The recession is hitting the pockets of Britons and it is thought that millions of people have been forced to take on a second job simply to make ends meet.
Getting some part-time work is one way to
make some extra cash, but there are other ways, too. Here are 10 to start with.
1. Answer text questions
If you are an anorak for trivia, why not get
paid for sharing your wealth of knowledge? There are several mobile phone text
answering services that need more researchers to answer the thousands of
questions they receive per day. The most popular ones are Texperts (www.text118118.com) and AQA (www.aqa.63336.com).
It is flexible work and you just have to be a
bit knowledgeable and quick at searching the internet. You can earn about £10
an hour on average. You need to be fluent in English, with excellent writing
skills, but you can work from wherever you want, and you get paid for each
question you answer.
2. Become a simulated
patient
Medical schools across the country run
communication skills workshops for their trainee doctors and require people to
act as patients. A simulated patient is a person who plays the part of a real
patient allowing medical students to learn by developing their communication
skills and diagnostic abilities. For example, Butte Medical School at the
University of St Andrews pays £6.97 per hour and sessions last between one and
four hours.
3. Rent out your driveway
Rent your driveway, garage or secure parking
space and earn £50-£300 per month by advertising on www.yourparkingspace.co.uk.
How much you can charge depends on factors
such as location, proximity to train/tube stations, or the availability of
parking in your area. For example, if there is a nearby car park or pay-and-display
bay, you may want your price to be more competitive than the cost of either of
these. It's also worth doing a quick search to see what others are charging.
Keep in mind that these types of websites may
charge a commission for their service. For example www.ParkatmyHouse.com, a similar website,
charges an ongoing 15pc of the total amount of money received for successful
rentals. However, www.yourparkingspace.co.uk
is free to join.
4. Get a lodger
Taking in a lodger is an easy way to bring in
extra income. Advertise your extra room on house and flat-share website Spare
Room (www.spareroom.co.uk).
Listings are free, the only charge is if you want to highlight your listing and
run it simultaneously on other property websites such as www.intoLondon.com and Globrix (www.globrix.com). Prices start at £7 for a
seven-day listing.
Keep in mind that you can earn up to £4,250
in any tax year and be exempt from income tax. If you earn more than £4,250 in
a year, you can either pay tax on your whole profit, minus any expenses and
capital allowances, or your profit minus £4,250. If you choose this option,
however, you won't be able to deduct any expenses or capital allowances. You
can get your tax reliefs and allowances by filling in your Self-Assessment tax
return.
5. Become a mystery shopper
Go undercover and become a mystery shopper
and earn £10-£15 per job.
This job requires you to judge customer
service in shops, restaurants, hotels, banks, even on public transport and you
might do this through store visits, telephone calls or even shopping online.
The payment for each job will vary depending
on the amount of time the job will take and its complexity. Sign up with market
research companies such as GFK NOP (www.gfknop.com),
TNS Global (www.tnsglobal.com) or
Consumer Intelligence (www.consumerintel.com) to
start making money while you shop.
6. Sell your books on
Amazon
If you are a bit of a bookworm, you could
have hundreds of pounds just sitting on your shelves. Sign up with www.Amazon.co.uk
to sell your old novels, textbooks or DVDs and watch the sales roll in. Unlike
eBay, Amazon sells at fixed prices and listings can last for months or years.
Just sign up for a seller's account and
search for your books by title, ISBN or UPC and choose a price. Postage is
broken down by item category and is automatically added to your listing, so you
needn't bother with a set of scales.
You will be notified by email when an item
sells and just pop it in the post to complete the sale. Avoid Post Office
queues and buy your postage online at www.royalmail.com
Just print the label and glue it to the package and you are done. It really
couldn't be easier.
7. Get paid to party
The home-shopping party is back and now there
are more brands. If setting your own hours and selling to customers of your own
choice appeals, this could be the type of job for you. Choose from The Body
Shop at Home (www.thebodyshop.co.uk), The
Pampered Chef (www.pamperedchef.co.uk) or
Neal's Yard Remedies at Home (www.nyrhome.com) and you
get to set your own income level and are able to cash in on some great
discounts on products.
For the Body shop at Home, you make 25pc
profit on all your sales – so if you sell 10 bottles of shower gel at £5.85
each, you would make a £14.65 profit.
8. Become a tutor
If you are fluent in another language, good
with math’s or have mastered an instrument, get paid for teaching in spare
time. Families will pay up to £25 an hour for tutors to coach children through
key exams. To find local jobs, contact First Tutors (www.firsttutors.co.uk), UK Tutors (www.uktutors.com) or Tutor Hunt (www.tutorhunt.com).
9. Host a foreign student
If you have spare room, you could earn
thousands each year by taking in an exchange student. You can host students for
the academic year or a few weeks. For a list of schools in your area, visit the
International Association of Language Centers (www.ialc.org).
Students who stay in Brighton in Homestay (with a host), for instance, pay £109
a week.
10. Work as a film extra
Being a film extra can be lucrative, with
rates typically ranging from £80 to £100 a day. You can earn more if you
provide your costume, or do overtime. Universal Extras specializes in finding
film work for students, but also finds work for non-students. For more
information, visit the website (www.universalextras.co.uk).
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