As part of our #LowCostSummer series, Jodie from Matched Betting Mum has contributed this post, packed full of money making ideas, to the blog:
The countdown to the summer holidays is well and truly underway! I do love this time of year when the sun is (hopefully!) shining and we can get out and about as a family. We have plenty of plans to visit theme parks, local attractions and, of course, our summer getaway abroad.
However, the hefty bills that can accompany the summer holidays do take the shine off somewhat. Aside from entertaining the kids, there’s everything else that comes with it, including paying off the balance for the holiday and airport parking etc. We’re also having family to stay this year so there’s added expense making sure we’ve got far too many sweets, biscuits and snacks in plentiful supply. There’ll be a few extra BBQs to prepare and don’t forget the booze we’ll need too! As much as I try to plan and spread out my spending, come September there will no doubt be a rather large credit card bill landing on the doormat.
I’ve got a few tips on how you can soften the impact of all those extra costs.
MATCHED BETTING
If you haven’t heard of matched betting before, then this is the perfect way to boost your wallet. All you need is some spare time. I regularly make between £500 and £1000 a month for very little effort – a maximum of a couple of hours a few times a week. And if you start now, you too can easily make at least £1000 – if not more – before the summer holidays start. Don’t tell me that extra money wouldn’t come in handy?
Despite its name, matched betting doesn’t involve you betting or gambling in the traditional sense. It’s completely RISK FREE. Matched betting is where you take advantage of the free bets bookmakers give out as incentives for you to sign up with them. By following a set process – placing bets which cancel each other out – you can make at least 75% of the value of those free bets every time. There are more than 50 bookmakers in the UK with introductory offers worth well over £2000. This means there’s at least £1500 to be made simply by signing up to them. And as a bonus, all the money you make is also TAX FREE.
It is actually very simple to play the system and make money. But it does take time to get your head around how and why it works. That’s why my blog goes over the whole process in lots of detail and offers plenty of tips to help you get started. If you can spare a few hours per week then I’d urge you to check out my blog and get involved! You can find a more detailed explanation of how matched betting works, plus some top tips for getting started.
CASHBACK SITES
Almost a third of us shop online.. If you aren’t already a member of a cashback site, why not? If you do only one thing as a result of reading this post, it should be to sign up to one of the main cashback sites, either Quidco or TopCashback. Both these sites often have excellent sign up offers, like free toys, clothing items or extra cashback! I always advertise these on my Twitter & Facebook feeds so do follow me if you want to get in on the best offers.
Most of the top high street retailers are listed with these sites. Simply by clicking through the links through to these retailers from either of these websites you will earn cashback on your purchases. The cashback percentages vary but they do add up very quickly. What’s more, there are often some fantastic bonus offers – last week I bagged myself a free eyebrow gel worth £18.50 (I only had to pay the postage and packing). And both sites have sections where you can make money without even having to make a purchase, simply by clicking through their links.
SURVEY SITES
Survey sites are a great way of making extra cash in the time it takes you to have a cuppa. If you do them regularly enough you can make £30-£40 a month in either cash or vouchers. If you’re new to online surveys I’d recommend you signing up to the following sites, which tend to pay more for the surveys you complete.
- Prolific Academic – this site screens the surveys it offers you, which is good as you don’t need to spend time checking whether you’re eligible to complete them. Prolific Academic pays in cash, which you can withdraw as soon as you make at least £5. They do charge paypal fees for withdrawals under £20 but you can normally make this every month.
- Valued Opinions – I like the fact that this site pays in gift vouchers, which can then easily be saved. Most surveys on this site will earn you between 50p and £1.50, but some do pay up to £5 per survey.
SELLING UNWANTED ITEMS
Kids toys, clothes and equipment are always popular in the second hand market. Your first port of call should be to see whether there’s an upcoming Baby & Children’s Market near you!
If there’s not one near you then take a look for Facebook selling sites. You can do a search of all the selling groups that are local to you. This is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to sell your unwanted items as you won’t incur any selling fees and, invariably, the buyer will always collect the items from you. I’m a big fan of the specialist groups for popular or more exclusive items. For example, there is a preloved Boden group which is great for picking up fabulous quality items at a snippet of the retail price.
I also love eBay. If I’m selling lots of items I’ll list them all at the same time to ensure I make as few visits to the post office as possible. It’s amazing what sells on eBay – old brackets, tools, electric cables and, recently, my old garden shed (all I wanted was someone to take it down and get rid of it, and I managed to make £70 as well!) I always keep low value items which I’m happy to let go for 99p in storage until I’m ready to sell some higher value items alongside them or I have enough items to warrant the effort needed to wrap and send them to their new homes. Those 99p items often sell and, if you’re selling lots of cheaper items at the same time, those pennies really do add up to lots of pounds.
I hope these money making tips help you during the summer holidays. If you’re intrigued by matched betting then please do stop by my blog and say hello! Thanks once again to Baby & Children’s Market for having me.
Matched Betting Mum
A former career civil servant, Jodie took a break from Whitehall when her eldest daughter Lily was born just over 4 years ago. Since then, she’s had another baby – Oliver – and moved to the sticks. As a stay at home mum, her day to day life is very much dictated by the school run, toddler groups, clubs, feeding and the bed and bath routine.
Missing the freedom of earning her own money, she randomly stumbled across something called matched betting a few months ago. It offered an easy way to make money from home but it also seemed a bit too good to be true. Backed up by reviews in The Guardian, Telegraph and Huffington Post, though, she decided to give it a go. Five months later, she’s made nearly £4000 in her spare time, simply fitting it in when the kids allow.
Now she’s on a mission to tell other people all about it.
“When I started, it was really difficult to find information which told me how matched betting worked. It’s actually very simple but just takes a little time to get your head around it. I’m sure there are other people out there who are interested in giving it a go but are overwhelmed by the betting world and its technical jargon! My aim is to explain how it all works as simply as possible and give people the confidence to try it out.”
By sharing the experience of how she got started and manages to fit it in around her children, Jodie aims to help others who might be worried or nervous in taking that first step. Along the way, her blog also offers wider money saving tips and random musings about life with her two kiddies.
You can follow Jodie’s journey on her blog as well as over on Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook.
