How to spice up your financial institution stability with out lifting a finger: genius tips to make hundreds on the facet with ZERO effort, revealed intimately by our Money group
Need a cash boost this January? One in three of us will have run out of our monthly income as we fork out more on energy bills and recover from Christmas spending, according to finance app Credit Karma.
Many of us will already be working full-time and won’t be able to run a side hustle or set up a small business to make extra cash. But what if you could earn money on the side with minimal hassle? Here are six ways:
Bring in a lodger
If you are a homeowner, you might have more space in your property than you need.
For parents of children who have flown the nest, there may be several unused rooms that could be let out to lodgers.
The Government allows you to earn up to £7,500 a year tax-free via its Rent a Room Scheme, and letting out a room in your home could pay an average of £749 per month, says flat-share site SpareRoom.
The average London room can be let for £985 a month while the average outside of the capital is £670.
Matt Hutchinson, of SpareRoom, says: ‘Most homeowners – and many tenants with permission from their landlords – can rent out rooms in their homes to lodgers and benefit from this tax-free income.
‘You’ll likely have to let your mortgage lender know first, as well as your home insurance provider. Earnings below £7,500 per year don’t need to be declared.’
Host a student
You might find a better way to cash in is to host a foreign student in your home.
If you live near a language school, there may be high demand for accommodation.
According to English UK, you could earn as much as £250 a week and can host up to four students at a time.
However, hosting foreign students may also require you to provide meals, though this could be full board, breakfast or an evening meal. In other cases, you will just need to provide access to a kitchen.
Offering a home stay also entitles you to earn tax-free under the Rent a Room Scheme.
You can use the English UK Member Directory (englishuk.com/member-directory) to find a language school near you.
Allowing someone to store their belongings in your unused space, such as a shed, is a great way to bring in a steady flow of cash
Offer storage space
Having a stranger stay in your home may be a step too far for some, but allowing someone to store their belongings in your unused space is a good alternative.
Stashbee, which offers a platform for people to rent out their unused storage spaces, says garages can be let for between £1,200 and £3,600 a year in standard locations, or for up to £11,000 a year in high-demand areas.
However, even smaller and less accessible spaces can be offered, such as spare rooms, sheds and basements.
The exact amount you can earn in these locations depends on their size and accessibility, says Stashbee. One user in London lets out their shed for £1,386 a year, it said. This is often far cheaper than official storage facilities.
Stashbee’s calculator (stashbee.com/hosting) can be used to work out how much you could earn. You can charge more for spaces with security features such as CCTV or gated access.
The company takes a 5 per cent cut of earnings, but offers contracts, payment collection and monthly invoicing.
David Mantle, founder of Stashbee, said: ‘Once you list your space with Stashbee, you can start to receive enquiries from people interested in the space.
‘The interaction involved is minimal – typically just someone dropping off their belongings.’
If you have an electric vehicle charger installed at home, you could benefit by hiring it out to other EV owners
Rent out your driveway
You could make a healthy sum by letting drivers hire your drive, either as a one-off or regularly.
Several websites allow you to sign up to offer a parking spot, such as JustPark, Park On My Drive and YourParkingSpace.
The amount of money you can make depends on your location. Parking spots near concert venues, football stadiums, airports and train stations are the most sought after.
Owners in these areas can earn thousands a year due to high demand and limited parking availability, according to JustPark.
Earnings also depend on how often you are able to let out your space. In central London, parking spaces range from about £25 to £45 for 24 hours parking on a Saturday. In rural areas, charges can start in the single figures.
Stashbee, which also offers parking space hire, says users can earn between £720 and £1,800 a year, increasing to £1,800 and £3,000 for spots near stations or city centres.
JustPark says it provides a suggested price to users on what they should be charging, based on demand near them. Demand is particularly high in cities such as Cardiff, Liverpool and Brighton.
Charging for EVs
If you also have an electric vehicle charger installed at home, you could benefit by hiring it out to other EV owners.
JustPark said users can add EV charging to their booking information, earning them extra money.
Other firms, such as Co-Charger, also allow EV charger owners to rent out their kit.
The website offers a charging rate calculator, ensuring both parties benefit from a fair price, at co-charger.com.
Co-Charger says users renting their EV charger to a neighbour could make £200 a year, but offering their services to a professional more regularly, such as a taxi driver, could net them more than £1,000 a year.
An owner of a three-bedroom house with a 4.5kW solar system installed could earn as much as £331 a year
Sell energy to the grid
Several energy providers allow customers to sell renewable energy they have generated from their home back to the grid via the Government’s Smart Export Guarantee.
Participating providers offer their own tariffs for your surplus energy. For example, Ovo will pay 20p per kwh of energy to customers for whom they fitted solar panels and a battery, 12p per kwh for Ovo customers, and 4p per kwh for those whose energy is with another provider.
You can sign up on Ovo’s website and answer questions to receive a price guide. Ovo will book a survey with a local installer and offer a bespoke quote and installation.
To be eligible, you will need a renewable energy system such as solar panels or wind turbines, and a smart meter that offers half-hourly readings.
If you have a three-bedroom house and install a 4.5kW solar system, you could earn as much as £331 a year, experts say.
Note that while these can cut your energy bills in the long run, they have high upfront costs. Solar panels and a battery will set you back £8,100 on average.
