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Nine ways to make some easy money

How you can make some extra money
How you can make some extra money

There are plenty of quick and easy ways to make money without having to sell the house. Here's our round-up of the best.

Help with odd jobs

If you've got some time to kill you could make money from helping others with their odd jobs.

Websites like Taskrabbit allow people in certain cities to list tasks they need help with like picking up a parcel or moving home that they are willing to pay for.

In order to become a helper with either site you will need to go through a verification process, but after that you can pick and choose jobs in your area to earn extra cash in your spare time.

Rent out your parking space

Renting out your parking space can be a great way to top up your income.

For example, if you have a driveway outside your home that you don't always use, you could rent it out through a site like JustPark.

Your space is more likely to be in demand if you live near a sports stadium, tourist spot, airport or train station.

Rent out a room

Meanwhile, if you have a spare room, taking in a lodger could be seriously lucrative.

Thanks to the Government's Rent a Room scheme you can currently earn up to £7,500 in rental income free of tax. That means a lodger paying up to £625 a month won't cost you a penny in tax!

Just remember, you will need to speak to your home insurer first.

If you want more short-term options, it's possible to rent out almost any room in your house on a weekly basis. Sites like Spacehop effectively put you in touch with workers who want some office space, while Kitchen2Rent does what it says on the tin.

Switch your bank

A host of banks will pay you to take out one of their bank accounts.

For example, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank will pay you £250 to switch, HSBC will give you £150 if you switch to its HSBC Advance or HSBC Premier account, while First Direct will pay you £100 if you join, and a further £100 if you decide to leave after a year.

Think you could be with a better bank? Compare current accounts

Use a cashback website

Any time you shop online, you should ALWAYS shop via a cashback website such as Quidco or TopCashback.

If you shop via one of their tracked links, you'll get a percentage of what you spend back in the form of cashback. It's essentially free money!

Use a cashback or rewards credit card

Whether you are shopping online or in person, if you use a cashback or rewards credit card you will get a percentage of the money you spend back.

For example, the John Lewis and Waitrose Partnership credit card gives you one point for every £1 you spend at John Lewis or Waitrose and one point for every £2 you spend elsewhere. Every 500 points is worth £5 in John Lewis vouchers.

With both cashback/rewards cards and cashback websites, it's important to keep in mind that the idea is to get money back for spending you were going to do anyway – don't spend more than you can afford simply so that you earn more cashback!

Compare rewards credit cards

Compare cashback credit cards

Have opinion, will travel...

Sign up to a market research firm and you'll be sent invites to take part in all sorts of survey projects, with a cash incentive.

For example signing up to, Focus4People, we got invites to take part in surveys on fast food (£50 for two hours), website testing (£50 for one hour), small business payments (£75 for one hour) and shopping (£40 for 45 minutes)

The downside is that to take part you may need to travel, and slots are often during the day. But if that doesn't bother you, it's an easy way to make a little extra money.

...or just watch the telly

Even better, why not get paid to watch the telly? Thanks to TheViewers.co.uk you can make a few quid just for having an opinion about some TV shows.

This might mean giving feedback on what you've watched recently, reviewing a new show before it airs nationally, or helping develop ideas for new shows.

Sell yourself

No, not like that! But if you have a useful skill or two, why not make the most of them. For example, right now on PeoplePerHour.com, there are thousands of people adept at website design, image editing, writing and social media who are selling their services an hour at a time.

If you are more useful with your hands – perhaps you are a dab hand with a paintbrush or a bit of carpentry – then why not stick an ad on a site like Gumtree or in your local newsagent?