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The internet is inundated with ways to earn online, but the vast majority, unfortunately, are ways to garner low-cost work or to access consumer data on the cheap. Fortunately, there are some legitimate ways to earn. They won’t make you a millionaire, but they can be completed from the comfort of your own home.
What is a side hustle?
A side hustle is a strategy that you use to earn some extra money. How people achieve this has drastically changed in recent years with the growth of technology/AI, but the premise has changed little since the days of kids cutting the lawn or washing neighbours’ cars. To make this guide accessible to all, we’re going to focus on side hustles that meet these three criteria. It can be completed from your home, it doesn’t require start-up capital and you don’t need excessive expertise. Here are our favourites:
Free money offers
Surely, there isn’t such a thing as free money? Well, maybe it’s a little clickbaity but essentially businesses will pay you to sign up to their site. Have you ever been sent a link from a friend asking you to sign up for a website so that you can earn some cash? We tend to be hesitant here as perhaps the friend hasn’t done their due diligence and we may find out the free money isn’t so free. Luckily, there are thorough guides online of sites that will pay you to sign up. It’s possible to make anywhere from £10-200 using this method!
Bank switching
We’re often as sentimental over a bank account as we once were over our first car or favourite item of clothing. Fortunately for you, we won’t take away your beloved bank account. It’s possible to set up a new bank account with the intention of switching to receive a bonus. Many banking providers will pay up to £200 when you switch over to them – for approximately 20 minutes worth of work, this is a great return. But what about my credit score? Banks perform soft and hard checks when deciding whether they’d like your custom. Soft checks won’t have an impact on your credit score. It’s one of the many myths in the bank-switching space!
Survey sites
Survey sites undoubtedly carry a stigma of offering low payouts in relation to the time spent completing them. It’s certainly the Wild West when it comes to providers, mainly as a result of the value when it comes to consumer data. Luckily, there are good providers out there. Here’s what we’d recommend checking for. Do they have a Trust Pilot rating of 4* or more? Are they featured in a positive light on social media platforms like Reddit? Is there an onus on ridiculously high payouts? A site that meets our criteria would be Prolific. Success is a little demographic-based, but we estimate you can make £50+ monthly here.
Matched betting
Perhaps the most misunderstood side hustle out there is matched betting. It entails exploiting betting promotions for guaranteed profits. Unlike conventional gambling, where there are two contrasting outcomes (win/lose). Here you can either win or win. This is because you cover all outcomes. In a football game, you’d bet on both sides to win and a draw. Surely, it’s not that simple? Well, there are some basic mathematical principles behind it, but nothing a calculator can’t instruct you to do. Users have reported making a steady £200-300 monthly here.
To conclude
Scouring the internet for the latest side hustle can feel overwhelming, especially when Google allows ads from an array of finance-related companies. We’d always recommend taking outlandish claims with a pinch of salt and, instead, searching out side hustles with a real, genuine community of people.
Reviewed and edited by Albert Fang.
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Article Title: Side Hustles That Actually Pay: Real Ways to Make Extra Cash Online
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