6 Ways To Increase Your Income

There are times in life when increasing your income is the only way to manage a bill you weren’t expecting, or to stretch your money further.  However, if you’re already overstretched and working all hours, finding an easier way to bring some pennies in is best. So here are some ideas to increase your income without taking on another job.

Tax Credits

Are you missing out on benefits? If you earn less than around £12,000 a year, then you may be eligible for financial assistance from the government. Use an online benefits checker or advice line to find out if you might qualify.

Tax

Many people are losing out on money because they are paying more tax than they should be. Check your Tax Code with the tax office to find out if you are on the right code. And remember that the personal allowance has now been raised to £ 9,440 for 2013-2014, so if you earn anything beneath this amount, you should not be taxed at all.

Buying and Selling

Selling goods on Ebay or at local car boot sales can be a profitable way to boost your income, especially if you have a knowledge or specialism in a particular area. This can be anything from Star Wars figures to fine china – once you have a good awareness of the worth of items, you can more easily buy and sell for profit. Alternatively, if you have a house bulging with items you never use, sell them to turn that useless clutter into fast cash.

Short Term Loans

As prices continue to go up, managing on a small budget is getting harder. And quite often, it’s when we have the least money that we are hit with an unexpected and costly expense.

So unless you’re in the fortunate position of having savings, then taking out a short term loan to get through a short term cash crisis can help you manage until you get paid. Just make sure you can afford the repayments.

Rent Out A Room

If you have a spare room, a lodger can go a long way towards helping you pay your rent or mortgage. An average room rate outside of London is around £70 per week, with bills included. Inside London, a single room is worth around £100 a week. You will also not be charged tax for a lodger up to £4,250 under the rent a room scheme.

Register as an Extra

Ricky Gervais might have given being an extra a bad name, but if your face fits, you can bring in £100 per day. And being an extra is not only a good way of making extra money, but it’s also fun. It takes around ten minutes to sign up with an extras agency online for the chance to be picked, or to search for films being made in your area, so why not sign up? It’s not even unusual to get a free lunch!

Image courtesy of sheelamohan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net