16-25
Sell your story
Journalists are always looking for dramatic stories. If you've been in an extreme situation, come close to death or have any other gripping or extraordinary tales to tell about your life, why not get paid and have it published? Even amusing photos can earn good cash prizes in some magazines.
Many magazines pay a premium for interesting letters and photos. Take A Breaksays it pays "up to £2,000" for readers' stories, although it's likely you'll get a lot less than this. Fill in the form online at Take A Break.
Real People also says it pays "up to £2,000" if you sell it your story – fill in the form online at Real People.
How much? A 'star letter' will usually fetch at least £20 in magazines, pictures up to £100.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions, or add your own in the Sell your story thread.
Recycle old printer cartridges for cash
Printer cartridges are expensive, sometimes even more costly than the printers themselves. So, next time one runs out, offset the cost of a new one by recycling the empty one for cash, or Tesco Clubcard points.
There are lots of recycling sites out there, so do a bit of research to find out which are the best payers for your cartridges – some pay as much as £2 per cartridge, though it's usually much less. Try Cash For Cartridges, Recycle Ink Cartridges and Infotone.
Though some recycling sites will take your empty cartridges, they may only pay for certain ones, so check feedback and compare prices.
Alternatively, recycle the empty cartridges with Tesco and earn up to 125 Clubcard points for each cartridge. Each point is worth 1p in store but up to three times as much if you redeem on goodies with Clubcard Boost such as breakdown cover, days out and holidays away. See The Recycling Factory for full details.
Read more about Tesco Clubcard: There's more on maximising Tesco Clubcard points in the Boost Tesco Points guide.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' recommendations, or add your own, in the Recycling printer cartridges for cash thread.
Sell old clothes by the kilo
Wardrobes fit to burst with unwanted clothing? Forumites have reported success using 'cash for clothes' companies, which will often buy a wide range of clobber, including coats and sometimes shoes and bedding too. They usually only accept garments in reasonably good nick (ie, not bobbled or stained) – forumites tell us they typically pay about 50p per kilo.
Of course, if you're not strapped for cash, you could donate your togs to charity instead. And for gear in really good condition, you'll likely to get more selling on Facebook or eBay, so this is best for clothing which isn't top quality and won't fetch much online.
How much you can earn will depend on how many clothes you have to bag up – it might only be a few pounds but some forumites have reported big successes.
We got a total of £64 for the clothes we took... they gave us 60p per kilo and took most of the stuff.
- PoppyOscar
It's an easy way to get rid of unwanted clothes and get a few quid for it. I've probably made about £40/£50 altogether.
- HLR93
How to find your local company
To find a company, use a search engine to find 'cash for clothes' in your area. They can be found in most towns and cities, eg, we found Bob's Cash for Clothes in London which pays up to 60p per kilo. The amount you're paid and items accepted will vary depending on the company.
Always do the deal in person
There have been reports of dodgy companies that ask you to post clothing to them for 'inspection' – don't. Some forumites say they've had quality clothing rejected and were even asked to pay £20 for items to be returned.
We don't recommend you send off clothing before receiving payment – it's better to visit the company yourself or use one that collects and pays at your door.
Or recycle 'em on the high street for a £5-off voucher
H&M and M&S run recycling schemes which can bag you £5-off vouchers to spend in store.
The advantage of H&M's scheme is it says it will accept any clothing or home textiles "no matter what brand and what condition", so this is a great way for regular H&M shoppers to get rid of unwearable clothes.
- H&M – You'll need to take a "generously filled shopping bag" of clothes to your nearest H&M to get the voucher, which will give you £5 off when you spend £30 (though H&M hasn't confirmed if all stores are taking part so it's worth calling ahead to check your local store is). See H&M's 'recycle your clothes' page.
- M&S – This scheme only applies to M&S-branded items, but you only need to recycle one thing to get a voucher, which gives you £5 off when you spend £35.Simply take an old piece of M&S clothing or soft furnishings into your local Oxfam shop, where you'll get the voucher. M&S says you'll get one for every donation you make containing its clothing. For more info, see 'How can I get a £5 M&S voucher from Oxfam?'
Profit from lost luggage auctions
Ever watched Storage Hunters, the US show where people bid for the mystery contents of storage units? Now you can do it yourself, with lost luggage auctions.
When airlines are unable to reunite lost bags with their rightful owners, they often sell them off via specialist auction houses, usually costing £10-£75. For a full guide, including which auction houses do this, see Lost Luggage Auctions.
It's also worth checking out Police Auctions, where forces across the UK sell lost property or goods seized from criminals when they can't find the rightful owner. It's cracking for bicycles, among other things.
It's also worth checking out Police Auctions, where forces across the UK sell lost property or goods seized from criminals when they can't find the rightful owner. It's cracking for bicycles, among other things.
Sell your mobile for cash
If you've recently upgraded and have an old mobile lying around, you could make £100s by selling it to a mobile-buying site. The more recent the handset, the more you'll get for it.
Make sure you compare mobile-buying sites to get the best price – top sites include Sell My Mobile and CeX.CeX can win on price but Sell My Mobile has a 'best price guarantee' and says if you find a higher price within 24 hours of placing your order, it will refund you double the difference.
You may be able to get a better price through auction sites like eBay* but of course there's no guarantee. See the Sell Old Mobiles guide for more info.
Rent it out for cash
It's amazing what you can rent out for cash, especially if you live in a busy area. Ensure you get the most out of your property – even your parking space can be profitable.
See our Rent It Out For Cash guide for a full list of sites that let you rent out anything you own. Below are some of the top options to get you started.
Earn £7,500 tax-free by taking a lodger
If you've space and don't mind a stranger intruding on your Game of Thrones-watching time, getting a lodger is a fast way to earn £100s. The doozy is that in April 2016, the amount you could earn tax-free letting a spare room via the Government's Rent a Room scheme was boosted from £4,250 to £7,500/year.
The scheme applies when you rent out a furnished room in your home to a lodger or take short-term guests through Airbnb (see Airbnb Room Renting Tips). It also applies if you run a B&B/guest house. It works whether you live in England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
It's worth noting the government plans to review this scheme. The new draft Finance Bill says the person who's renting out the home will also have to be staying there for at least part of the let. See the A new law is set to close tax-free loophole on Airbnb lets MSE News story for full details.
If you're renting out a room, you currently have two options to reduce tax, though you can only use one of them, not both. So work out the best option for you first.- The Rent a Room scheme. This is a huge tax break for most and really ups the gain. You don't pay tax on the first £7,500 you make each year from renting out a room (halved if you share the income with a partner/someone else).
If your income's below this threshold, you don't need to do anything, as the tax exemption is automatic. If it's higher, you must complete a tax return – you then opt into the scheme and pay tax on the remaining amount. For more, see the Government's Rent a Room scheme info. - Deducting expenses. Alternatively, HMRC allows landlords to knock certain costs off before working out how much tax to pay. This includes guests' share of utility bills and home insurance (see the quick question below for more).
You can choose not to opt in to the Rent a Room scheme and instead record your income and expenses on the property pages of your tax return. This can be a bigger saving in a few cases – though if your expenses are less than £7,500 it's likely you may be better off with the Rent a Room scheme.
If you rent out your entire property rather than just a room through Airbnb etc, this is your only option, as you can't take part in the Rent a Room scheme.
Quick question
How to find a lodger
If you want to let a room on a longer term basis, try SpareRoom and the room-to-rent section of Gumtree, which hook up people with housemates. Both are free to list on, though there are optional upgrades such as promoted adverts.
Another option's MondaytoFriday, a site geared towards part-time renters looking for weekday-only places, so you get your space back at weekends. A standard ad that runs for six weeks costs £29.95, so it could be worth trying Gumtree or spare room first and marking your listing 'Monday to Friday only'.
Another option's MondaytoFriday, a site geared towards part-time renters looking for weekday-only places, so you get your space back at weekends. A standard ad that runs for six weeks costs £29.95, so it could be worth trying Gumtree or spare room first and marking your listing 'Monday to Friday only'.
Temporarily rent out a room or your whole home on Airbnb
Airbnb and other similar sites link up owners with travellers hunting for a short-term place to stay, whether for holidays or sports events like Wimbledon. If you're renting out a room for holiday stays (not the whole house), you get the £7,500 Rent a Room allowance too.
Our 20+ Airbnb Hosting Tips guide is a crash course on safely letting your spare room or entire property for short periods.
Get cash for spare storage space
If you've unused space in a loft, garage or spare room, Storemates puts you in touch with folk who need space. It's free to register and list, but it charges 15% of the monthly rent if you find a match.
How much can you get? Storemates recommends charging 50% of commercial price. It automatically suggests a price, but you can charge what you like. For example, a 20 sq ft loft space in south London could net £600/year.
Some forumites report earning up to £40 a month, but others say they've had no response. So it's worth a punt, but not a guaranteed money-spinner.
How do I join? Register on the Storemates website and list a storage space. If someone's interested, they'll contact you via the site and arrange to check out your space. It provides a template legal contract to help sort the terms.
Some forumites report earning up to £40 a month, but others say they've had no response. So it's worth a punt, but not a guaranteed money-spinner.
How do I join? Register on the Storemates website and list a storage space. If someone's interested, they'll contact you via the site and arrange to check out your space. It provides a template legal contract to help sort the terms.
Will I need to pay tax on my earnings? Earnings will need to be declared. See A tip on tax below.
Will this affect my home insurance? Renting out part of your property for business purposes without telling your insurer could invalidate your home cover. Call it and say you're planning to list your storage space. They usually decide on a case-by-case basis, but may extend your existing policy for a small fee. If not, try a broker – see our Rent a room home insurance system as the principle is similar.
Will this affect my home insurance? Renting out part of your property for business purposes without telling your insurer could invalidate your home cover. Call it and say you're planning to list your storage space. They usually decide on a case-by-case basis, but may extend your existing policy for a small fee. If not, try a broker – see our Rent a room home insurance system as the principle is similar.
Anything else to watch for? Be prepared to settle any disputes yourself, and check you're comfortable with what's being stored. Don't agree to store valuables. This is because if you have to claim for damage to someone else's items, most standard insurance policies won't cover this. If you try it, please feed back in the Rent your storage space discussion.
Rent out your house as a film set
Film and TV production teams are always on the look out for homes and areas they can shoot in. Your home needn't be Downton Abbey to qualify – all shapes and sizes can be desired, and rates of pay can be pretty good.
A number of online agencies will list your property for free, taking commission once your property is chosen for a shoot (this varies depending on the property).
Sites worth a look include Lavish Locations, Amazing Spaceand ShootFactory. See the film set forum thread for more suggestions and feedback. Never use any that charge a large upfront fee.
How much? It varies widely, but if your property's chosen, as a rough guide you can expect from £500 to £2,000 a day. And you get to brag about it. Don't bank on being selected though; there are many more properties than film crews.
What kind of home do you need? Living within the M25 boosts your chances, as does unrestricted parking nearby. Crews also prefer bigger rooms with plenty of natural light. A state-of-the-art kitchen might net bookings for cookbook or lifestyle magazine shoots.
Will this affect my home insurance? Most agencies have their own insurance for breakages, however renting out part of your property for business purposes without telling your insurer could invalidate your home cover. Tell it first if a film crew's about to rock up.
Do I pay tax on my earnings? You'll have to declare you earnings so it depends on your circumstances. See A tip on tax below.
Find out more: Join the discussion, read other MoneySavers' top suggestions or add your own in the Rent your house as a film location discussion.
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