Making Money from Home: Outside the Box Ideas

Looking to change your lifestyle, or move away from the dreary 9-5 commute? Or maybe you’re just wanting to increase your existing income. Whatever your reasons, there are so many ways you can start making money from home. We’ve outlined a few often-overlooked ideas below:

Get A Lodger, Or Rent Part Of Your Home

Make use of your spare room and harness the power of AirBnB to start earning a decent chunk of money each month. What’s more, if you live alone, it’s a great way to meet new people and enjoy some extra company. There are so many ways you can make this option work for you. Have a decent-sized garden? According to S Jones Containers, more and more people are finding creative ways to convert shipping containers into studio flats. A quick glance through Instagram will show you hundreds of examples of creative, affordable solutions.

Create Star Letters And Photos For Magazines And Websites

Many popular magazines and websites will pay out rewards for their favourite letter or photo. For example, Bella magazine will pay £50 for their star letter – an example would be how a recent story encouraged you to make a positive lifestyle change. Alternatively, if you’re good with a camera (and in the kitchen!), snap a successful Sainsbury’s recipe outcome and tweet it to @Sainsburysmag tagged #imadethis for a chance at winning a £50 Sainsbury’s voucher. This is a quick and easy way to start making money from home.

Sell Your Old Mobile

Let’s face it – most of us have an old phone kicking around somewhere. Many companies make it easy to turn these into quick money. The easiest way to do this is to use a site like Sell My Mobile, who compare different recyclers to help you get the best price for your make and model of phone. We got £10 for an old Honor 9 64GB model, including a freepost pack and label.

Make A Claim For Train Delays

Train companies don’t exactly go out of their way to make it clear how you can make a claim if your train is delayed. Many people don’t even know that you can do this. Most UK train companies are now signed up to a system called Delay Repay, guaranteeing a minimum refund depending on how late your train was when you reached your destination. For example, a delay of 15-29 minutes pays out a minimum of 25% of your initial fare. Simply Google your train company + delay replay to get details of how to claim.

Take Online Surveys

Companies want customer opinions on everything from shampoo brands to popular TV shows, and will pay you to complete questionnaires online. Crowdology is a good place to start. A quick survey during your coffee break could earn you a couple of pounds, with longer surveys paying up £10. Get into the habit of doing one a day and the savings soon start to add up.

Get Creative

A dab hand at card making or jewellery design? Lots of people continue to make a chunk of their income selling their homemade products on sites like Etsy. Setting up a store front is pretty straight forward and, whilst it can take a while to generate interest and build up sales, you can help yourself stand out by doing a bit of research beforehand. Create something truly original and you could soon find yourself in demand.

Rent Out Your Parking Area

Live near a major city and have a driveway or dedicated parking bay? Lots of people will pay decent cash to use it. This could work well if you have the option of a resident’s parking permit from your local council. This would allow you to park on the street, freeing up your driveway or parking bay (note you can’t rent your resident’s parking permit). Sites like JustPark are a great place to start. In some cases, you could find yourself earning over £200 per month.

Sell Your Old Stuff

Sites like Facebook Market Place make it simpler than ever to exchange your old, unwanted stuff for cash, with zero fees applied. Because it works locally, most deals involve a buyer coming to collect your items for a cash price agreed upon in advance. It’s easier than taking it to your nearest recycling centre and you’ll get some cash to boot, so get rummaging – you’ll be amazed at what people will pay to buy!

These are just some of the ways you can start making money from home, though there are lots more. Sites like Which? and Money Saving Expert are great places to look for more ideas.

You can also download the Emma app to track your spending across accounts, find areas for improvement and cancel your wasteful subscriptions. This will helping minimise your outgoings while you’re working on those new income streams.

This article was written in collaboration with Ruby Clarkson.