Want cash right now? Check out our ten top ways to get money fast, with the minimum amount of effort possible.
- £200 for your broken or old mobile
- Pick the best competitions
- £5,000 a year for renting your driveway
- Get £100 for switching your current account
- Be paid for your opinion – online surveys
- £4,250 tax free for renting a room
- £50 for a market research session (and £££s for referring friends)
- Improve your credit rating
- Get paid to shop
- Sell your trash for cash
1. £200 for your old or broken mobile
Most of you Moneymagpies will already be aware that you can make quick cash selling your old and broken phones on one of the many mobile recycling websites. But searching through these sites can be a real pain, which is why we’ve put together our very own Moneymagpie mobile recycling service.
Just select the make and model of your phone and we’ll show you a list of various different companies and what they would pay you for it. Mopay, Envirofone, Fone Bank, Sell Old Phone and Mobile Phone Xchange will all be compared, so you can rest assured that you’ll be getting a great deal!
Depending upon the make, model and condition of the phone you could earn anything between £1 and £200. But bear in mind that top prices are reserved for the newest models and may make more money on eBay and the like.
You’ll have to provide the serial number of the phone so that this service cannot be used by unscrupulous people to sell stolen phones. Once you’ve done that you’ll be given a Freepost address to send the phone to and, once it is confirmed that your description was accurate, a cheque will be sent back to you.
Remember it is a zero risk task – it costs you about 5 minutes to complete the application process and you don’t even pay for postage (just the envelope).
Got another gadget that you’d like to trade for cash? Then check out Mobile Phone Xchange who will pay cash for cameras, MP3 players, games consoles, mobile phones and more. Recycle your gadgets for cash with Mobile Phone Xchange now.
2. Pick the best competitions
Most of us never bother with competitions because we think our chances of winning are so slim. Wrong! It’s this attitude that leaves the door wide open for people who do bother, allowing them to swoop in and win all the prizes!
For tips on how to be a competition champion invest in a copy of From Beginner to Winner – The Comping Essential. You should also sign-up to free websites like Get Me A Ticket and Get Me a Quiz where you’ll be able to enter lots of competitions (with great prizes up for grab) completely free of charge.
Here are a couple of competitions designed to wet your appetite. Give them a go, what have you got to lose?
- Win £5,000 just by completing a 10 second form! Plus the chance to win loads more prizes for completing other quick surveys! Closes 30th June 2010.
- Win a year’s FREE shopping at ASDA by clicking here. Closes first Friday of August.
3. £5,000 a year for renting your driveway
If your driveway or garage is not in use during the day (or at all) then you could make up to £10,000 for renting it out. The income depends upon your location and how successful you are in renting the space out. Parkatmyhouse and Park Let both reckon the range is from £100 a week (£5,000 a year) for an ‘Average’ space that is ‘Successfully’ rented out all the way up to £200 a week for a ‘High – Successful’ space.
Step One - Place a FREE advert on Parkatmyhouse
Click on Parkatmyhouse, look for the little tab that says “Register”. Click that and complete the registration. You can then place an ad for your driveway. They help with pricing and any other assistance you may need.
Step Two - Place a FREE advert on Park Let
Click on Park Let and click on the “Submit” button. This will take you through to a simple three stage process in which you (i) register your details, (ii) enter the details of the space you have to offer, (iii) confirm everything.
Don’t forget you can even rent out your garage as spare storage space for cash on sites such as Spareground.com – which won’t charge you a penny to advertise your space. The opportunities are vast – you could rent out some of your garden as allotments, or charge someone to store equipment in your shed. You always have the final say on who you rent to and there is no obligation to rent to anyone.
Get a FREE advert on both Parkatmyhouse and Park Let and start earning £5,000 a year for an otherwise empty driveway.
|
4. Get £100 for switching your current account
Switch to a First Direct 1st Account and they will give you £100.
The Moneymagpies think this is a great account with outstanding customer service. You have to have at least £1,500 per month coming into the account to get it for free.
If you don’t like the account after you’ve tried it, they’ll give you another £100 and help you get set up with another account elsewhere.
Another option is to go for an Alliance & Leicester Current Account which, depending on the one you go for, comes with its own unique range of benefits. Here are a few to think about:
- Alliance & Leicester Premier Direct Current Account – high interest
- Alliance & Leicester Premier Current Account – £20 to switch
- Alliance & Leicester Premier 21 – high interest
5. Be paid for your opinion – online surveys
This is a sporadic and relatively small income but it’s low effort and you’ve nothing to lose. There are two points you need to remember:
(i) NEVER pay to join a survey site and NEVER give your credit card details. There are legitimate sites that you can join for free. If you pay you are taking a big risk of never seeing that money again.
(ii) Do be PATIENT. Expect to be asked A LOT of questions up front and then be considered inappropriate for most surveys – this is completely NORMAL. They have to get lots of details up front because the survey companies are being paid a lot of money by their clients to be very selective about whom they survey. If they fire questions at any old person whose happy to complete a survey then the results are fairly useless. So be patient.
One site that addresses the frustrations you may feel for spending a lot of time up front and then not qualifying for most surveys is Panelbase. They have a new monthly prize draw of £50 cash for all respondents who are rejected from a survey because they didn’t fit the criteria (such as age, location etc.)
Panelbase has also launched survey opportunities through mobiles (SMS and WAP) in which members are paid a 50p reward to answer a handful of questions via their mobiles – there is no charge to you for the phone call.
Here are the three survey sites that are probabaly the most well worth joining:
6. £4,250 tax free for renting a room
You can make a whopping £4,250 a year by renting a room without having to pay tax on it.
If permanently sharing your nest doesn’t appeal, consider taking in foreign students short-term. English language schools are always looking for good homes for their growing number of students. Depending on where you live and how nice your place is, you can make between around £35 and £150 a week.
You can advertise your room for FREE on Spareroom - it covers the whole of the UK. The whole process takes arond 5 minutes and you have nothing to lose.
Step One – Place a FREE Advert of your Rooms/ Whole Property To Let
Click on the Spareroom link and click on either “Rooms for Rent” or “Whole Property to Let”. Scroll down the page and click on the grey button that says either “Place an ad now” or “Place your free advert now”.
Step Two – Complete the advert contents
The rest of the process is well explained. You’ll be guided through the processes of both completing the advert and creating your own account with them (there’s no charge for this).
If you have any problems along the way they provide an email and telephone helpline on every page.
FREE – register your room here
|
7. £50 for participating in a market research session & £££ for referrals
By taking part in surveys and focus groups you can make between £30- 50 for a session and you may even get some free food if it’s a long session. You can also earn money for referring other people whom you think would be appropriate for focus groups that they are running.As with Online Surveys (above) you have to submit a whole heap of information about yourself up front and then expect not to qualify for most focus groups. They look for very specific people depending upon the client company for whom they are working.To get started you need to register with a market research company like Saros Research.
The actual focus groups usually take place at an office local to you. You give your opinions on a product or advert over a period of one or more hours, and pick up your cheque on the way out.
Join as many groups as you can as you’ll only be asked to do a very small number of group meetings per year. Other market research companies include: Toluna, Valued Opinions, and Opinion Surveys.
Start making some easy money by clicking here to join Saros Research.
8. Improve your credit rating
Improve your credit rating by having a Free Credit Check courtesy of Experian. Your free 30 day trial will include advice on how to improve your credit rating, help managing your report, access to expert tips and tools, and the chance to find out your credit score. Once you’ve finished your trail you’re under no obligation to continue with the service, so you really haven’t got anything to lose. Claim your Free Credit Check now.
But does it really matter that my credit rating is poor? It matters very, very much. Having a poor credit rating could stop you from getting a loan or a decent credit card deal. It could also mean you end up paying extortinate interest rates on any financial deals that the bank is prepared to offer you.
Our advice? Get your Free Credit Check from Experian now.
9. Get paid to shop
This one is only for you if you:
- are self-disciplined
- are only using it to buy something that you are definitely going to buy anyway
- have searched online shopping sites to make sure that you cannot get a better deal elsewhere for whatever it is you are buying.
A Cashback site is a website that pays a small amount of money back to you after you have made a purchase. They also offer small ‘credit’ incentives for bringing friends in to join – but you only actually get that credit once those friends have spent some money. So you may want to be careful about who you recommend such sites.
Cashbackshopper is one of the better ones because it makes no admin charges and passes on all the money that it gets from the retailers. They will also give you £5 ‘credit’ for signing up (but you have to have spent a certain amount of money before you can get this) and they offer the £5 credit incentive for referring a friend.
If you have no credit card debts and want to make money on purchases that you HAVE to make AND you are self disciplined you can try the American Express Platinum cashback credit card for the first three months you get 5% cash back on all your spending up to £100. This isn’t worth doing if you have outstanding credit card debts – pay those off first.
Click here for 5% credit card cash back with Amex
Click here to get cash back for shopping
10. Sell your trash for cash
You can sell anything from your old CDs and books to your hair for an easy way to make money from things you don’t need anymore.
The obvious choice for most people is eBay and other auction sites such as eBid which tend to enjoy a roaring trade during economically difficult times. However, it is often worthwhile looking a specialist selling sites if you’re struggling to get a good price on auction sites.
For books, we like Green Metropolis which pays £3 a piece. It’s easy to do: log on, enter the book’s ISBN number (check the back of the book) and describe its condition. There’s no charge for listing books, so it really is the ideal way to make money and recycle your old books. Amazon is also great for selling books – and probably easier if you’re selling lots of books rather than one or two.
CDs, DVDs and games can be sold on Musicmagpie. Don’t expect much money, selling items on Musicmagpie is unlikely to get you the best price for old albums or films but the postage is free, so it could still work out more profitable than selling on eBay where you have to post the items to the winning bidder.
The creative types amongst should check out New York based Etsy targeted specifically towards independent artists. This US website is designed exclusively for buying and selling handmade goods so you’re more likely to have success here than somewhere like eBay.
Register your username (which is also your shop name so choose carefully!) for a basic buyer’s account – then upgrade to a seller’s account. There is a fee of $0.20 per item listed but this covers the item for four months and includes the option of five photos to show off your wares. When you sell an item there’s a 3.5% final value charge.
Got a tip that we’ve missed? Let us and the other Moneymagpies know on our money making forum thread!
|
Email This Post
Man thx a lot u realy help give mw a good idea I will and I will work on it tommoro i hope I get enough mony to buy I phone thx agine keep gone up and up
Hello I have hundreds of old Marvel comics, do you know the best way to sell them.
Many thanks.
can anyone help me? i’m a desperate father and recently started a new family, i do work a full time job but need to earn more, i want to earn from home but not so much on the internet as it confuses me, i heard about stuffing envelopes etc but dont know where or how to look for this please help
J
Hi Jamie,
We’re having a brainstorm in the office to try and come up with some ways to help you. Sorry to hear about your predicament and we will do our best to help. Keep checking this article as we will post some tips for you soon.
Lauren
Work hard
Hi there pepole,
Car boots are a good way to make extra cash, ask freinds family ect if they want rid of some junk you will be amazed what pepole will buy, here are some things pepole do buy, bikes, dvds, clothes ,pictures in frames, camping goods, old computers, moniters, baby clothes washed, prams, kitchin items, garden items ie pots plants, mobile phones can bring good mony but dont let them haggle you two low there is always another punter on the way… best of luck remember your there to make mony not freinds……bye take care
On one of your TV morning show appearances you talked about using your car as advertising space for companies. Please supply details of how/who to contact for more info.
Thanks,
Hi Pamela. There are a couple of companies that do this. We mention them in this article http://www.moneymagpie.com/article/250/ads-on-your-car/. It’s not easy to be accepted though. The companies have pretty strict ideas on what kind of car they want and how much driving you do. Still, it’s worth getting in touch with them!
Has anyone got any companies that need mystery shoppers as the ones on the internet want money to join? What’s all this about
One of the best mystery shoppers are retaileyes.com, get plenty of jobs but can sometimes go a bit quiet, may not make alot of money but you get to try products for free, just register its free, all they need is a account number & sort code, and nobody can take it and take money out just put money in
any ideas on money making for a full time mum, who doesn’t have babysitters so cant leave child to go and work or pay childminder/nursery, avon etc already in surrounding areas, i have no money to invest in anything, cant afford to pay to start up any sort of party night hosting ie virgin or body shop etc. Online surveys not enough money and not regular enough. Please help!
I think that being a childminder is a great way to make money while looking after your own child. Also, if you don’t mind the work, offering to take in ironing can be lucrative, although it depends where you live and how much money your neighbours have. If you want to make sensible money, though, and you have a computer then I would recommend learning about affiliate marketing and how to set up a specialist website. There are a lot of online resources (many of them dodgy so be careful) so you can learn online. It will take a few months to learn, though, so it would have to be more of a long-term plan. Many of my friends make money by doing a lot of different things so don’t reject anything – a bit of online surveys, a bit of referring friends, a bit of ironing/dog-walking/mending etc all added together can bring in a decent amount of cash.
I have been an author from 2003. I have written 7 books and am writing another novel. I get much praise from those who buy them but selling my books is another question.
Any advice?
Miller
i dont want to sell stuff off internet, last time my mam dun thar she gor ripped off. i have 2 go to a club in 10 minutes. i need money for food and drink there, cans are 50p, food is like 50p too. i only have 15p :/ pls help xx
Find your local second hand shop. Look on the internet if you’re not sure. I’ve got some near me that sell books, CDs, clothes even. They give instant cash. Got stuff to sell? Try those kinds of places (although you might have to travel if there isn’t one in your town.
ow about not going to a club and spending money you haven’t got?
Good point!
How about saving your money up for an english class????!!!!!!
Good call Jo Jo that would be a splendid idea!
What amazes me is that some are struggling to death and some are making easy money
Hi Folks,
The Idea of making Easy money “0n Line” is a CON.
Most of the schemes are Very Time Consuming, Tiresome, Poorly Paid & Full of Empty Promises.
The Only Effective way is to DIRECT YOUR ENERGY INTO THINKING OF A “NEED.” SERVICE IT & GIVE VALUE FOR MONEY.
ALTERNATIVELY, THE GENERAL ELECTION IS UPON US, GET ELECTED & BECOME AN MP.AND LIVE OFF THE STATE.
If I have a ring that I would like to sell. Can anyone reccommend a good way to do it?
Have a look at the article on how to sell your gold: http://www.moneymagpie.com/article/13519/should-you-sell-your-gold/
(Assuming the ring is gold!)
You often get the best prices from jewellers on the high street (as they take into account the craftsmanship of the jewellery itself when offering you a price – not just how much gold it contains).
It’s normally worth getting a few quotes – don’t just accept the price of the first jeweller.
yes, the information on these pages will be of great use to someone starting out online and trying to make money on the internet. I recommend everything written here.
Hi, First time on this so please tell me people,
Will I make enough money to travel 3 times a year..lol
Well, it depends how you travel! We’ve got lots of cheap ideas for getting away in our travel section. Try this article for example http://www.moneymagpie.com/article/smart_spending/holiday-tips/8650/18-ways-to-save-money-on-your-holiday/
Great Site,
Full of fantastic and interesting content,great to look thru.
Some of the people above make me really mad. I have a retired husband who doesn’t get a pension and a son at school. I have a full time job. I come home in the evenings and work for 2-3 hours coding for a solicitor. I do my houswork on a Saturday and Sunday is spent cooking, making clothes for my family, writing letters and articles for magazines and making things to sell on E.bay. This brings in about another £100 a month BUT it is £100 I wouldn’t have had. GET OFF YOUR BACKSIDES!
When do you get time to spend time with your family?
Nice post!
I like that you leverage these figures on a yearly basis. It’s good for people to calculate their annual budget.
Hi Jasmine and crew,
I just popped on your site as a result of your Radio 1 interview, I lost my in December 2008 and am unable to get another … too many factors to go into… anyway I tried y hand at affiliate marketing, which I must say I wished I tried years ago. Just need a paypal account and a cickbank account and a littl? savvy
I now earn enough to pay my mortgage ad won’t ever be worrying about that stuff again
I really suggest people who are smart online try it. What do you think of online marketing?
I think online marketing can work, particularly if you are good at SEO and can make a good website. It depends what you are selling and how honest you are.
Yeah there are some good ways of making money online. I have had great success with affiliates through Clickbank and also a great program at http://www.mogulmedia.org though as far as ebay is concerned their fees are ridiculously high in my opinion and eat too much profit for the effort.
Same as surveys. I find the reward too low for the amount of work you do and there are simply so many people doing it you hardly ever get the best jobs.
Just read in the Mail about your site. I am just about to do surveys will keep you updated. Hope it is a good year!! Thanks Hilary
Yes, do keep us informed. We’d love to hear!
All the guys I know would like to take a shot at banking fast and easy money online these days, either through eBay Powerselling, affiliate marketing, ppc adverstising
I heard you speak on the radio the other week about doing work as extras and you mentioned some agents do not charge to get on their lists can you name any. I went one who said they did not charge I completed most of the personal profile and was stopped before completing because they then said they charged £10 + vat for admin.
Regards
Geoff
Good point there – actually I think £10 + VAT is OK for an agency. It’s when they charge £100+ that you need to be suspicious and just walk out. See our article about being an ‘extra’ here http://www.moneymagpie.com/article/1568/film-tv-extra/. There are links to good agencies and also a website that warns of bad ones.
really please!!!! the survey sites dont really give that much for the time to fill one in,,or you redeem for a voucher??
Talking about making money or pocket money??
Real money making?????
PLEASE PLEASE TELL….
Thanks for sharing these tip – I will definitely check them all out and if possible register with everyone of them.
I have created a link on my blog back to this page in case others find it useful.
Thank you for that Helen. Really appreciate it ;0
It’s nice information for me, but all of your information cannot be use for my country… uhh
I spent about 20 minutes each on half a dozen surveys but have not been able to complete a single survey as right at the end it says that I do not fit the criteria.
TiThese tips are all a bit tired. Nothing but hard work, bnlood sweat and tears will make you money!
I was advised to join a few online survey companys at a time so i could get more benefits and recieve quicker payments. The best ones are Valued Opinions, GlobalTestMarket, NewVIsta and LightSpeed Comsumer Panel.
Some send off cheques when you reach a certain target and others send vouchers instead. Some of these take a few months to see teh rewards but some take a few weeks… I get sent about 4-5 surveys PER DAY so it speeds up the process of getting the benfits!!
Hope this helps anyone xx
IVE BEEN AN EBAY MEMBER FOR SOMETIME NOW, IT IS VERY MUCH A LOT OF WORK AND A LOT OF HASSLE FOR THE MOENY THAT IS MADE ON IT, AND A LOT OF THE POEOPLE SELLING ARE PEOPLE WHO SELL CLOTHES…IVE REALISED THAT TO SELL ON EBAY AND MAKE A HALF DECENT PROFIT FOR TIME AND EFFORT OUT INTO IT YOU NEED TO BE SELLING A NICHE
Its good to let a spare room out and the money is tax free. Why not look at sell house rent back for more tips on housing.
courtney the website you are looking for is music magpie. this is where you can sell old albums dvds and games.
hey its courtney how do you sell your CDs because i saw the advert on the TV. Ive tiped in the web site but i cnt find how to do it.
these are good money making ways
these are all pathetic amounts of money. for a lot of hassle.
Cheers, it all works well. I can’t understand why these people are complaining to you about the problems they are having with other sites.
Joanne/Maggie;
Try Lightspeed Panel; i get my payments by paypal (at 115 points per £), the surveys come sporadically, but when you get a good patch, i’ve earnt up to £10 a month. Made enough to buy a couple of christmas presents last year, and overall I’ve probably made around £100-150 in a year with them.I use Valued Opinions as well, for the HMV vouchers (of which i have received £20 so far, and just waiting for my next £10), although it can sometimes take over a month for the payment from the completed surveys to be recognised. I am on YouGov, but as they wont pay out until the account reaches £50, i’m not expecting to get any money from them for another couple of years; after over 12 months with them, i’ve “earnt” less that £15.
iPoints is another good site, which is points based. You can get poiints from buying things, signing up to newsletters, and even receiving mobile SIM cards; its slow going, but after 6ish months with them, i’ve received a DVD completely free – didnt even have to pay for P&P – and i’m about 3/4 of the way to my next DVD.
Excellent, great to see finally we have advice on how to make money without spending money.
Too many sites on ripping people.
Forget looking for gold elsehere, the grass is greener on your side. First look at what you have then, the trick is if you can after you have paid off your debts is invest that money.
thanks and keep up the great work
I am 56 and I do quite a lot of surveys the You Gove site is a good one another one is Valued Opinions they pay quite well per survey also and they come quick and fast so give them a try they are really good.
I do occasional mystery shops for a coiple of companies, and some on line surveys. Does this make me self employed for tax purposes? I have just retired from full time work.
These are great tips. I like number 10 because you can make money whilst doing somehting fun!
Moneymagpiesearch.com keeps saying I’m ebtering the wrong verifiction code. I’ve tried it with and without capslock on and still nothing. I can see the code as clear as day and it has been entered correctly… it just won’t let me go further.
i have the exact same problem!
Try Yougov.com. They have genuine surveys.
I know what you mean about some of these, they ask a load of questions and then say you’re not suitable.
Here’s another cashback site that is building nicely for me and is even a small business for some people. It’s totally free to join and they do pay. http://www.ei42.com/shopcity
Inspired by the slot yesterday on GMTV I looked up this website to follow up on doing surveys. I logged on to a few of the sites and although I was accepted I have been unable to complete a single survey as I don’t fit the criteria or the survey miraculously freezes (although at this point I have spent on average 5 minutes giving them my personal information!)
The only thing I imagine is against me is my age (40) and the fact I dont have a degree. I am very disheartened as I consider myself a young at heart savvy mum with plenty of opinions and life experience who has a lot to offer.
So far the only thing I’ve achieved is wasted personal time and entries into a lot of competitions…..is this just a scam or am I doing something wrong?
Any advice?
Keep trying I am 57 and have no qualifications but am doing surveys online you don’t earn a lot but it all helps try Valued Opinions they are good and so is Lightspeed they come through with a lot of surveys, also try Nielsen Fact Finders they are good you get a scanner and scan all the shopping you do for points Good Luck
why is msn so slow these days
I have probably been looking around online for like the last 20 minutes for a site like yours. So i just want to give you a big thank you and tell you too keep up the hard work. Have a great weeken! =) Thank you!
aparently at 23 im not accepted as being over 16 your program cant handle simple maths
Absolutely useless when i kept putting my postcode in Yuwie it kept denying my personal information……..there was not enough spaces to accept a 6 digit postcode….in the UK………gave up in the end
couldn’t get through to the photo picture sites I received reply that I wasn’t connected …something to do with DB?
Hi Nadia,
We’re having a bit of a technical glitch with this article. Should be fixed in the next half an hour. Sorry!
If you are a customer of Virgin Media You can refer your frend. you and your friend can Earn £30.
If you refer your friend or family to Allience leicester Premier accound you could get £30.