Are you looking to boost your savings without the need to earn it? Sounds like you need to check out this list of strategies to earn free cash.
Your parents may have told you that you could not get an amount of money at no cost. Unfortunately for them they’re wrong. We’ve discovered many ways to earn money with minimal effort.
Now, that ‘effort’ aspect is the most important. Lots of other guides to making money without effort include the likes of paying for online surveys but we believe it is deceiving. Being required to do more that the minimum you can do in order to earn money doesn’t come for free. It’s a sign that you’re working.
To keep that in mind, we’ve included only the most easy, easiest ways to earn money. But don’t worry about it you’ll still be able to earn £100s!
Do you have a bit more time on your hands? Our list of ways to make money in a short time may require some effort from you but the benefits are more than worth it.
Scholarships, grants, and bursaries
Most of you are aware that students can receive money in the form of bursaries, scholarships and grants (and that unlike student loans, they don’t need to be paid back). But what you may not know is exactly how many people can be entitled to this free cash.
Many students tend to assume that the funds are just available to students with the best grades, talent for a particular sport and instrument, or those with less privilege. However, even though they can receive support, plenty of others can benefit from this free money , too.
As we explain in our guide to weirdest bursaries, money is accessible to students for any reason. For example, if you’re a vegetarian, possessing a flair for FIFA or just being a good surname there’s a chance to receive money for nothing. So, there’s no reason to not look for ways to finance yourself.
Offers to sign-up
Creating an account with a business selling… Well is there anything? See if there are any sign-up deals that are open to customers who have not yet signed up.
In addition to offering an initial discount, lots of companies will offer you free money for signing up. It’s possible that you’ll need to purchase a qualifying item first, but if it’s something you’re planning to buy anyway, it’s 100% no cost cash.
Sometimes, the reward may come as an Amazon voucher. But as Amazon sells pretty much everything, vouchers are the same as cash. And if you use our Amazon shopping tricks, you’ll get bargains.
There are plenty of sign-up incentives on the market, but among our favorites are the £5 reward for signing up to OnePoll and the £10 payment for signing up to Monese or Curve (you will also discover the exact details of Curve credit cards you can find in the comprehensive guide).
You can also earn free cryptocurrency when you sign up to Coinbase by completing a few small tasks. Though you can’t buy it at most stores however, you can exchange it for Bitcoin (some shops have a policy of accepting Bitcoin) or trade it for £20+.
If you’re after more look no further than our deals page to find the best ways to earn money by signing up with businesses.
Money for switching bank or utility supplier
One of the first items we advise students to do before they start uni is opening a bank account for students. But did you know you can transfer your bank account even when you’ve already started uni? And, better still, that you could earn free money in the UK for doing so?!
Transferring bank accounts couldn’t be more simple. It doesn’t matter if it’s liquid cash, or an Amazon voucher (which is, in fact, just as good as cash) There are a lot of banks that offer up to £100 for you to convince you switch.
And if you don’t have a bank account yet Don’t fret. The offers are open to new customers , too, not just those switching.
Make sure you double-check the terms of each bank’s offer since there’s a possibility that you’re not eligible for the free cash (if you’ve already completed your first year of university for instance). And remember, banks also offer cash to non-students looking to switch.
Cash rewards for referring friends
We are in love with referral codes. When you consider the amount of effort required and the money you could make it’s hard to come up with of a better method to earn free money than referring your loved ones to join several businesses.
There’s actually a fair bit of overlap here with our previous suggestion. Some of the best referral codes are provided by banks, energy companies (Octopus Energy gives £50 credit) and broadband providers.
Many times, the offers for the new customer (like £100 for joining) match the refer-as-friend plans. However, there’s a major distinction: both you as well as the person you’re referring receive rewards.
Certain, the largest and most lucrative offers are offered by utilities and banks. However, many companies offer referral schemes. Some reward you in the form of credit, while others pay you cold, hard cash.
Cashback websites (which we’ll cover in the next section) and automatic savings apps are among the most reliable for this (although the particular offers may alter). You can earn up to £15 per signing up!
The main point is to review all the applications and services you are using to see if there is any referral programs. You could be raking in the cash in no time.
Request a refund on a student loan
There’s plenty of issues with the current situation in Student Finance in the UK. But, broadly speaking the repayments of Student Loans are generally sound. This is until imperfections in the system lead to you have to pay back that you shouldn’t.
For you to begin paying back your student loan there are two conditions that must happen. First, you must have reached the first day of April, following your graduation. And, secondly, you must be earning more than the required amount that your loan plan will allow.
Check if you’re owed a tax rebate
Refunds for student loans aren’t the only method to get some of the funds you’ve paid back.
All year long, thousands taxpayers across the UK accidentally pay too much tax. If you’re one of those people, you’re entitled a rebate.
You may have overpaid tax because of one or more of reasons. The good thing is that it doesn’t matter whether it was the fault of you or not.
It’s even better the fact that it doesn’t really matter if it occurred in the past. You can request an amount of refund for up to four years after the end of the tax year in which you owe more.
Be aware that students rarely earn over the threshold of annual earnings for tax (currently £12,570 a year). So, if you think you’ve paid tax when you’ve made less than this then you must definitely look into applying for a tax rebate.
Earn interest on savings and current accounts.
We understand that, if your student status is a concern, you may not have lots of extra cash lying around. If you’re in a position to save some money it is highly recommended to put it in an ISA or a regular savings account.
Although the 2008 financial crises, austerity measures, Brexit and COVID-19 may have maintained interest rates at a low for a time but there are some great deals on the market.
But thanks to the rise in inflation £100 today will not have the same value over the next year (you’ll still possess £100 however it will not be able to purchase you as much).
This is why you should try to save the majority of your spare cash as you can into an account with the highest rate of interest. Even if there’s no intention of the free cash you could earn from interest, you’ll need to ensure that your cash is protected by its value.
£1,000 for free every year when you purchase a Lifetime ISA
The idea of owning a home might seem like a distant pipe at the moment. But you can help make that dream come true by investing your money into a Lifetime ISA (LISA).
With a limit of up to P1,000 per year, a LISA is undoubtedly the most affordable source of money that we could imagine.
In order to get the full amount the amount, you’ll need to make at least £4,000 to your LISA in a single tax year (April through April). However, don’t be concerned if haven’t got that much going aside. Government will still grant you a bonus of 25% on savings up to £4,000.
The maximum amount of money you can get from a Lifetime ISA is £33,000 (equivalent to 33 years, in which you make a deposit of £4,000 every year) This is definitely quite a bit of free money. However, as is always the case with life there are some catches.
For starters, you can only withdraw money from your LISA in the event that you’re using it for the purchase of a house or if you’re over 60 years old, or have been granted lesser than twelve months of life. You can withdraw funds for any other cause, you’ll forfeit the bonuses you’ve received, and an additional portion of your money.
Thus, while it’s best to only deposit money into a LISA when you’re certain you’ll use it for your retirement or a house, it’s probably the trick that’ll earn you the most free cash.
Make use of cashback websites for shopping online
We’ve mentioned it before in this guide on how to get free money in the UK. And, if you’re a fan of making and saving money, chances are you’re knowledgeable about cashback. However, in the event that there’s a chance that you’re not a quick explanation.
If you purchase something on the internet, you can either do directly or through a cashback site. When possible, we’d recommend using a cashback site.
If you shop with cashback sites, you’ll get exactly the same shopping experience that you’d get from the website of the retailer. But, the cashback website will track your activity and will refund you a proportion of your total amount you spent (or sometimes it will offer a specific amount).
So, so many of your top stores are on cashback sites like TopCashback and Quidco. Adidas, ASOS, Amazon and some others that don’t start with A, are all these sites. You’ll usually be looking at getting a maximum of around 5percent back, but it’s better than nothing!
The big money is, like you’d expect, with the larger purchases. If you’re buying car insurance or getting a new phone the cashback websites will reimburse you in excess of £100 to purchase it through their sites.
You can also get money back from the stores. Apart from cashback websites providing cash back on the internet, food stores, and cashback programs at supermarkets offer up to 100 percent cashback on a broad variety of items from sweets to pet food.
You can use cashback sites whenever you make purchases online. You could make a few hundred dollars in free cash each year.
You can earn money for using the internet by Swagbucks
Spend your life online? Well, when you’re not going through your favourite Save the Student guides (we all have one), you could be earning free money just for making use of the internet.
Among the many ways to earn money from Swagbucks is to set it as your primary source of information. Even if that means saying goodbye to Google (or or, if you’re lucky, Bing), you’ll earn 10-20 SB points (the virtual currency on Swagbucks) in every 10-20 results.
Using these figures from the above, we’ve estimated that the same amount of searching for six months can earn you approximately £300.
However, the free cash isn’t over – Swagbucks will also pay you to view videos. In fact, let’s face it the majority of what people end up doing online anyway.
It may be a little harder to earn cash this way as it’s not as effortless as simply searching for free money, and it’s often not available to all users. However, it’s definitely worth giving it giving it a shot!
Go to our Swagbucks review for more information or sign up to Swagbucks immediately.
Earn money by walking
We’re all aware of the primary advantages that walking provides: It’s free, it helps you stay in good health, and it’s totally carbon-neutral. But what if we told you there was another reason to take a walk every day?
Thanks to apps like Sweatcoin, BetterPoints and winwalk walking is now better than free as it can earn free money.
The apps monitor your activity throughout the day and reward your efforts via virtual money. This currency can be exchanged for gift cards in many popular stores or restaurants, and, more importantly, for free money too.
We won’t lie, you’re not likely to make it to the millionaire club by making money through paid walking apps. However, keep your phone with you while you’re on the move You’ll soon see the free cash trickling in.
You can win free money by participating in competitions.
Now, let us be very clear. If we say that you can win free money by participating in contests, we’re saying the competitions are free. We’re not talking about entering into the lottery which requires cash and has the chance to win less as compared to these odds-on things.
We’re talking about the hundreds if not thousands of other competitions being held in the UK at present that are free to enter and could win you a staggering amount of cash.
Elite level competitors (people who compete regularly) claim to take part in about 100 competitions a day. However, that’s not feasible for most of us. If you aim for around 30 a week, you’ll probably be able to win a decent amount of prizes (be they cash, items or even experiences).
One of our favorite ways to earn money is to enter free lotteries. The majority of them require you to check the results daily to claim your winnings (if you’ve won, of course), but with jackpots reaching hundreds of pounds, it’s worth a few minutes of your time.
There are many more competitions available that give you thousands of pounds worth no cost money.
Check your receipts for cash and scan them
Last, but by no way least among the ways we can earn free money: receipts. If you usually bin your receipts or simply ignore them entirely, you might need to rethink your decision.
Aside from making it more difficult to guarantee your consumer rights and rights, throwing your receipts away could see you missing out on free cash as well. Also, be sure to keep them in your possession at a minimum for long enough to snap an image.
Apps that scan receipts like Storewards, Shoppix and Huyu will pay you to send copies of receipts for every purchase you make from any retailer. Although you won’t be money in cash for every receipt, you’ll receive tokens or coins whenever you submit.
When you’ve earned enough coins to be able to withdraw them then you’ll be able to earn your free cash. It can be a voucher (including Amazon) or free cash (usually through PayPal).
It could take a while to get to this point. But with such little effort , we’d say receipt scanning is certainly an excellent way to earn no cost money.
