Tips To Make Some Extra Cash From Home (To Fund Your London Lifestyle)

January is here and the millions of weeks until pay day are feeling further and further away. What better way to fill in this blue month than with some quick and easy strategies to make some extra cash from home to pay down that Christmas credit card debt! Below I’ve compiled my top three tried and tested suggestions and, what I believe, to be most worth your time when you need a quick cash injection. We’ll cover surveys, selling in eBay and Vinted and running an Etsy shop. I hope there’s something in there to pop a few more pennies in your pocket so you can head out and do the things you love in London, or keep yourself cosy and save it for a rainy day. So let’s jump in!

Surveys

This is a hot one for those looking to make a bit of quick cash and definitely the simplest. There are a range of websites you can sign up for or apps to download onto your phone. At the moment, I’m currently using two surveys sites that I’d recommend. The first is Prolific, it’s the tidiest and easiest survey site to navigate. The studies are by academics from around the world so there less dull than the ‘what computer software does your workplace use?’ that you often find on survey apps. Overall, the surveys pay quite well for the amount of time you have to commit and the payment often comes through quite quickly. As soon as you reach £5, you can cash out straight to PayPal. Some cons on prolific are: the sign up process can be quite lengthy (but I really think it’s worth it). The other con is surveys come up on a first come first served basis, and these are generally 9-5pm on the week days so you won’t always have surveys available to complete. However, as they are quick and easy, I recommend keeping Prolific open on your computer at work and getting them done as they pop up. If you think about how much time you waste going to the toilet, making a cup of tea, chatting to a colleague – replace that time with surveys and you’ll be making money while you’re paid to be at work. Win win! The App I’m currently using is Attapoll, it’s very user friendly and there are always surveys available to complete. Once you reach £3, you can cash out via PayPal. Some of the surveys are a bit spammy so I recommend choosing which ones to do based on user ratings.

Selling in Ebay and Vinted

My favourite way to make extra income, I get such a buzz from making sales! After procrastinating FOREVER, I started eBay a couple of years ago and it was the best decision. So if you’re thinking about it…DO IT! It is such a fab income booster especially at this time of year. You know all of those random gift sets you got over Christmas that you’ll either use for the sake of it or might regift at some other time if you remember/get round to it?! Well instead of letting them catch dust – get them on eBay instead and make some dollar! The key to eBay is getting some clear snaps (doesn’t have to be insta quality), putting lots of detail in the descriptions and posting out quickly once you made a sale. I also post on Vinted which takes literal seconds to upload an item to and you can copy and paste some of the basics from eBay too. Get your items on both platforms for more chances to make those sales.

Running an Etsy Shop

This is a new side hustle I’m building this year so not completely talking about this one from sales experience, but so far so good in terms of time and set up. I’ve also followed tonnes of people who’ve created an Etsy shop as a side hustle and have used their advice in this. Do you have any kind of creative skill (or something you could learn through this month instead of going out and spending?) that can become a cute gift or item for someone else? Well, turn it into an Etsy shop. It could be cosmetics, cards, prints, knitted items, jewellery, upcycling clothes. You’ll probably need a bit of seed money to get you started with materials but, after tha,t get some great snaps and descriptions and away you go. There are also some great Instagram accounts to follow, such as @thesmallbusinesshandbook, that give lots of tips on how to increase your Etsy sales if you start to get into it and want to push your shop further.

January can be a challenging month and one of financial worry for many people. I hope these 3 quick and easy ideas can help alleviate some money stress if that’s how your feeling right now. If you’re thinking about any of them, I really encourage you just to do it! You won’t regret it at all – I’ve never looked back and love seeing some extra pounds in my account. But it’s also okay if your not in this mindset for January and instead the month becomes about naps, cosiness, big jumpers and Netflix. You don’t have to achieve all your year’s goals and plan in the next 4 weeks and you can come back to these money making ideas whenever suits you best. Take lots of care of yourself and do whatever you need. See you on the other side for brighter days!