a very rough guide forumites report you can get up to £500 for a day. And you get to brag about it. Don't bank on being selected though; there are many more properties than film crews.
Earn wonga on the web
If you've a computer or smartphone, there's a host of small ways to boost your coffers. Our 30 Make Money Online Tips lists the top sites and apps that pay. Here are a few to start:Earn via cashback sites
Cashback sites work by giving you a cut of their cash earned for directing you to shops or service providers. When shopping online, click through to a shop via one of these sites and it'll give you a small proportion (usually around 3% but up to 10%) of what you spend back in cash.However, while it should be fine, you need to be aware cashback is NEVER 100% guaranteed as there can be tracking and other issues.
How much? £100s a year if you're a serious online buyer.
How do I do it? See the full Top Cashback Sites guide.
Get paid to click
You don't have to buy anything to earn cash via cashback sites - you can earn cash just for clicking links on the internet. Cashback websites give you a share or all of their ad-revenue, and sometimes get paid paid just for sending traffic.
For example, Topcashback*
pays £2.31 when you click through to get a Gocompare car insurance
quote or £1.05 when you sign up for a free trail with graze.com. Its
Free Cashback section lists the top offers. How much? Some forumites rack up to £20 a month just by clicking these links. It depends how many offers are available, and how consistent you are with the routine.
How do I do it? Full how-to in the Top Cashback Sites guide.
PS. You can also click and give to charity. See The Hunger Site guide for more.
Get better cashback rates in shops
Cashback site Quidco* has a free scheme that lets you register your debit or credit card to earn better cashback rates when you shop in certain stores. You can access the service via its website or its Android or iPhone app.First, register the 16-digit number across your debit or credit card on Quidco's site or the app, Then, if you use the same debit card in store at retailers such as Debenhams, TM Lewin and Moss Bros - the amount of cashback that you earn varies between stores.
If you're new to the cashback sites concept, they pay you to click through them to buy something (see Top Cashback Sites for a full guide).
How do I do it? To sign up, just grab the app, and if you don't already have a Quidco account, sign up (on the app or online).
For online cashback, Quidco takes the first £5 you earn each year as an admin fee if you have a premium account (for basic accounts, it's free).
The secret to unlocking extra cashback
Over the past 12 months Quidco has slowly introduced another way to benefit from in-store cashback – if you're a keen cashbacker then you might already have noticed it. It's a secret way to unlock extra cashback rates by clicking the 'activate to earn' button on selected retailers via the Quidco app or website.
At some retailers, the activate button could be the only way access a cashback rate on in-store purchases, for example, at Jojo Maman Bébé you won’t get cashback on stores purchases without activating. Or, it could unlock a significantly larger rate of cashback, for example, at Ernest Jones you’ll get 5%, a big uplift from the 1% on offer for those who don’t activate. There is no standard rate of uplift as it varies by retailer, but typically the 'activate to earn' offers tend to double the amount of cashback you earn.
It's a time limited offer though and you'll typically have a seven-day window to spend in stores to benefit from the uplift. But, in theory you could activate the retailer every week, as there's no limit on activations. It's a new scheme so it's still limited to a very small number of retailers, for up-to-date information see the full list on Quidco's website.
Profit from photographs
Keen photographers can upload their digital photos to photo bank websites such as iStockphoto and earn royalties for each one sold. You may need to advertise elsewhere to drum up demand though, and some sites have a minimum payout. However, if you have an interest in niche photography subjects, or take particularly beautiful shots, you could make good money.
How much? It varies by site. For example, you decide the retail price of your photos at Photobox, giving you the freedom to adjust the profit margin.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Sell photos online thread.
Affiliate your website
If you run any kind of website, commercial or personal, you can add affiliate link packages to it and get paid each time somebody clicks from your page.Two of the most popular schemes are Google's Adsense and Amazon Associates. They don't cost a penny to install. Of course, if you want to generate a substantial income through these schemes, you'll need a high level of site traffic, and this can be difficult to achieve.
If you're sure you can provide a site featuring color which will appeal to a substantial number of people then give it a try, but generally speaking, it's not worth starting one up just for the purpose of affiliate linking.
How much? A niche website with loyal usage could earn £1,000s a year from these links.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Making money from websites thread.
Listen to music? Get paid to review it
Unsigned music review site SliceThePie pays you for each song you review, but as you build up a reputation you can earn more.
You'll need a pretty open mind, as you can't choose
specific genres, but once you've found a band you like you can vote for
them. It now allows you to review artists signed to record labels. The
system's too complex to describe fully here, so read the site's
tutorials before you start. How much? Not much, but not bad for a hobby. Previously, a muso nut putting in a couple of hours a night could expect around £30/month. Forum feedback's now mixed as to how much you'll earn as it's a time-consuming process, so it's worth a read first to decide if it's for you. The more detailed and constructive your review, the more you get paid.
The company now operates a 'refer a friend' scheme where users can refer friends and earn commission from the reviews submitted.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top tips or add your own in the Earn cash for rating new music thread. Also check out the SliceThePie FAQs thread.
Matched gambling
This is something we thought very hard about before including. Yet as many who know exactly what they're doing make serious risk-free cash, we felt it couldn't be excluded from this guide.It's all about taking advantage of the offers betting sites run to encourage new players, usually involving free bets (eg, "bet £30 and we give you a free £30 bet"), and the fact different bookmakers offer different odds.
Thus, in some circumstances, by betting on all outcomes you guarantee a profit, whatever the outcome. However, this is incredibly complex and dangerous, and most people should run a million miles from it. Don't contemplate attempting it without doing detailed research.
How much? With time and care it's possible to make a few thousand over the year. But please don't go for it if you're desperate for cash. This is only for those with patience and not under money pressure. Otherwise, you'll end up drawn into real gambling, and losing.
How do I do it? Read the Matched Betting introduction and FAQs discussion in the Gambling Introductory Offer Loopholes board and the other sticky threads at the top. But remember it's an open forum, anyone can post, and just because someone sounds like they know what they're doing, it doesn't mean they do.
Grab £1,000s of grants
There are grants galore available if you know where to look; from doing up your home to education or helping your business. There are a number of grant search engines where you can find out exactly what money you're eligible for.Reclaim, reclaim, reclaim
Right across finance, companies have been taking or holding money when they shouldn't. These days it's easy to fight back. This can mean a boost of £1,000s to your finances in just one go.Tax rebate for uniform wearers
If you wash or repair your work uniform, you may be able to reclaim tax. Whether it's a full nurse's or police uniform, or just a simple T-shirt, provided you DON'T ever wear it for owt else, if you wash and maintain the clothes, you may be due an extra tax-free allowance each year and can backdate the claim for up to four years.
How much? Many MoneySavers have reported no-quibble cheques posted after they contacted HM Revenue & Customs. Forumite aliasojo said rebates can be several hundred pounds.
Other half got his letter - £336 adjustment in tax for earlier years and flat rate job expenses applied from now on, and a new tax code to reflect all that.How do I do it? Read the full Uniforms Tax Rebate guide.
aliasojo
Check if you're due a tax rebate
If during the past four years you've had the wrong tax
code, you may be due a tax rebate. HMRC says up to three and a half
million employees are due this rebate... BUT around two million may
need to pay more. See the Millions to repay tax after HMRC errors MSE news story for more.How much? It all depends on how wrong your banding was, but it can range from tens of pounds to thousands. One forum user has managed to claim over £5,000 because HMRC was deducting for a company car and medical insurance he'd never had.
How do I do it? Read the Tax Code Checker guide and tool to work out if your code is correct, then contact HMRC. If you think you've overpaid in the past, again, just contact HMRC.
Reclaim for train delays
Leaves on the line, the wrong kind of snow and service faults... train delays are all too common on our railways. But it's possible to claim for a delay if you know your rights.How much? The refund will come in the form of vouchers (so you can use them for your next trip) and the amount all depends on the train company. But you can still ask for money instead - Chiltern Railways, for example, pays out in cheques if the amount is more than £30.
How do I do it? Delays need to be more than 30 minutes to claim and the amount you get, and how you claim, varies depending on the railway line. Full details in our Train Delays guide.
Reclaim phone/broadband credit
If you've switched TV, mobile, broadband or phone providers in the last six years, there's a very real chance you're owed a little cash. You can get it back at speed.Some providers don't automatically refund leftover credit when you cancel your contract or change provider.
How much? This isn't going to make you rich, but may give you a handy little boost. One forumite was amazed to get £144 back from TalkTalk, but generally amounts have been lower.
How do I do it? Use the Reclaim Phone Credit guide for more info, plus a full list of contact numbers for providers. Read about others' experiences on the forum discussion.
PPI reclaiming
If you've got or had a loan, credit or store card with
payment protection insurance (PPI), you may be able to reclaim
£1,000s, and for FREE. Banks lost in court after years of systemically
mis-selling PPI. Now they've put over £18 billion aside to pay back
money wrongly taken from their customers.How much? We regularly see success stories of over £10,000. However, as ever, it depends on each individual circumstance and what you were charged. The average payout's around £3,000.
How do I do it? Don't hand 30% to a no-win no fee claims handler. Read the step-by-step guides to PPI Reclaiming and Credit Card PPI Reclaiming, include template letters and FAQs.
Find lost assets
Billions languish unused in old bank accounts, pensions, life assurance, Premium Bonds and investments, whether forgotten in a house move, lost through a work change, or simply overlooked in the hurly-burly of modern life.
Yet it's usually easy and, in many cases, free to reclaim
cash that belongs to you or your family. This means a lost inheritance
could also be reclaimed if you think a relative that's passed away had a
bank account they'd forgotten about. How much? This depends on how much you've forgotten you had. It could be anything from just a few pounds in an old junior savings account to thousands in a forgotten pension fund.
How do I do it? Use the Reclaim Lost Assets guide.
Reclaim bank charges
If you've been hit with bank charges in the past few years and are in financial hardship, you can ask for them back.How much? It all depends on your circumstances and how the charges have affected you and caused or worsened your financial situation. But if you incurred charges of £35, four times a year for the last six years, then on average that all adds up to a huge £840 payback.
How do I do it? Use the Bank Charges Reclaiming guide. Read about other MoneySavers' experiences on the Success reports forum thread.
Council tax rebanding
The council tax system in England and Scotland is
fundamentally flawed; many people are in the wrong band. It takes 10
minutes to check if you're one of them.How much? Dropping a band can result in a saving of £200 a year, and a backdated payout from when you moved in is often worth £1,000s.
How do I do it? Use my step-by-step Council Tax Rebanding guide.
Get mortgage exit fees back
If you've moved mortgage to a new company since the late 1990s, you could have been overcharged by your old lender when you left it. Just one phone call usually gets you the money back.How much? A refund of the difference between the fee as stated when you took out your loan, and its level when you left. This could be between £50-£300, depending on the lender.
How do I do it? Use the full step-by-step guide to Mortgage Fees.
Reclaim for flight delays
Whether the flight was last week, or six years ago, EU
rules mean if you’re delayed over three hours or your flight is
cancelled, you’re often entitled compensation.
How much? £100 – £480 per person
How do I do it? See Flight Delays for a full step-by-step compensation guide, including template letters on how to get your money back for free and how to stop the airlines squirming out of paying.
Been damaged by a pothole? Claim for it!
Whichever authority controls a road has a legal duty to maintain it to a fit standard. If it doesn't, and your car's damaged, it should pay for repairs. Often you will only get a payout if you can prove negligence, but it's worth giving it a go.Potholes are inevitable, particularly in winter, so the key question is whether the relevant authority could and should have fixed it before your car went clunk.
How much? Typically, car damage claims tend to be around £300-£500. Some drivers who've claimed have successfully recouped the entire amount - in other cases, they've won part of the cost.
How do I do it? Full details in our Pothole claims guide.
Get paid for your opinion
Many companies' and public organisations' desperate need to test, talk about and try out their products or ideas on people gives you a great opportunity to cash in.Online survey sites
Willing to give views on One Direction, washing-up liquid or quitting the EU? Our Top 20 Online Survey Sites guide shows how to make cash by filling in surveys.Better still, because the whole point is surveying different types of people, you don't need to be qualified: you just need to be you. And most of us can manage that.
How much? Committed survey-doers can get £200ish a year, but if you maximise it like MoneySaver funnyguy it can be very worthwhile.
It takes a few years to build up enough to cash out, but I earned £800 last year in cash & vouchers. Comes in very useful.Find out more: You'll find a full how-to and the top paying sites in the Survey Sites guide.
- funnyguy
Attend face-to-face focus groups
Traditional market research focus groups pay generously per session, though you're limited to a few a year. All it involves is giving opinions on the chosen subject, usually with free refreshments, and you can walk away with anything from £30 to £160.How much? Suck-up forumite MartinLewisisalegend said you can make £160 in half a day.
I'm a massive focus groups fan and recently got £160 for half a day. It's good money for just being honest about your thoughts and you get free hot drinks and sandwiches.Find out more: To get started, sign up with the top agencies listed in our list of Face-to-face focus groups.
- MartinLewisisalegend
Get paid to watch telly
If you’re a telly addict then make use of your habit by getting paid for your opinion. Websites like theviewers.co.uk source research panels for broadcasters and programme makers.Projects can include giving feedback on TV programmes before they hit screens, coming up with catchy titles or deciding which personalities should get more airtime.
You can attend face-to-face research groups (these are usually in big cities around the UK), fill in surveys online or do both.
Anyone over 16 can sign up through the theveiwers.co.uk website and you’ll have to fill in a questionnaire on your viewing habits. This allows it to provide info to TV companies that helps them either select the right demographic for each piece of research or make sure they are gathering a wide range of opinions.
How much? You’ll get £40-£70 for a two-hour face-to-face group discussion and it’s usually paid in cash straight after the event. Occasionally, there will be an online version of a focus group, paying the same amount.
The amount paid for online survey varies, for example, members are often given a choice of 50p via PayPal or a 1 in 5 chance of winning a £5 Amazon voucher.
Find out more: See a list of other websites where you can get paid for you opinion in our Survey Sites guide.
Become a mystery shopper
High-street retailers are desperate to check their in-store customer service is up to scratch, and contract mystery shopping agencies to do so.These will employ you to visit a specific shop or pub, to rate service quality or the quality of their goods. If you fancy a bit of 'cloak and dagger' identity, this can be great fun too.
These will employ you to visit a specific shop or pub, to
rate service quality or the quality of their goods. If you fancy a bit
of 'cloak and dagger' identity, this can be great fun too.Some of the most popular sites are MarketForce, Grassroots, Gapbuster, GfK Mystery Shopping and Retail Maxim.
How much? Payment for this type of work varies hugely between agencies. Some pay in gift vouchers, others simply give you free items. Some will pay you cash too, sometimes as much as £30 a day.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Mystery shopping discussion thread.
Enter contests as a cash boosting hobby
From cars to £20,000 cash, 5-star USA holidays to £10,000 Tesco gift cards or even two years' rent paid, MoneySavers have won it all. It's all about 'comping', a potentially profitable hobby for the lucky.
Comping's about systematically sourcing and entering
hundreds of the contests, using web gadgets to fill out forms at speed,
answer questions and help with tie-breakers. There are also sneaky
ways to enter TV premium phone comps free via the web. As an added bonus, most competitions are tax-free, so unlike other ways to boost your income, the taxman won't get any. There's full help in the 40+ Comping Tips guide.
How much? While big success isn't certain, it does happen. Among the luckies is MoneySaver mrsrobertson.
I started comping in May 2011 and I've won a £3,000 Las Vegas trip and gadgets worth over £26,000. I'm hooked.Join the MSE comping team. The site's Competitions Time forum board is full of the latest contests. It's a reciprocal community of devoted compers. The idea is you post contests and cheer others when they win.
- mrsrobertson
Working from home
If you're housebound, whether due to childcare commitments or disability, or you just like being at home, working from your kitchen or spare room can leave you quids in too. Working on your own isn't for everyone though, so make sure you're OK with a spot of solitude.Earn from internet research
Internet businesses such as 63336 (which used to be known as AQA) occasionally takes on researchers.It works like this: a customer searches for the answer to any random question by sending a text to researchers - you - who reply with the answer.
The beauty of this work is that you can generally choose the type of questions you answer, and hence the hours you work. See 63336 to check for vacancies - you're likely to have to pass a test before you get an interview. Vacancies aren't open all the time, so you'll need to be on the ball and checking the sites regularly.
How much? You'll be paid 40p per question, and some can take just a few moments to answer. How much you earn depends on how much time you're prepared to put in.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Be a web-based researcher discussion.
Do some freelance work
If you've skills in a specific area, you may be able to do a little freelancing on the side.
International project recruitment site PeoplePerHour allows companies to list projects they want completed. Freelancers 'bid' on projects, saying why they'll be the most suitable candidate and entering their price for the work. The site's free to join and bid on work, but a fee is taken out of your pay for each job.
How much? It depends on the job, the duration and skills involved, and how many freelancers are competing for it. The only drawback is you might find yourself competing against workers from countries with a much lower cost of living, who can undercut you.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Freelancer discussion thread.
Take in foreign exchange students
Renting out a room provides a stream of ready money, and a handy tax break means you can keep a decent chunk of it out of the taxman's hands.
Get in touch with local secondary and language schools to enquire about how often they take students, and the vetting process. This can be a tidy little earner and you get the added bonus of honing your own foreign language skills.
How much? Rates of pay vary depending on the level of accommodation you provide, but as a very rough guide you can expect to earn upwards of £80 per week per student.
Find out more: Join the discussion and read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Take in foreign exchange students discussion.
Solve companies' problems
Several companies put problems online and offer cash to people who can come up with effective solutions.While not a guaranteed way to grab cash, these can be an interesting, fun, and lucrative way to spend your spare time if you're a business or science boff.
At InnoCentive, companies post dozens of challenges offering big money for the best solutions, though they're often quite technical. A typical example's £5,000 for low-cost labelling solutions for reuseable glass containers.
Also worth a look is Idea Connection. Register and it sends you email invites to help solve firms' problems for cash.
How much? It depends on the challenge, but top paying solutions can be worth about £600,000 if you come up with a brilliant idea.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions in the Solve companies' problems for pay discussion.
Iron out your finances
Set up a professional ironing service, advertising in local shops and newspapers. A good tip is to advertise in the poshest part of town; that way you can charge more.
How much? Ironing businesses generally
charge by the item, with 20 items costing around £10. This varies
depending on location, so check what other local services are charging.Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Start an ironing service thread.
Start a 'cottage industry'
If you're a dab hand at arts and crafts, try selling your jewellery and artwork, whether on eBay* or at craft fairs.Websites Etsy and Redbubble are designed exclusively for buying and selling homemade goods. Some talented MoneySavers make big profits.
How much? Potentially £100s, depending on your time, talents, and ability to sell yourself.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Starting a cottage industry thread.
Work, work, work
If you're willing to travel, as well as the obvious McJobs there are many ways for second-jobbers to earn extra cash. You also can maximise what you get from your current job.Ask for a pay rise at your current job
People are often scared to do this, yet why not simply ask? After all, the worst that can happen is they say 'no'.Simply ask for an appointment, prepare your points - which should be more about your job role than 'I need the money' - and see what happens. It's just as difficult for an employer to say no when you ask, as it is for you to ask in the first place.
How much? Always remember that if your pay rise isn't as high as inflation (the rate at which prices rise) then your pay is actually decreasing. So why not ask for an 'inflation plus x%' rise, explaining a pay rise at inflation will just keep you level and the x% is because you're now more experienced or better at your job.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the How to ask for a pay rise thread.
Bag a Christmas job
There are more likely to be temporary vacancies around the Christmas period in certain sectors.
Check out Gov.uk's Universal Jobmatch (formerly Jobcentre Plus) and Gumtree.
Check retailers in your area who could be looking for extra staff to cope with the extra Christmas shoppers. Print out multiple copies of your CV, and then do a mail-drop on your local high street.
Ask catering agencies, restaurants, pubs, clubs and bars. More parties around this time of year may mean more jobs. Royal Mail may also be worth checking at this time of year.
How much? Varies by sector.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Christmas jobs discussion.
Babysit
Watching somebody else's TV and eating their food while the kids lie fast asleep upstairs doesn't sound so hard - and it often isn't. But you must be prepared to deal with the odd stroppy child and his or her tantrums.You'll need a proven track record with little'uns, so work for friends, family and neighbours first.
How much? Adult babysitters can get up to about £8 per hour, but you'll need to build a reputation first to command this.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions and add your own in the Babysitting thread.
Pet or plant-sitting
Also known as house-sitting, this job sounds (and is)
fairly simple: maintain a house and look after any animals and plants
for anything up to three months.You need to have no other commitments to worry about. It'll be easiest to sign up with an agency, so be prepared to provide references and expect a thorough check of your background, including any criminal records. After all, would you be happy to leave your home in the hands of a stranger?
The terms and conditions vary from company to company. Some will expect you to be available all the time while some offer work on a more casual basis. Some suggested in the forum include Animal Angels, Platinum Petcare and Nina's Nannies for Pets.
How much? As a guide, Nina's Nannies for Pets pays roughly £29/day, plus travel expenses. You can earn more depending on how many pets you look after.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Pet or plant-sitting thread.
Be an interviewer
NatCen Social Research is usually on the lookout for freelance interviewers. The job involves interviewing selected people about all kinds of topics in their own homes, then sending the answers to your set questions back to base.Plus vacancies for telephone interviewers are sometimes available in Brentwood, Essex, and full training for each role is provided. Go to NatCen's website for full details.
How much? As a guideline for interviewers, once trained you'll earn an average hourly rate varying from £8.60 to £12.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Doing social research discussion.
Work at the supermarket
Work weekend shifts at your local supermarket - some pay up to double on Sundays and bank holidays. Generally, the posher the supermarket, the more you'll earn.
How much? Around the £8 per hour mark, and some may offer a discount (usually 10%) on groceries once you've been there for a while.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the At the supermarket discussion.
Party planning
It's possible to make cash by hosting parties in which
items are demonstrated and sold. Since you'll effectively be
self-employed, you can make your own hours and work as often or as
little as you want.Before starting though, be sure to check whether there's already a popular representative of the company in your area. If so, it's probably best to sell something else. Typical examples include Ann Summers, The Body Shop At Home and PartyLite. Forumites recommend choosing a company where you'll be selling products you like; you'll find it more enjoyable, which will help you suceed.
How much? It's commission-based, so what you earn depends on your selling ability, and the products you sell. You'll usually have to cover set-up costs with your first parties.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Party planning thread.
Monitor exams
During
exam periods in secondary schools, colleges and universities, there's
often a shortage of exam invigilators since the teachers and lecturers
still have other work to attend to.Ask local institutions and temp agencies and you can earn fair cash for a couple of hours of (blissfully silent) work. You'll need a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check (formerly known as a Criminal Records Bureau check).
How much? Temp rates are normal, so expect roughly about £8 per hour.
Find out more: Read others' top suggestions or add your own in the Temp at schools thread.
Use your head - tutor
To tutor up to GCSE level you don't necessarily need a degree or PGCE teaching qualification (although you can command much higher rates if you have the latter), but some previous teaching experience is a must.Count votes
Register with your council's elections office and get paid to count the votes at polling time. This can be in four-hour shifts, or longer. One MoneySaver reports earning £180 for working from 9pm - 5am.Be warned though: you're usually contracted until the job is finished, so if it runs over you won't be paid extra (the flipside being that if you finish quicker, you'll still earn the same).
How much? It varies by job, but some forumites have reported up to about £180. One user said: "I got paid loads [for counting votes] - about £60 for a couple of hours' work, and it was great fun."
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Temporary council work thread.
Be a model
If you have the confidence to go nude (or semi-nude in some cases), life modelling is a fun way of earning extra cash. For a few hours work, you can usually get a very good rate of pay because it's very hard to recruit for this role.All you have to do is make sure you're able to hold a pose. All shapes and sizes are desired, so don't be put off if you're not 'model' size.
My ex did this for ages, found a classified in the local paper (well, I found it for him!). Good money, gentle work... and he was pretty ugly.How much? Forumites report you generally get up to about £10 - £20 per hour. Of course, wages vary depending where you work and some models are paid 'per job', earning more.
Badger_Lady
Find out more: Make enquiries at local colleges. Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Life modelling discussion.
Become a mobile market researcher
Download apps to your phone to earn cash when you're out and about by checking prices, snapping a photo of a restaurant menu or seeing how much stock is on the shelves in the shops.Several market research companies such as Field Agent and Roamler pay you to carry out quick and simple market research tasks.
Download the apps to your phone (sadly Field Agent is iPhone-only) and check their Facebook pages to keep an eye for upcoming jobs in your area, including checking what price an item is on sale for, or sending a photo of how it is displayed in store. See Make Money Online for more.
How much? Forumites report Field Agent typically pays £4 - £9 per task, depending on the difficulty and if there is travel involved. Roamler starts at £2 per paid job and its rates increase as you do more work for it. Forumites report having to do a number of free jobs to build up experience.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' suggestions or add your own in the Earn Cash Online thread.
Be a TV extra
It can be a little more boring than Ricky Gervais makes it out to be, but the fun of seeing yourself in the background of shows can more than make up for it.
There are several legit online extras agencies which don't charge you for signing up, although they'll generally take an 'administration fee' out of your pay. If you're serious, you'll need to sign up to a few agencies to be in with a chance. You may have to pay your own travel expenses.
As there are a lot of agencies to choose from, it's well worth checking out forum feedback before you join to help you find the ones that are right for you.
How much? Most extras generally earn about £50 per day (it can be more), with overtime paid at about £10 per hour. It's a good idea, though, to have some professional (or at least professional-looking) photos taken in order to start off getting work.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the TV extra work thread.
Be a guinea pig
If you're fit and healthy and prepared to accept the
risk of tests, you could earn up to £150 a day by taking part in
medical trials.There are several big companies advertising for volunteers; see forumites' experiences in the UK medical trials discussion for ideas.
How much? Depending on what it is you're being tested for, forumites report earning between about £70 and £150 per day (it varies by trial). You may get your travel expenses refunded.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Medical trials discussion.
Be an Avon lady (or man)
Avon representatives earn commission on make-up, toiletries and other items they sell. You buy batches of catalogues and canvass friends, family, neighbours or colleagues for orders to bring in cash.
The sign-up fee's £16 (this is taken out of your total earnings for your first two month's sales), which includes 40 brochures. After that, brochures cost from 63p to 11p each. The more you buy, the cheaper they are.
How much? Your earnings depend on how many products you shift, but dedicated Avon ladies can earn £100/month, and some earn far more. Of course, many earn less than this, and, if you don't sell anything, you could run at a loss. So don't do this unless you're confident you'll flog some stuff, and are comfortable selling to friends and family.
You'll earn roughly £1 for every £4 of products sold. You can also become a sales leader, building up your own team and earning extra money through the team's sales.
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