In this post, Peter Watton from OddsMonkey shares five ways to make some extra cash with just a laptop and a few spare hours a day.
Whether you work full-time, part-time, or are a stay-at-home mum, it’s always nice to have some extra money coming in. From contributing towards bills to topping up your savings, generating an additional income through a side hustle can make achieving your financial goals a lot easier — but it can also mean you have some extra spending money for treats and trips out.
Just before lockdown, we at OddsMonkey decided to look deeper into side-hustles, and our research found that 1 in 4 Brits had an additional way of making money outside of their regular work. These extra jobs brought in average earnings of £230 per month, with the most lucrative (blogging) bringing in up to £4000 a year! And, with more of us spending time at home, those figures have likely increased.
The best part? Some methods of making more money are much easier to fit around your busy schedule than you might think. Below, we’ll take you through just five of the best ways you can make money online.
Sell Things Online
One of the most popular (and lucrative) ways to make money online is to sell things like old clothes, toys, jewellery, and other possessions on a retail platform. According to our research, 20% of Brits with a side hustle sell items online, and you can make £143 a month on average, plus you won’t have to pay any income tax (if what you make is less than £1,000 a year). Not only is this a great way to supplement your income, but you can declutter your home at the same time. And, as you’re reducing what you throw away by reselling instead, it’s great for the planet too.
Rent Out Your Things
If you have items in your home that you don’t use all the time, yet you are reluctant to part with them permanently, you could try renting them out instead of selling them. Renting out things like sports equipment or photography tools is becoming increasingly popular. If you sign up to do it through an app, your items will be protected against theft or damage by the loaning company without you having to take out your own insurance. Own your own home? You can even rent out a spare bedroom tax-free for up to £7,500 a year.
Run a Dropshipping Business
If selling or renting your own property isn’t the right fit for you and your circumstances, dropshipping could be. You sell new items to customers through your own online shop through this process, but you don’t hold any of the stock yourself. Instead of having boxes of products taking up space in your home, you organise the order delivery directly from your supplier to the customer. That means all you have to focus on is running your shop, marketing it, and handling customer service.
Participate in Market Research
Market researchers offer all kinds of incentives to tempt people to participate in their studies, from cash, paid into a digital wallet, to gift cards and vouchers to your favourite high street brands. These studies can range from surveys and questionnaires to testing out e-commerce websites or platforms and even mystery shopping. The studies themselves don’t pay out much individually, but they don’t take up too much of your time. If you do them often enough, you can build up a decent amount of spending money.
Try Matched Betting
While gambling is a very unpredictable and dangerous way to generate extra income, matched betting is different because there’s no risk of losing money — provided you apply the process correctly. It works by taking advantage of free bets offered by bookmakers and laying both a back bet and a lay bet on each outcome of an event. That way, you’re guaranteed to either win your money back or make a profit every time. Like filling out surveys, you won’t make loads of money quickly through matched betting, but it will build up. And, you can use a matched betting calculator or software to do the maths for you, too, so it’s even easier to do.
There are lots of ways you can make money online, but these five are among the best. They’re easy to do and won’t take up too much time, so you can easily fit them around your family life.
