5 Ways to Make Extra Money for Christmas

Need more money for the festive season? We show you how to make extra money in time for Christmas (or any time of the year)

As Christmas is fast approaching, you might be concerned about how to pay for the festive season.

With the average cost of Christmas rising every year, making extra money now means you won’t have to resort to credit cards or other borrowings to get through the season.

There are so many ways to make extra money online, but knowing where to start can be a minefield, especially with so many scams online. Here are my top websites and apps to help you earn some extra cash.

Surveys

Completing paid surveys is one of the easiest ways to earn some extra cash.

Market research companies are looking for information on a variety of topics from a large demographic to help create new products, advertising campaigns and more.

This information is so valuable that you can get paid for completing surveys.

There are many survey companies out there, but these five are some of my favourites. They have low payment thresholds, meaning you will see the money before Christmas.

Prolific Academic has a payment threshold of just £5, paid via Paypal.

The surveys are mostly conducted by students and researchers at universities across the world making them very interesting to complete.

The best thing about Prolific Academic is that you won’t get screened out of a survey – you are only shown surveys that you are eligible for.

Mint Vine offers daily surveys to help you earn points, which you can redeem for $10 (around £6-£7) once you have reached 1,000 points. Viewsbank has short and sweet surveys and polls to complete, with payment made monthly once you have reached £6.

Two other survey websites worth joining are Global Test Market and My Survey.

You’ll get really good results and earn more with these surveys sites too.

Mystery shopping

If getting paid to shop or eat sounds like fun to you then you would love mystery shopping. Not only do you get paid to shop, you also get a reimbursement towards some or all of your purchase.

My favourite company is Market Force because of their massive client list – you will likely recognise most, if not all, of their clients. I also like Grassroots mystery shopping, Amber Arch and Red Wigwam.

If visiting stores in person don’t appeal to you then you can even do mystery shopping online with eDigital Research.

The jobs vary from testing apps and mobile websites to ordering items for home delivery. It can all be done from the comfort of your own home, making it ideal for most people.

Smartphone apps

Did you know that you can easily earn cash from your smartphone, often over £1,000 a year?

Location-based tasks are a great way to speed up your extra earnings – the jobs are varied and can include things such as enquiring about a new phone contract, checking if a business is still in operation, checking street signs, stock levels in store and many more.

My favourite smartphone apps are Field Agent (iOS only), Streetspotr (iOS and Android), Roamler (iOS and Android), BeMyEye (iOS and Android) and Task360 (iOS).

Get Cashback

How would you like to earn extra cash from making your usual purchases, completely free? Cashback websites allow you to do just that.

My top two are Quidco and Topcashback – simply register for free and remember to visit them before you make a purchase online.

If you purchase all your Christmas gifts and food through a cashback website then you can look at getting around £50 back to help you out in the New Year.

Declutter

There are two great reasons to declutter before Christmas – firstly if you are having friends and family over then you will appreciate the extra space and secondly, to make room for any new presents or Boxing Day sale bargains that are coming into your home.

Decluttering is a great way to free up your space as well as making some extra money. Easily sell your unwanted books, DVDs, games, and CDs on websites such as Music Magpie and Zapper.

More valuable items can be sold on eBay and everything else can be sold using selling sites like Gumtree or even Facebook selling groups.

To sell on Facebook, simply search for your local selling group – it is usually “town name selling”, “town name for sale” or anything along those lines. Once you have joined be sure to check the group’s rules as they vary group by group.

Then simply upload your photos, write a description and set a price.

This allows local users to find your items and then you can arrange delivery or collection between yourselves. Unlike eBay, there are no fees to pay, but you might find that members haggle with you more.

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There are plenty more ways to earn some extra cash online, but these methods should see you earning cash in time for Christmas, or cash in January.

Related Christmas posts:

• Successful Comping At Christmas
• 7 tips to take Christmas back from the retailers

Related money-making posts:

• Can You Make Money Mystery Shopping?
• Making Easy Money With The Field Agent App
• How to Make Millions on YouTube
• Stranger Ways to Make Money on eBay
• How to Make Money Selling Your Stuff
• Make Money From Your Old Phone With O2 Recycle