Including ways to earn extra money online
Earning money online can be done at home around your normal job or as a way to bring in money while you look after the kids.
Regardless of what electronic device you have, even as a beginner, there’ll a load of ways you can boost your income from home. Some may be slow burners, but you could earn extra money from home while watching TV, scrolling through the latest slot sites, or watching the kids play.
We know that many of you are put off working online because of all the scams and stuff, well, now you don’t have to worry, as we’ve weathered the internet storm to find you real and legitimate ways that you can make money from home.
All these ideas we’ve tried and tested ourselves, and know that what you see, really is what you will get.
If you are looking for more work from home ideas then have a look at:
101 Genuine Work From Home Jobs in the UK – If you are looking for work from home roles then this is the post for you. We have everything you need to start working from home.
How to Sell Online: This is the 2022 Guide to Selling Online – Starting a business can be tough. Our post here walks you through how to set up and start making money.
The Ultimate Guide to Easy Ways to Make Money in the UK – If you are looking for side hustles then this is the post for you. We list everything that we do here to make extra money.
Free money saving printables
If you are looking to save money or just get more organised with your financials then have a look at our free Resource Vault. It’s packed full of everything you need to help you start to take control of your money.
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Earn Extra Money Tips
Before you start, there are a few things you need to know. These are tips on what to do if you are new to making money online.
Cash out straight away
These companies aren’t banks, there is no protection for your money. If the company goes under, so does your cash, so withdraw all your earnings straight away.
Transfer to your bank accounts or if you have gift cards payout make sure you still cash out!
Set up a new email address
You’ll be inundated with emails. Setting up a dedicated online earning email address will make it easier for you to see when the paid tasks are available.
This stops you from getting spammed as well.
Patience is key
It can take a while to earn enough to cash out. Keep going, as otherwise, you’ve done all that work for free.
Remember tax
Everything you earn has to be declared. Chances are, this won’t push you over the threshold if you’re close, but it makes zero difference.
Whatever you earn, must be declared so that HMRC can take their cut. It’s normally around a third but does depend on your circumstances.
Registering as self-employed is easy, but make sure you keep as much paperwork and a little spreadsheet of all your extra income handy, so when it comes to declaring, you’re not frantically trying to find the details.
Spend vouchers quickly
Always choose cash if you can, but if you don’t have the option then spend the cards straight away. This reduces the chance of them going out of date or becoming invalid.
PayPal account
If you don’t want to set up a new bank account then set up a free PayPal account. It’s free to get money paid in and transferred out into your bank account.
It’s a great way to keep track of how much you are earning too.
Have the right equipment
Depending on what you decide to do, you may need some extra equipment like a microphone, headphones, a newsletter provider, or even a professional email account.
Decide what is a must-have first and go from there.
How to make money online for free
Making money online while in the UK is easy as long as you know which sites to use and who to avoid. These online work-from-home ideas are great for anyone who wants to make money from home buy is unsure how to start.
Some of these aren’t quick earners but some can bring you in a good amount of income a month that can help top up your wages or even help you cash-wise if you want to stay at home.
Matched betting
Matched betting is a completely legal, tried, and tested way to make money online while you’re at home. It basically turns the tables on the bookmakers, to give you their free bet offers, so you can’t lose.
If you’re doing it correctly, you will never lose any money, but you do need to take your time and be really careful to avoid any mistakes.
Make sure you understand fully before you deposit any money.
Sign up with Profit Accumulator free today and they will help you make your first £40*.
Read more about how matched betting works and how to make your first £40*.
Blogging
Blogging is a great way to earn extra money from home online or even start your own business.
You don’t need any experience at all to start blogging. You don’t even have to be a brilliant writer as that will come in time as you learn. You don’t need any technical skills at all.
If you are looking for step by step course then have a look at our post here on How to Start a Blog in the UK. We talk you through how to start your part time while you are working and how to make it a full time job if that’s what you want.
Dropshipping
Dropshipping is a great way to bring in money while at home. You can drop ship on loads of different sites which means that you have more ways to make money.
It has a very small outlay to start and you get what you put in time wise.
The biggest difference between dropshipping and a normal retail store is that no product is held by you which can be a plus when it comes to self-assessment.
Read more about how you can drop ship from home here.
Mystery shopping
Mystery shopping is a great way to make money online. They employ you to carry out a mystery shop and rate their staff, food, or customer service.
You act like a real customer and when you give your feedback you get paid. It’s not as easy as it sounds as you do need to qualify to do certain tasks and it all depends on your feedback from other tasks too.
We started with these three companies first:
- Market Force
- Helion Research
- Red WigWam
Virtual assistant
Being a virtual assistant means that you have businesses with admin tasks that they just don’t have time for themselves.
You don’t need loads of experience but the more you have the more chance you have of getting well-paid clients.
Virtual assistants do everything from scheduling social media to data entry to customer service.
Decide what you like to do and niche. Having reviews could help you break into your chosen field.
Read more about becoming a virtual assistant here.
This is the only Virtual Assistant Essential Tool Kit you will ever need.
It includes:
A list of essential tools you’ll need to get your first client and get paid
This 7 value-packed templates includes:
- A list of VA essential tools
- Invoice template (Word)
- Time Card spreadsheet (Excel with pre-made formulas)
- Invoice spreadsheet (Excel with pre-made formulas)
- Blog post promotion spreadsheet (Excel)
- Engagement questions for most niches (Excel)
- Facebook schedule (Excel)
The Virtual Assistant Essential Tool Kit can help you land your first client, and keep you on track for when it’s time to invoice.
Survey sites
We use survey sites all the time to make extra cash.
Our favourite is OhMyDosh!. It’s an easy to use website that asks you take surveys for payment. Sign up for free and start earning straight away. As soon as you reach £10 you can cash out*.
Online survey sites or apps can make you £100s of pounds a year. Just give your view and watch the cash come in. Some only pay pennies but one or two I’ve done do pay £1 a survey. At just 3-5 minutes long sat on your bum, that’s a no-brainer.
You can get a free £1 added to your account here by using our link.*
YouGov asks you to take part in easy surveys to earn points that then get turned into cash. You do 500 points but the surveys come thick and fast. They even email you to let you know that a survey is ready. They could be about anything from politics to the adverts you see on TV.
Prolific offer great engaging surveys that help you earn cash while helping move science forward. It’s free to sign up and you can earn more by asking your friends to join too. It doesn’t cost you anything. You do have to fill out quite a few forms though about what you like and what you do etc.
They only send you surveys that you qualify for. It’s worth being part of Prolific in case a survey does come up!
OnePoll is a great site for making money. It’s easy to do while the TV is on. Read more about how Onepoll works here.
Freelance typing jobs
There’s loads of typing jobs that you can do around the kids and that you need hardly any experience for. This includes audio typing, transcription, and captioning videos.
Don’t expect the money or clients to roll in. You have to actively find them. Using the content mills like Fiverr* and People Per Hour* as well as advertising your services across social media and in local groups will help you to get work but it can start slow.
Affiliate links
This means that you get paid every time someone clicks on a link that you’ve advertised. This works great if you have a big online following or you love spending your time online.
You pick a product that you like and really use and advertise it to people you know. The commission is low but if you sell enough you can make some good money.
Customer support
Have you got good phone skills? A customer service caller could be a great way to earn money.
You receive money every time you answer a call. Many companies have external customer service reps who divert calls when they found out what the customer needs. This is a great remote job around the kids.
Fulfilled by Amazon
Fulfilled by Amazon is a great way to sell online. If you already sell products or are looking to sell them then this may be the route for you.
This does involve you having products of your own to sell. Once they are ready you ship them to an Amazon warehouse and they ship them to the customer every time your product is brought.
Watch videos and play games
Have a look at Swagbucks. Swagbucks is a fun and easy to use site that pays you to complete short online tasks in exchange for virtual money. This can then be swapped for real money or vouchers.
You can sign up for Swagbucks here and receive a few extra points.
The tasks can be random. Filling in polls, watching videos, and using it to search for products instead of Google is the norm.
The more you do the more earn as each task is paid differently.
This is a great site for those who want a quick task. We do them while waiting for the kids on the school run or while cooking dinner.
Cashback sites
We love cashback sites.
We use Quidco* and OhMyDosh* the most.
Quidco is a great way to save money. We’ve saved over £200 in the last few months and their site is really easy to use.
OhMyDosh is another great site if you shop online. Make sure you check the terms and conditions of each deal before you purchase.
Swagbucks is free to join and like Quidco you can save money while shopping online. The good thing about Swagbucks is that you can also earn money by watching videos, playing games and taking part in surveys.
Read more about the cashback sites here.
Selling on eBay
Selling on eBay as a business is easy. It’s not just about selling your unwanted stuff. This website may feel outdated, but it’s still widely used. Take photos of your stuff on your phone and sell them on the eBay app!
You could sell any craft items or printables on eBay. You can even drop ship from other businesses.
If your car is no longer fit for purpose then you can sell that too!
Competitions
There are loads out there, with dedicated Facebook groups set up for them. Yep, it is luck, but if you enter enough of them, then you’ll win at some point.
I’ve won champagne, a day out with the family and a weekend away.
Read Adverts
Give Qudtodian a go. Download the app and chose what you like and they send you adverts matching your interests.
You get paid when you respond to messages or watch videos.
They pay via Paypal or BACS when you earn £10.
This is great if you have a lot of patience as it takes a while to reach the £10 payout. I think it took me about seven months.
Snap photos
Field Agent is like being a spy (or how I’d imagine it is anyway.) They send you market research tasks via an app and you choose if you want to do it.
It could be checking prices in a store or taking a photo of a product. You are competing against others for the tasks, so you won’t get lucky every time.
It pays anything from £2 to £10 a task and is perfect if you don’t mind popping out every now and again.
Spot Jobs
Job Spotter pays you to snap pictures of job ads as you see them.
So if you see a restaurant asking for staff or a shop pleading for help, then snap it and upload it.
Answer questions
A bit like a treasure hunt, Streetspotr is an app that lets you carry out small tasks. You could be asked to check that an item is on a menu or to take a picture of a product or buy a drink.
This is great if you live near a high street as most jobs are shop based. I made around £10 one month and it was easy. There’s no payout limit either.
Market Research
Task 360 is an iPhone-only app that helps companies solve their logistical issues, like a sat nav telling people to go down a one-way for instance.
Tasks can be as simple as checking a billboard light is working or if a new street has just popped up.
They pay around £5-£10 for about 15 minutes of work. The jobs go mega quick though, so check every day before 9 am to bag them.
Testing websites
Sign up for What Users Do to test businesses’ websites. It pays around £5 for 15 minutes of work, and the tasks are simple, like giving feedback on a homepage or testing a page is working.
You do need a computer and microphone though as feedback is recorded using your voice.
It’s a good earner. I’ve made around £25 a month and they pay via Paypal.
Related Posts:
- The Ultimate Guide to Easy Ways to Make Money in the UK
- How I can Afford to be a Stay at Home Mum
- 31 Work From Home Jobs for Mums
Home-based jobs
There are loads of great genuine jobs that you could do at home with very little experience.
Running a new business is hard but you really do get what you put in. We started working from home as a virtual assistants five years ago and haven’t looked back. Alongside the blog, the different income streams help when an unexpected bill comes through.
Laura x
If you enjoyed this post and would like some more money making ideas from home, including ways to freelance, start a blog or even earn from your phone, then head over to my making money section here on Savings 4 Savvy Mums where you’ll find over 30 money making posts dedicated to helping you earn more from home and become more financially stable as a family. There’s also tips in my Money Saving Mums Facebook group. You could also pop over and follow my money making Pinterest boards for lots more ways you can earn money from home; Money Making Mums and Working from Home Jobs for Mums.
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