Money Hacks To Help Boost Your Finances
Who couldn’t use more money? When it comes to our finances, we can nearly all do with a little more in our back pockets, especially as the pandemic has put pressure on everyone’s finances. Be it less cash coming in each month, or even added costs of equipment to be able to work from home successfully, money can often be tight.
While new avenues of employment might be possible, it’s not always as easy as said or done. It makes sense then, to look for money hacks – ways to earn extra cash around what you’re already doing right now. We’ve compiled a list of some that you can do from home, and a few that might take you on some interesting adventures too!
Rent your parking space
This first of the money hacks is a simple one. If you have a spare parking space at your home or even a tenant place at your block of flats, you can rent it out and make great money.
People are turning to their transport more than ever post the pandemic as they look to avoid commuting on public transport. So if you’ve got a parking space going spare in a city centre, or even near a train station or a suburb on the way there, this can be a really easy way to earn passive income.
Sites such as Justpark.com, Parklet.co.uk or Parkonmydrive.com are a great place to start. Depending on what you have available you could earn up to £1,000 a year for the space.
Take part in market research
Market research is a cornerstone of initiatives for many businesses – from small companies to massive multinational corporations. For that reason, they are willing to pay cold hard cash for your views on them and their products.
Sessions are carried out online or in person (more likely online at the moment thanks to the pandemic) and can earn you anywhere between £20 and £200 depending on the company and what they want to know.
Companies such as Peopleforresearch.co.uk, Researchopinions.co.uk or Rocketresearch.co.uk are good places to start.
Become a product tester
Product testing is a good way to earn some extra cash from the comfort of your home. Companies will send you their products in exchange for feedback, and some will pay too.
Clicks Research is a good place to start as that company works with big brands. You earn ‘Clicks Points’ – once you’ve accumulated 2,500 you can exchange them for £25 cash.
Boots has their version of a volunteer panel that is worth a look too.
One thing to note with product testing is to be careful with it. Some companies will try and make you pay for products which you should never do. There are also some straight-up scammers out there, so best to stick with reputable names.
Become a TV or film extra
The TV and film industry has been affected by coronavirus, but it is largely working on productions and continuing to make films and television programs.
This means they need extras. You don’t need any acting skills to be an extra – and it can pay good money for easy work, although you may need to travel to set locations at short notice.
Being an extra can pay a basic daily rate of £94.81, while public holiday shooting pays £142.21 for the day. Shooting at night earns more – the basic rate is £142.21. These will vary depending on the production though, as the BBC and ITV pay different amounts
Good companies that look for extras include Castingcollective.co.uk or Maddog2020casting.com. Beware rogue agencies that try to get you to pay for photoshoots.
Hire out your car
If you’ve got a car at home that you’re not frequently using, you can rent it out to others to drive around.
There’s a plethora of apps now that you can use to let out your vehicle, for a variety of rates – but you can earn upwards of £600 a month depending on the car and your location.
Firms like easyCarClub or Drivy are good places to get started with this. Just make sure to check with your car insurance firm that letting out your ride is permissible in the policy first.
Transcribe recordings
One of the easiest money hacks if you’re good at typing and listening; transcribing. Companies will pay well for you to listen back to meetings, lectures or conferences and type out what is said on the audio.
You’ll need a computer and a decent pair of headphones, but this work can otherwise be done from home, and earn you anywhere between £22 to £90 per hour of transcription – depending on the job.
Companies to look at for this include Way With Words or Daily Transcription who are routinely looking for new transcribers.
Sell your stuff
An often-cited but tried and tested method of making some extra cash – sell stuff you don’t need any more!
The internet is awash with services that can do this for you, some for free and others for a fee. Sell your old clothes on a Depop store, old books on eBay or Abebooks, or use Facebook Marketplace to flog just about anything else.
Other ways to cash in on old stuff include websites like MusicMagpie.co.uk to trade in old CDs, DVDs or mobile phones.