Having good digital skills can help you make and save money online. In this guide we've pulled together some tips and resources to help you to make some spare cash online.

What digital skills will you need to make money online?Credit cards

If you don't have regular access to the Internet, then it may be harder to take full advantage of all our suggestions, we do however have a guide that looks at ways that you can help others get online cheaply.  

A note of caution: If you are on benefits then earning extra money online can impact your entitlement, so it is best to this with a benefits adviser before you begin earning. As a general rule if someone is selling their own things, for example, on eBay, they don’t have to declare the proceeds

 

Some top ways to make money online

1. Making sure you get the benefits you are entitled to
Claiming benefits can be a difficult process to understand, so finding out what you might be entitled to could help you increase your income significantly. According to Entitledto.co.uk, research suggests about £15 billion of benefits remain unclaimed each year.

The following sites are good places to look to understand your entitlement to benefits:

2. Develop a money-making sideline
Often termed a 'Side Hustle' the Internet provides endless opportunities to earn some extra cash from the comfort of your own home. A rule of thumb is that if something looks too good to be true, then it probably is!

Here are several trending ways to make money online that you might like to investigate:

  • Sign up for online surveys Some companies will pay you or give you vouchers to complete online surveys. There are special websites such as My Survey, where you can choose the things you are interested in, and they’ll send emails with links to suitable surveys. Moneymagpie has a list of online survey companies with links to each one and a guide to help you earn the most money from them. Or the popular YouGov where you can share your opinion on politics, sport, entertainment, and get paid cash for completing the surveys.
  • Become a mystery shopper A mystery shopper is a person who pretends to be a real customer to help organisations to understand how well their staff or services are doing. It is possible to do this online, but some of it is face to face. Shoppers are paid either a fee or a given a gift voucher in exchange for their participation. Opportunities and more information about how mystery shopping works can be found on this Mystery Shopper website.
  •  Cash back sites It is possible to make a little bit of money back on shopping using a cashback site. When shopping online, visit a retailer’s website via a cashback website and you can get back a small percentage of what you pay. Useful website include:
  • Selling items online It is fairly common to make money by selling unwanted items online. There are several sites where you can do this, but here are some guides to help you understand how to use some of the more popular ones.:

3. Free trial offers

Many companies offer free trials as an enticement for people to sign up for their services - these include things like video streaming services, audio books and meals deliveries. These are a great way for someone to get something for free, as long as they remember to cancel at the end of the trial. Companies will usually ask for bank or credit card details when the trial starts. Examples include:

 

Staying safe while transacting online 

If you are unsure of how to stay safe whilst transacting online, then brush on things like how to identify a reliable site and use strong passwords using our free guides.

 

Further help and support

 

Last updated 5th October 2022

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