Christmas is coming! While most of us look forward to the festive season, in whatever form it comes, money is usually tight at this time of year and it’s hard not to feel stressed at the thought of covering those Christmas costs. Making a few euros on the side over the next few weeks will help take a little pressure off those festive finances…
You never know when your old ‘junk’ could actually be someone else’s treasure/Christmas gift! Have a thorough search through your home and consider everything – clothes, furniture, jewellery, collections, sporting memorabilia, toys, tools, games consoles, mobile phones… There’s probably a lot more than you think!
As well as sorting out what to sell, you can also make the most of your items by researching the best way to sell them. As well as eBay, look into specialist selling sites and you may well pick up extra pounds from reaching the right audience direct. There are specific companies interested in mobile phones, gold jewellery and music/gaming as well as a growing trend for vintage clothing. If it’s a larger item, be sure to make use of free, local platforms such as Facebook marketplace.
Well funnily enough this one is our favourite and the one we can really help you with!
Whether your car has come to the end of its days, or your travel methods have recently changed, there is still time to get rid of your old wheels and get paid before Christmas.
An instant quote will give you a guaranteed price, and if there’s a minimum of three complete months left on your motor tax you’ll get another pay out with that money refunded too.
Not in the literal sense of course! We’re referring to a skill that you might take for granted that could actually make you a little, or even a lot of money!
Maybe you are a dab hand at carving, drawing, pottery, jewellery making or baking, wrack those brains and fish out that tool – you could be making money from your hobby and selling the items you make online – check out sites such as Etsy.
Your skill may be something that enables you to provide a service online – helping an individual or business with writing, graphic design, music composition, photography or any other special skill you may have to offer. You could use Facebook or other social media sites to spread word of your skills but one of the official sites we’ve seen recommended is Fiverr where you can post adverts for your particular skills.
Don’t forget other practical skills you may have to offer – gardening, dog walking or even present wrapping!
When cash-back schemes first started most of us were sceptical, but they continue to make people money and the rest of us are missing out! We recommend using sites that friends and family have already tried and making sure you withdraw the money from those accounts as soon as you can. People can ‘get back’ hundreds of Euros in a year… and let’s face it, a lot of that could just be from your Christmas shopping!
It may sound insignificant, but you can have more loose cash stashed around the house than you’d think… Whether they are carefully collected in a piggy bank/swear jar (!) or they are dotted around the house depending on where they’ve been fished out of pockets and handbags. It can all mount up!
Why not do a coin sweep in the house, you could even get the kids to do it as a game. You may well find it adds up to a healthy sum. If there isn’t a big queue you could use it at a self-checkout, or take your haul to a bank for a deposit into your account.
While you are searching the house keep your eyes peeled for old bank notes and foreign money that could be swapped. If you are exchanging current foreign currency back to Euros to help out this Christmas, make sure you research the best exchange rates.
You don’t have to take on a lodger! If you’ve recently got rid of your own car, or you are lucky enough to have a spare parking space, driveway or garage, whatever your situation, space sells! Many people have to travel for work where parking is restricted and you might be close to their office or a train station or bus stop they could use. There are plenty of online sites that will help you make money off your space, you can start with Daft.
It’s not exciting and it’s not strictly generating money, but it is saving it! Whether it’s getting round to cancelling memberships you’re not using or reducing your subscriptions, a family can save hundreds of dollars a year from a simple review of their finances. If you have the time to do it properly you can also make use of the comparison sites available and check that you couldn’t be reducing your bills. (Don’t forget our advice for saving money on your car insurance.)
Most people don’t mind filling in a quick survey if they get to share their opinion and/or perhaps improve their customer experience in the future… Did you know you can actually get paid for doing it! There are sites set up to help businesses with survey responses and by filling them out online you can earn cash or gift vouchers. Perfect for Christmas! There are so many sites that offer this opportunity, but you can start your research with Irish Opinions.
Hopefully that’s given you all some inspiration, you might even enjoy making some extra cash for Christmas!
Wishing all our blog readers a festive season.
Please remember that all self-employed income should be declared to Revenue.
