Whether you are at home due to social distancing, self isolation, your workplace is no longer open or you have been made redundant, you might be looking for some real ways to make money from home.
The good news is that all is not lost, and once you have made financial arrangements such as applying for Universal Credit and mortgage holidays, you can start looking for some ways to boost your income from home.
According to personal finance expert Emma Drew, focus groups are a great way to boost your income by giving feedback on a variety of topics, from your personal banking to testing out new apps. These studies pay anything from £20 – £100 (R450 – R2250) plus for your time and feedback, depending on the complexity and the length of the study.
‘My husband completed a video diary study that took him about 90 minutes over two weeks and he earned £60 for taking part.
A lot of these studies usually happen face to face, however with the COVID-19 pandemic studies are moving online to be completed by the participants remotely. There are still plenty of studies going ahead at the moment which have already been budgeted for, so it is a great time to get involved,” said Drew.
Give Research Opinions, People4U and People For Research a try.
Here are some other options offered by Drew to help you make some extra money.
Online surveys
Completing online surveys won’t make you rich overnight, but you can expect to make £50 or more per month for completing them in your spare time.
Companies are looking for your opinions on everything from politics to new products they are launching, and in order to cover your time they are willing to pay you for your opinions.
There are plenty of online survey websites out there, and you can get paid in cash via BACS into your bank account or Paypal, or choose from a selection of gift cards including supermarket gift cards.
Many of these studies are agreed in advance and therefore there is already funding in place to pay participants, making it a great time to sign up and earn from online surveys.
Online tutoring
With school closures in place, many parents and guardians are looking for extra tutoring support for their children. If you have skills that you can teach then online tutoring could be a great way for you to make extra money.
It helps if you are already a teacher or if you have experience with the age group you are planning to tutor. It doesn’t always have to be teaching experience – volunteering at a youth club or a teaching assistant would help.
You also need to make sure that you are at least one educational level above the students you want to tutor. This means if you are planning to tutor English at a GCSE grade, you need to at least have an A Level in English.
You can find potential students through social media, setting up your own website or using a service such as TutorHunt (tutorhunt.com/), where potential students pay to see your details.
You can carry out sessions using video conferencing software and apps like Skype, Zoom, FaceTime and WhatsApp.
Between £20-£35 (R450 – R800) per hour is the going rate for online tutoring, making this a great way to boost your income.
Cancel subscriptions you can’t use
Do you have a subscription to a streaming site that you never use? We spend millions every month as a nation on subscriptions, many of which we don’t need or seldom use. So now is the time to figure out which of your monthly subscriptions can be cut.
The same applies to gym memberships. If you signed up at the start of the year and haven’t been since the end of January, cancel your membership. Similarly, if you are an avid gym goer but obviously can’t go right now, email them and ask what is being done about your membership. Many gyms are putting member accounts on hold so aren’t collecting fees, but it doesn’t hurt to double check.
Get refunds from cancelled events and travel
As events have been cancelled for the foreseeable future, you should be able to get a refund on booked tickets, so check with the company you purchased from. Similarly, if you buy a season ticket for any travel, you will be able to get a refund for the bit you are unable to use from the travel company.
-Adapted from Daily Mail
