Creative ways to make money (24 amazing ideas)
Looking for creative ways to make money? The idea of making money can be a daunting task, but it doesn’t have to be. There are many creative ways to make money that you may not have thought of before, or if you did think of them, never took the time to try them out.
One way is by doing freelance work on sites like Fiverr and Upwork. You can also sell items on eBay or Amazon as well as sell your own products such as t-shirts or other unique items on Etsy. If none of these methods sounds appealing to you there is another option: starting a YouTube channel where you review products and get paid for sponsorships from companies who want their product featured in your video (this method works especially well with beauty bloggers).
In this blog post, we’ll share the 24 ideas to help you make money.
Affiliate Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links that earn this site a commission at no extra cost to you. Everything we recommend, we have used ourselves and hope you find the recommendations helpful.
How do I make an extra $1000 a month?
- Rent out your spare room
- Write an ebook and self publish with Amazon KDP
- Do more hours at work
- Negotiate a pay rise at work
- Invest in a stocks and shares ISA
- Get a property to rent out
- Reduce your debt
- Teach online classes
- Recycle your old electronics (mobile phones, tablets, computers etc)
- Become a part-time mover
- Tutoring
- Teach a language
- Virtual assistant
- Spend less
- Sell your old clothes
- Make a blog and sell advertising space on it
- Start a YouTube channel
- Join an affiliate program
- Sell handmade items on Etsy or eBay
- Take surveys
- Offer translation services through sites such as UpWork
- Rent out your home while travelling abroad (Airbnb)
- Renegotiate your utilities and bills
- Sell your services
Here are some ideas to make money in detail
1. Rent out your spare room
Renting out your spare room (particularly in the UK) is probably one of the most tax-efficient ways to make money. The Rent a Room Scheme lets your earn £7,500 per year tax-free for renting out a furnished room in your home.
Renting a room out has worked well for me, particularly when I lived alone. The rental income was excellent, but it was also good to have a housemate to make living alone not so lonely!
2. Write an ebook and self publish with Amazon KDP
Everyone will have a skill or qualification, experience or story they can write about to share with others. Writing a book can be daunting but it need not be. Amazon KDP has made self publishing a book actually quite easy and low cost.
To write your book, set yourself a writing goal each day (mine was to write 1000 words each morning before I did anything) and after a few months, you will have a manuscript ready for editing.
You can save money on editing by having your family and friends edit your book for you. For your book cover, you can either design it yourself or use companies like Urban Writers to design one for you. Urban Writers book covers start at just $99.
3. Do more hours at work
A lot of people often rush to start a side hustle (which is great). Still, they often overlook the fact that starting a side hustle normally involves a lot of time and effort where you may not actually earn any money at the beginning.
If you have a good job that is well paid, then sometimes, it may make more sense to do more hours at work if overtime is available. Then take the extra income you have earned to invest in your side hustle or business.
4. Negotiate a pay rise at work
Sometimes to get more money, you dont have to do anything dramatic – just keep doing what you are already doing, but make sure you are paid your worth. Periodically, every 3-5 years, it is worth doing a check to see if you are being paid what your are worth.
Check sites like Glassdoor to see what others in similar positions are being paid. Check with your colleagues too (if that is possible – it may not always be). If you feel you are underpaid, gather the evidence to show why you think you are underpaid and take it up with your manager.
Are you operating at a certain level of autonomy? Have you developed competencies that would dictate you are paid more? Have you met certain targets or business goals? Make sure you sell yourself.
Ultimately, you have the ability to vote with your feet (if you do not feel you are being paid what you are worth). Get in touch with a recruiter and see if there may be better paying positions with the competition? Be careful though – weigh up all the pros and cons and think carefully before leaving a stable job particularly if you have other benefits e.g. stocks, good pension plan etc.
5. Invest in a stocks and shares ISA
DISCLAIMER: INVESTMENTS CAN RISE AND FALL, AND YOU MAY GET BACK LESS THAN YOUR INITIAL INVESTMENT. SEEK PROFESSIONAL ADVICE TO MAKE SURE THE INVESTMENT IS SUITABLE FOR YOUR NEEDS.
Stocks and share are not a get rich quick scheme. To reap the benefits of compound interest through reinvesting your profits and dividends – you need to be invested in the market over a long period of time ideally at least 15-20 years. Investing in the markets in the short term will very likely lead to losses.
The stocks and Shares ISA is an excellent way to build wealth. With any gains you get from the stocks and Shares ISA being completely tax free, the current £20k yearly allowance makes them very tax efficient.
One of the best books that I read on investing was Intelligent investor by Benjamin Graham.
If you want to learn more check out our post on how to start a low cost index fund portfolio in 8 steps!
6. Get a property to rent out
Renting out a property can be a great way to make money. There are barriers to getting an additional property to rent out, with the main one being needing a large deposit (ideally more than 25%) to get a buy to let mortgage.
There are certain shortcuts available though such as:
- If you have lived in the residential property before and, for example, have to move jobs to a different city/ country, the lender may allow you to put a ‘let marker’ on the property that allows you to rent it out.
- It is much easier to rent out a property that you have already lived in, and there are tax advantages too with regards to capital gains tax. You get an allowance for capital gains tax purposes for each year that you lived in it if the property value were to increase.
- If you are a couple, you have the opportunity to buy in your individual names (not joint). This may have tax advantages too with the rental income, particularly if one of you is not a higher rate taxpayer
7. Reduce your debt
Although not making money as such – if you owe money on loans, credit cards, store cards etc., then paying these off and reducing the amount of interest charged by refinancing can give you more free cash at the end of each month.
Looking at your finances and getting rid of your debt is one of the best places to start when trying to find ways to make more money as this often has the biggest impact vs starting a new business which has got its own risks.
8. Teach online classes
Sites like Udemy and SkillShare allow you to create and publish classes online for a relatively low cost. Everyone has a skill or knowledge, or craft they are good at and can share with others. Depending on which platform you choose for your classes, you will either earn money for each class that is sold (Udemy) or per minute watched of your class (Skillshare).
Skillshare also have a referral program where by you receive $10 for each no person that signs up to your class through your referral link.
9. Recycle your old electronics (mobile phones, tablets, computers etc)
Find your old electronics buried deep in those cupboards and sell them on sites such as eBay or Music Magpie. You may be surprised at the value you may get for selling the devices!
10. Become a part-time mover
If you have access to a van, then becoming a part time mover can be a flexible and efficient way to make money. Moving can be for single items .e.g delivering a washing machine or helping someone move home entirely.
11. Tutoring
If you are qualified, you may be able to earn extra by offering lessons at your local college, or university to help other students. The great thing about tutoring is that not only can it give help you generate more money, but it also forces you to get back into the books and sharpen up your knowledge.
If going through university, tutoring can be extremely helpful in developing your knowledge too.
12. Teach a language
Teaching English to international students can be a great way to earn some extra cash. Sites such as mytutor.co.uk allow you to register and offer your services.
13. Virtual assistant
Being a virtual assistant is a flexible way of working that allows you to do so from the comfort of your own home. Virtual assistants often do things like research information online, book travel arrangements, make phone calls, etc., from home as needed by clients who need help but can’t afford full-time assistants’ salaries.
14. Spend less
Creating a budget and spending less i.e. only spending on ‘needs’ vs ‘wants’ can be one of the fastest ways to have more money for yourself. There are excellent online banks allow you to have various ‘pots’ allocated for certain activities and give you alerts to warn you that you may be over spending.
Also, the latest banking apps, such as Monzo have budgeting tools and Autosaving features.
15. Sell your old clothes
Selling your old clothes that have been in the back of your wardrobe for money and are unlikely to be used is a great way to make money with what you already have. Recycling and reusing old cloths via re-sale also means less harm on the environment as fewer clothes are being thrown away. By reselling your clothes – you are effectively giving them a ‘second chance’.
Using the same thought process, you could sell on many of your unused items. Here we give you tips on how to sell your second hand books.
16. Make a blog and sell advertising space on it
If you like writing, then starting a blog can be a great way to make money. It takes time and hard work, but there are very successful bloggers making anything from $2k-10k per month, some even making $100k a month. Be warned, this is not a get rich quick scheme but put in the work and you never know what could happen!
Check out our post on how to start a blog!
17. Start a YouTube channel
Like blogging, starting a YouTube channel takes time and, on average, takes around 12-24 months before you can monetise, assuming you are consistent in creating content. With a YouTube channel, you create product reviews, makeup tutorials, or other videos that people will want to watch.
Once you have a certain amount of subscribers and watch time, you can monetise the channel through adverts. Another opportunity for generating cash on YouTube is through affiliate sales (recommending other peoples products) and you receive a commission for each sale.
If you have your own products, then these can also be promoted on your YouTube channel and this can be a great way to make money online.
18. Join an affiliate program
Being an affiliate is all about recommending products (ideally that you have used yourself) for stuff you already buy (like Amazon) or sign up for one of those companies that send you samples in exchange for feedback about them (like Influenster).
Some of the best affiliate programs include:
With all affiliate programs, your success depends on being able to consistently drive the correct type of visitors to your affiliate links who are then willing to make a purchase.
19. Sell handmade items on Etsy or eBay
Have a craft you are good at and enjoying doing? Why not sell your excellent items on Etsy or eBay? With little up front costs needed to register, this can be a great way to turn a hobby into a business.
20. Take surveys
I thought I would mention taking surveys. I am not totally convinced about taking surveys to make reliable income just simply for the amount of time you have to commit for relatively low rates of pay. Some surveys don’t even guarantee any pay, and instead, you are entered into a ‘draw!’.
If you have had a good experience with surveys – we would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment in the section at the end of the post! Our understanding is places like Survey Junkie and Swagbucks may be better options and will pay you in cash or gift cards instead of points/rewards programs that are never worth anything anyway!
21. Offer translation services through sites such as UpWork
Speak a second language? Translation services through UpWork can be an excellent way to make money from home around your existing work or study commitments.
22. Rent out your home while travelling abroad (Airbnb)
Renting out your home while on holiday can be a great way to make money. For those living in highly desirable areas that are not too worried about strangers staying in their home – see if Airbnb or similar could be for you.
23. Renegotiate your utilities and bills
Although not directly making money, negotiating your utilities and bills could be a great way to have yourself more cash left over each month. Most utility companies will hike up their rates at the end of your agreed contract period. Putting a day or two aside once a year to review your outgoings and see whether cheaper alternatives can save you hundreds of pounds each year.
Comparison sites like Uswitch, can allow you to quickly find the cheapest broadband, phone, gas and electric rates. You can then call your existing supplier to see if they can do better and if not, you can move to the company offering the lower rate. If you are in contract still, and your circumstances have changed, it is always worth phoning to see if there is a better plan or tariff that you could be moved onto.
24. Sell your services
Sites like Fiverr and freelancer are excellent places to advertise your freelance services. As a freelancer, you can balance your time and other commitments working when is suitable for you and your schedule.
You could even become a mystery shopper. You don’t need a qualification, but you are selling your time in return for writing a review on a company you have interacted with. Additionally, completing tasks may result in you coming home with free items of clothing or a full belly of food that you didn’t have to pay for. Win-win!
Do you know any other ways of making money creatively? Please leave a comment in the section below – we would love to hear from you.
