A Simple Guide to Making Money on the Side

*This is a collaborative post.

The cost of living is increasing in the UK, and wages aren’t increasing to cover the gap. As such, many people are on the hunt for new ways to make money, and improve their quality of life in the face of austerity’s worst effects. Here are five ways you can make money on the side of your full-time work.

Freelancing

An excellent way to create an additional income stream for yourself, outside of your full-time employment, is to leverage your skills as a freelancer. Taking on ad-hoc work allows you to be in complete control of your workload – and clients are easier than ever to find, with any number of social media groups and online portals in which you can advertise your services.

If you find yourself getting a lot of interest in your freelance work, there may also be room to turn your endeavour into a small business. By formalising your niche with a website, social media accounts and a limited company designation, you could take on enough work for several people, and hire part time staff to work on your behalf. This can garner you additional income to your day job for very little effort, and even offer you a way to become a full-time business owner.

Blogging

If the idea of working outside of your pre-designated work hours does not appeal to you, you could instead take advantage of a hobby to generate income. Starting an online blog would give you an outlet for any thoughts, writing or creative skills such as art and photography – and as your blog gains traction on the internet, can earn you passive income in the form of advertising and affiliate links.

Trading

Trading has become an increasingly popular way for people to earn a little extra money outside of work; as a practice, it has become more and more available to retail traders with the advent of trading apps and comprehensive retail trading platforms. UK options trading can be particularly lucrative, especially if you do your due diligence into market movements and stocks of interest. With care and patience, you can grow your initial investments robustly, creating a second source of income from your options trading.

Selling Items

Rather than devoting significant periods of time to your efforts to generate extra income, you could turn your existing possessions into cashflow by selling your clutter online. Facebook Marketplace has become a very popular way to sell goods locally, and eBay is the gold standard for reaching a global community. Not only can you turn items you might not be using any more into extra money on the side, but you can de-clutter your home in the process.

Re-SellingSelling items on eBay can quickly become a second income stream, by purchasing in products and selling them online for an increased price. You could scour vintage markets and charity shops for used items and sell them for a profit, or bulk-buy produce from a warehouse and create an online store to re-sell them to a new audience individually. Drop-shipping is perhaps the easiest way to make money from e-commerce, as you wouldn’t even need to handle delivery, let alone storage of goods for sale.