Really quick and easy ways to boost your December income (and make your salary last until the end of January)

An income boost wouldn’t go amiss this festive season, would it?! As the cost of living crisis worsens, many in the UK will be feeling financially stressed this December – especially when we have to make our pay packets last until the end of January (and many employers send out December salaries early, making the wait extra long).

So whether you’re looking to boost your Christmas shopping budget, save ahead for January or just increase your disposable income so that you can enjoy the festive period that little bit more, lots of people are looking to add to their income this Christmas. Here are a few ways that you can increase your income without giving up or changing your day job:

Sell your unwanted stuff

Selling online might feel laborious and time-consuming, but it’s a brilliant way to kill two birds with one stone – you get rid of clutter and earn a bit of money in the process. Allocate some time to sort through your clothes, kids’ toys, furniture, board games and more, then set up a little photo studio and get snapping. Doing this in a job lot and listing at the same time is really efficient, and you can list goods in multiple places to get the maximum chance of a successful sale.

Different things sell best on different platforms. eBay is great for clothes, collectibles and homeware, while you might find Facebook marketplace gives you a better result with furniture or bulky items. For old media, books and DVDs, MusicMagpie and Ziffit have clever apps that allow you to scan the barcodes and get a total – then you just package them up and send them with the label they provide.

Do surveys in your spare time

Online surveys have come a long way since the days of entering all of your details and being bombarded with junk mail. If your usual M.O. is double-screening in front of Netflix, try switching the Insta or TikTok scroll in favour of signing up to a survey site or app. Newbie Curious Cat promises ‘short, fun’ surveys and allows you to withdraw once you’ve earned over £1, while Prolific pays well but has criteria for each study. If you’re in it for the long haul, YouGov will pay out £50 once you hit a certain number of points, but it could take a while. Discover a full list on moneysavingexpert.com.

When participating in surveys, it’s just worth being mindful of how much your time is worth to you. If you don’t mind answering questions in your leisure time, that’s great, but if you’re finding it a slog or missing out on other things, make sure that the small income boost is actually worth it!

Rent out your clothes

If you’ve got a wardrobe of barely-worn dresses and outfits from weddings past, now’s your time to reap the benefits. Platforms such as Hurr and ByRotation are become hugely popular with fashion lovers – some of the apps’ top lenders are earning hundreds of pounds per month. You just need a couple of key pieces to get started, and a bit of spare time in order to manage rentals, post them out and get them cleaned for the next renter.