THERE is no one, quick-fix secret to being good with money, and it’s often all about keeping on top of the small, everyday actions that can help you become a budgeting whizz.
However, we often assume this will be too time consuming, and most of us struggle to set aside time to simply deal with basic bills and finances.
Yet, thinking about your money, even for just a brief moment each day, could quickly yield results and make you financially better off.
So if you often spend your lunch break scrolling through social media sites, why not try using 15 to 30 minutes to improve your bank balance instead?
Simply work through this list and watch your finances quickly start to improve…
Shift credit card debt – £1,533
If you have credit debt, the first thing you can do is move it to a zero interest balance transfer for some big savings on interest.
Searching and applying for a deal needn’t take more than 20 minutes and is one of the most financially savvy moves you can make.
Someone with an average balance of £2,916 could save £1,533 by swapping deals, according to comparison site TotallyMoney.
Money saved on interest can then go towards wiping out the underlying borrowing to help you become debt-free faster.
Some balance transfer cards offer up to 31 months interest-free.
However, only those with good credit scores will get the best deals.
You can compare credit card deals on a comparison site such as moneysupermarket.com or comparethemarket.com.
These sites can also give you an indication as to whether you’re likely to be accepted for a deal without damaging your credit record.
Be aware, applications and rejections for credit can damage your credit record.
Cash for questions – £200
Even if you have just a spare 15 minutes you can put some extra cash in your pocket by simply answering a few questions on your phone.
There are a number of firms that will pay for your opinion as part of research for companies.
You can register with qmee.com or yougov.co.uk.
Mum-of-three Lisa Newbold previously revealed how she made hundreds of pounds on site Qmee, enabling her to pay for family holidays by simply filling out online surveys in her spare time.
Amounts typically vary, but you could expect to get up to £6 for a well-paid single survey.
You can also try InboxPounds, another company that pays for surveys or simple tasks, such as searching the web.
It currently offers a £1 sign-up bonus at inboxpounds.co.uk.
So, if you cut out an hour of time on social media on your phone each day and replaced it with filling surveys you could aim to make around £200 over a year.
Making money from surveys
MUM-OF-FIVE Sian Parsons has bagged herself £2,000 in just two years with online surveys – all from the comfort of her sofa.
Sian, from Cardiff, told The Sun how she earned thousands, just by answering questions.
The 65-year-old former teacher is now semi-retired, and working part-time as a teaching assistant in primary schools.
But in between work duties she hustles online completing surveys.
Companies, charities and the Government regularly offer them, asking you questions and paying for your time.
Sian started around two years ago and has made £2,000 in cash and vouchers since.
She started off carrying out online surveys through recruiters, but now regularly finds them via her Facebook feed.
She claims because she’s reliable, regularly signs up to them, and is so chatty companies see her as a worthwhile participant.
“I get requests via email as well as Facebook,” she says.
“As you respond to them on Facebook you get other ones popping up.
“You have to get a bit of a reputation, they need to know you are going to do a good job – that takes time,” she says.
“Also be chatty in the calls. I presume they give feedback to the facilitators who then pass that on.”
Free cashback – £100
When you buy any goods you can get money back by going through a cashback site.
But you can also make money by simply clicking links on the internet – you don’t need to buy anything at all.
Many of these can be done on a lunchbreak.
For example, Topcashback will pay you to do trials of certain products under the free cashback section of its site at topcashback.co.uk/category/free-cashback.
If you do everything currently on the list, which includes opening an Experian credit check account, you’ll get more than £100 back.
Get snap happy – £60
If you enjoy taking photos, you could turn the hobby into a cash spinner.
If you upload photos on to stock photography sites they may be bought by newspapers or publishers.
Through one firm, Shutterstock, you can expect to get around 20p per photo at first, and this will increase the more pictures you sell.
Adobe Stock is another, where you can get around £2.50 a picture.
If you sold just one every couple of weeks, you could get around £60 a year.
Dog walking – £520
If you want to get moving on your lunch break and make some extra dollar, why not try walking a dog and getting paid for it?
You can get paid an average £10 an hour for a stroll with a pooch, according to Indeed.com, and you can sign up to an app such as Rover to connect with owners.
Even if you only did it once a week, you could make £520 a year.
It can be so profitable dog walker Kelly Evans even made it her full-time business, making up to £30,000 a year taking pooches for a stroll.
Becoming a dog walker or sitter doesn’t require any official qualifications, meaning anyone can do it – but it is of course a big responsibility.
How to set a budget
Learning to budget is easier if you break it down into as much detail as possible
- First, track your expenses. You may initially know how much your rent or mortgage and bills cost, but how about your other regular costs? These can have a big impact on how much you have left to spend.
- Look through recent bank and credit card statements to identify regular expenses. For example, is your morning caffeine fix adding up? You might think you don’t need to budget for your daily £2.50 latte, but over the month this can cost up to £75.
- Add up all your outgoings and split spending into categories like “rent”, “food”, “bills” and “going out”. You can do this in a spreadsheet.
- It’s important to be realistic as it will form the basis of your budget – so if you don’t think you can go without your daily coffee, or your weekly night out, then make sure you budget for it.
- Once you’ve worked out your outgoings, tot up the total and subtract it from your total monthly earnings. Whatever is left is called your disposable income, and it’s there to use for little treats. You could also use this money to save, or to pay extra money towards debts you may have.
- Stay in control by reviewing your budget every few months. You never know, you could make even more savings.
You may want to consider taking out public liability insurance which would cover you if you or the dogs damage something or injure someone while walking.
You can compare policies on a site such as comparethemarket.com.
If you don’t like dogs, you can also get paid simply for taking a walk with your phone.
Try downloading Sweatcoin, which costs nothing to use and converts steps to points which can be used to buy services or goods linked with the app.
The Cashwalk app works in a similar way.
Mystery shopping – £2,080
If you work in a busy area with plenty of shops and restaurants and enjoy strolling around on your lunch break or eating out, you can make a little extra cash at the same time.
Companies will pay you to visit cafes, restaurants and shops then report back on your customer experience.
Sign up to sites such as Clickworker, iShopFor Ipsos or Serve Legal.
Serve Legal pays up to £40 a visit plus free drinks and travel costs for young people who will test if pubs and restaurants are serving alcohol to minors.
Even if you only did it once a week, this would add up to more than £2,000 in extra income over a year.
Ashley Pearce previously told The Sun how she had made £6,000 through mystery shopping.
She explained: “I signed up with a mystery shopping company online and was able to pick and choose my ‘undercover shopping jobs’ by logging on to their then website and selecting what jobs I did or didn’t want.”
Check store prices – £1,040
If you’re working in a city centre, there are also apps that will pay you to do small tasks, such as checking prices or taking photos of products.
Field Agent is one app you can use or try, and you can earn up to £10 a job.
If you did this a couple of times a week, you’d earn more than £1,000 extra in a year.
Shepper is another and says users earn an average £333 a year, or BeMyEye pays for similar types of tasks.
Making money through doing tasks
DALTON Johnson, 32, from Chesterfield nets more than £200 a month from completing quick tasks that can easily be fitted around his day job.
He carries out simple tasks such as mystery shopping and advert checks for Shepper, the market research and data collection platform to boost earnings from his job as a manager at McDonald’s.
Users can earn up to £22 per hour completing market research tasks in their community.
This includes carrying out jobs at local supermarkets and takeaway restaurants.
Speaking to The Sun, Dalton said: “When I’ve got a bit of spare time, I look at the app and might see that there are, say, 15 ‘jobs’ listed nearby.
“I then check through those and decide which ones to accept.”
Tasks take anywhere from between five to 45 minutes, depending on the complexity.
“Since joining nine months ago, I’ve done all sorts of jobs,” said the side hustle whizz.
“I’ve carried out checks on promotions at my local Spar, monitored stock levels at Lidl, and have inspected the condition of various different billboards for advertisers.”
Dalton has also completed tasks relating to the National Lottery.
“These involve taking pictures of scratch card dispensers, and ensuring the correct ads are showing on the PlayStations located in stores close by,” he said.
Move bank account – £210
Banks are currently offering up to to £175 to switch bank accounts but if you go through a cashback site, you can get even more.
First Direct is currently offering £175 to those who open a 1st Account.
But if you first click through to the application through topcashback, you’ll get a further £35 – making you £210 in total.
Nationwide Building Society is also offering £175 to switch to its FlexDirect, FlexPlus or FlexAccount current accounts, though there’s no cashback offer available on this one.
Or you can get up to £100 to make an initial switch to TSB, plus up to £40 cashback through Topcashback. You’ll also get a further £60 if you stay at the bank for six months – getting £10 back each month. That’s a total of £200 over six months
Each bank has its own terms and conditions that you need to meet to qualify for an account.
You will usually need to switch through the Current Account Switch Service to get the sum.
You should also make sure the account suits your needs, taking into account any monthly fees and other perks and benefits on offer.
Spot empty properties – £20 each
If you spot a derelict house and are the first to report it on site youspotproperty.com you’ll earn a £20 Amazon voucher.
What’s more if the property is purchased by developers through the site you’ll get 1% of the purchase price which could add up to thousands of pounds.
Not bad for just keeping an eye out.
Switch bills – £542
Most of us can make savings worth hundreds of pounds in a year by simply switching to a better value provider for services.
Before making a move be sure to check exit fees and how long you will be tied into a deal.
And just remember that cheapest isn’t always best, so take the time to look through customer reviews and make sure the new deal is right for your needs.
However, swapping shouldn’t take too long.
You can spend one lunchtime dealing with each provider from the following list and within a week you’ll have saved yourself the following, on average;
- Energy – £79
The average home can save an average £79 by switching energy provider, according to Uswitch.
You can compare deals using a comparison site such as uswitch.com or moneysavingexpert.com.
You will need to give your address, current energy supplier, usage and how you wish to pay.
- Broadband – £163
Moving broadband providers can save you £163 a year and is easier than ever thanks to a switching service called One Touch Switch which means your new supplier will handle everything for you.
This includes cancelling your old contract and making sure the switch is seamless.
Use a comparison site such as MoneySuperMarket.com or Uswitch.com to find options available in your area based on price, allowances and provider.
Particularly important as millions of customers face price hikes of up to 13% this year.
- Mortgage switch – £300
If you are on a Standard Variable Rate (SVR) mortgage locking into a two-year fix could save you £300 a year or more, according to comparison site Moneyfactscompare.co.uk.
An independent mortgage broker can look into the best deal for your circumstances and most are usually happy to talk over the phone on your lunch break.
Some don’t charge fees and you can find a well rated one at unbiased.co.uk.
Getting advice will help you understand all the different options, so that you can get the deal best suited to your circumstances.
“The lowest rate mortgages may not always offer the best value overall, so it’s vital to keep this in mind.“
It comes as major lenders have been cutting rates, helping borrowers to get cheaper deals that save them money on repayments each month.
Do I need to pay tax on my side hustle income?
MANY people feeling strapped for cash are boosting their bank balance with a side hustle.
The good news is, there are plenty of simple ways to earn some additional income – but you need to know the rules.
When you’re employed the company you work for takes the tax from your earnings and pays HMRC so you don’t have to.
But anyone earning extra cash, for example from selling things online or dog walking, may have to do it themselves.
Stephen Moor, head of employment at law firm Ashfords, said: “Caution should be taken if you’re earning an additional income, as this is likely to be taxable.
“The side hustle could be treated as taxable trading income, which can include providing services or selling products.”
You can make a gross income of up to £1,000 a year tax-free via the trading allowance, but over this and you’ll usually need to pay tax.
Stephen added: “You need to register for a self-assessment at HMRC to ensure you are paying the correct amount of tax.
“The applicable tax bands and the amount of tax you need to pay will depend on your income.”
If you fail to file a tax return you could end up with a surprise bill from HMRC later on asking you to pay the tax you owe – plus extra fees on top.
