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Most of us would agree that we’d like some extra cash and there’s only so much that frugal living can do to boost the bank balance.
What we all need is an injection of cash. This will take the pressure off and stop some of the worryings about the financial burden.
Luckily for you, this is what I do best, so here I am with some ways that you can boost your savings and make some money.
Matched Betting
One of my absolute favourite side hustles. This has the potential to make you a lot of money quite quickly AND provide you with an ongoing income stream.
Matched betting works by taking advantage of the deals offered by bookies. You can use these to a guaranteed, tax-free profit.
To help you, you can read my guide for newbies to matched betting. If you follow the steps then you could easily make £500+ in time for Christmas. Start by signing up to Profit Accumulator.
But note, you will need to have some money to get you started on this one. But you will get it back and then some.
2. Switching Bank Accounts
Even if you just switch your bank account once before Christmas, you should be able to get £100 or more in your account before you need it.
Banks will pay you to transfer your bank account to them because they want you as a customer. The process is simple and depending on who you switch to you could get between £50-£175.
The time it takes to be paid out will vary, so make sure you read the T&Cs to make sure that you get the money before Christmas.
3. Sign up to Monese
If you sign up to Monese and use my referral code: CHARL651, then we will both get £15 in our accounts when you make your first transaction.
Monese is an app-based bank account with a brilliant referral program. Once you have signed up, you can refer all your mates and make £15 each time.
4. Make money with Usertesting
This is a really simple way to make money. It’s not megabucks (typical payment is $10 or £7-8 a go) but this can easily build up over time.
For this, you have to review websites and apps and narrate your experiences along the way. You will be given tasks to do whilst your screen and voice are recorded.
Payment is really easy as it is paid out exactly 7 days after you complete a test. If you are interested in trying this then you should check out my post.
5. Make money with TryMyUI
Similar set up to Usertesting where you are paid to review websites. It is always worth keeping an eye on both because different opportunities will come up.
6. Make money with Oh My Dosh
Oh My Dosh! Is essentially a cashback but with a slight twist. Although they offer standard cashback services like Top Cashback and Quidco, they also do something a bit different.
They have what they call “Lightning Deals” for which you can receive a payment within three days. To get his payment, you will have to sign up to various services or subscriptions.
Some examples of this include signing up for Amazon Prime or a Now TV account. Many of these are free for an initial period and then you receive a payout from Oh My Dosh!
There is probably £50+ available in the Lightning Payouts section of their website. A great way to boost your Christmas savings and take advantage of the subscriptions too.
7. Make money selling your stuff
Autumn is a great time to have a declutter and make space for new stuff. Plus this acts as a great opportunity to sell any stuff that you don’t want.
Facebook Marketplace is one of my favourite places to sell things, particularly kids stuff. You post your unwanted items on their and people will come and pick them up for cash.
If you have a bunch of old electronics lying around collecting dust, online recycling sites like Plunc are perfect for selling old iPads, iPhones, tablets, and other gadgets cluttering the home.
8. Complete surveys
There are lots of great survey sites out there that pay you for completing them (there are some not so good ones too so make sure that you are not wasting your time).
My favourites are Prolific and YouGov which have fairly decent payouts. Surveys are great because you can do them from your sofa in the ad breaks.
9. Sell your skills on Fiverr
Do you have a skill you can sell? A graphic designer in a past life? A guitar teacher? All of these are skills that you can sell on Fiverr.
With Fiverr, you sign up and list the services you have to sell then people will contact you when they have a job they want doing. Check it outfor more examples of what you might be able to sell.
10. Try tutoring
If you like the sound of tutoring then there are lots of ways you can make money tutoring. There is the classic face-to-face style, where you may have to drive to someone’s house or they could come to you.
My personal favourite is tutoring online, where you can tutor from the comfort of your own armchair. One good company I have used for this in the past is TutorHub.
11. Make money with 20 Cogs
If you need money for Christmas and you are prepared to put in a bit of work then this one is for you. 20 Cogs is basically a cashback site, but with a big twist.
To earn cashback you have to sign up for various trials, subscriptions and offer. Once you have completed these you get all your cashback in one go. They have a good referral program too, so get your mates on it too.
12. Earn cashback with Quidco
Now is a great time to check that your utilities are as low as possible, if they are not, consider signing up through a link on Quidco. There are great cashback offers for changing internet providers, car insurance and buying life insurance policies.
On top of that, you can use Quidco for your online Christmas shopping and get a bit back in your pocket. Not only that but if you refer friends you can get a cashback bonus. If you are not already signed up, then use my link to get a bonus £10.
13. Rent a room on Airbnb
If you’ve got a spare room or even spare house (ha!) then why not consider renting it out on Airbnb. You could make good money from this over the Christmas break as people seek out comfortable and affordable accommodation when visiting friends and family.
Make sure you are honest about what you are offering on your profile and take really good pictures. It makes all the difference.
14. Refer a friend to Nationwide
If you’ve got an account with Nationwide, like me (ask for a referral), then you can make £100 each by referring a mate. This mate will have to switch their main account to Nationwide, but it is worth it for the cash they will make.
15. Refer a friend to TSB
Same as with Nationwide, but only £75 each this time. Still better than nothing though eh? Again, you can ask me for a referral. Get yourself that first £75.
16. Get free stuff on Shopmium
Technically, you don’t make money on this one, but you can get free stuff. Plus, referring friends gets you more credit to get even more free food. Hence, it could help reduce the cost of the weekly shop.
You can sign up with my referral code: yw7aa to get a free sign up offer. You can then refer your friends to get £3 of credit to use with future offers.
17. Upload receipts to Shoppix
You can earn either Amazon gift cards, or cash into your PayPal account by taking pictures of your receipts and uploading the pictures to the Shoppix app.
Surprisingly, you can get to a payout pretty quickly if you are consistent in uploading ALL your receipts. The longer you wait before cashing out the more you get. Here’s my referral code: 2T28CJN4 to get an extra 200 tokens to get you started.
18. Upload receipts to Receipt Hog
This is very similar to Shoppix. You upload receipts to the app and they give you Amazon gift cards or cash in your PayPal for doing so. You can use both Shoppix and Receipt Hog.
19. Get cashback with TopCashback
This one works in the same way as Quidco, but different sites have different offers. Again, TopCashbackhas a refer a friend scheme that could earn you up to £20 per mate.
20. Sign up to Cleo
Cleo is a Facebook Messenger app that helps you manage your money. You sign up and connect your bank accounts and it reads through and tells you your spending habits.
What is great about Cleo is that you get £5 for signing up with my link (don’t forget to set up a wallet) and £5 for every friend that you get to sign up too.
21. Sign up to Curve
This nifty little app allows you to stop carrying around all your bank cards and just carry around a Curve card instead. You can then use this card to pay from any of your other accounts. Clever, right?
Anyway, they also offer £5 for you and your mate when you get them to sign up. So sign up using my code: N3MQPMVD and then get your mates to sign up too.
22. Rent your stuff on Fat Llama
I’ve written about this one before in my “how to make money from your stuff” post, but this awesome website provides a platform that allows you to rent out your stuff.
If there is something that you’ve got stored but aren’t using right now, why not think about renting it out in the short term? It is easy to list items on Fat Llama and every item is guaranteed by Fat Llama up to £25,000.
23. Review your stuff
Another one from the making money from your stuff post but why not right reviews to earn some extra cash? Swagbucksis one way to do this or you could try Gifthulk where you play games and answer questions for money.
24. Sell your photographs
I talked about this one in “how to make money on holiday” but you can make money from this all year round. It is not limited to sitting on a beach.
If you are a keen photographer and have a large selection of good quality images, then you could try uploading them to a website such as Shutterstock. You will then receive a payment every time some downloads your images.
25. Start an Etsy shop
This one is perfect for the crafty ones amongst you. However, you can sell all sorts of unique products on Etsy so don’t write yourself off just yet.
People love handmade items and all of us some hobby that we can use to make money. But if you need inspiration on craft that you can sell, then I recommend you check out Craft Hustle Directory.
I have an Etsy shop where I sell digital downloads, so this might be an option for you too. Christmas is a great time of year for selling handmade products as people are on the hunt for unique gifts.
26. Try mystery shopping
If you can get out and about then mystery shopping could be for you. Lots of companies are looking for people to pop into shops, complete some tasks (maybe taking photos) and then answering some questions.
One of my favourite companies for this is Red Wigwam. They will send you lists of jobs that you might be interested in then you can log in to accept. The pay is pretty good and there might be some free products in it too.
27. Deliver food
By becoming an Uber Eats delivery driver, you can make money on completely your own schedule. If you’ve got an hour before you need to pick the kids up from school then you step in an look for jobs.
The festive season is also a good time of year for this because people love to enjoy food whilst they socialise. Make the most of this and take their money.
28. Earn money driving
Don’t fancy delivering food? Then how about just being an Uber driver? With party season being a peak for Uber, you stand to make some good money this way too.
29. Babysitting
If you are a trustworthy type, then why not offer to babysit your mates kids in exchange for cash? They’ll all be wanting to go out to their work dos and you can chill in their house and watch their Netflix.
30. Become a virtual assistant
This is a great work-from-home gig. If you are an organised person with some free time then this could work well for you. A virtual assistant is someone who offers administrative assistance remotely.
For example, you could help manage someone’s calendar or respond to their emails. Why not offer up your services on Fiverr or in your local area?
31. Rent out your car
There is a company called hiyacar that provides a platform where you can hire out your car. They check out all the drivers and provide insurance to give you extra peace of mind.
This could be great for households where you have two or more cars and think you can manage without one for a bit. List it for free and get paid at the end of the rental period.
32. Become a proofreader
Another great job that you can advertise on Fiverr. If you have a keen eye for spotting mistakes (I’m quickly checking over this article now) then you consider working as a proofreader.
Lots of people want a third party to read over their work and it is a quick and easy way to make money.
33. Online translations
Do you speak more than one language? Then perhaps you could work as an online translator. You’ll need to be pretty much fluent in another language to do this one well, but if you are then go for it.
Jobs are available again on Fiverr, and you might find some really interesting work.
34. Dog walking
If you don’t mind braving the cold in the autumn and winter months, then perhaps you could offer to walk someone’s dog. This can be particularly useful for elderly members of the community who may struggle to get out if weather conditions are bad.
35. House sitting
Lots of people like to go away over Christmas and they like to know that their house is safe. That is when you step in and offer to stay in their house while they are away. Ask around and see if anyone might be interested.
36. Run errands for cash
People get very busy and very stressed in the lead up to Christmas, therefore you could offer to help them out in exchange for payment.
You could offer to pick people up from the airport, post a parcel or even wrap their Christmas presents. All jobs that I would pay someone to do so I don’t have to.
37. Look after someone’s pets
Animal lover? Then this could be for you. You could look after people’s pets whilst they are away or at work in exchange for a small fee. And the upside is that you get to spend the day cuddling their animals too. (If that’s your sort of thing!)
38. Start Amazon FBA
If you are looking for a more long term and substantial side hustle then this one could be a big earner. You send items to Amazon and they ship them out to your buyers.
I am no expert on this so why not check out this article from Emma Drew.
39. Reselling on eBay
If you’ve got a good eye for a bargain then why not try your hand at eBay reselling. The trick to this is finding great products for a good price and selling them for even more.
You’ll need a business account on eBay if you are going to do this properly, so make sure you get that all set up.
40. Start a blog
Starting a blog is one of the best things I ever did. I wrote a whole post about it, so go get started. However, it might not make you money for this Christmas but definitely in time for next.
41. Cleaning
With Christmas being the season of parties and entertaining in your home, there are a lot of people out there who need or want their house cleaned as a result.
Advertise yourself on local Facebook groups and see if anyone can make use of your services. You’ll be surprised how many people might be interested.
42. Sell your old phone
If you’ve got an old phone sitting in a drawer that you are not using, not only is good for the environment but recycling it can earn you money too.
There are lots of sites that will offer you money for your old phone, so check out musicmagpie, Mazuma or envirofone to see which one is offering you the best deal.
43. Job Spotter
Job Spotter is an app that you install on your phone. As you walk around the shops, you snap pictures of job advertisem*nts and upload them to the app.
In exchange for this, you will receive Amazon gift cards. The months leading up to Christmas are perfect because lots of companies are looking for seasonal temps.
44. Selling digital products on Etsy
You can create digital products quickly that you can sell on Etsy. People can then download them and print them off to use at home. This way you have no products lying around your house, whilst still running a successful Etsy business.
BONUS TIP:
Make sure that you give yourself a head start by reducing the cost of Christmas in the first place. Look at my tips for a very merry frugal Christmas.
Do you need money for Christmas? How much?
If you added it all up, how much will Christmas this year cost you? Make that your target to side hustle that amount over the next month. Give your Christmas savings the ultimate boost.
Disclaimer: Remember the information you read here does not represent advice. Any ideas or suggestions are just that and may not work for you. Read the full disclaimerhere.
