Genuine Ways To Make Money in the UK Today
Need to make extra money fast?
Whether you have a bill to pay, need funds for Christmas or there’s a specific project you would like to start (a new kitchen perhaps), there are various reasons why you might want quick cash.
You may have already considered cutting back and making savings on your current spending so you can save more.
But if you’re already cut your spending back as far as you can go then making extra money is what you need to do.
The good news is there are plenty of ways to make extra cash fast in the UK!
This includes easy ways to make money online and flexible money making ideas you can do in your own time, fitting them around your day job or other commitments.
Getting started with making extra money quickly
If you need a quick boost to your income then there are certain money making ideas that will work much faster than others.
For example I always recommend blogging as a money making idea on this blog – because it’s what makes me a full-time income having been a successful side hustle for several years.
However this is something that I believe takes one to two years to see decent results, and there’s a small amount of investment needed upfront in expenses such as website hosting.
So whatever you are considering when it comes to topping up your income start by thinking about when you need the extra money and how long your money making idea will take to bring you results.
I’ve got over 25 real money making ideas in this article to help you bring in extra cash!
The quickest ways to make money fast in the UK
Clear out your closet
Your unwanted clothes that you never wear could bring you in extra cash within days!
Clothes that are in good condition, especially ones from popular high street or high end brands, sell extremely well secondhand online. That includes shoes and bags too!
You could use eBay, but there are lots of other online marketplaces for clothes such as Depop and Vinted.
Facebook Marketplace is also excellent for selling unwanted clothing. I’ve had particular luck with selling kids clothes on Facebook.
You can get more tips for selling old clothes for cash here.
Sell unwanted furniture
Got an old sideboard that’s cluttering up your living room? Or some garden furniture you never use?
Even unwanted furniture with some marks and scratches can be sold for cash, as many people like to buy secondhand furniture and refurbish it to make a profit when they sell it on.
Try online auction sites like eBay and Facebook Marketplace to sell your furniture.
Clear out unwanted stuff
It’s amazing what you can sell on for cash from your own home. Unopened tins of paint, excess building supplies such as tiles, cooking gadgets, CDs, books and gardening tools – you name it there’s probably someone out there who would take it off your hands.
You’ll need to do your research to ensure you price your secondhand goods reasonably so that they have a good chance of selling.
I have an entire post about things to sell for money.
Recycle old gadgets
Anyone else have a stack of old mobile phones in a box in their cupboard? Those old models are still worth something!
Companies such as Mazuma and Music Magpie will take old handsets off your hands and pay you for them. You can go online and check how much they will pay you for handsets before you make the exchange.
You can also sell other gadgets such as gym equipment and games consoles online. The websites listed above for mobile phones will also take such things, but there are also specialist marketplaces for such equipment.
For example there’s We Buy Gym Equipment and We Buy Games.
Refer a friend
Many companies will give you some kind of bonus, sometimes money off your bill or a voucher, for recommending their services to a friend.
This applies to a huge range of services you may already be paying for, such as insurance, energy, survey companies, Sky TV, and your mobile phone provider.
Look into the businesses you already use, as suggested above, and see if there are any that a friend may benefit from trying. In some cases you both get a bonus for the referral!
For example at the moment if you refer a friend to Sky TV you both get a prepaid £75 MasterCard. Always check the latest offers as these can change.
Switch your bank account
One of the easiest ways to make cash immediately is to switch your bank account.
You’ll of course need to take into account details such as switching your direct debits and payments to the new account, but many current accounts offer nice sweeteners for moving over. This can include cash payments of up to £150!
Check out Money Saving Expert for some great bank account switch offers.
Survey sites
Online survey sites will ask you questions, get you to do certain tasks, fill out surveys and ask your opinions in exchange for cash.
Making money with survey sites requires a certain amount of time commitment, because you need to be focused on the questions and giving accurate answers. Some survey programmes will kick you out if your answers seem inconsistent and show you aren’t taking your time to answer questions accurately.
However it’s a great way to make extra cash in your own time from home, or wherever you happen to be!
Many survey sites have a payout threshold you need to hit before they will give you any money, so bear that in mind if you want money today.
My favourite survey is Prolific, which has a low payout threshold and some really interesting surveys. They also don’t spam you with loads of emails!
If you can wait around six to eight weeks to get your extra cash then try 20 Cogs, which pays out up to £200 when you complete 20 tasks.
I tried it myself and was not a huge fan. Some tasks require you to spend money to set up accounts on various websites and although if you complete all 20 cogs you will more than make that money back. However it is a legit way to make a decent wedge of cash.
Chat to other people from around the world
Yes you can actually make money by doing this!
The English language teaching website Cambly pays people to chat online with students from around the world to improve their English.
You get paid weekly – $10.20 an hour – via PayPal. It’s a great way to make money from your own home in your own time! Plus you get to meet new people.
You don’t need to have any teaching qualifications, as the people will learn English through conversation with you.
Make money with apps
Task apps give you various challenges, such as taking photos of a supermarket shelf, and pay you for your trouble!
You won’t earn huge amounts for completing a task – roughly £2 to £5 or sometimes a little more depending on the actual job involved. However the tasks tend to be quite quick to complete and you’ll find it easy to find plenty of tasks if you live near to a town or city centre.
The best tasking apps for making extra cash include:
Test websites
You can make extra cash in your spare time by helping companies perfect their websites.
There are companies such as User Testing which employ testers to try out websites and feedback their views on what could be improved.
Search engine evaluation
A search engine evaluator looks at the results that Google provides when you type in particular keywords (let’s say “how to build a shed”) and then reviews the results. They check whether the results actually answer the query and if there are any erroneous results.
You can find jobs in this area through companies such as Lionbridge – which asks workers to complete 20 hours a week of work.
There’s more information about what search engine evaluators do here.
Online data entry
There are many online data entry jobs including those without the need for any prior experience in this area of work.
Data entry covers quite a broad topic of employment, and involves organising all sorts of different data from numerical to alphabetical into a system.
Some jobs will have a set number of hours you need to complete each week, however it’s also possible to find more flexible work where you can pick and choose how much you take on.
You can find freelance data entry jobs on Upwork and other jobs sites.
You will need a computer to do this work from home.
Online transcription
Freelance transcription work involves taking video or audio files and typing out the spoken content into a document.
There are all sorts of different types of work in this field, with some requiring you to have prior experience in specialist areas such as medical transcription.
However there are companies that don’t require any prior experience at all. You can find out more about finding online transcription work here.
Other ways to make extra cash in a hurry
Mystery shopping
A mystery shopper is tasked with testing out a brand’s customer service or products.
This work may involve visiting a shop to evaluate the help you are given by the sales staff or visiting a restaurant to provide your opinion on the quality of service and food.
There are various companies that can connect you with mystery shopping work. These include:
- Market Force
- Neilsen Homescan
- Ipsos
- RedWigWam
- Tern
Upload your receipts
Believe it or not companies will pay you just for taking photos of your receipts and uploading them to apps.
There are several receipt scanning apps that operate in the UK. They include:
- Shoppix – You can earn 25 points per receipt and need 3,200 points to earn a £5 Amazon voucher.
- SnapMyEats – You can earn up to £5 in reward credits for your receipts.
- Shopprize – find the app in your phone’s app store. The only problem with this one is I tried to sign up and it said there were no spaces at present, so I’m on the waiting list.
Rent out your parking space
If you live in a position close to a train station or in a city centre and you have your own parking space – such as a driveway or road space – then you could make some extra cash!
You can sign up to websites like Your Parking Space or Just Park to connect you with people willing to pay for your parking space.
Rent a room
Got a spare room gathering dust? Rent it our to a lodger and you could bring in hundreds of pounds extra per month!
Rent out your household gear
Got a carpet cleaner or a lawn mower? Those are the type of household gadgets that are in high demand!
Not everyone has space to store all of the gadgets you may need for household maintenance.
The website Fat Llama is a great place to advertise stuff you want to rent to people.
Deliver for Amazon
If you have your own car then Amazon Flex offers a great opportunity to make some extra money.
You will deliver Amazon parcels in prebooked time slots. There is a limit on how many hours you can book a week, but you can make up to £15 an hour.
Sell your photos
If you have an eye for great photographer and good equipment then you can sell stock photography online.
There’s a huge market for a whole range of different types of photography, from food to flowers and homes to landmarks.
You can sell your photos on websites such as Shutterstock.
Sell your illustrations or cartoons
In a similar topic, if you are talented at illustrating or cartoons then you could take advantage of your skills by selling what you create.
You could start selling personalised cartoons or illustrations of people, their pets or their homes.
You could also sell illustrations on marketplaces such as Creative Market, which sells graphics, fonts and templates.
Deliver food
The big food delivery firms such as Just Eat and Deliveroo employ casual drivers to ferry food from restaurants and cafes to people’s homes.
You will need to have a car or bike, but the big benefit is you can start this type of work right away if there is availability in your area.
Just Eat pays casual drivers weekly and you can pick the hours that you work, taking on as much or as little deliveries as you can fit into your schedule.
Focus groups
You can make around £50 to £200 just for participating in market research focus groups!
These are groups where you will be asked for your opinion and the topics range massively. I once took part in one for Waitrose where they were discussing a new self service checkout machine. I received £100 in John Lewis vouchers for one hour of my time.
You can find opportunities for focus groups with companies such as Saros and Research Opinions.
Make your home a filmset
Filming companies will pay money to use your home and/or garden as a location!
If you have an enviable kitchen or a gorgeous garden then why not see if you can find a company looking for a home like yours?
You can register your home to be used as a filming location at Locations Direct.
Childminding or babysitting
There are always parents searching for childminders or babysitters to help them out with childcare.
It could be that you know parents of kids at your child’s school who need wraparound care or that you have spare time in the evenings to offer babysitting services.
You will need to register with Ofsted to become a childminder if the kids you are caring for are under the age of eight.
Find casual work
Local restaurants, bars and cafes are often looking for casual staff who can work evenings and/or weekends.
You may also find casual work – that requires no previous experience – from a variety of other businesses. The other week I saw a local dog walking company advertising for walkers to join them.
Our local fruit farm is also often advertising for fruit pickers during the peak harvesting season.
Sell your story
National newspapers will pay for your story, if it’s of interest.
This is a very niche way to make money, but if you have an actual story to tell then you could make hundreds of pounds, or more if it’s a really big story, selling it to the media.
I used to work for the Daily Mirror and have brokered many paid story deals with people.
There are two main ways of going about selling your story – go to the newspaper direct and sell as an exclusive or sell to an agency that will then sell your story on to the media as a whole.
How you go about it is up to you and how much you can make very much depends on the demand for the story.
When it comes to selling to an agency you could try going to South West News Agency (it covers all of the UK, not just the South West) or Talk To The Press.
I have lots of tips for selling your story here.
Final thoughts on making extra cash fast
As you can see there are so many avenues for making extra money quickly.
Whether it’s decluttering you home and making money with the stuff you already have or taking on a side hustle that can bring in extra money, you can take steps to boost your income right now!
Even just an additional £100 a month adds up to £1,200 a year, which could make a real difference to your budget and savings goals!
