The ability to occasionally supplement your earnings can be really useful when you want to save up for something or need a boost to your income.
There are numerous ways to try and earn a bit of extra money using your car, your home or yourself, you just need to think a bit creatively!
10 Ways to Make Some Extra Money
1. Be an Exam Invigilator
During the exam period (there are mock exams in November, plus February/March and summer exams in May/June/July) many schools, sixth forms and universities need extra staff to invigilate during exams.
This involves handing out papers, preparing the exam room, walking up and down the exam hall making sure no one cheats and collecting the papers at the end.
If you have a few hours to spare a couple of times a week these temporary jobs can be a great way to make a bit of extra money and usually no experience is required – you just need to be reliable and flexible.
Hourly rates range from about £8 to £10 an hour.
For more information look at invigilators’ jobs going on Indeed or on Reed.
2. Sell your Hair
Wig-makers require good quality, clean, long hair from which to make natural-looking wigs.
If you have an unusual hair colour it will be even more sought after.
There are various ways to go about selling your hair but one of the easiest is to contact wig-makers Hair Harvest who promise to give you a valuation of your hair if you send it to them neatly cut off and bound in a tight pony tail.
On their website the guide they give for prices is:
14-15 inches: £25 – £60
16-18 inches: £50 – £150
19 inches and above: £60 – £200
If you are unhappy with the price they offer for your hair they will send it back to you free of charge.
Hair must be longer than 14 inches or it will not be long enough to make a wig. Hair longer than 16 inches is better (and worth more money) so it is probably worth growing it a few more inches before you send it off.
To answer your next question: How fast does hair grow? According to LiveScience human hair grows about 6 inches a year, on average. So about half an inch per month.
3. Car Boot Sales
If you have old toys, clothes and nick nacks lying around clogging up your garage or loft it can be worthwhile doing a car boot sale.
Most towns and cities hold regular car boot sales. Check out www.carbootjunction.com for listings.
It is worth looking around to find the most popular to ensure you get the most customers (there’s nothing worse than giving up your weekend for the proverbial one man and his dog as customers).
Most car boots take place at the weekend and you need to get there early (think 6am) to get a good pitch.
Before going make sure you:
- Clean and price up everything you want to sell
- Have a float of change – £25 of change is a good start (or the first buyer with a £20 note will clean you out!)
- Bring a fold-up table to display your wares and a clothes rail if you have one (or can borrow one?)
- Have a stash of plastic bags for shoppers to put their goods in (at last a use for all those spare shopping bags!)
- Wrap up warm!
4. Be a Life Model
If you are able to sit still for long periods of time, holding a pose and are happy for a room full of strangers to be staring intently at your naked body then working as a life model could be for you!
Acting as a life model can be really rewarding as you get to see artists creating beautiful pictures of you.
However it can also be uncomfortable as you need to hold poses for a long period of time and may be asked to pose with a member of the opposite sex.
Most life models get between £12 and £15 an hour.
The best way to get started is to contact art schools or art classes near you.
If you are really committed to the idea consider joining the Register for Artists’ Models (RAM) who charge about £38.50 a year for membership but give members access to numerous modelling listings around the country.
To sign up you need to pass an audition to prove you can hold the poses required.
Do use a reputable model agency. Avoid ‘private’ sessions. Stay safe and make sure someone knows where you are going and when you are expected to be back.
5. Work as a TV/Film extra
If you live near a major city then there can be quite a few opportunities to work as an extra.
You need to be reliable and flexible plus you need to be able to take direction (so that you look natural in the background).
This Money Magpie blog post has a lot of great links to reputable agencies, but to sum up:
- Join a reputable agency (if they want to charge you lots of money just to join, avoid)
- Provide crisp, clear photographs of yourself plus vital statistics (height, weight etc.)
- Be reliable, if you are booked turn up on time
- Make known any specialist skills (singing, dancing, horse-riding) as this can up your chances
- Be prepared that being on set can be boring so take a book/crossword/music to keep you entertained
- Money varies but you can expect anything from £75 to £100 a day.
6. Run Adverts on your Car
This one only really works if you have a newish, fancy car, drive a lot and live near a major city.
But if you can answer “yes” to all those it might be worth trying!
Sign up to Car Quids and you can earn up to £100 a month for them to wrap your car in vinyl adverts.
You need to sign up your car first, giving details of where you drive and the make of your car. The company will then try and match you with an advertiser in your area.
If you get selected it can be a really easy way to earn some extra cash every month without it impacting on your daily life (well, apart from the adverts all over your car that is).
7. Become a Mystery Shopper
Acting as a mystery shopper – whereby you are given an assignment to visit a store and then rate them on their customer service – can be a nice little earner on the side.
You need to be sociable, presentable, have a good memory and be good at communicating. Assignments range from phoning up call centres to check on their response skills, to visiting a restaurant and seeing how well you are served.
ESA Retail is one of the largest agencies in the UK and Ireland and have all sorts of assignments from actually visiting and reporting on stores to checking companies’ response times on social media.
Make sure an agency is reputable before you sign up: Google the [company name + reviews] which should help flush out any obvious scam agencies.
8. Rent out your Parking Space
If you have off-road parking and live in a desirable location (such as city centre, near a railway station, sports ground or large retail park) think about renting out your parking space.
You can list your parking space on Just Park or Your Parking Space.
Then simply upload some good quality pictures of the parking space plus contact details and then people can contact you through the site to rent out your space.
You can chose how much to charge but it is worth doing your research across the site to make sure you aren’t being unrealistic (£5 to £10 a day is a good starting point but the average London parking spot goes for about £16 a day).
9. Become an Election Clerk
It might only happen once a year but you can earn good money helping out on election day as a Poll Clerk.
You need to be:
- Over 18
- On the electoral roll
- Literate
- And not a member of any of the political parties taking part in the election.
You can earn up to £250 for a day’s work (it is a long day though, usually 7am to 10pm), helping to set up the polling station, check and mark off each person as they come in to vote, issue ballot papers and answer questions in a useful and friendly fashion.
To apply: contact your local council and ask for the Elections and Registrations Office, they should have application forms or information on how to apply.
There are also opportunities to help count the vote in the evenings and if you act as a Poll Clerk many times you can work up to becoming a Presiding Officer, who earns even more.
10. Host International Students
If you have a spare room in your house but don’t want a lodger full-time you could explore hosting international students. This is especially good if you live in a major university city such as London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Oxford or Cambridge.
There a number of options:
Host visiting teenagers who are studying for a summer school qualification
They will be out at activities every week day but will require dinner and a bed every night.
To find a local language school check out the International Association of Language Centres who have a useful list of centres around the country
Host visiting teenagers and spend some time teaching them English yourself
You can earn more if you have a TEFL qualification. Bell English are a good example of an language centre that offers this service.
You can earn up to £268 per week doing this.
Host football trainees
If you are near a good football academy there are also options to host football trainees.
Host International offers this and other options to earn up to £200 a week from your spare room.
Offer rooms for visiting academics – have a room available for academics attending conferences at a nearby university or put one up for a whole semester if they are visiting to teach.
Most universities have an accommodation office so just get in touch with them and ask if they need rooms.
This one for Cambridge University is a good example and provides information to those wishing to rent out rooms or even a whole house to students and visiting academics.
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