If you’re like the vast majority of people in the UK right now, you are most likely feeling a tug on your finances due to the cost of living crisis.

Although it can be helpful to carefully budget and minimize your living expenses at a time like this, the reality is there is only so much you can cut out of your budget before things start to get bleak.

However, when it comes to earning money, there is no limit to how much extra cash you can potentially make.  

Here are four simple ways to consider to earn some extra cash: 

Survey websites (recommendation: Prolific) – I have tried a lot of survey websites over the years and found that many of them paid next to nothing for a considerable amount of your time, or they required a big balance before being able to withdraw your funds.

Prolific is neither of those things, and I have made just over £500 by casually completing surveys on Prolific since November 2020. Here are just a few reasons why Prolific is a good survey website to earn extra cash: 

1. You only need to assess your survey eligibility once during an initial screening  completed upon sign up. This means you already know you are eligible for any surveys that come through to your account. 

2. It is very clear how long each survey will take and how much you will earn for the time spent. You can then easily decide whether completing a survey is worth your time. 

3. The minimum balance to withdraw is only £5, and this can be done via PayPal in a matter of minutes! 

Cashback websites –TopCashback and Quidco seem to be the frontrunners for cashback websites in the UK currently, but I have personally been a user of TopCashback since 2019 which has helped me to put £1500 back in my pockets (so far).

Here are a few tips I found helpful to maximise earnings via TopCashback: 

1. Become a plus member (£5 annual fee) so you can benefit from higher reward amounts. 

2. Make use of TopCashback bonus days where you can earn an additional £2 if you make a minimum purchase of £5 via any retailer. 

3. Energy, phone contracts and broadband package switches can be big earners via this website. Most recently, I used the TopCashback Compare Broadband engine to switch from Sky to Virgin for a whooping £133 cashback! 

Sell old clothes/household items – Vinted and Facebook marketplace are great places to sell unwanted clothes and household items.

If you’ve got some clothes clogging up your wardrobe or drawers that you know you’ll never wear again, listing them on Vinted is a quick and easy way to make a few quid.

Similarly, any household items you may want to upgrade or just get rid of may fetch you some money if you list on Facebook marketplace. As they say, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure! 

Focus groups – There are websites such as ‘Take part in research’, and ‘Mum Survey’ that let you know about potential opportunities to be involved in research and to get paid for it.

I recently was in a focus group for new mums about baby bottles which paid £50 for 90 minutes of my time. Not bad at all! 

Photo Credits: Unsplash

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Mouthy Money Your Questions Answered panelist Helen Morrissey answers a reader’s question on workplace pension contributions.

Question: I want to opt out of workplace pension because I need the money now, not in 30 years’ time. I understand that everyone says it is beneficial to have a workplace pension and that I will miss out on my employer’s 3% contribution, but my net pay will be reduced by 5%. I will only be able to access my pension in about 30 years too. So is it a good choice to opt out?

Answer: When money is tight it is understandable to look at where you can save money and for some pension contributions can be a casualty.

Saving for a point so far into the future can seem futile when you need the money now, but it is important wherever possible to keep saving for your future. A small reduction in your pay today can make a big difference to your income in years to come.

Find out more: If you’re 18 – 29, we want to hear from you! By taking our quick survey, you’ll be in with a chance of winning a £100 shopping voucher from your choice of Amazon, John Lewis or M&S – plus four £20 vouchers up for grabs too.

Contributing to a workplace pension is an important way of making sure you have enough to live on in retirement. Not only do you make your own contribution to the pension, but your employer will too.

In addition, the government will add to this with tax relief. If you are a basic rate taxpayer for every £80 you pay in the government will add £20. If you are a higher rate taxpayer then for every £60 you pay the government will add £40.

Over time this really mounts up and if you factor in investment growth over the course of a working life it can make a real difference to the income you will receive in retirement.

During difficult times some people do reduce, or even cut their pension contributions. For instance, last year people opted to do this in the face of job uncertainty and reduced wages caused by the pandemic.

If you feel this is your only course of action it is important to re-start contributions as soon as things get better. Making regular contributions throughout your working life is the best way of building a pension that will give you a decent lifestyle in retirement.

Helen Morrissey, senior pensions and retirement analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown

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