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Want to know how to make money in your lunch hour? Good news – the Moneymagpies have compiled a list of the top five ways to turn those sixty minutes into money-spinners. Have a look at some of our ideas to see how much you could achieve in your spare time.

• Complain!
• Get creative
• Go shopping
• Use your rubbish
• Surf the net

1. Complain to gain

Get money for travelling

Are you still seething about his morning’s commute? We all know that feeling when your train’s delayed – but did you know you can make some money out of it? All you need to do is register your details on TrainDelays, a website that provides a free service to help you get compensation for any delays or cancellations to your journey. They do all the leg work and complete the claims process for you, so all you have to do is register your journey details. Then they’ll automatically apply for compensation whenever there’s a delay on your line. Simple!

There’s good news for Londoners too, as they also cover the (very common) tube delays!

How to complain successfully

There are several ways to get the compensation you deserve when a company has treated you badly or provided a faulty service, and your lunch hour is a perfect time to do it. However, it’s really important that you know how to complain and what your legal rights are. This is why your lunch hour is good for research and preparing yourself for the complaining process.To help you on your way we’ve written an article to how to get what you want by complaining.

2. Get Creative

Use your lunch hour to do something productive, fun and creative and make a little money in the process. Here’s how:

Start your own blog

Is there a subject that gets you going? Something you love, or perhaps more interestingly, something you despise? Be it sport, music, film, or something else. If you can write in a passionate or amusing way there’s every chance that someone will want to read what you have to say. If you set up your own blog or website you can make money through it with online advertising.

You can set up your blog with a free service such as WordPress or Blogger, both of which let you set up a blog quickly and easily for nothing! Once you’re set up, there’s an opportunity to make money by introducing advertising. Advertising services like Google Adsense and Yahoo! Publisher Network  who use search technology to target your site with relevant advertising.

This isn’t likely to be a massive earner as you’ll need a fair bit of traffic to your site, but it’s an easy, fun way to make a little extra on the side. Find out how you can make money blogging.

Get money for your drawings

In a similar vein to starting a blog for your musings, if you’re particularly handy with a pencil or a paintbrush you can start a blog for your illustrations. Follow our handy guide to setting up a blog and, with enough self-promotion, you can soon increase your site’s popularity.

Those with the creativity can be inspired by anything, and the chances are you’re just as likely to be productive on your one-hour lunch break as you are when you have oodles of time on your hands.

Once you feel confident enough in your drawing and have gained a bit of a following, sites like Big Cartel and Etsy allow independent sellers (of all kinds, not just artists) to put up prints and more for sale. If you’re particularly creative you can expand from simple prints and get your work printed on t-shirts, mugs, tote bags – anything really!

Cafe Press is a great site to use, you just simply upload your design and get your merchandise printed to order. Whack it straight on to your Big Cartel or Etsy store and start promoting! Easy.

Many people who are passionate about illustration begin their careers this way, and as their popularity grows they get spotted by magazines and pop-up art shops as well as more established stores. So if drawing is your passion, why not try and make some money from it?

Take some photos!

It’s something a lot of us do anyway, but if you’re particularly good at taking photos then you could try selling them on the net. If you have a library of digital photos, you may be able to sell them through an online agency such as Fotolia, 123RF and Getty Images. You get a royalty fee each time a photo of yours sells.

To get an idea of what people like, look at as many sites as you can to get an idea of what sells. All the agencies are different, so see what’s popular on each site to get a good idea. Don’t worry if you’re not particularly creative or arty, sometimes the most simple photos sell the best. Just remember to read all the terms and conditions before you get snapping. Find out more about how to sell your photos.

3. Go shopping

Get cash while you shop

It might sound too good to be true, but you can actually make money from your everyday routine by shopping online and buying things through cashback wesbites. There are plenty of sites around and you’re free to use as many as you like! You should start with the websites that pay you just for signing up like Cashback Shopper which gives you £5 just for joining, and another £5 for every friend you refer.

Many of the websites cover well-known stores that most people use for their normal shopping. Don’t forget that you can still use as many sites as you like, so hunt down the ones that feature your favourite shops. Get more information on shopping through cashback sites.

Mystery shopping

You can get paid to shop, eat out or go for a drink as a mystery shopper! There are quite a few companies that pay for people to test shops, pubs, ticket offices, banks and many more – and then report back on anything from tidiness to customer services. To get started, all you need to do is sign up with an agency like ESA, Grass Roots or JKS Mystery Shopping. Read our full article about mystery shopping.

 

4. Make money from your rubbish!

What better way to spend your lunch hour than clearing out things you don’t need any more, and making money from it? We’ve found some ways to make money from your rubbish.

Recycle your mobile

Use our comparison tool to see which of the many phone recycling companies offer the best price for your model, then follow the simple steps and wait for your cash!

Rent out the things that you don’t use

Websites like RentNotBuy let you advertise pretty much anything you can think of, from video cameras, to baby accessories for free! You can also rent out storage space  such as your cellar or attic space for free on Spareground!

If you have a driveway or garage you don’t use, you can also contact Park Let or Parkatmyhouse.com to advertise your space for people needing parking in your area. This could potentially be a big earner if you live near a stadium, airport or in a big city like London, especially with the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics coming up. Read our articles on renting out your home during the Olympics and House Swapping During the Jubilee.

5. Surf the net

Grab your laptop, head to your favourite coffee shop (free wi-fi with a Starbucks card, didn’t you know?) and spend some time making money from the internet. There are all sorts of ways you can make cash on the net that require very little effort and we’ve got the best ways here.

Online Surveys

Make between £20 and £50 a month (plus get the chance to win some cash prizes and gifts) with online surveys.

One of the Moneymagpies has tried out several online survey sites and has reported back that Toluna is a great choice because it’s really simple to use and tells you how long each survey will take.

Once you’ve signed up to a few sites you can spend ten minutes on your lunch break completing a quick survey and still have time left to eat your sandwich.

NEVER pay to join an online survey site, but stick to reputable companies like these:

• Toluna
• Lightspeed
• Valued Opinions
• Opinion Surveys
• GlobalTestMarket

If you like the sound of online surveys make sure you check out our full article right here on the safe way to earn money by taking paid surveys.

For more ways to make some quick cash, visit our make money section