Whether you need extra money to help with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, want to boost your emergency fund, or want to have some cash left at the end of the month to spend on the things you love, there’s a lot to be said for having a side hustle.
Nearly half of all Brits have a second income stream on top of their main job, according to software provider Sage, with 7 in 10 young people juggling multiple incomes.
While it might be hard to imagine fitting in another money-making gig alongside your regular job, boosting your existing income doesn’t necessarily have to be labour-intensive. From renting out your driveway as a parking space to selling your old stuff, there are ways to make extra cash without much effort.
It’s worth remembering that we all have a ‘tax free’ personal allowance of £12,570 a year and you won’t get taxed on ‘casual’ extra income, providing it doesn’t exceed £1,000. This includes making money from home, online or from small freelance jobs. If you’re in any doubt about your earnings, speak to HMRC.
In its research, Money.co.uk looked at the average hourly rate of the top side hustles on Indeed to reveal the top 10 highest-paid side hustles. After Uber drivers (£16.34), babysitting is the most lucrative at £13.63 per hour, followed by teaching English online at £12.36 an hour, but mowing lawns, house sitting and gardening will also net you more than £11 an hour.
Here are some ideas of how to make money from the comfort of your own home.
1. Hire out your home
If you’re going to be away from home and are happy with someone else staying there, or you’ve got a second home to let, you can list it on Airbnb.
Letting a house to four guests for four nights a month could earn you £563 a month in the middle of Cambridge or £721 in Windermere in the Lake District.
Be aware that a 3% cut will be taken by Airbnb as a booking fee, and there are tighter rules since the pandemic on cleaning between guests to ensure a good level of hygiene. There are more details on this on the Airbnb website.
Other options include Vrbo (previously HomeAway), or Wimdu for city lets.
2. Start tutoring
Teaching English online is the third highest-paid side hustle, according to Money.co.uk, with an average hourly rate of £12.35. Online tutors are still in demand with parents keen to help kids catch up post-pandemic or get ahead over the summer ready for the new school year. The perk of this hustle is that you can do it from wherever you are in the world, and at any time.
You can earn between £15-£35 an hour if you register with Tutorful, which takes a 20–25% commission per lesson. Depending on your level of experience, you can teach primary, secondary (GCSE & A level), undergraduate and postgraduate learners. For most tutoring jobs, you don’t need any formal teaching qualifications, but you do need knowledge in the subject or to be proficient in the skill you’d be tutoring children in.
3. Clear your clutter
The unwanted possessions that most of us harbour in our lofts, sheds or garages are collectively worth an average of £2,600, so it really is worth finding the time for a clear-out.
Sell on eBay. Private sellers can list up to 1,000 items a month free and pay a 12.8% fee on sales plus 30p per order and an operating free of 0.42% of the total amount. (It’s free to list clothes and there’s no operating fee either).
Create a profile for yourself, and use keywords you think people will search for in the text on the listing to promote what you’re selling effectively to potential buyers.
For clothes, you could also use websites and apps such as Depop or Vinted. Pictures are important on both sites; take good quality photos of the items you’re selling, and be prepared for hagglers – a lot of people on these sites negotiate prices.
Got lots of CD’s, DVD’s or games? Scan them with the MusicMagpie app for an instant price. Postage is free.
For books, try We Buy Books where the average made is £32 – there’s also Ziffit as well where you can sell books, games, CDs and DVDs by just scanning a barcode.
4. Take in a lodger
If you’ve got a spare room, let it out. Under the Government’s ‘Rent A Room’ scheme, you can make up to £7,500 a year tax free. And that’s on top of your ‘tax free’ personal allowance of £12,570.
You can advertise on sites like SpareRoom and Roommates UK.
Rooms should be furnished. Speak to your mortgage lender and home insurer first and check local government rules in your area.
5. Rent your driveway
Don’t use your drive or got a spare parking space? Turn it into a goldmine by renting it through sites like Stash Bee, Just Park and Parklet.
JustPark estimates millions of pounds are up for grabs by driveway owners. It says some savvy JustPark hosts make in excess of £4,000 a year. There’s a 3% commission taken before payment. It’s worth a call to your household insurer to let them know you’re doing this; however any claim for damage shouldn’t be down to you with drivers typically expected to claim on their own motor policy in the unlikely event there’s any damage to their vehicle.
6. Sell your snaps
Travel, wildlife, transport and sports are just a handful of the categories of images needed by picture agencies such as Shutterstock, Getty and Alamy. Once you register and upload your snaps, they’ll be live on the website within 24 hours, subject to quality checks.
You can earn up to 50% of the ‘usage’ fee. We found beach views going for £35.99 for online use and up to £180 for company marketing packages. For photos on iPhones, upload them using the Stockimo app.
7. Make money from tech
According to research by waste management company Repic, households are holding on to more unwanted IT equipment than any other small appliances and gadgets including a staggering 11.7 million laptops and 9.17 million tablets that have the potential either to be passed on or recycled.
If you want to sell your old phone and upgrade to a newer version, why not sell your current phone on websites such as Carphone Warehouse, MusicMagpie, Sell My Mobile or Compare and Recycle? If you’re buying a new phone from Apple, you can trade in your older model to receive a discount to use against your purchase.
You get an upfront price before sending items. Gadgets must be in good working condition to get a decent price. There’s a free courier service with payment by PayPal or bank transfer.
For phones and tablets it’s worth trying comparison sites like to find the best price.
8. Loan your stuff
Got a sewing machine, bike or guitar you don’t use? Rent them locally at Fat Llama. Rent out your electric scooter for £15-£20 a day and your sewing machine for around £10 a day. Items are covered by insurance for non-return or damages up to £25,000. Fat Llama take a 25% cut of the hire fee before transferring the money to you.
Got spare storage? Rent out your space on Stashbee and earn regular passive income. How much depends on your location but for Bristol, the Stashbee estimate is £1,884 per year for a good sized storage space such as a garage.
9. Sell on Etsy
If you’ve been getting creative, sell your creations like jewellery, cards or prints on Etsy. There’s a 6.5% transaction fee (including the delivery price you set). If you accept payments through Etsy Payments, there is also a 4% + 20p payment processing fee when an item is sold.
10. Sell garden produce
If you grow fruit or veg leave boxes of them on a table on your drive with an ‘honesty box’ to make extra cash. Although this approach means you’re relying on the locals’ honesty, it’s an easy way to make sure those apples or plums don’t go to waste.
Alternatively, you could sell at car boot sales or farmers’ markets, or even reach out to local shops, cafes and restaurants.
11. Offer an ironing service
Doing the ironing is a love it or hate it household chore. You may see it as the chance to catch up on a podcast or listen to an audiobook in peace, but for others it’s just another task to plough through.
If you count yourself among the former camp – and pride yourself on the quality of your ironing skills! – taking in ironing from people who are less keen on it than you are can earn you £12-£18 an hour, according to Checkatrade. Collection and delivery costs would be on top of this. Advertising your services and getting customers doesn’t have to be complicated – it could be as simple as a mention in a local Facebook group or an ad in the window of a local shop.
12. Watch TV
Yes really! TV companies want your opinions and they’ll pay for them too! The Viewers has group discussions (either online or physical) that typically pay £50-£70. Its online communities offer £150 for approximately 6 hours of your time over a couple of weeks.
13. Get paid to test
Bag free home gadgets including irons and electric toothbrushes as a ‘tester’ for companies like Philips.
Free to sign up and you get to keep the product. Cleaning company Vileda wants home product testers too.
One word of caution, if the product testing opportunity looks too good to be true, it probably is. Recruitment site Indeed advises that you don’t respond to product testing invitations from an unrecognised source, and beware of companies asking you to pay an initial fee to receive your free product.
14. Spread the word
Don’t be shy; tell your friends and family about your new mobile or TV package.‘Refer a Friend’ deals mean payday for you, and usually your friend too. Sky TV customers can earn up to £125 in vouchers if a friend joins based on their recommendation; the AA offers a £20 Amazon or M&S voucher for both of you when your friend joins, and it’s up to £80 cashback to share with you and your friend with 3 Mobile.
The Hello Fresh referral scheme allows you to invite friends to try it out using a referral code. Your friend will receive £20 off their first box, and you’ll receive £20 credit in your HelloFresh account to use against future boxes you buy. To access your referral code, go to the ‘Treat Friends’ tab in your account.
15. Be a prize winner… and sell the prize
Even if you don’t win cold hard cash, you can still make money from prizes you win if you sell them. With competition portal Loquax, the kind of prizes you can win include a Samsung 55inch Smart TV, £50 B&Q voucher and Spa Day. It’s free to register, browse competitions and click links to enter.
Freebie site Latest Free Stuff also runs free prize draws, which include things like £1,000 of vouchers from M&S, John Lewis or Argos.