6 great easy ways to make money online

The year 2015 is barely out of the starting gate, and some finance experts already predict that the U.S. economy will make a roaring comeback this year. Of course, other pundits warn that we should be very worried.
Whatever happens, you can resolve to improve your personal economy this year.
Digital technology, combined with your talent and passion, is a money-making opportunity waiting to happen. Whether you're looking to pocket a little extra cash or significant part-time income, these ideas could put you on the road to a prosperous new year.
1. Sell art, crafts or collectibles online
If you have a talent for making jewelry, pottery or other crafts — or just a knack for finding vintage gems at garage and estate sales — consider selling your objects through an online storefront.
Etsy is the largest and most popular marketplace for handmade and vintage goods. You can also try ArtFire and Zibbet.
Have you designed a killer line of iPad cases or Kids' tees? Take a look at up-and-coming Redbubble. Want to display traditional art? Artbreak is a fast-growing online gallery for traditional artists — and it's commission-free.
If you have an e-book, song, template, computer wallpaper or other kind of digital file to sell, take a look at commission-free UploadNSell. Amazon-owned CreateSpace can help indie authors, musicians and filmmakers sell works to online buyers.
2. Cash in on your photos
Licensing your best photos to microstock agencies such as iStockphoto, Shutterstock and Dreamstime is a great way for above-average photographers to make money.
There's a lot of competition, but Web designers and other electronic publishers buy tens of thousands of photos every day to illustrate stories and ads. Research top-selling images at microstock sites to get a feel for what buyers want, and then do whatever you do best, whether that's food, portraits, sports or landscapes.
Illustrators and videographers can find opportunities in microstock, too.
If you're a fine-art photographer, try selling through print-on-demand sites such as Imagekind or Fine Art America. You set your price for various sizes, and the sites take a cut for printing, matting, framing and shipping to the customer.
3. Take on microjobs and quick tasks
Many folks pick up pocket money every day by doing quick field work assignments for companies, or doing odd jobs for local businesses and homeowners.
Businesses big and small post micro-projects through a free iPhone app called Gigwalk (an Android version is in the works). A winemaker, for example, might need someone in your town to visit a retailer and take a smartphone picture of a product display.
Homeowners across the U.S. browse the TaskRabbit website if they need help assembling Ikea furniture or grocery shopping. Local businesses also call on TaskRabbits when they need on-demand workers, delivery drivers or event staff. You do need to ace a video interview and a thorough background check in order to become a TaskRabbit.
If your friends look to you for fashion and shopping advice, check into becoming an affiliate for the shopping site Beso. It works the same way as a traditional blog, except you don't need to think up 500 fresh words every day. You make a few cents every time friends and followers click on links you share within brief posts to social network sites.
4. Tutor and teach
Put your experience as a tutor or teacher to work on the Internet. All you need is a fast broadband connection and a way to video chat.
Online tutoring is also a good way for starving college and grad students to put food on the table. Specialists in finance, math and science are always in high demand. Sites such as Smarthinking or Tutor can help get you started.
Can you speak a foreign language fluently or have experience as a language tutor? Hang up a shingle at Verbalplanet. There's also a keen need to teach English as a second language to executives around the world.
5. Freelance
Freelancing is a time-honored way for writers and graphic designers to make money. It's not uncommon for administrative assistants, accountants, computer programmers and other professionals to also find freelance opportunities. Look at niche job sites such as Elance, Guru and FreelanceSwitch.
If you're a super-speedy typist, have a good ear and write well, you might be cut out for transcription work. Transcribers provide closed captioning for films and TV shows and written transcripts of academic presentations and focus groups. Visit Tigerfish to get started.
6. Telecommute
You don't have to be your own boss to work from home. You just need to find telecommuting opportunities. Regular job boards often list telecommuting work. Use "telecommuting" as a keyword. Also try Telework Recruiting or FlexJobs, which require small membership fees. The National Telecommuting Institute helps individuals with disabilities find telecommuting opportunities. It offers listings and advice.

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7 Easy Ways For Graduate Or College Students To Earn Alternative Income online

Why A Struggle?

I have struggled with the question, “How Do I Earn Extra Money On The Side While In School?” my entire college career. When I was an undergrad, I was taking 18 credits (with 3-4 science labs), working in a research lab, and working a part time job 20 hours a week. I only knew of one way to pay for college tuition and fees: working a second job in the evenings and weekends. So I went into sales.
I sold cellular phones for TMobile, Alltel, Sprint, and AT&T. I did this for 4 years. The timing was perfect since the market was young and new customers were not uncommon during that time (cell phone bubble). When the Motorola Razr was worth 300 dollars back in 2004. Anyways, this job was hourly + commission and I made a killing. I was making 15-18K a year working part time while in school. But jobs like this are hard to come by (I had extensive sales experience prior), and require a lot of effort. Nowadays, cell phone sales will not pay as well because instead of new contracts everyone is upgrading. There are 300 million cell phone users in the U.S. I wonder what it was in 2004?
So.. With that said. Say you are studying for the GRE or MCAT. Say you are doing an internship on the side. You’re really hurting on money. You don’t have time to fit in a second job. You didn’t qualify for work study. Or you are in graduate school and aren’t allowed to take on a second job. Or you simply just don’t have time. How can someone earn extra income on the side without having to put in 20-40 hours a week? Without having to put on a work uniform and put in the set amount of weekly hours on top of your already busy life?

1) Online Tutoring.

Yea that’s right. If you are good at something like Math or English you can get paid to be an online tutor. A lot of them will require you to pass a certification test. But if you do (and meet the requirements), you can earn money in your spare time being a teacher. That is if you like to teach and have the patience. The payout can vary, you can get $15 an hour and this can go up depending on assignments and prior experience. You can check out more here: http://www.homework-help-secrets.com/online-tutoring.html

2) Teach A Musical Instrument.

A lot of people grew up learning/playing piano, guitar, trumpet, etc. If you have 5+ years of experience, all you really need to do is buy a book on the musical theory. I did it for guitar. So not only could I teach the technique of guitar but also the theory to support it (I had to brush up on this). Payout (on a craigslist ad and other sites) was $10-15 for a 30 minute session. You set the price. Build your client base, reputation, and watch your income increase.

3) Sell Stuff On Ebay and Craigslist.

You’ve heard it before. But I took my parents old car rims and sold them for $200 on a 7 Day Auction. They were just sitting there taking up garage space. They said I could have all the profit. We also had some old cherry furniture and dinette set sitting in our garage. Sold that for $150 in one day. More cash in my pocket. Electronic items will also sell. Did you upgrade your cell phone? Sell your old one. If you have the box and manuals then you’re golden.
Don’t want to ship something? Sell it on craigslist. Once you get used to writing sales ads, it comes pretty natural. Just make sure you have the full description and take PROFESSIONAL pictures. Yes lighting, background, and presentation will make a difference in the payout. Even having the full title makes a difference (especially when it comes to keywords).
 
Selling on Ebay and Craigslist is not Rocket Science, but it’s funny how people are too lazy to sell their old stuff because they think it has no value or they say they “Don’t have time.” Even old furniture has a price. Don’t just throw your futon or couch by the dumpster if you need the money. You can post a Craigslist ad or Ebay ad in under 5 minutes once you have the pictures and description. Lack the description? Well that’s what Google is for. Get out there and do your research! Get the specs. Go on Ebay and see what stuff is selling for. Look at the completed listings. I have made thousands of dollars on Ebay and Craiglist over the past 10 years. I have sold stuff from car stereos to clothes to ram air hoods for camaros. And you can too. You can sell simple stuff on Craiglist or Ebay like your student season football tickets. It doesn’t have to be some big ticket item. The possibilities are endless.

4) Get paid for your expertise or opinion.

We are all experts at something different. Say someone is an expert at waterskiing or snowboarding. Could they get paid to be an instructor? Yes. You factor in the time and the need for resources. Maybe you want to become a personal trainer because you are really into fitness (this does require certification). Maybe you speak a second language. Get paid to be an interpreter. You’re good at writing. Take it one day at a time. Write a book. Easier said than done right?
Only you truly know whether your expertise would have an immediate or more long-term payout. So you could invest your time to see payout later. Be a consultant. Teach a class. Be a coach. Be a photographer. You decide. Do you have the time to invest and what’s the risk/reward? If it isn’t feasible seek alternatives. Either way, pursue your passion and you can’t go wrong.
I’ve also heard of people getting paid to do online surveys. Although I’ve never really dug deeper into this as a way to make income on the side, I definitely think it is possible (from what I’ve heard). The only downside is that it is annoying and tedious. Check out sites like http://www.surveyspot.com/. I’ll leave it up to you to find which sites are legit. Make sure you set up a separate gmail just to send all the spam mail that you’ll get.

5) Start An Online Business.

Who has time, right? What happens is people think they have to do this all in one night. Or they need the idea NOW. If you want a successful online business it takes MONTHS. Sometimes years to even get it going. How do I know? I started my own online business while in graduate school. Back in 2009 I launched a site that sold various woodworking products. None of these products sold and that was after weeks of developing the website and paying for a dot com. People didn’t want to pay shipping. They wanted something they could see in person and buy locally.
So it seemed like I really had no marketable product or target audience, and that it was going to be another failed business. By accident, I tested the market with a sporting goods product (bean bag toss boards) and it sold the next day on Craigslist for $99. From there it led to a very successful business on the side (took one year to get established). 3 years later and it’s still going strong to this day. Sell whatever you see fit whether it is goods or services, it could even be developing your own iPhone app.
The key is consistency and to be persistent. It is wise to have an exit strategy, but don’t give up at the beginning, become impatient, or get easily discouraged. Now you may not be as fortunate as me and have the time to make products like this and sell them. In that case I’ll leave the idea up to you. You could buy products for wholesale and sell them for profit. This is not uncommon to buy in bulk (from China), add to the product features and sell it above wholesale.
I did this for cell phones and was an Ebay Powerseller for 2 years straight making 40 dollars on each phone I sold. Anything is possible when it comes to running your own business. Are you frustrated because the idea hasn’t come? That’s why you test it with a Craiglist ad. Test your market. A lot of times the idea can come by accident or when you least expect it. Forced ideas rarely work in my opinion. The best ideas are the ones that come when you least expect it.
If you do a Google search for ‘Earning Income While In College’ you will always get some list like ‘Top 8 Ways to Make Money.’ The site is littered with affiliate links and hyped up reviews. You have to wonder if the author even tried it for him or herself. Most likely they didn’t. Don’t waste your time. It is another example of a forced idea.
The best idea is your originality. That’s right. Stop giving plasma. Painting houses. Mowing Lawns. Doing Paper Routes. This is old-fashioned thinking. We live in a current day and age where you can utilize technology to your advantage. You just need to know-how. There are much better ways to make money and this brings me to my next point.

6) Get paid to be a writer.

Ever heard of Textbroker? If not, you have now. Get paid to be an author. You don’t have to be a professional writer. You can get paid close to 100 bucks or more for an 8,000 word article that you write. You pick the topic. The client sets the deadline and you have X amount of days to finish the article in your spare time.
Some people have also reported HubPages as a great way to earning money online. Every time you write an article or “hub” you can generate a large amount of traffic to your site. The more hubs and the more you grab your reader’s attention, the more hits you get. Then you can earn money through Google Adsense. HubPages has a very user friendly way of setting this up. I would look into it if you haven’t already and if you enjoy writing: HubPages Success Stories

7) Sell An Informational Product Online.

This is by far the best way to earn a second income. This is the best bang for the buck. It’s a slow crawl at first and takes patience and persistence. It takes hard work. But with anything, hard work is a given. A lot of people want the immediate answer. They get short-up. They Google something and get caught up in some money making pyramid scheme or scam. There are thousands of money making methods online. Many methods lack the truth and best way to effectively do online marketing. Why? Because they pile on a million things that try and get you to purchase their product. Then you make some cookie-cutter website.
I know because I am an example of someone who got suckered into one of these get rich quick scams. They put you on some 14 day or 30 day plan. Deep down you know it probably won’t work. You have your doubts from the beginning. If it takes away the originality from you, your gut feeling will usually tell you it won’t work. And your gut feeling is almost always right. Without hard work and originality it most likely will not work. It produces clones of the original.
What happens is it dilutes everything. Lowers the quality. Discourages people. Who makes all the money? The person at the top. But what’s funny is the person is making money off telling you how to make money. The problem isn’t really being solved because nothing is being created that has substance or originality (there is simply promotion for more promotion). If the person selling the product actually told you useful information then I don’t think the market would be so saturated and confused. The truth is obscured.
My whole point here is what is the one TRUE method to actually earn a second income while in grad school or college? I have yet to read one or find a method that is geared towards specifically towards graduate, professional, or college students. How does one create a product to help another OVERCOME A PROBLEM? And keep the originality? And not product some cookie cutter website or product? The answer is you create your own informational product. The easiest one is an E-book.
And you don’t have to be a writer for this to work. You can pay someone on Textbroker to write it for you (this is optional). You’re busy with school. Time and money are scarce. So you can outsource your article (and add to it on your own if you want). You can invest your money in someone else. Or if you have the time, write the article yourself. Then it comes down to online Marketing Principles. You earn all your money back and more. It’s a no-brainer.
The hard part is getting the Traffic to your sales page/product and promoting your product. Once you get past this, the profits start rolling in. There really is no secret to it. It does take time and hard work, but it will be even harder if you try to learn it from scratch. In my book, I’ve done all the research for you and I’ve found out what does and doesn’t work. So you are already two steps ahead if you buy it and follow it. Why is this original? Because you pick the product or idea.
You pick the problem that you want others to overcome that is UNIQUE to your situation. Something you are passionate about. Maybe you’ll title it, “How I Found Ways in Grad School to Make Money on the Side.” Or “How A Science Blog Saved My PhD.” Or “Using A Science/College/Graduate School Blog for Online Advertisement/Promotion.” Or “How I Effectively Wrote My Thesis in 4 weeks.” Or “How to Effectively Network While in Grad School to Land Your Dream Job.” Lastly, “Top 10 Things I Learned in Grad School: For The New and Prospective Students.”
Tell people your story. Share your hardships. Your audience will listen. And you can sell your product and help others learn from your experience. Maybe it’s something you struggled with and now you look back at all you have learned and you can’t wait to share that information. But not only are you creating a product to help yourself earn income and tell your story, you are helping others along the way. So they can learn from your struggles or hardships. It’s a win-win. If you want to learn more, check out: Ebook: Second Income
I wrote it to help people like you. To give a step-by-step guide that isn’t sugar coated. That actually works and isn’t all hype. The best part: IT’S FREE.

Ultimately the idea is up to you. The only thing right now holding you back is yourself. If you want to go and work the traditional ‘second’ job to earn income be my guest. But the whole point of this blog is to make you aware of easier and more feasible options while you are enrolled in graduate or professional school. #1-6 all have the potential to work. I know because I’ve done it the past 10 years of my life. But the best bang for the buck while in college/grad school in my experience is #7. Dig deeper and you will not be disappointed.

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Top 5 Online Jobs For Students To Earn At your Spare Time

I am freelancer I discuss the top 5 online jobs for students to earn at spare time in this post, as the most of the internet users are students. Internet is an indispensable information source for the students to gain their knowledge. Apart from studies, they want to earn extra money at home and searching “online jobs for students” in the internet. It is possible to convert their skills into online cash that would make them responsible while perusing their education. 

Online jobs are gaining its popularity as it provides a financial freedom with flexibility of earning money at spare time. Also, there would not be any boss to manage us to finish the work and we can do whenever we feel comfortable. Now days, the kids are smarter in learning and doing the new challenging activities. Then why not students ?

Yes, other than their readings in schools or colleges, the students can make money online without investment in easy ways. Moreover some fabulous benefits are associated with online money making at home. They are

• Experience is not necessary.

• Traveling time and expenses are escaped.

• Options to perform variety of jobs based on the skills.

• No specific working time.

• Work with fun and excitement without pressure.

Top 5 Online Jobs For Students

Let’s discuss some of the best online jobs for students without investment.

Article writing

As the writing skill comes from the continuous reading, the students those who are all interested in reading and learning the new stuffs, should be good in writing too. If they are fascinated in writing the articles in their unique style, then it is likely to make a decent online income from home with it. Here are few online websites to earn money by writing.

textbroker.com

triond.com

iwriter.com

writerlance.com

freelancewriting.com

online-writing-jobs.com

Freelancing

Some students are not good in writing but they have a sound technical knowledge. i.e. they’re not respectable in grammatical and English scripting skills but they are expert in coding and designing abilities. These are the some types freelance jobs and several professionals need these types of workforces as they might have no time to perform some specific activities. Students can select the suitable work from various jobs by the requester. Below are the few online jobs for students with which they can earn money online as a freelancer.

freelancer.com

odesk.com

vworker.com

twago.com

elance.com

99designs.com

freelanceauction.com

Playing games

Students are like to play online games as it is entertaining and thrilling. For testing purposes, some gaming companies are providing opportunities for the people to make money online as a game tester. There are other online advertising companies uses their gaming websites to attract the people by giving cash and rewards to play games. After gaining popularity with this, they could sell their advertising space for various companies who are ready to pay more money to advertise their products. Here are the few popular gaming websites for the students to make money by playing online games when they feel bored.

skillarcade.com

gamesville.com

gsn.com

zapak.com

paidgameplayer.com

exodus3000.com

Image credit: Flickr.com

Online Tutoring

Young students with remarkable grads who are interested in educating others, online tutoring is a valid option for them to earn on internet. They can offer tutoring on their familiar subjects and decide the service charges on their own. There are many online educational based companies need students to provide their teaching service online. After clearing the basic assessments to act as an online tutor, the students will get hired by the online tutoring company.

tutorvista.com

aim4a.com 

tutor.com 

ehomeworkhelp.com

wiziq.com

happytutors.com

Microjobs websites

Every student has an unique skill set and based on that, they make money online with microjobs websites. Micro tasks like reviews writing, blog commenting, forum posting, simple work in social networking sites and so on get posted in these websites and the students can select the jobs based on their interests & skills to finish them quickly. Also, they can offer their small service for the required people and make money with it. The microjobs websites are good place for the students to promote their skills and they could expand their knowledge with it. Following are the few helpful microjobs websites through which the students can make online income.

microworkers.com

fiverr.com

mturk.com

gigbucks.com

rapidworkers.com

swagbucks.com

 My magical tip for students

I’ve provided some useful online internet job websites for students. If you want to get more sites like these, then go to similarsites or siteslike, type any of the website names which I’ve listed above and choose the suitable honest websites to make money at home.

Conclusion:

Students can also make online money by blogging, online auctions and web designing which are the top ways of making money online. It is good to manage a separate email for these jobs to avoid overwhelmed. I am suggesting  the students to perform the free online jobs at home to make extra bucks and should not be addicted to it.

Online jobs for students help them to develop their skills & confidence level and make them relaxed whenever they feel bored with their regular educational works.

Are you a student and accomplishing any online jobs to make money on internet? Share your experience with me!

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6 Ways Earn Money Online Without Investment in UK

The internet is one of the few places where you can start with zero dollars and work your way up to a full-time income. Making money without investment online isn’t easy,  but with some hard work and dedication, it can be done, as this article shows you

1. Freelance Writing

Content is the fuel of the internet. WordPress users’ alone publish more than 347 new blog posts every minute (that’s 498,240 posts every day for those of you keeping count). All this content, of course, needs to be written.
This is where you, the freelance writer, step in.
Despite what the hoard of writers bidding on low-paying projects on Freelancer/oDesk may lead you to believe, there is actually a huge shortage of professional, high-quality writers online (emphasis on quality). While you certainly won’t laugh and giggle all the way to the bank, you can make decent enough change to fund your college education or make some extra cash on the side. The best way to start your freelancing career is through platforms like Scripted, Textbroker and WriterAccess.
How to Take it to the Next Level: Establish a website with your portfolio and solicit clients (including agencies) directly.
Want to become a full-time copywriter? This Copywriting 101 course will teach you how!

2. “Bum” Marketing

Leave it to the internet to coin a phrase like ‘bum marketing‘.
Simply put, people who sell products through their websites are called marketers. People who sell products through free websites are called bum marketers.
Bum marketing is when you shill products through free-to-use platforms such as Blogger, WordPress, Squidoo and HubPages. Bum marketing can be extremely lucrative when done right, but requires significant investment in terms of time and effort. You also have to play by the rules of these free-to-use platforms, which can be quite stringent about certain subjects (make money, lose weight, credit checks, etc. which attract spammers like flies to honey).
How to Take it to the Next Level: Buy a domain name, a hosting account, and start marketing on your own website.

3. Social Media Marketing

Unless you’ve just been unfrozen in time like the Encino Man, you already know how big social media is. A whopping 684,478 pieces of content are shared on Facebook alone every minute. As you can expect, dipping your hands in the stream of social media can be very lucrative.
Making money through social media is as easy as creating Facebook pages/Pinterest boards/Twitter accounts and sharing content things about a certain topic (say, weight loss). As traffic builds up, you can share commercial links to make money by selling products. Some services such as Adf.ly also pay out money for sending visitors through their links.
How to Take it to the Next Level: Start a blog and offer a free product for download in exchange for an email address. Direct social media traffic to this blog and build up an email list of probable customers.
Make more money online by mastering the Social Media.

4. Do Odd Jobs on Amazon Mechanical Turk

Unlike its 18th century chess-playing namesake, Amazon Mechanical Turk isn’t a hoax or scam. This is a real crowdsourcing platform where people can do odd jobs like data entry, copy-pasting content, submitting articles, etc. for money. Working on Mechanical Turk is probably the easiest money you will ever make online. The pay isn’t great and the tasks can become dull very quickly, but if you have time on your hands and an immunity from boredom, you can make enough to supplement your regular income.
How to Take it to the Next Level: Start your own data entry firm and outsource work to sub-contractors in India, Bangladesh, etc.

5. Publish eBooks

In August 2012, Amazon revealed that Ebooks were outselling printed books on its platform. No one was surprised; Kindle was by then a legitimate phenomenon and Ebook-only authors were even climbing on top of NYT Bestseller lists.
The huge volume of Ebooks being consumed today presents a tremendous opportunity for writers to make money. You can publish a book on the Amazon Kindle platform within minutes. With the right publicity (and the right quality), you might even find yourself in the shoes of Amanda Hocking, the 26 year old paranormal romance author who made a million dollars through her books.
How to Take it to the Next Level: Corner your niche (weight loss, romance novels, financial advice tend to do the best) by creating several books focusing on separate topics/themes. Start a blog to create an additional stream of traffic you can direct to your Kindle page.
Take your Kindle publisher career to the next level with this course on Publishing Your Book on Kindle.

6. Teach Online

The online education industry is at a tipping point. The high cost of college and the lack of real-world skills among graduates has sprouted a burgeoning industry dedicated to teaching students everything from programming to productivity skills. By one estimate, this market is valued at $56.2b and is expected to double by 2015.
Through platforms like Udemy, anyone can become a teacher for free. All you need is knowledge of a desirable skill, a screen-capture software like Camtasia, and an account with Udemy. There is no limit to what you can teach – programming, time management skills, leadership lessons, writing techiques, etc. Since courses often tend to be priced in the low three digits, a handful of students can translate into a nice chunk of change.
How to Take it to the Next Level: Create multiple courses to cover every facet of the skill. Start a website to generate additional traffic and sell your videos as well as additional Ebooks for even more cash. You can also learn how to design your courses for maximum impact with this Udemy course optimization guide.

Conclusion

Making money online is easier than ever before. There are dozens of legitimate opportunities for anyone with time, a bit of skill and dedication to make anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a full-time income online.

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Top 10 UK free money making websites

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20 easy and wonderful ways to make money

Believe it or not, there are so many ways you can boost your income. The problem is that many ideas simply sound too weird or wacky to ever be taken seriously. Never fear! Your friendly neighbourhood money geeks have managed to find 20 ideas that might just be crazy enough to work…

1. Trade in empty ink cartridges for cash

I’m no statistisst-isst-ician (yes, that’s a word) but I’m pretty confident that most homes in Britain have empty ink cartridges lying at the bottom of a drawer.
Instead of letting your ink cartridges languish away in the shadows send them to The Recycling Factory, who will pay you up to £4.10 per empty cartridge. Cash for Cartridges will pay as much as £4.50 a time. You could even have a cheeky rummage through your friend and family’s old printers when they’re not looking! (Just kidding…obviously)

2. Get paid for your holiday snapshots

Stock photos can get samey, so businesses are always looking for brand new images to buy. Why not cash in?
You don’t have to be a camera wizard to take photos worth paying for. If you have some digital snaps with decent resolution, consider selling them to online agencies such as Fotolia and 123rf. Every time someone buys one of your pictures you’ll get a royalty fee, and the subject matter can cover anything you want (within reason).

3. Become a life model

You don’t need to have the body of an Adonis to become a work of art. Local colleges and universities constantly cry out for body types of all shapes, size and age as subject matter for their Da Vincis in the making. Some models earn around £10 per hour, and you may even be able to pick your favourite drawing to take home and keep!

4. Donate old clothes for cash

Every year, tonnes of textiles are dumped in landfills. This is a crying shame because as much as 95% of the clothes we throw away could be used again.
H&M are now collecting clothes and textiles of any brand, in any quality and any condition. What’s more, they’ll give you a £5 voucher to spend in store for each bag of material that you donate (limit two bags per day). With summer on the horizon, get to bagging up your unwanted clothes now so you can trade it in for cooler clobber!

5. Sell your hair

Since the dawn of time, long hair has been a hallmark of a woman’s beauty (the occasional man too – romance novel model Fabio Lanzoni springs to mind). Hair extensions are more popular than ever, so if you have lovely long locks you can cash in!
Hop on Gumtree and you’ll find a plethora of ads from wigmakers willing to pay cold hard cash for your hair. It’s also worth contacting your local colleges and hair salons to see if they need ‘hair models’ to fine-tune their craft on.

6. Rent your back garden out to campers

If you live in a leafy or rural area and have a large back garden or patch of land here’s a clever way to make some quick cash while the sun’s shining: rent out your lawn to some happy campers!
AirBNB is an online hub that allows folks to list their back garden for camping. This is great news for holidaymakers wanting to set up camp for a relatively cheap price.
It’s free to list your garden as a potential camping spot, and you can even choose the amount you want to charge to campers (you pay 3% upon a successful booking), so everyone wins!

7. Flog it for a fiver

Ever wondered how you can make a quick few bob from your writing, acting or drawing skills? Maybe you’re a master photo retoucher or you’re happy to wear someone’s logo on your face for a day.
American site Fiverr.com lets you earn money by doing anything from writing a sweet ukelele jingle to creating a custom cartoon character. You can net $4 (roughly £2.50) each time you do one of a wide variety of small tasks. It won’t turn you into a millionaire overnight but it’s a great way to earn pennies in a pinch.

8. Get paid to buy booze

Got an 18-19 year old skulking around the house? Maybe you are that 18-19 year old, stuck indoors on a sunny day with no cash. If you’d sooner be down the pub with your mates, you can now get paid for it!
Serve Legal needs young folk to find out if pubs are serving people who could potentially be underage. It’s a paid gig and your drinks and travel costs are also covered. Find out how to apply.

9. Take some tourists sightseeing

You love where you live, and you love to show it off when far-off friends or family come to visit. You probably also hate falling into ‘tourist traps’ when you yourself go on holiday, so why not help others avoid them too?
Sign up to Vayable and put together a cheap and cheerful tour that visitors will love. You get to set your own rates for what each tourist will pay (Vayable take a 3% cut) while showing off what you believe are your hometown’s best features.
Get some punters through the doors of your favourite family-run pub, or take them to that little-known local pencil museum you’ve been meaning to check out (okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea). Who knows? You make some out-of-town friends who can give you a tour around their home town in return!

10. Earn clubcard points for empty cans

We found this great tip on MoneySavingExpert.com. Instead of putting your empty drinks cans out for the dustman, take them to Tesco and trade them in for Clubcard points. They’re worth 1p in store but up to four times as much if you redeem them on things such as days out or breakdown cover, so it’s really worth doing.
All you need to do is check that your local Tesco has a recycling service. Go to the Tesco store locator to find a Tesco near you. If it has a recycling logo under the store name, you’re sorted!

11. Sell Your trees

Yesterday, James told me that one of our debt advisors recently sold a monkey puzzle tree from her back garden on eBay.
Firstly, monkey puzzle trees are the weirdest looking trees ever*. Secondly, selling your unwanted shrubbery makes total sense. Trees take ages – sometimes half a century – to grow into anything remotely impressive. Ain’t nobody got time for that!
If you’re debating taking a hacksaw to your hawthorn, check first to see if someone’s willing to dig it up and cart it off for you. Better yet, they’ll pay you for the privilege.

12. Refer a friend that’s perfect for the job

We all have that one fantastic friend who’s hardworking, loyal, and pretty much the bees knees, if only they could net the perfect job!
Should you have such a pal (or are that pal), then jobsearch site Refermehappy wants to hear from you. Join as either a ‘referrer’ or a ‘friend’ and you’ll get a referral bonus from the company should your friend get hired for a job you connect them up with.

13. Answer some bizarre text messages

If you’re a bit of a texting fiend, then this tip is for you. ChaCha lets people text any question – no matter how random – and can get an answer back in minutes. If you reply to these questions, you get paid!
It couldn’t be simpler. Log in to ChaCha to answer questions ranging from ‘What Pokemon takes less steps to hatch?’ to ‘How do I make myself more attractive?’. Again, at 15p per question, it’s a ‘slow and steady wins the race’ way to boost your income but hey, who doesn’t like racking up some pennies on a lazy afternoon at home? Plus, it’s fun and educational – or funducational! (Sorry.)

14. Reclaim lost assets

Ever wondered if your eccentric great-uncle was really a famous explorer with a stash of pirate doubloons in his attic? No? Well maybe you should!
Up to £15 billion pounds of unclaimed financial assets are collecting dust right now in forgotten UK bank accounts, pensions, life assurance and investments – yet most are easy to reclaim. Whether the account’s yours or a deceased relative’s, it’s worth reading through this brilliant guide on MoneySavingExpert.com and finding out how to reclaim lost assets you may be entitled to.

15. Rent out your parking space

Finding affordable parking can be a real pain in the neck. If you have a private parking space lying empty, it’s possible that some frustrated commuter would gladly pay to rent it off you.
ParkatmyHouse will let you list your parking space and set your price for free, taking a small cut from the rental fee you charge the person parking up.
Please note, some local councils view renting out your parking space as a ‘change of use’ to your property, and will expect a £385 planning application fee. You must make sure this fee doesn’t apply to you and if it does, a price check on parking sites in your area will show if it’s worth the hassle.
Read MoneySavingExpert’s.com’s dedicated Rent Your Parking Space guide for more information.

16. Try stuff out before it hits the shelves

Granted this won’t earn you cash per se, but it does mean that you can stock up on some goodies that you potentially would have had to buy….which is kinda the same thing. Sort of. Maybe.
Set up a tester’s account on Toluna and they’ll send you all kinds of doodahs to try out from kids shampoos and herbal teas to lip liners and Spiderman stationary kits (nice). They also give out free vouchers for coffee shops, holidays, clothes and more.

17. Get paid to review music

If you fancy yourself a bit of a music buff, Slicethepie is a nice little earner that’s sure to hit all the right notes (again, sorry).
There’s a gazillion unsigned bands out there, and they need you to listen to and review their tracks. Initially you won’t make much, but writing trustworthy reviews will increase your scout rating, earning you more and more.
Interested? Read MoneyMagpie’s great guide on how to make money by listening to music to help you get started!

18. Become a hangover helper

If you live in an area densely populated by students, you could clean up by becoming a ‘hangover helper’. Literally.
The idea was originally founded by two students in Colorado USA, and their clientele consists mainly of worse-for-wear students after a long night of partying. For a nominal fee, The Hangover Helpers bring their clients a hearty breakfast burrito, a sports drinks to replace fluids, and will give the place a good tidying while the students sleep off their woes. By the time the alcohol-afflicted roll out of bed, it’ll be like the party never happened.

19. Rent out your shed or garage

Your lawnmower you haven’t touched since 2009, the Christmas tree, that box of LPs you’re definitely going to take down to the car boot sale one of these days…they’re lonely! Find them some new friends by renting out the available space in your garage or shed. Check out Share My Storage for more details.

20. Let your spare room to a student

Foreign exchange students come to study in the UK for a whole host of reasons, and for varying degrees of time. Students learning English are usually only here for about six weeks, while university students and lecturers tend to stay for up to six months.
Letting a spare room out to a foreign exchange student is a pretty easy way to earn some regular cash. Throw in extras such as laundry, wifi and meals to bump up the rental fee.

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Online Surveys For Money

How to make money online with the best paid survey sites working from home Online paid surveys can help you make money while you’re in front of the computer. If you have some free time in your lunch break or a spare half an hour in the evenings, why not fill in a few online surveys? You'd be surprised how much you can earn just by answering a few questions. Paid surveys are simple, effective ways to make money and some online surveys even let you win cash prizes every now and then. How online paid survey sites work All you have to do is sign up, wait for survey alerts to land in your inbox, then zip through the questions. Survey sites then add the cash to your account. Payment method: How do I get paid for doing surveys online 70 percent of survey companies sites will pay you cash through Paypal and several other payment methods to choose from such as Direct Bank Deposit and Cheque. If you do not currently have a PayPal account, it is fast and easy to set up and only takes a few minutes. You can sign up now if you wish at https://www.paypal.com/signup/account Why do companies want to pay you for your opinion? It's because major corporations are always interested in learning how they can improve on the products and services they offer. These companies desperately want to know what the average consumer likes, doesn't like, and wants more of so they can try to deliver on those things and make more money. Four key tips to bear in mind when joining survey sites 1. Don't ever pay to register with an online survey site. 2. If the survey site is not paying you and you've already complained to the website, try also complaining through its social media channels. 3. Always withdraw your payment as soon as it is put into your website account. If the website closes, it could take your money with it. 4. Use a secondary email address for all of your survey emails. This will stop your primary mailbox from being flooded, and it will mean you are instantly alerted to any new surveys that have been sent out. Make sure your spam filter isn't blocking any emails from coming through. Set up free email account with Yahoo, Google and Hotmail.

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5 ways to make money online

1. Make money from online surveys

Marketing companies are keen to get your views on a wide range of services and products and will pay you for the privilege. Tests can last between two minutes and half an hour, with pay varying accordingly.

The surveys cover topical issues and current affairs, as well as items such as electrical equipment, gambling habits and beauty products.

You are required to create an account with the survey database website and answer a series of questions about your lifestyle, spending habits, interests and employment status.

You do not have to answer all of these questions to participate and they are normally quite generic and unobtrusive. The answers are then used to generate suitable questionnaires and surveys.

After completing each survey money accumulates in your account until you have
earned more than £10 when it can be withdrawn. You can also earn prizes or rewards such as iPods or plasma screen TVs. You may also choose to donate the money to charity.
Try the survey websites www.panelbase.net, www.lightspeedpanel.com or www.toluna.com for more details.

2. One man's rubbish is another man's treasure

Many people will have made bids our bought items through eBay, but it's almost as easy to sell through the site.
And you would be surprised what other people may value. Unwanted items that you otherwise may have dumped at the tip could make you money.
A case study recently featured in our Sunday supplement Money and Jobs sold an unwanted television remote control for £36 which would otherwise have been thrown away. Also try www.eBid.tv, similar to eBay, or www.GreenMetropolis where you can sell unwanted books for £3 a volume.

3. Beneficial benefits

There is more than £8 billion in unclaimed benefits sitting in government bank accounts. These are mostly made up of pension credits, but there are unclaimed working tax credits, housing and council tax credits and even child tax credits.
Use the website www.EntitledTo.co.uk to calculate what you should be receiving to see if you are eligible for further help. Simply enter details about your earnings, savings and tax expenses online; should you be entitled to more, visit the HM Revenue and Customs website, www.hmrc.co.uk on how to claim.

4. Reclaim forgotten funds

There is nearly £1 billion lying forgotten in UK bank accounts. In these pound-stretched times, any extra cash makes a difference so why not visit www.mylostaccount.org.uk to see if you can claim?
It is a free service set up by the British Bankers' Association, the Building Societies Association and National Savings and Investments which trawls the separate providers on your behalf to find abandoned accounts. But don't expect a quick buck – because of the expanse of the search, the claim can take up to three months.

5. Recommend a friend

A number of service providers will pay you for promoting further business. Television, telephone and internet providers will give you money off your monthly subscription should you inform them of a friend who may be interested in their service. Virgin Media will give you £30 off your bill per recommendation.

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60 more ways to earn extra cash-Boost Your Income

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.

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iPods

How much? From £30 to £160, depending on your model.
How do I do it? Do an iPod selling comparison on MobileValuer.

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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.

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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.

Can I do better elsewhere? Yes. Though hoarders of '90s CD relics and games could make £100s on the side, for more recent items you may be better off selling 'em individually on eBay* or other auction sites. You may do better trading in computer games at high street game shops - check these too.

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 don't want to do it full-time, you can play guesthouse. Airbnb and Wimdu allow you to list your spare room online, and take in travellers looking for a cheap place to stay. You can set the nightly cost, undercutting local hotels, and you might get to work on your language skills too.
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.

Warning! This is NOT about gambling. Gambling is not MoneySaving; the bookies always win in the long run (see Gamblers Anonymous). This is only about manipulating intro loopholes.

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.

How much? Grants in the £1,000s are available in the right circumstances.
How do I do it? Read the full Home and Energy Grants, Grant Grabbing and Small Business Grants guides, which list masses of handy grant sources and websites.
The big energy providers are giving wads of freebies to people on benefits - see Free Boilers and Insulation for more.

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.
aliasojo

How do I do it? Read the full Uniforms Tax Rebate guide.

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.
- funnyguy

Find out more: You'll find a full how-to and the top paying sites in the Survey Sites guide.

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.
- MartinLewisisalegend

Find out more: To get started, sign up with the top agencies listed in our list of Face-to-face focus groups.

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.
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.
- mrsrobertson

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.

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.

You'll need a DBS check if you're to work with kids, so start out by asking some local teaching agencies about getting one, and about getting started.
How much? Without qualifications, you can charge up to about £10/hour (depending on your experience and ability). If you get a PGCE (which can be achieved on a part-time or flexible basis), you can charge as much as £40/hour in some areas.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Private tutoring help thread.

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.
Badger_Lady

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.
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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