How to make extra money or win things….

[Cokezeroandlime]

My new year resolution is to try and make more use of my spare time and try and make a bit more money for fun things and to enter more competitions.

Any suggestions for:

1. Legitimate competition sites/ magazines etc
2. Good ways to make a bit of extra money which can fit in around work

Ideally nothing too time consuming with minimal outlays and doesn’t have to make loads of money, it is just for fun!

thanks!

Honestly only thing I’ve found effective for a bit of extra cash is selling stuff on Vinted/ebay/marketplace. Do a job lot at a time and it’s minimal effort as you can post everything together. Vinted also boost your items the more you list. I don’t think there are many easy fun ways to make money or everyone would do them!

https://onepolluk.questionpro.eu very quick mostly multiple choice questions. Probably make £20 every 6 weeks ish.

https://app.prolific.com takes time to get started as you have to go on a waiting list. Well worth it. Rarely get screened out, more interesting as usually university research. I make about £50 a month on average.

https://www.norstatpanel.com questionnaires, not as often as others, screened out more.

https://competitiondatabase.co.uk a competition site ive won a few things including a £1000 shopping voucher, books, football, vitamins, orchard games, expensive skin care sets.

I would just cut back and budget in other areas.
You’ll waste your time trying to win money.

All of this just seems too much effort for very little non guaranteed gain to be honest. Do you have the option to do a couple of hours overtime a fortnight to top up wages?

Can you increase your hours or go for a promotion?

You could always do the usual mumsnet advice and do some ironing 😜

If you like playing phone app games then I recommend Mistplay. Depends how many games you play and how much you can play every day but it's ok for an extra £10 every few months whilst doing something I'd already be doing

YouGov for surveys is quite good. I've earned £50 a couple of times.

There are a few sites which send you free things in exchange for your reviews, although I can't remember what they're called!

And puzzle magazines, like those from Take a Break, have competitions.

@Haveyouanyjam what if you don't have anything to sell ? I don't.

Does anyone really win competitions ? I don't and don't know anyone who has.

OP the only answer is to take up a second job. On paper this seems like a good idea. In reality, it's hard work if you already work FT and run a house/have DC etc. I used to come home from one job get changed and literally fly out the door to the next.

Does anyone really win competitions ? I don't and don't know anyone who has.

I've won a few things, I know others who have too

Never anything of huge value but it's nice to win things for little effort

Yes somebody wins, whether large or small prizes. I won some high end bath products, a leather biba bag and the big one, a 5star holiday with spending money. This was 8 years ago, nothing since! But I do still try occasionally.

Moneysavingexpert has a competitions forum, where they post links to competitions, and any answers needed.

I've not done any for a long time, but I had some minor successes. I won some cycling stuff, and a nice coffee machine amongst other bits.

I'd advise having a throwaway email account, as a lot of the competitions require emailing list sign up.

Good luck - and let us know if you have any wins 🙂

Oh ye a separate email is a must. So much spam after

I don’t really need the money, but it obviously would be nice, so don’t really want another job, unless I can do it sat on the sofa 😂

It’s more to want to do something more productive than doom scrolling or playing candy crush!

I have loads of stuff in the loft I could sell either online or at car boots- it’s motivation I need!

I won an Irn Bru Christmas jumper recently! Pity it arrived first week of January.

Selling things is the best way. Last year I made nearly £700 selling old clothes, toys, baby stuff etc and cleared my loft and garage. Selling on Vinted and EBay. Both now free to sell on so makes it easy and it's surprising how much it all adds up!

I used to belong to a couple of market research company focus groups. I'd earn between £40 to £100 per session, and sometimes got to keep products. I would get asked, on average once a month. Then they suddenly stopped inviting me maybe when I hit a certain age. Worth looking into, OP.

Can you use that time to study and up skill? I’ve been doing it for the last 2 years. I won’t deny it’s been time consuming and hard at times, however my salary is shortly going to increase by 25%. Within 2 years, I could be going for roles that are double what my salary currently is. It will have been one of the most efficient ways of making more money