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We all need a break from time-to-time, and getting away from the daily grind and worries of life can be blissful. But so often, to get to that point, we need to stress about lots of stuff. We need to stretch our budget and scrimp and save. Holidays are an expensive business and can involve some serious savings.
Often, if you earn a salary, all of your money each month is accounted for. You will probably have a budget that covers your bills, food, and other assorted spending.
There are, however, several great ways to fund your next holiday though, that needn't dip mean taking a significant dip in your current income.
Sell Some Unwanted Items
We all do it, we go through life accumulating things, and when the next new prized possession comes along, our older items get cast aside and forgotten amount. Before you know it, your home is cluttered.
But, one person's clutter can be another person's goldmine. Having a good clear out is often an excellent opportunity to make some extra cash. You might find things that you have no use for anymore, that someone else will love.
Using sites like eBay, or Shpock, you can list and sell all of your old items. Have a look at what similar items are listed at before you put yours online, as you want to make sure you're not overcharging.
Make sure your listing is well written and is accompanied by a good quality photo. You'll need to put the item in the best light if you want to attract a buyer.
Join The Gig Economy
The growing trend for flexible working means that it is possible to easily pick up work that can be done alongside your primary income. This could be anything from delivering takeaways to driving for Lyft or Uber.
You can pick and choose your working hours, and work as much, or as little as you like. You are essentially your own boss, which is exactly what you need when it comes to having a side income.
Amazon Mechanical Turk
If you have a spare five minutes here and there, why not pick up micro-jobs on Mechanical Turk? You'll be doing things like sorting images out for captchas, translating, and transcribing. They are usually tiny data-related tasks that only humans can do. The pay will vary from job-to-job, with most jobs taking a few minutes and paying a couple of dollars.
Freelance Writing
There are lots of great opportunities to work from home, writing content for blogs and websites. If you sign yourself up to any number of services such as Upwork, or Freelancer, you can find work that can be completed there and then. You'll typically be paid pretty quickly after completing the task too, so it's easy to build up a bit of saving.
The work may be quite varied, with the need to write in a variety of niches. You'll develop an aptitude for making decisions and researching very quickly. As you're paid per word, it makes sense to learn to type very quickly or to use voice-to-text software for dictating your work.
Take Out A Loan
You might find yourself asking, how can a payday loan help? If you see that once in a lifetime deal, and you can't afford to let it slip by, you can get a short term loan. You'll need to pay it back as quickly as possible. Make sure you check you check the interest rates and understand precisely how much you'll need to pay back. But, if you need money quickly and can repay soon, it could be an option that you may want to consider.
Mystery Shopping
Having a day out, shopping is not such a bad thing. But turning it into an opportunity to earn a little bit of extra money can't be sniffed at.
Retailers love to know what their staff are up to. Are they providing the service standards that they are expected to? Are the products being displayed or talked about in the right ways? Finding out this information is invaluable to their operations, and the stores will be incentivized to achieve high results in their mystery shop. Sign up to an agency, and look at ways that you can take home more than just your shopping.
Rent Out Your Spare Room
If you are a homeowner with a spare room, you might want to start renting out your extra room to a lodger. This will give you a monthly income that you can rely on. If you're going to be taking someone in that will live with you; vet them first to make sure you want to live with them.
You could also look at letting your room out on a short term basis using Airbnb. This is a particularly good idea if you are likely to get lots of visitors to your area. You will need to make sure you keep the room nice and clean and also be aware that your visitors are very likely to want their own space.
Complete Surveys For Cash
Companies want to know what people think. It helps them with their product research, and it lets them know how they are doing in many other areas too. Sometimes companies will pay for your time and opinion. You can earn money completing surveys when you are sat around the house. Many are quite short and easy to complete. You can even do them while watching the TV.
Matched Betting
Placing a bet is a risk, however, by going elsewhere after placing your bet, and betting the opposite way, you'll cancel out that risk. This is matched betting. For your first bet, you will use the free bets that bookies use to attract new customers. You'll need to calculate your odds to make sure that you are going to get a good return. Next, you will use a betting exchange to place a lay bet on the reverse scenario. You'll need to do lots of research first to understand where you can place your bets, and which ones are best to go for.
