Money Making Ideas
As a student you may have limited sources of income but there are a number of ways in which you can increase your income. See our more detailed guide to increasing your income (PDF:51KB)
Check your financial entitlement
Check that you are receiving all the financial support you are entitled to. If you are not sure about this make an appointment to see one of the Student Finance Advisers. The funding that you are eligible to apply for will depend upon your personal circumstances. See our Funding Section for more information about the different sources of funding available.
A word of caution!
Stop!Stop!Stop! - if you have run out of money and are thinking of taking out a short-term loan or payday loan from an external provider speak to the Student Financial Support Team first. We have discretionary funding available to help if you are struggling with living costs. We can also offer discretionary short-term emergency loans. Often loans offered by external short term/payday loan companies will have huge interest rates which can make it difficult to repay the loan and can lead to unmanageable debts.
Student bank accounts
Most students can open a student bank account which usually provides them with an authorised interest free overdraft limit. Many students end up having to use their overdraft to help keep them afloat. Make sure you shop around and get the best deal - you are looking for the student account which offers the largest interest free overdraft for the longest period of time. A word of caution - it is not usually a good idea to open two student bank accounts - if you stop using one of the accounts the bank could ask for the overdraft to be cleared without warning. Take a look at our section on Banking.
Part-time work
If you need to increase your income and make some extra money you could try getting part-time job during term-time and vacations. If you are already employed and have undertaken work in the previous tax year it may also be worthwhile checking to see if you have earned less than your personal allowance and if you are entitled to make a claim for an income tax rebate.
As well as making money from a paid work you could try boosting your income by taking part in surveys and competitions.
Have you got a hidden talent? Could you pass on your skills through tutoring?
Selling unwanted items
Have you got stuff lying round that you no longer use cluttering up your room and collecting dust? You could try selling good quality unwanted items such as clothes and books to help raise some cash. You may be able to use department notice boards, free papers and the internet to advertise such items.
Amazon and Ebay might be good places to start selling your unwanted items. Take a look at Money Saving Experts guide to selling on Ebay. It might also be worth looking at a few other sites too.
Mobile Phones
Get the best deal for your old mobile: www.mobile-cash-comparison.co.uk/ or http://mobilevaluer.com/
CDs, DVDs &Computer Games
Books
Green Metropolis helps turn the book you no longer need into Cash for your charity! List your books for sale on behalf of a charity, then for every one sold, they’ll pay you the postage costs in sending the book to the buyer, and your charity will receive 50p or £1.00 (depending upon which you select).
Sell student stuff is the UK's No.1 second hand books marketplace. You can buy and sell your second hand books and new course books.
Buy & Sell Used Books allows anyone to advertise their second-hand books without paying any commission sell them.
Clothes
Gold/silver
Take a look at Money Saving Experts guide to selling unwanted gold.
*The Student Financial Support Team are not responsible for the content of external sites.
Help from family members
Instead of receiving often unwanted gifts could you request cash of gift vouchers.
If you receive a loan from your family you may be able to pay it back in a more manageable way than a commercial loan. A word of caution - whilst friends and house mates may offer to lend you money this could prove difficult, particularly if they are also a student. Friendships can often become strained if you are unable to repay friends and they fall into difficulties and request repayment of their loan.
