FREEMONSTER.CO.UK - OTHER MONEY MAKING

Other money making!

There are loads of legal ways to add to your income, using our classic and offline methods below you can earn £1000's...

Rent a room! (tax free)

The renting a room plan means you can take in a lodger to live in a furnished room in your home, and it has a special exemption meaning you won’t have to pay tax on the first £4,250 you make each year. This is a huge tax break for most people and really ups the gain. Better still, as a landlord you’ll be expected to ask for a deposit and a month in advance, which means ready cash comes in quickly.

How much? You can take home £4250 without paying a penny of tax; if you've a desirable property and don't mind paying income tax on anything above this, you could easily add another £1000. Make sure to advertise your room for let completly free on both Viva street and Gumtree!

Find out more: Read the Govt info on Renting a room

Rent your parking space!

If you have a parking space or driveway that you dont use, in particular if u live in an area where parking is expensive, near to a tube/train station, or sporting concert venues, you could earn a substantial second income by renting it on a monthly basis. Online parking marketplaces, such as Park at my house, and Your Parking Space will allow you to list your space in their databases, and set a monthly price for it. You can also set restrictions on use if you're likely to need the space yourself during the weekend or at certain times of the year.

how much? You should be able to take just slightly less than the going parking price in your area. Spaces in London generally go for around £200 per month, though security is also a factor in determining price.

Advertise on your car!

If you don't mind having your car turned into a billboard, some agencies will pay you to advertise on it, or you can get given a car to drive for free. It costs nothing to enrol and there are hidden advantages; cars with large adverts on them are unlikely to be stolen, and the ads protect paintwork.

How much? How much you'll earn will depend on what type of car you drive, where, and even (possibly and quite horribly) what you look like. Ads On Cars, promise up to £100/month for your trouble!

Be a movie or tv extra!

Fancy seeing yourself in the background of films and tv shows? You can and earn for it at the same time. No acting experience is required, and you don't need Hollywood looks to be taken seriously! There are online extras agencies, and none charge you for signing up although they'll generally take an 'administration fee' out of your first pay packet. If you're serious about it, you'll need to sign up for quite a few agencies to guarantee work; and travel expenses may not be paid for. Film extras, and extras, are good starting places.

How much? Most extras earn between £60 and £80 per day, with overtime paid at £10 per hour. It’s a good idea, though, to have to some professional (or at least professional-looking) photos taken in order to start off getting work.

Rent your home as a film or tv set!

On a related note, you'll earn big bucks if you can convince someone to use your home as a filming location. All shapes and sizes can be desired, and the rates of pay are good. Many TV series, films and adverts use perfectly normal homes - so you don't need to be the owner of a grade 1 listed building. To find out more, contact an independent agency like Film London or Lavish Locations to see if it's a feasible proposition.

How much? If your property is chosen, you can expect up to £800 for a photographic shoot, and £1,500 for a film shoot. Plus bragging rights.

Count Votes!

Register with your council's elections office and get paid to count the votes at election times; you can earn roughly £40 for work between 9am and 1pm or other four-hour shifts. Be warned though - you're usually contracted until the job is finished, so if it runs over you won't be paid extra (the flipside being that if you finish quicker you'll still earn the same).

How much? Around £40

Party planning!

It's possible to make cash by hosting parties, in which of course things are demonstrated and sold. Since you'll effectively be self-employed, you can make your own hours and work as often or as little as you want. Before starting though, be sure to check whether there's already a popular representative of the company in your area. If so, it's probably best to sell something else. Typical examples include Ann Summers, The Body Shop at home, Virgin Vie at home, PartyLite & FM Fragrances

How much? It's commission based, so what you earn depends on your selling ability, and the products you sell. You'll usually have to cover set-up costs with your first parties.

Sell your story!

Journalists are always looking for dramatic stories. If you've been in an extreme situation or come close to death, or have any gripping or extraordinary tales to tell, why not get paid and have it published? Newspapers and magazines will also pay a premium for interesting letters and photographs, and many TV channels, including Five, will pay for videos too; and often it's much easier to get on-air than you may think.

How much? A 'star letter' will usually fetch £50, and stories can earn £150+. Even amusing photos can earn good cash prizes in some magazines.

Market research!

Want to earn cash for giving your opinion? Focus-group based market research can pay between £30 and £50 for a couple of hours of talking. To get started in it, look up local agencies in the Yellow Pages, or try Saros Research online.

Be a mystery shopper!

Well known shops need to regularly check that their shops and services are keeping up high standards. They are willing to pay you to check this for them, and contract you through mystery shopping agencies to do so. These will employ you to visit a specific shop or pub, to rate service quality or the quality of their goods. Some of the most popular sites are Retail Eyes, TNS Global, Grass roots, Gap buster, BAI, Frontline Focus and Retail Maxim.

How much? Payment for this type of work varies hugely between agencies. Some pay in gift vouchers, others simply give you free items. Some will pay you cash too but not usually more than £30 a day.

Work from home on the phone!

Want to work from the comfort of your own home? An American telephone support company is currently recruiting in the UK. Its major advantage over other phone work is it expects you to work from your own PC at home, using its special software to field calls. Generally, you'll be offering customer service and technical support; full training will be given. Find out more and apply at the TeleTech website.

How much? It depends on which of the company's contracts you're involved with, but you should get no less than £6 hour.

Scientific research!

If you're fit and healthy – and prepared to accept the risk of tests - you could earn up to £150 a day by taking part in medical trials. Website gpgp.net offers a whole load of information on what to expect (go to the UK section), and where to apply. Note though that it's sponsored by BioTrax; one of the biggest medical trial recruiters in the world.

How much? Depending on what it is you’re being tested for, you can earn between £70 and £150 per day.

Do freelance work!

If you've got skills and knowledge in a specific area, you may be able to do a little freelance work. Get a freelancer is a project recruitment site; companies list projects they want completed, and freelancers 'bid' on them, both by saying why they'll be the most suitable candidate, and literally entering their price for the work. It's free to join and bid on work, but a $5 fee will be taken out of your pay for each job.

How much? It depends on the job, the duration and skills involved, and how many freelancers are competing for it. The only drawback is that you'll be competing against workers from countries with a much lower cost of living, who can often undercut you on cost.

Solve problems for cash!

Many companies post their problems online and offer cash to people who can come up with an effective solution. While this is not a guaranteed way to grab cash, these can be an interesting, fun, and lucrative way to spend your spare time if you’re a business or science boff.

At InnoCentive, companies post dozens of challenges every month, offering big money for the best solutions. A typical example is £20,000 for a way to reduce the sugar content of baked goods, while keeping them tasty. Also worth a look is Idea Connection; register and it sends you email invites to help solve firms’ problems for cash. Travelodge is offering up to £150,000 if you can find it a site for a new hotel (you get £500 per bedroom). Or, for science nerds, silver mining company Barrick is having problems extracting silver from ore at its mines in Argentina. It’s putting up $10 million (£5 million), to whoever can find a cost-effective way to boost production.

How much? Up to £150,000 if you come up with a brilliant idea.

Be an interviewer!

The National Centre for Social Research is usually on the lookout for freelance interviewers. The job involves interviewing selected people about all kinds of topics in their own homes, then sending the answers to your set questions back to base. Vacancies for telephone interviewers are also often available, and full training for each role is provided. Go to NatCen's website for full details.

How much? Once trained, you'll receive just under £15 for a 35-minute interview, and £5.50 per hour spent travelling as well as petrol costs.

The following 3 ideas can all be advertised in your local paper, shops and on Viva street and Gumtree for free!...

Ironing!

Set up a professional ironing service. A good tip is to advertise in the poshest part of town; that way you can charge higher rates.

How much? Ironing business' generally charge by the item, with 20 items costing around £10. This varies depending on location though, so do your research and check what other local services are charging first.

Babysitting!

Watch somebody else's TV and eat their food while the kids lie fast asleep upstairs doesn't sound so hard – and it often isn’t – but you must be prepared to deal with the odd stroppy child and his or her tantrums. You'll need a proven track record with kids, so work for your friends, family and neighbours first.

How much? Adult babysitters charge up to £8 per hour, but you'll first need to build a reputation to command this.

Pet or plant sitting!

House sitting, this job sounds – and is – fairly simple: maintain a house and look after any animals and plants for anything up to 3 months. Obviously, you need to have no other commitments to worry about. It’ll be easiest to sign up with an agency, so be prepared to provide references and expect a thorough check of your background, including any criminal records. After all, would you be happy to leave your home in the hands of a stranger?

The terms & conditions vary from company to company; some will expect you to be available all the time whilst some offer work on a more casual basis. Some agency's include Safe hand sitters, Ninas nannies for pets, and Platinum pet care.

How much? Safe hands sitters pays £150 a week plus travel expenses. If there are lots of pets to look after, the rate could go up.