Saturday 29 December 2012

29 Quick Cash Injections

A fantastic way to earn some extra cash in this day and age..

1. A part-time job
A part-time job is the obvious first choice, opted for by most students. A part-time job provides a pretty steady flow of income and can enable you to gain valuable work experience. However, jobs can often be hard to find. Also, remember that a part-time job is a real commitment that may seep into your social activities, or a have a negative impact on your study.
Check classifieds, our student job section, student job websites and your University careers service for vacancies. You may be lucky and get a job on-campus. Read our article on finding a part-time job whilst studying. It has many top tips and all the types of student jobs are listed in there.

2. Mobile phone recycling
See how much you can get for your old mobile phone using our in-house mobile phone price comparison tool!
You can get some good money and help the environment by recycling your mobile phones. They will pay you for your old mobile phones. Most are shipped off to Asia. Check out our own price comparison tool to get the best deal. You could get up to £200!

3. Paid surveys
A popular way for students to make money is to fill out paid online surveys in their spare time. For a few minutes of form filling, you can receive a few pounds. Even up to £3 for some surveys!
A few good ones to try are: Toluna, Global ePanel, Lightspeed, MySurvey and Valued Opinions.
Update: see our new guide to the best paid online surveys!

4. Sell on the student market!
One great way to make money is to buy other students’ text books at the end of the year, and then sell them online after freshers’ week – when students know that they need them!
Sometimes trading with fellow students can take out all the hassle.  If the fellow students are from your campus, then trading is even more hassle free because you can get the books hand delivered.
If you need any tips to sell online then we have a guide for that here.

5. Babysit
Advertise your services locally. It’s a classic, and for good reason. You get paid (well) to watch TV and do not very much!
Be warned that you will need a CRB (Criminal Records Bureau) check in order to do babysitting, even though the majority of parents will not ask for one. If you are looking for a price bracket, then you can charge £5-6 hour even if you aren’t trained in child care. It really is easy money (unless you get stuck with the child from hell)!

6. Enter competitions
Entering competitions is not a definite way to make money, but it can be a fun way to try. Imagine you made it onto Deal or No Deal instead of just watching it! There are actually people in the UK who treat competition entering as a full time job.
Some great places to start with free competitions are MyOffers and OffersClick. If you like, you can keep an eye on our student deals page for competitions throughout the year.

7. Be an extra
Do you fancy yourself as a budding young actor or just that person that walks past in the background shot of an episode of Eastenders? It could be you if you apply to be an extra. The pay isn’t bad either – £60-80 a day on average, and sometimes you hardly have to do anything!
You can apply at Be On Screen for a number of opportunities or 2020 casting. However, these agencies will take a cut of all of your earnings.

8. Start your own website
There are lots of stories out there about successful students who have started a site while at university, or even bought a domain name and later sold it for 1000s. Save The Student is an example of a website started at university which has grown into the comprehensive and successful that you see today.
Read our 4 step guide to setting up a website for some more useful information. It’s as simple as starting off with a blog.

9. Sell all your old CDs, DVDs etc.
If you are looking to make a very quick buck, then selling your old bits and bobs that are lying around like CDs and DVDs might help. The best thing about it is that you can rip all of the songs and films onto your laptop or external hard drive before selling them. This means that you are only really selling the plastic and artwork.
You can earn around £2-6 per item, and earnings can really add up if you have a large collection. It also helps to de-clutter the house!
Check out the best sources to sell DVDs, CDs and games are in our very own article. You can also sell almost anything for free on Preloved.

10. Sell on your education!
Become a tutor to local GCSE or A-level students (find out more about tutoring here). There are now a few online tutor sites too, so you can go also global.
You may feel as if you aren’t qualified to be a tutor, but seeing as you are at university you will most likely have the qualifications to tutor for GCSE or even A-Level. Some parents may feel that their child will react better to a younger tutor, so why not give it a go?
You can advertise of SchoolsTrader or sign up with Bright Young Things & UK Tutors. You could earn over £10 an hour. However, make sure you don’t have to do too much tutoring around your exam times!

11. Advertise your other skills
What can you do well where others struggle? Fix bikes, computers, write articles, create websites, sell cupcakes or lemonade?! You may also make a few bob selling your photos online…
The key is to be creative and think outside the box. A team member at Save The Student actually made small models out of beer cans and wire and sold them to other students. Great idea!

12. Sell your photos
If you think you’ve got a good shot and a little creativity, try uploading your photographs for free to stock websites. Make more money selling photo subjects that people demand. A good starting point is Fotolia or istockphoto.
If you don’t quite take off on these sites then you could advertise your photos for free with apps like instagram and social media sites like Twitter.

13. Financial support
Make sure you have applied for all relevant university grants and bursaries. There may be a few hundred quid in it!
It’s money that you don’t even have to pay back and a lot of students are eligible for a scholarship or bursary without even knowing it.

14. Rent out your car park
Some student accommodation has a drive or garage. If you aren’t using your parking space and you are near the middle of the city or a hot tourist spot then you might be in luck. There are plenty of people that may work in the city centre and are fed up of paying through the roof for daily parking.
Advertise your space on Gumtree or Park at My house. You are more likely to be successful with Park At My House as it is their job to find someone for you.

15. Work as a charity collector
We must admit that these are the kind of people you always look to dodge on the high street. They can sometimes be annoying and will stop at anything to get you to sign up (because you get commission).
If you are bubbly and personable and reckon you could sell sand to an Arab then this could actually be a great student money making idea. You can have a look around a few places including Wesser and the charity websites like Oxfam.

16. Become a freelance interviewer
Do you want to exell in an HR career? Do you love asking questions? Believe it or not a company will actually trust you to carry out interviews for them ad pay you for your time. It couldn’t be simpler.
You could make £185 a week plus have your travelling costs covered. The large downside is that you will have to commit to 20 hours at least a week so make sure that you have the time. Apply at NatCen.

17. Review music for money
Are you a music lover? Believe it or not you can actually review music for money. I know… we couldn’t believe it either. You will have to review music from unsigned bands and artists.
It takes a while to build up the reputation and money but some users of the site have said that they have earned £40 a month. This may not sounds like much but it’s not hard work and every little helps. See SliceThePie for more info.

18. Become a mystery shopper
Becoming a mystery shopper is easier than you think . You can get paid to spend money in shops, usually in the form of a voucher for the shop in question.
If you really want top customer service then why not let the staff know you are a mystery shopper and you may be treated like a god!
For more info check out our how to become a mystery shopper article.

19. Try dog walking
Dog walking may sound trivial but it’s a big business. Just think that you may be around the house during the day when others are out at work.
Also, it’s a great way to keep fit. You could make £7 a dog for a 1 hour walk. Advertise your services with fliers or on websites such as Gumtree.

20. Buy objects using cashback sites
This is not only a way to make money but also save money as a student. If you look at it in a different way then you are making money with every purchase you would have made anyway, whether it be 10% or 0.5% cashback.
Every little helps so it’s great to sign up to student cashback and make all of your purchases through here to build up your cashback pot.

21. Claim back tax
There are a number of students that work during the summer months and even have placements or paid internships. The likelihood is that you won’t earn above the tax threshold.
If you are unsure on how to claim back tax and whether you are eligible then check out DirectGov or our article on claiming tax back for students.

22. Rent out your house for filming
Someone might want to film in your house. As a matter of fact a clip in Coronation Street was filmed in a student house that one of the Save The Student team lived in. Not only can you make good money but it’s amazing seeing your accommodation on TV.
Start your search by looking at film-locations.co.uk

23. Rent out your body
Ok Ok, this isn’t what you think. “Renting out your body” can go as far as you want it to go. For example we wrote and article a while back about students who are turning to lap dancing in order to make a quick buck.
If you are comfortable taking off your kit for a more acceptable cause then why not try life modelling. Sit there in the buff while budding artists capture your every curve and pokey bit in frightening detail! Try this website especially designed for these kind of jobs RAM.
You could also get involved in clinical drug trials. If this scares you a little then you can find more information here.
Warning: Do not do anything you are not comfortable with, no matter how desperate you are for money! There has been an unhealthy rise in student prostitution which is unfortunate. Do not fall victim to it!

24. Do freelance work
Maybe you enjoy making Facebook pages or doing a little bit of graphic design in your spare time. There are so mayn freelance jobs out there that require simple skills that not everyone has time to pick up. A number of small businesses often search the internet for freelancers looking to do a quick job.
PeoplePerHour is a great place to start and you could be earning that extra bit of cash you need for university doing what you love and working to your own hours.

25. Start Busking
If you can sing or dance then this is your time to shine baby! Did you know that Justin Bieber started of busking? That’s right, with a little work you can be as annoying as him.
There are really no tips for this except choose a good spot, make sure you are good and play your heart out. Some buskers in the past have been known to make upwards of £20 hour.

26. Sell clothes on eBay
Everyones best friend when it comes to getting rid of junk is eBay. A lot of students will know that student fashion comes and goes very quickly.
A great way to get rid of that sleveless jacket (which came in and out of fashion in a week) is on eBay. You could sell it for almost as much as you got it for is you are lucky. Some student even look at trends and try to predict what will be big. If you are good then you can buy early in bulk and sell on when the fashion craze hits. Do this at your own peril.

27. Matched betting
This is one of the trickiest skills to master but it could be the easiest money that you ever make. Try it at your own risk and look out for our article coming shortly that will help you succeed in matched betting.

28. Sell your stories
If you have an interesting story then you could sell it to the papers. It could be anything from sleeping with a local footballer to getting caught in a clothes horse! One of the Save The Student team actually had a pigeon fly through their window at university and sold the story to The Sun for £50.
You could also film your mates at all times and send it into You’ve Been Framed to grab yourself a tidy £250.

29. Sign up for psychology experiments
You may get these to your student e-mail from your university or careers service. They aren’t dangerous and usually don’t require too much effort or much of time. Whilst they often compensate you in cash or vouchers, they may even interest you!
It’s worth bearing in mind that these are different from the health experiments that you hear about. There will be no strange probes involved!

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