SURPRISING WAYS TO EARN A LITTLE EXTRA

We asked finance expert Emma Drew, whose money blog attracts 65,000 views a month, for her top tips on boosting your earnings

GET PAID TO SHOP

To assess their products and services, companies employ mystery shoppers. Work can be anything from a free meal out to ringing a helpline to make an enquiry. My favourite companies are Marketforce and Redwigwam. To sign up, simply follow the steps on the website, you’ll be asked to take a quick spelling and grammar test, and you need to be over 18. Do two mystery shopping tasks a month and you can make £280 a year.

REFER YOUR FRIENDS

If you’re using a product or service you love, you can often get rewarded for referring people. From banking to satellite TV, you can make money by sharing deals with others. Some of my favourites include Nationwide Building Society, which gives existing members a chance to earn up to £500 a year if they successfully refer five friends, or energy company Bulb, which offers a £50 switch bonus for you and your friend if they swap to green energy.

VOICE YOUR OPINION

Companies are interested in your thoughts and ideas to help them develop new products and services. They will even pay you for your time spent completing online surveys. The amount of money you receive is usually a direct correlation for the time you’ve put in. I regularly make £50 a month from online surveys – try Yougov and Prolific Academic. Just sign up online, and you’ll be asked a few screening questions before you can get started.

EARN FOR RECRUITING

The app Jobspotter offers you a great way to earn Amazon gift vouchers. Simply snap a photo of any “wanted” job opportunity signs when you’re out and about to earn points. Your points can be converted into Amazon gift vouchers to spend (or save for Christmas). You can make up to £30 per hour in a busy city.

PROMOTE PRODUCTS

If you’re an avid Instagrammer, there are brands ready to pay you for promoting their products or services. Get started with an app called Tribe. Once registered you have to pitch to promote products – the more you pitch, the more cash you can make. The money you earn depends on the number of followers you have, but you can set your own prices.

ENTER DAILY DRAWS

Did you know that you can enter free daily lotteries and draws for your chance to win cash? These websites make their money from advertising, so all you need to do is register and visit every day to see if you have won. My favourites are Badger The Button and The Free Postcode Lottery. Set up a separate email for it to protect your personal information.

DON’T FORGET…

You’re allowed to earn an extra £1,000 per tax year without paying more tax, but anything over that and you’ll need to declare it to HMRC. Visit www.gov.uk/contact-hmrc.