Life is expensive. Whether you’re saving for a deposit on a house, paying off debt, or just eager to earn some extra pocket money to fund your daily Costa Drive-Thru habit, it’s always useful to find different ways to earn a bit of extra cash.
I know, you’ve heard it before. We’ve all read those articles that claim you can make £1,000 a day with minimal effort whilst sitting in your pajamas and binge-watching a murder documentary on Netflix, but can you actually? Short answer, no. BUT, you can make a nice amount of cash without too much hassle if you know where to start. We’re not talking suddenly being able to afford a Tesla overnight, but it’s definitely doable to earn at least an extra £250 a month quite easily. How do I know? I’ve done it.
How to hustle from home
Read on and I’ll tell you how, show you screenshots showing my earnings, and give my star rating out of 5 for each hustle.
1. Online Surveys
I know it seems too good to be true that you can get paid to answer a few questions online, but it’s true! Alas, this will not make you a millionaire, but it could earn you enough to pay for your car insurance for a couple of months, or book a flight to Amsterdam for a weekend city break.
How does it work?
First you need to choose a survey website and sign up. I have found Prolific to be the easiest and most profitable survey website. Unlike other survey websites, on Prolific you complete academic research studies as opposed to market research surveys.
After you’ve signed up you need to provide some basic demographic information to make sure you receive study invitations that you are eligible to complete. These are just basic (perhaps random) questions such as whether or not you own a car, how many hours a week you work, what your favourite brand of teabag is, or whether or not you play any sports.
You’re then ready to go and able to complete studies straight away. Easy peasy.
How much can I earn?
In total on Prolific I have earnt £84.28 and I’ve completed 84 surveys, meaning I earnt on average around £1 per survey. ‘£1 you say? That’s pointless!‘. Far from pointless, most surveys take less than 5 minutes to complete, with some only asking 1 or 2 questions in total. As far as side hustles at home go, it’s easy money. Once you’ve earnt at least £5 you can cash out straight away.
Star rating
4/5. Easy to do. No start up costs. Straightforward cash withdrawal process.
2. Freelancing on Upwork
Next up we have freelancing. This has to be my favourite hustle out of the 4. It’s been very profitable and has also enhanced my skills as a freelancer. Don’t let the term ‘freelancer’ put you off (as it did me at first). You don’t neccesarily need to have a unique set of skills or a specialist degree, you simply need to be willing to learn and happy to work to a deadline.
How does it work?
On Upwork you can either apply for a job which has been posted on the site and that you feel sufficiently skilled to complete, or you can accept/decline job invitations sent to you directly by clients who have viewed your profile.
Most of the jobs I have completed on Upwork were sent to me as direct invitations. I’ve transcribed medical interviews, podcasts, and research projects. I’ve also taken part in some pretty cool voice recording work to train AI voice actors. This involved was uttering different phrases on the phone such as “I’d like to book a return flight to New York, please” or “Can I speak to the manager?”.
How much can I earn?
In a typical month I tend to earn around £150. The good thing about freelance work is that you can increase or decrease your workload depending on your current circumstances. Right now I’m happy with a few hours per week, but it’s good to know there is more work available if I want it.
Star rating
3. Sell your Old Books and DVDs
Moving on to trading in old books and DVD’s using services such as Ziffit or Music Magpie. For me this is a double-whammy because I get to earn money whilst decluttering my house. Use code XFTMXKZQY to earn an extra £5 when you make a trade of at least £10.
How does it work?
Download the app, create an account, and start scanning barcodes. It’s as easy as that. Your book or DVD will either be accepted for a specified amount…
Or politely rejected…
Once you’ve scanned all of your barcodes you’ll be able to save your offer and package it up ready to send. When I used Ziffit I was able to request a free courier collection because of the amount of books and DVDs I sold (25). I also had the choice to drop my package off at a local free collection point.
How much can I earn?
Whilst this hustle was the least profitable out of the 4 I have recommended, it was still an extra £16.74 in my pocket. Which, for ten minutes scanning barcodes and packaging items into a cardboard box, is not bad going.
Star rating
4. Amazon FBA
Finally we come to Amazon. If you’ve ever ended up in the wormhole that is watching endless YouTube videos about passive income streams, then you have probably heard of Amazon FBA. But what even is it?
Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA) allows you to buy and sell products without the hassle of storing your stock or arranging postage to your buyers. Think eBay but instead of selling your old clothes you sell brand new items, and instead of heading to the post office each time you make a sale Amazon do it for you instead.
How does it work?
When I was testing out different side hustles I was a bit reluctant to start Amazon FBA. It seemed daunting to sign up to become an Amazon seller when I hadn’t yet bought any stock to sell, however, I didn’t want to dismiss the idea before I had even tried it.
I started by buying 10 childrens plush toys which I got for £6.50 each and listed them on Amazon at between £12-£13 each. The more money you have upfront to buy stock with, the more profit you can make by buying items with high profit margins such as hot tubs and BBQs. You have to scour the internet for profitable deals, or you can pay to download software which will automatically find deals for you and analyse profit potential.
I watched a few videos on Youtube to learn the basics.
How much can I earn?
The good thing about Amazon FBA is there is huge earning potential (HustleWithHeathy has more Youtube videos where he openly talks about his profit from using Amazon FBA). There are other success stories on Youtube where FBA sellers have been so succesful they’ve had to rent out warehouse space to cope with the amount of stock they are buying and selling.
I tried Amazon FBA for a few months, but I didn’t think it was for me long-term. However, there is definitely great earning potential for others who enjoy buying and selling side hustles.
You can see from my from the screenshot above the amount I made from sales in one day, but remember that Amazon take a cut in fees.
Star rating
3/5. Involves start-up costs. Monthly subscription cost. Good future business expansion potential. Amazon take a hefty cut from your wallet.
Which one should I choose?
Well, that’s up to you. It depends on how much time you have to devote to a side hustle, whether you want the potential to expand it into a full-time job in the future, how much money you can afford to put into it upfront, and which one aligns with your strengths and interests.
If you try one hustle and decide it isn’t to you, stop and try something new. What’s there to lose?
Squeeze The Lemon 
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