Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
7 ways to make £500 this month
Katie Royals
1st Sep 2023
If you’re looking for some extra cash, don’t despair. There are plenty of ways you can make up to £500 each month. If you don’t believe us, keep reading to see the proof.
- Online website testing and mystery shopping
- Make £500 this month by selling your stuff
- Sign up to Shepper to make £500 this month
- Check your tax status
- Set up a side hustle that helps in the community
- Freelance online to make £500
- Become a part-time virtual assistant
- The final breakdown
Online website testing and mystery shopping
Seeing as we’re all online anyway, you might as well make money surfing the web.
There are many ways to do this from online website testing to mystery shopping. Some of these are more complicated and time consuming than others.
One way that requires you to do very little is an app run by Ipsos Mori, the respected market research company – in fact they’ll pay you just for signing up!
The Ipsos Iris UK app quietly collects user behaviour in the background while you use your phone or tablet. It sends the info to Ipsos without you needing to do anything at all.
The Ipsos App pays you £5 per month plus £10 for signing – so that’s £15 in your pocket.
Make £500 this month by selling your stuff
Do you have old clothes in the back of your wardrobe you never wear? Or maybe books you don’t read or needed for courses you’ve now completed? Rather than leaving them to gather dust, get some cash for them instead.
Sites like Depop are great for selling clothes, while eBay and Facebook Marketplace are perfect for selling anything and everything else – from books to wardrobes.
If you sell five items at £10 a pop, that will make you £50 in a month. Don’t forget to account for shipping and postage costs if you’re selling though, as these can eat into your profits if you don’t add them to your selling price.
Of course, there’s no limit to the amount you can sell or the amount you can make from this. The only limit is the amount you have to sell!
Sign up to Shepper to make extra cash this month
Shepper is a service for businesses across the UK that runs checks on their marketing, retail displays, even rental properties, to make sure everything is running smoothly.
The app uses ‘Shepherds’ to undertake tasks for businesses. This saves the business so much money, gives you the opportunity to make extra cash in your spare time, and improves service for customers.
You can get paid between £2 and £20 for a task. Shepper says you can expect to earn around £10 for a 45-minute task. So, if you decide to do two 45-minute tasks a week you could earn £80 in a month.
Check your tax status to see if you can get a refund
Tax isn’t usually seen as a way to make money – more a way to lose money! But, you may be entitled to a tax refund.
There’s a surprising amount of reasons why you could get a tax refund, so check here to see if you fit the criteria. If you’re self-employed and made Payments on Account in July for your current tax year, you could also be due a refund if it turns out you overpaid.
Each situation is unique, so it’s hard to say exactly how much money a tax refund could make you. However, if you’re entitled to a refund it’s likely to be at least £50 in a month.
Are you due a Council Tax refund?
One lesser known thing is that if you’re the only person living in your home, you’re entitled to a Council Tax discount of 25%. If you’re now receiving Universal Credit or some other benefits, your low income could mean you’re entitled to additional Council Tax support.
Some people have managed to negotiate a Council Tax refund by getting their home re-evaluated for the Council Tax banding. It’s a complicated process, starting with lots of legwork and research with the VOA – but if you think your property should be in a lower band (based on similar houses around you), it’s worth claiming. You could get thousands of pounds refunded if your property is moved into a lower tax band.
Set up a side hustle that helps in the community
Making money can often be seen as a self-focused act that only benefits you and your family. But, you can also help your community.
There are plenty of side hustles that can help your neighbours and make you some cash on the side. Popular options are dog walking and car washing – which many of your neighbours will really appreciate.
For more suggestions of how to make money ethically in your community click here.
These odd jobs can quickly add up for you too without taking a large amount of your time.
You could easily make £20 a week or £80 a month walking your neighbours’ dogs, for example.
Freelance online to make £500
The internet can be a big distraction but also offers lots of opportunities to make money.
Sites like Fiverr and Upwork can be great for picking up freelance tasks as they have thousands of listings from all over the world.
They have a range of jobs on offer, from copywriting to graphic design. Whatever your skillset, you’re bound to find a job that fits.
The amount you’re paid depends on the job and your experience, but you could make at least £12 an hour.
Working two hours a week could therefore make you £96 in a month!
Become a part-time virtual assistant
Virtual assistants (VA) are essentially freelancers who work in an administrative role for a company or client remotely. They hire out their administrative or creative assistance to various clients and businesses and assist with their needs from home.
Some people hire VAs full time, but you can also work on a part time for a number of clients depending on their requirements each week. This gives you the flexibility to work when you want and make some extra cash without overwhelming yourself with too much work.
You could earn around £25 an hour as a new virtual assistant. Working just two hours a week, you could realistically make £200 a month.
The final breakdown
Still not convinced this adds up to over £500 in one month? Here’s the maths:
Online website testing – £15
Selling your stuff – £50
Signing up to Shepper – £80
Claiming back tax – £50
Claiming from your energy supplier – £50
Setting up a side hustle – £80
Freelancing – £96
Becoming a virtual assistant – £120
Total – £541
More money making tips
If you need to set up a passive income (or two!) for continued extra revenue, try these articles next.
- Ten ways to get free money
- Dirty ways to make money
- Make money selling empty boxes
- 30 ways to make money online
Disclaimer: MoneyMagpie is not a licensed financial advisor and therefore information found here including opinions, commentary, suggestions or strategies are for informational, entertainment or educational purposes only. This should not be considered as financial advice. Anyone thinking of investing should conduct their own due diligence.
That’s great information about making money online.
Hi what i doo i want to put these mony in bank account
u cant
Crap
Thanks, this is very cool. I think I’ll try it out and see
Interesting information.
Rubbish!! You won’t make £500 a month from doing the above.