Earning money on the web could not be easier, and it’s very satisfying earning from your sofa! Here are my top five tips:

1) Earn cash for replacing online ads

Banner adverts popping up when you’re reading something online is incredibly annoying. The solution couldn’t be more perfect.

You can replace adverts when searching the web with feel good images of pugs and beaches – and get paid in credits every time you view them.

Gener8 ads is a browser extension that is a must have for your computer. Vouchers for Amazon and Netflix, as well as charity donations can be claimed from using it.

2) Make money through your Twitter/Instagram

If you have a decent social media following, you can turn it into cash through sponsored posting. Posting a story or tweet promoting a company can pay you anything from a few pounds up to £100s, depending on the size of your following.

Apps on your phone such as Tribe and Manifest will give you cash for posting about their campaigns. The highest paying ones have to be pre-submitted and negotiated on price before accepted.

3) Sell old DVD/games to CEX

While the shops might be closed, you can still send your old tech in a box to a reselling website like CEX, to exchange for either a voucher or cash. You’d be surprised at how much you get for things.

If you have an old Mario Kart Wii game in its original box – you’d get £13 in cash. Old Wii remotes get you £7 in cash. GTA 5 in its box gets you £11 for Playstation and £9 for Xbox One – the list goes on.

It’s worth checking the prices for your old tech to see if you have a gem in your old stash. My old Wii and Nintendo DS games fetched nearly £100 in cash.

4) Review new music and video ads for cash

If you’re a music buff, you can listen to brand new music and submit your opinions on it for cash. Slice the Pie is one of many review websites which can earn you some extra cash.

For every review you leave, you’ll build up some cash. The more in depth your reviews are, then the more you’ll earn. Although you earn cash in USD, you can withdraw in pounds via PayPal at a $10 minimum.

5) Sell your school notes

If you’ve been attending classes and written notes for school/university, you could sell them to fellow students for cash.

Websites such as Nexus Notes and Stuvia will let you upload your scribbling during lessons and set a price that you want to sell them at. If a fellow student downloads your notes, you’ll get some cash (minus commission).

The notes you submit have to be to a certain standard (there can’t be doodles and lines everywhere), but you can rewrite the badly written ones!

@Jordon_Cox

^{Photo credit: Pexels}

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Have you noticed that job adverts will often quote “plus benefits” next to the advertised salary?  Perhaps you’re employed and you’ve heard you’re entitled to company benefits or a “benefits package”. 

If you’re feeling confused about what these benefits are – a workplace benefit is simply something a company is offering an employee in addition to their pay.  

Some benefits MUST be offered to you by your employer. Here we take a look at the most common benefits.

Did you know you must be given paid annual leave?   

For a full-time employee (working five days a week) the minimum level of holiday is 28 days.  A lot of workplaces will make employees take bank holidays off, and this is included in the 28 days figure.  As there are eight bank holidays in England for 2020, this typically means that an employee has a minimum of 20 days to use take as leave when they choose.

Of course, a company may offer a higher level of annual leave.  Many companies will award additional holidays days to their employees as a reward for long service.  

If you work part-time or irregular hours, you can calculate your holiday entitlement here.

What about pensions?

You should come across pensions a lot throughout your working life.  It might not seem like the most exciting benefit, but it may just be the most valuable.  A pension is essentially a pot of money you are saving away for your future.  

In most cases, you must be offered membership to a pension by your employer.  This will also come with a pension contribution of 8% of your salary.

Part of this contribution is 4% of your pay taken directly from your salary with 1% tax relief granted by the Government.  The rest of the contribution is paid by your employer.

This employer contribution works out as an additional 3% of your salary, and is money you would not get if you weren’t enrolled in your pension scheme.  

To find out more about pension plans, The Money Advice Service is a useful resource of information See here.

What if I become ill or pregnant?

Sometimes it will be necessary to take time off work.  You may be sick, or you may have just had a child.    

The law does not entitle you to be paid at your full rate when you are sick.  The minimum level of sick pay is known as Statutory Sick Pay (SSP).  This is £95.85 a week and paid by your employer for up to 28 weeks, but only from your fourth day off sick.  More information can be found here.

An employer may offer an enhanced level of sick pay, but this is dependent on your contract.  It is important to understand what you will be entitled to if you do become ill.  

If you become pregnant you may be entitled to paid leave from your employer, known as Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP).

This is dependent on numerous factors. Importantly, you need to have been employed for at least 26 weeks before the 15th week of pregnancy (known as the qualifying week). 

SMP is 90% of your earnings for the first six weeks of maternity leave, and then reduces to £151.20 per week for the next 33 week. 

Like sick pay, an employer may choose to give employees more money than the minimum SMP.  

There are other forms of paid parental leave available, and you can find more information here.

What about private health care and a company car?

Sadly, your boss doesn’t have to give you a fancy car or a dental plan.

Although these benefits can be nice to have, they are less common in UK workplaces.  The above article explains what you are likely to come across whilst working, and it is important to understand what you are entitled to.

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There’s no getting around it: this is not an easy time for freelancers. Yes, you’re probably generally more used to working in isolation than others – but, given that we’re in the throes of a global pandemic right now, there’s considerably less work out there to actually do. 

Things will get better, but until then, here are a few ways you can get a handle on your financial situation.

Claim your benefits

First of all, it’s time to find out exactly what kind of money you’re entitled to from the government. You can check whether or not you’re eligible for the self-employment support scheme here.

The grant pays up to 80 percent of your usual profits, covering three months, and is capped at £7,500. As a general rule, in order for you to be eligible, your annual income needs to be under £50,000 and you need to make most of your money from sole trading. You’ll need to have paid your self-assessment tax for 2018/19, too. Not eligible for the grant? You could also try applying for Universal Credit to help you stay afloat.

Try something new

Now is the perfect time to explore areas of work you wouldn’t normally dabble in, using the skills you already have. For example, if you’re a journalist, you could take on some copywriting gigs – these tend to be better paid, with more opportunities readily available. It doesn’t need to be something you do forever, but it could really help during this tricky time.

If you really want to diversify your skill set and maximise your chances of getting work, why not take a professional course? Remember, if you pay for any training to do with your freelance career, you can offset the cost against your tax bill. There are plenty of free learning resources out there, too – try Skillshare or LinkedIn Learning.

Reach out

Don’t be afraid to reach out to previous clients who know and trust you, explain that you have a lot more free time than usual at the moment, and ask if they need anything from you. Companies are always likely to work with freelancers they’ve used before, and many will be glad to offer you gigs if they know you’re struggling.

You could also ask fellow freelancer friends to recommend you if they’re offered any work they can’t do. It’s all about those connections.

Make use of the downtime

Inevitably, there will be some quieter periods for freelancers while the world reckons with this new normal, so use this time to pitch to new clients and apply for opportunities you might not have had a spare minute to think about otherwise. Scour job boards, newsletters and Twitter for openings – work is out there, it’s just a little trickier to find at the moment.

Plus, free time doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing – it’s a good opportunity to deal with the admin side of your freelancing business, so that you can hit the ground running when things start to look more fruitful on the work front. Update your website, create an invoice template or make a list of coffee shops you’re going to work from when all this is over. If you’re feeling super-industrious, you could even file your 2019/2020 tax return early (but we really, really won’t judge you if you don’t).

rebeccahastings.co.uk
@rebz_hastings

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Indulging your hobby or passion by becoming part of a club will help you to meet other people who share your interests. Plenty of clubs are free to join, or offer cheap introductory fees – perhaps you’re:

• A sports fan?

Team sports, cycling or running clubs, and martial arts or athletic groups provide a brilliant way to make friends, as you’ll regularly meet up with the same people.

• A bookworm?

Reading is a solitary pursuit but starting a book club makes it a sociable activity. Starting out with just a few like-minded friends, all it takes is a little organisation, a packet of biscuits or two, and a few tea bags. To grow your group, encourage each member to extend an invitation to a friend from a different circle so that you can meet new people.

• A mover or a shaker?

Have a look at your local listings site and join a dance, yoga, or exercise class; these are often operated on a pay-as-you-go basis and needn’t cost a lot of money. Exercising releases endorphins and you’ll meet new people with common ground.

• A creative soul?

If you enjoy being creative then a weekly art, writing, or cookery class could enable you to devote more time to your hobby while also making friends who share your passion.

Tip 2: Search for free activities in your area

Google ‘free things to do in [your town or city]’, join your community’s Facebook page, or visit a local listings website for a calendar of events that are taking place in your area. Grab a friend and take a chance: although it might not be exactly what you’d normally choose, you’ll have fun and might discover a brand-new interest, for example:

• Battle of the Bands and smaller scale music concerts in public places
• Food festivals
• Cultural fiestas and celebrations
• Lectures and talks
• Exhibitions in museums and galleries

Live in or near London? Here’s a great article on things to do in London for free to provide you with some inspiration yet affordable entertainment in our vibrant capital.

If you live on the South Coast then here’s a handy list of free things you can do in Brighton.

Or, if you’re based further North then take a look at this long list of things you can do in Leeds for free. There’s also plenty of free activities in Manchester. No matter where you live there’s likely to be several places you can visit without having to spend a penny.

Tip 3: Boost your income with a sociable part-time job

Getting yourself some part-time work kills two birds with one stone, as they say. Not only will you be working with a whole crowd of potential new friends but you will also be earning money as you do so.

Fun part-time or temporary jobs include:

• PR and promotions for bars and clubs
• Bar or pub work
• Concert or festival stewarding/event crew work
• Resort holiday rep or ski season jobs

For more advice on getting yourself a ‘side hustle’, check out the Balance Careers’ article – ‘best second job ideas’.

Tip 4: Volunteer for a worthy cause

Helping out with a local charity or not-for-profit organisation benefits others and also means that you’ll meet new people. Plus, it will keep you busy and provide you with that all-important feel-good factor.

Giving back – whether helping out in a shop or shelter, lending your skills to a project, or mentoring someone who needs support – is humbling and will give you a new sense of perspective.

Tip 5: Get out more

Venturing out into the great outdoors is completely free, plus fresh air and vitamin D offer health benefits and an ideal way to reduce stress and lift your mood:

• Grab your bike and a friend and go for a cycle
• Don your trainers and go for a walk, hike or run with a mate
• Take your dog to the nearest park, woodland, beach or lake – there’s nothing like a dog to spark social interaction (if you don’t have a canine pal of your own then try a site like Borrow my Doggy)

Not feeling so active? Why not try:

• Going to restaurants or cafés with communal tables – far more sociable
• Reading a book or doing some work at a coffee shop – you never know who you might meet!
• Joining forces with a friend and packing up a picnic to enjoy in the park

When it comes to your social life – whether it’s admission fees or tickets, meals, and drinks, or travel and accommodation – costs can soon add up. Read this article, for more useful tips on how to avoid making purchases that you will regret. As well as this post on how to take back control of your money.

Hopefully, this article has provided you with some inspiration for sociable activities that won’t blow your budget, allowing you to strike the balance between friendly and frugal!

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When money goes into a pension pot, it doesn’t just sit there. It’s invested in lots of different places to give it a chance to grow more. The aim is that you get even more out of your pot when the time comes to take it

Say you started a pension when you got your first job, and kept putting in £30 a month, you could have racked up a good £100,000 in your pension pot by the time you stop working. (We used an Aviva investment calculator to get this number – it assumes that your investments grow a medium amount, by 4.5%.) Plus, you might get even more than this if your pay goes up, which it hopefully will over the years. The more money you’re earning, the more you might be able to put into your pension. And the more money that’s in there, the more it can grow.

While your money’s invested, it can do great things – like tackle climate change or get clean water to communities that need it

Some pension money is invested in companies. These might be companies you’ve heard of, which make things you like, like tea bags and laptops.

If you want to, you can make choices about where your money’s invested – for instance you might want to invest in companies that have a particular social purpose, like beating poverty, researching renewable energy or tackling climate change.

This means that, when you’re saving into a pension, not only are you building up money for the future, you’re also doing great things without even realising. On the flip side, some pension providers might automatically make you save into a fund that invests in companies you might want to avoid, like tobacco or weapons companies.

You can normally check online to find out what your pension pot’s invested in – and make changes if you want to. If your pension provider doesn’t offer you the investment options you want, you can tell them. You can even get involved with organisations, like Share Action, that campaign for pension providers to offer more sustainable and responsible investment options. Whatever you decide to do, your pension pot is your money, and your pension provider needs to look after it in the way you want them to.

How can I find out more?

What happens to your pension money – where does it go and what does it do? 

What is a pension and why do I need one?

Quietroom are a group of writers, trainers and strategists who help people make sense of important but complicated topics – like money, energy and healthcare. To find out what they’re up to, follow them on Twitter: @quietroomtweets

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Q: Why do I need a pension?

A: So you don’t have to work your whole life to live your best life

When you’re older – say 55 or 60 – you might want to work less, or stop working completely. But you’ll still need money. A pension is a way of making money work for you so that in the future, when you’re ready to retire, you’ve got money to live on when you don’t want to work anymore.

Let’s say for instance you stop working at 67 and kick the bucket at 87 – that’s about average these days. So you’ll be living without work for 20 years. As well as being given a State pension (which isn’t much), you’ll want to start using your own pot of money. Here’s the minimum you might need to top up the State Pension the government gives you:

Those figures look really high, and they’re only the minimum! But you don’t need to panic. Here’s why:

• Your employer’s going to put in a lot of this money for you
• The government’s going to put a lot of money in, too
• Your pension pot’s invested so it has a chance to grow

Because you’ve got a long time till you’re going to use it, your money has more time to grow – it’ll work hard for you while you’re not even looking

The State Pension is money the government gives you. At the moment, the State Pension kicks in at age 67 and pays you about £8,250 a year.

How can I find out more?

How your pension pot makes money for you when you’re not even looking

What happens to your pension money – where does it go and what does it do

Quietroom are a group of writers, trainers and strategists who help people make sense of important but complicated topics – like money, energy and healthcare. To find out what they’re up to, follow them on Twitter: @quietroomtweets

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Lots of work has gone into simplifying the benefit system but in some ways it seems more complicated than ever. Before you can make a claim, the first step is to work out whether you come under the new system, called Universal Credit, or the old system of “legacy benefits”. Which of the two systems you come under depends on your postcode – you can use a postcode checker to find out if Universal Credit has arrived in your area.

Making a Claim

By January 2019, everywhere will have moved across to Universal Credit so, other than a few exceptions, all working age adults will come under the new system. How do you actually go about making a claim? Well, the good news – it’s all done online. The bad news? There’s more to it than just filling out the form. You’ll probably have to provide some documentation, especially if you need help with your rent as well as living costs. You’ll also have to attend an appointment at your local Jobcentre to meet your Work Coach and sign your ‘claimant commitment’.

It’s at this point that many people simply give up. My advice? Stick with it if you can, and if you can’t, get some help from your local Citizens Advice Bureau or independent advice service.

What next?

You’ve made a successful claim – well done, you’re almost there. Just the small matter of a five week wait (yes I’m afraid so) for your first payment. So how do you survive the ‘benefits black hole’? Here are my three top tips:

1 – Apply for an advance payment. You can borrow your first monthly Universal Credit payment, paid into your account within three working days. For a single person (without housing costs) aged under 25 this means you can get an advance of around £250, which you then pay back via a deduction from your first 12 monthly benefit payments. Ok, we’re not talking megabucks, but it can make all the difference until the regular payments start.

2 – Find out about local welfare. Your local Council probably has a scheme where they can provide emergency payments to people in financial need. These payments often come as supermarket vouchers or money on a pre-paid card, and most importantly they’re not loans so you don’t have to pay the money back. If you’re not sure who your local Council is there’ a postcode checker for that as well so don’t worry. Give them a ring or search for information about local welfare on their website. This type of help is a bit of a lottery, some areas will have more generous schemes than others but almost all have something, so it’s definitely worth finding out more.

3 – Ask about foodbanks. The fact is five weeks is a really long time to go without money, so it’s perfectly fine to seek some help with the food costs. Your local foodbank will be able to provide short-term help with essential groceries which can help your money stretch that little bit further. Find your nearest foodbank online with an internet search and look for details of how you can get referred.

And finally

Resist the temptation to look for a quick fix (payday loans, doorstop lenders, loan sharks). No situation is made better by taking out short-term, high interest finance; it’s never a good idea. Going broke isn’t a problem you can fix overnight but looking for help in the right places will make sure the bad times don’t last forever.

Instead, make sure you access the benefits and grants you’re entitled to. To find out what these are, use the Turn2Us benefits and grants calculator – you make be entitled to more than you think!

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Just a quick couple of terms you need to be aware of if you are going down this road: someone that is self-employed is classed as a sole trader and sole traders are expected to keep HMRC up to date with their self-employed activities by submitting a self-assessment tax return each year.

In this tax return you will need to:

• State all of the different self-employed activities you did in a given year.
• State all of the traditional PAYE employment you had in a given year.

You can have a normal job and be self-employed at the same time – taking on other work, projects and activities outside of your normal working hours. So don’t be too quick to quite the day job for that acting gig!

Dates for your diary:
• For self-employed individuals, your tax year (the year for which you track your income and expenditure) runs from April 6th through to April 5th of the following year.
• Your self-employed tax return for the year that has ended must be submitted by January 31st of the following year. For example, the tax year ending 05/04/2018 will need to be submitted by 31/01/2019. Unless you are submitting a return using a paper form, in which case the deadline is October 5th of the same year.
• You must pay all of your Self-Assessment tax and National Insurance by January 31st of the following year also. Exceptions to this do exist and are mentioned below.

The date for submitting your return and the date for paying your tax bill are the same. So… it would be wise to get your return filed early in case you are relying on the HMRC calculator to give you your full amount of tax to pay.

What do I need to have recorded and prepared to do my return successfully?

First of all, have no fear. The form you complete for your return is quite long – yes. The good thing though, is that if you lead a fairly simple life then you probably only need to fill in about 20-30% of the form and you can leave a lot of it blank #winning.

What you will need to hand though is:
• Your total income across each of your self-employed activities in that given tax year
• Itemised expenditure from across your different self-employed activities in that given tax year. You can provide this as a total figure but best practice is to split up your expenditure into categories like Travel, Goods for Sale, Phone and Office Expenses, Rent, Insurance, Utility bills etc.
• The total amount of money you donated to charity in a given year
• The total amount of money you repaid in Student Loan

You will also need:
• Your Login details for your Government Gateway Account – assuming you will file your return online.
• Your UTR (Unique Tax Reference) Number – issued when you registered as self-employed
• The PAYE Reference Number of your Employer at your normal job – this can be found on your payslip

Who and how can I get help or support with this if I need it?

Apps and Software (all under £10 p/m):

• HMRC App – the official app from HMRC is designed to help you get your head around your taxes and make full use of the calculator and various resources to aid with your filing.
• Receipt Bank – a mobile app that integrates with your chosen accounting software and makes it easy to input receipts, bills and invoices so you’ll stay on top of your expenses.
• Xero, Kashflow and Quickbooks – these different accounting softwares (and their apps) allow you to track all of your income, send invoices, chase outstanding payments and track your expenses for an easy tax bill calculation

Sites and Organisations:

• Tax Aid – A charity that offers free, confidential advice on tax to those on low incomes. Their helpline is open weekdays from 10am-12pm.
• Low Income Tax Reform Group – Provides tax and tax credit information. Their site has a great FAQ section and guides to help you.

So, I’m done now how do I pay my tax bill?

If you didn’t earn more than £11,500 then you will not have to pay tax. If you have got an amount to pay then you can choose to pay it in one go or pay this amount in parts throughout the tax year ending on the 5th April and the 31st January of the following year.

Payments can be made online via your Government Gateway account. Alternative payment options such as bank transfers, telephone payments and cheque are also available.

Louis Howell, Entrepreneur and Educator.

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