How can I earn £2500 from scratch in 6 weeks?

[SuperSkint]

I have name-changed and am posting here for traffic - I need to find £2500 by mid-July and am looking for ideas please! (I need to earn it, not get a loan)

I have plenty of spare time but a new job probably wouldn't pay out in time for my deadline so I'm exploring other options.

So far I've started ebaying everything I can think of but I only have average old stuff so it won't bring much.

I've thought of delivering pizzas (I have a car) but it needs to be something where I will actually have the money quickly.

I'm hoping all you mumsnetters with far more imagination than I have can help! I'm obviously happy to put in the hours.

I don’t think people understand the match betting thing. It’s not gambling, if you have a mathematical brain it’s very easy to do and there’s no risk of losing, it just takes up a bit of time. I did it with dh (now ex dh) for several years and managed to make £1000’s. I couldn’t do it by myself as I’m useless at maths and I’m not very organised. I spent years going into bookies whilst he went into another one or laid it off on betfair. It is a good way of making money. It’s not gambling it’s more ‘playing the system’.

Cleaning is paid very quickly.

Do you have any skills or talents OP?
Go busking
Make and sell something on local FB sites. Cute things for kids, party bags, sweet cone, jewellery.
Given the timing if you can think up a good maybe personalised end of term teacher gift thing, you might shift a good few.
If yr good at picking bargains, go to car boots and eBay/auction/FB sell.
Stick leaflets through doors locally offering to mow lawns, iron, walk dogs, clean, whatever.

I agree match betting isn’t gambling - it works by exploiting new customer sign up offers to offset bets to make them relatively risk free. However I would be wary of suggesting that you can make thousands easily and quickly using match betting, to hit those sort of figures, you have to have a fairly sizeable float (£1k plus) in your exchange accounts to lay off the bets and turn a decent profits. You can of of course start with a smaller float say £50 but it’s going to take you a while before you start making any serious money. You also need to bear in mind that your money could be tied up in various different bookie accounts at any one time and withdwals can take a while so your profits may not always be easily accessible. You will need to maintain meticulous records and keep track of everything so you don’t lose money and this can be a bit time consuming. There however loads of tools available to help you do this.

Having said that, match betting can be good way to make a fair bit of money if you know what you’re doing (and there are plenty of dedicated sites and services such as Oddsmonkey who will guide you through the process). These are however, subscription based so you will need to take into account whether your profits justify the monthly fees.

I stopped match betting about 2 years ago, my profit was in the thousands but it got harder and harder towards the end as I lost a few profitable accounts to gubbings and was thus prevented from taking part in bookie promotions. I also found that reload offers we’re booking thinner and thinner on the ground and I just wasn’t prepared to invest a lot of time hunting for deals.

Is there an Amazon depot near you? If so you can do Amazon flex routes, £55 for two hours work (delivering approx 25-30 parcels in your own car), if you’re decent you can do 2-3 a day.

If it's so safe and easy and 100% guaranteed, why on earth did you walk away?

Surely if it's risk free, just requires following instructions you would have kept doing it?

You really don’t know anything at all about this do you? A lot of the profit comes from opening new accounts and getting free bets. There are only so many new accounts you can open before running out. To start with though, you can make good money.

Driving for Uber? We live semi-rurally and there are Uber drivers in our area. Caveat: I'm in the US.

If it is for payment of a self assessment payment on account (due end July) you could approach HMRC asking for a time to pay arrangement?

Alternatively, will your accounts to April 2018 be as good as the previous year? If not you could ask to reduce the payment on account.

Matched betting when done properly will not lose you money and is a good earner. The problem is that people might get sucked into gambling as a result. Also you need a good head for figures. My friend made good money from it and I looked into it myself but it went straight over my head so I didn’t do it in the end.

If you're rural, dog walking and doggy day care are pretty lucrative

I was just about to suggest the same as FASH. I've been desperately looking for both a regular dog walker and a home board for our dog for the summer holiday as our usual guy has moved away and everyone is booked!! Or even house sitting to take care of people's plants and dogs in their home. If you have plenty of spare time this could be perfect.

Baby sitting
Dog Walking
Taking in Ironing
Free-lance cleaning
Delivering leaflets
Rent out driveway if near a station
Sell whatever you can on shpock (ebays fees will eat into your profits)
Can you sew/knit?
Car boot sale

I signed up to some matched betting thing posted on here once and didn't realise the additional £70-£100 you would need to bet. Lost £30 i think it was as a result.
I also couldn't get my head around it!

Send funny videos to you’ve been framed

I also couldn't get my head around it!

This is the key. You need to take time to understand what you're doing with matched betting. There's a thread on Money Saving Expert that talks you through it, but you must understand how to do it - or you're just betting.

And yes, you need some money to make money with matched betting.

OK lots of employment suggestions - please remember you have to pay Tax and NI with regard to those and also register with HMRC.

On a none employment basis

CDs old phones etc Magpie is good

Car boots - you can clear 40 to 60 ish with reasonable table full but does mean need car and stuff to sell - it is sometimes worth asking neighbours if they have stuff they want rid often they are not bothered about being paid for it happy to see it go

Do you have any specialist hobby stuff to sell on - I am a crafter - my go to for unexpected bills is selling a batch of older stuff off - I am lucky what I do holds value

Old gold or silver jewellery, take to a jeweler who buys - although finding one at the moment can be a bit hit and miss the market is low I find. Same for coin and stamp collections while auction houses take a while sometimes they will buy outright

Cut other costs to the bone as far as possible, I mean really £3 here and there can make a difference when all added up. Utilise vouchers for food shopping etc

I don't think unless you have Granny's tiaras hidden away that you will make the 2.5k solely by these means

so alternatives

Overtime or more hours where you work now,
Can you borrow from family to pay back in agreed terms over a few more months
0%Credit cards ditto re repayments
Other work - my experience shows the following are reasonably lucrative short term

1. Dog walking or day care - you need insurance and license for local authority

1. In house pet sitting and house sitting - again insurance needed not sure on license front on this one
2. Cooking/Baking/Food provision - need kitchen registered and Food safety training (easily done on line to be fair about 30 quid), also insurance
3. Kids parties (you have to really want to do this one) again insurance and if food involved need same as for cooking etc
4. Gardening - tools and also insurance, don't want to have to replace someones prized whatevers as you were overzealous pruning
5. DIY - time consuming but could pay reasonably well for small jobs as hard to find people to do those jobs but again Tools, insurance etc

Webcam type work?

If you go to an employment agency, you may be able to get a job that pays that much, with the salary coming in weekly not monthly?

Can you spread the earnings over a longer period by using credit? I.e. borrow off family or on a 0% credit card, and pay it off in 8-12 weeks instead of 6?

Making the assumption, that you can't suddenly get a high powered job or temp:

Sell everything you can on eBay.
Do car boot sales
Take in ironing
Do cleaning jobs
Offer yourself as a mobile car valet
Do babysitting
Consider being an uber driver

with regard to the ironing, cleaning & babysitting, mobile car valet if your locality has a FB page - then start posting ads on it, saying you are offering those things, they are nearly all paid cash in hand (which of course you would declare as necessary to HMRC), so you'd have the money immediately.

Gardening.
Watching pets whilst people away on holidays.
Family childcare when school breaks up.
Cleaning.
Short term work. Ringing around local places to check no holiday gaps or short staff, things like bar work, cafe, wedding venues that need staff at weekends?

I think you have to register to be Uber driver with council? It might be a quick process though I havent done it.

Mobile car valet as above is a great idea above.

Advertise on local FB groups if possible/poster up in local shop (still used!) tell neighbours you are looking for something.

I would look into delivering good - independent chinese/indian/pizza places will usually pay cash in hand. A lot of my friends do it and make 30-50 a night

Maybe a bit fruity but, selling pants online? We did this in our early twenties, I was never that into it and only made a couple of hundred, but my friend made 1k a month from it.

Clinical trial (depends on your health status and eligibility and what they have available at the moment).
GSK
trials4us
Covance
Imperial
There are more. I know that Quotient pay well as the studies are generally residential but can't seem to find them on google today.

Someone upthread said flucamp: they pay really well
flucamp

Flu Camp: £3800 trial
Trials for us: Different trials

Look around antique/charity shops and see what you can see. Last year I picked up a chloe dress bnwt for £8..

Fruit farms above is a good idea: Pick and make jams, cordial, sauces - if you can bake do a fb page and delivery locally weekly of cakes, jams etc...

seems unlikely given semi-rural location but any warehouses near you? They often have night shifts and pay slightly more than supermarket work. You might get paid weekly. They usually take on more staff for seasonal peaks (varies depend on the types of goods they process)