How To Make an Extra £500 a month (15 Legit Ideas)

Last Updated June 29, 2024 by Davina Kelly

Do you want to learn how to make an extra £500 a month? Look no further, in this post, I will share the best ways to make an extra 500 a month including options to make money online from the comfort of your home. 

For most people, earning an extra £500 a month can make a huge difference. You can use this money to build an emergency fund or save up for a holiday.

I know first-hand how beneficial making extra money can be. It helped me to pay off debt, save a lot of money and build an investment portfolio. 

It can be hard to get started and time-consuming, but it will all be worth it in the end. 

This post is all about how to make an extra 500 a month.

How To Make an Extra £500 a Month:

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If you’re looking for a way to make some extra money fast, you can sign up to Survey Junkie and get paid to give your opinion.

Companies are always looking for feedback on their products and services so you can make money by completing surveys.

I’ll be honest, you won’t make $500 a month by completing surveys, but you could make an extra $50 – $100 in your spare time. Or you can receive gift cards to shop at places like Amazon.

You can sign up for Survey Junkie FREE here and start earning extra cash. 

Become an Airbnb Host

If you have a spare room you can rent it out and make some extra money. Airbnb is a popular platform for travellers who are looking for an alternative to staying at a hotel. 

It is also used by people who are travelling for work and people who want to have a staycation. If you live in a good location close to public transport you can make some good money with Airbnb. 

For example, if you listed your room for £85 a night with a minimum stay of 3 nights and you had 2 guests a month you would make £510. If the guests want to stay for longer you will make even more money. This is very possible if you live in a good location.

To get started you need to get your space ready, take some good listing photos and set your price. Here is an article explaining the process in more detail. Read here. 

Once you have set everything up the platform will handle the payments so you don’t have to worry about that part. All you need to do is ensure that you answer any questions the guests may have. 

Photography

There is a huge demand for photos, from businesses to online creators a lot of people need photos. If you are a skilled photographer or just good at taking photos you could use this skill to make money. Here are some of the ways you can make money with photography.

• Work as an event photographer (for example at weddings)

• Licence your photos for commercial use (stock photos)

• Do photo shoots

• Sell prints of your work

Related: 10 Best Lucrative Photography Side Hustle Ideas

Tip: If you niche down and focus on one area of photography you could make more money. For example, if you did pregnancy photography you would be considered a specialist in that area. This would enable you to charge your clients a premium price.  

Candle Making

If you enjoy crafts you can make candles and sell them to make some extra money. This can be very lucrative as candle-making is one of the most profitable crafts. 

You can find a niche within candles, i.e. soy-based scented candles. Once you have decided on your niche you can come up with catchy names for each candle, package them well and make them available for sale.

Online platforms like Etsy, Shopify, and eBay are good places to sell your candles. You can also sell them at local fairs. I recommend using social media to display your products and engage with potential customers. 

Start a Blog

Starting a blog is a great way to make £500 a month and more! You can start this as a side hustle and turn it into a full-time job.   

You can start a blog about anything, I recommend making it about something you are knowledgeable about because you will be writing about it a lot! 

For example, if you love baking you could start a blog about baking. You can share how you learned to bake and share your amazing recipes. 

There are many ways to monetise your blog. You can write sponsored posts, place ads on your blog, and do affiliate marketing. Once you build an audience you can create products based on their needs. For example, sticking with the baking theme you could create recipe ebooks for vegan cupcakes. 

Your earning potential will vary depending on your traffic, but you can earn anywhere from £500 to £5,000 per month. It will take a while to start earning money as you need to have consistent traffic which takes time to build. But once you do it will be very lucrative. 

If you’re ready to start your blog I highly recommend this affordable eBook The Treasure Map To Blogging Success In 30 Days. It will teach you how to set up your blog properly and provide you with a profitable roadmap to monetise our blog.

Graphic Design

Due to the rise of social media and online businesses graphic design is a very lucrative business. 

To make money you could create thumbnail designs for YouTube creators or podcasts. You could also create logos for businesses, create and sell social media templates for creators, sell branding packages or be a consultant. 

To find clients you can search on platforms such as Fiverr and Upwork. Or you can reach out to potential clients directly. Send them an email with an example of the work you could do for them, this way they will know that you are serious and see an example of the work you can do for them. 

Sell Printables

Selling printables is a great way to make extra money online. You can create your product once and continuously sell it. Here are some examples of printables you can sell.

• Budget planner

• Savings tracker

• Grocery List

• Holiday planner

• Calendars

• Digital wall art

Printables are pretty easy to make. You can create them using platforms like Canva or Adobe, they are easy to use even for beginners. I have zero graphics experience and have been able to make printables for myself using Canva. 

The key to making a lot of money with printables is creating a product that is in demand and having really good listing photos. Your listing photos are the first thing your customer will see so they need to stand out. Marketing is also important. 

Etsy is a very popular marketplace for selling printables. You can also sell them on Shopify or your own website. If you choose to sell them on your website you will need to ensure that you market them on your social media platforms. 

Create a Course

If there is a subject you are knowledgeable about or a skill you have recently learned you can create a course to teach others. Online courses have become increasingly popular over the past few years so this is a great way to share your knowledge with others.

To get started you need to decide what you want to create a course about. If you have a career in Tech for example, you can create a course to help others break into Tech or if you have built an investment portfolio you can create a course to teach beginners how to invest.

You don’t have to be a professional to teach a course, if you have recently learned a new skill this will work in your favour as you will remember what it was like to be a beginner as a pose to someone more experienced. 

To make sales you need to build an audience and market it well. If you sold your course for £150 and make 4 sales a month you could make £600 minimum every month. 

Platforms like Teachable and Kajabi are good options to host your course, or you can put it on platforms like Udemy or Skillshare which already have a large community.

Become a Virtual Assistant

Virtual assistants are in high demand as more people are working from home and starting online businesses. This is a great option if you want location flexibility because you can do it from anywhere, all you need is a laptop. 

As a virtual assistant, you can expect to perform tasks such as booking meetings, customer services, marketing, social media management, scheduling etc. The tasks you perform will be dependent on the business’s needs.

To get started you can look on websites like Fiverr and Upwork. You can also advertise your services on your social media. You can expect to make anywhere from £15 – £50 per hour and you can upscale by having multiple clients.

Start a YouTube Channel

Starting a YouTube channel is a good way to be creative and make extra money. You can start a channel about something you are passionate about like reading or you can use your channel to document a journey. 

For example, if you are on a weight loss journey you can document your progress on your channel. Or if you like to read you can join Book Tube and create videos of you reading or reviewing books. 

YouTube is the 2nd largest social media platform with at least 2.5 billion users, so your content will resonate with someone. If you upload consistently you will build an audience.

Once you have either 4,000 watch hours or 1,000 subscribers you can monetise your channel. You can do this through ad revenue, affiliate marketing or sponsorships. Once your channel has been monetised your earning potential is £500+.

It will take a while to get monetised, but if you make good content and upload videos consistently it will happen. 

Become a Bookkeeper

Becoming a bookkeeper is a great way to make an extra £500 a month while working from home. You can offer your services as a freelancer or you can create a bookkeeping business. The latter option will enable you to earn consistent income. 

You don’t need to be a qualified accountant to get started, there are some key skills you will need to learn but you can learn them by taking a course or you can learn on the job if someone is willing to teach you. This was the first job I had before I became an accountant, I started with no experience and learned on the job.

Here are some of the tasks you will be expected to perform as a bookkeeper.

• Bank reconciliations

• Data entry

• Invoicing

• Produce reports

• Calaculate corporation tax

• File accounts

The duties you will perform will vary based on the client you have. If you are a beginner the easiest type of clients to have is service-based businesses. You can look for clients on websites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Indeed.

Related: How To Become a Virtual Bookkeeper In 5 Easy Steps (Without Experience) 

Become a Freelancer

Freelancing is a good way to make some additional income. This is the best way to make £500 quickly and it is a good option if you work full-time and want flexibility because you can choose when you want to work.

There are many different services you can offer as a freelancer such as writing, web design, and coaching. Think about the skills you already have and put them to use. For example, if you are good at marketing you can do content marketing for creators on a freelance basis. You can find clients on websites like Fiverr and Upwork.

Audio Transcriber

Audio transcribing is the process of converting speech into written form, this is an easy way to make an extra £500 a month.

You can transcribe things like interviews, YouTube videos, academic research, a speech, etc. This type of service is required by businesses such as Podcasts, Creators, journalists etc so it is in high demand. 

Once the audio has been transcribed businesses can put it on their blogs or use it for video subtitles for people who can’t listen. To become an audio transcriber you need to have good listening and grammar skills and be able to type fast. These are skills you probably have already.

Websites like Rev, Transcribe Me, and Upwork are good places to find this type of work. You can expect to earn £500 upwards each month, for example, you could charge £25 per hour and work 5 hours 4 times a week to make £500. 

Resell Items

One of the best ways to make an extra £500 a month is to sell unwanted items in your home. We all have items at home in good condition that we no longer want or use. Items like clothes, shoes, an old phone etc. These can be sold online to make extra money.

You can sell them on websites like Vinted, eBay, Poshmark, and Facebook marketplace. In my opinion, eBay is the fastest way to make money reselling items because they have a huge marketplace and you can sell your item via an auction. This creates a sense of urgency for the buyers. Read here to learn more about selling clothes on eBay.

Another option is to buy items and resell them for a profit, if you have an eye for a bargain this is a good option for you. You can find items to resell at places like an auction, a car boot sale, or an antique shop. 

Proofread Content

If you are good at spelling and grammar and finding errors in written content you can become a proofreader. This is another good option to make an extra £500 a month while working from home.

There are many jobs you can get as a proofreader such as proofreading books, articles, scripts, reports, etc. All you need to get started is a laptop. You can find jobs on websites like Fiverr, Upwork, and Indeed. 

Social Media Manager

Social media is an important part of any business model. This is how businesses and creators connect with their audience and market their products and services. Even though it is important, a lot of business owners do not have time to focus on this. 

This is where you can step in as a social media manager! A social media manager will help with content roll-out, gaining followers, writing captions, and much more. They will usually manage many social media accounts. 

To get clients you can search on websites like Fiverr, Upwork, Facebook, and Flexjobs. To increase your earning potential you can niche down and work with a specific type of creator. For example, if you love fashion you can be a social media manager for fashion influencers and bloggers. 

Frequently Asked Questions

How Can I Make An Extra 500 a Month From Home?

Many of the ideas I have listed in this post can make you an extra £500 a month while working from home. All you need is a good internet connection and a laptop. I will list a few examples below, if you want more details you can read about it in this post.

Here are some examples of how to make an extra 500  a month from home.

• Resell items

• Become a Bookkeeper

• Be a Social media manager

• Become a Virtual Assistant

• Be an audio transcriber

How Can I Make Extra Money When I Have a Full Time Job?

If you have a full-time job it is totally possible to make extra money. You can start a side hustle or even a small business on the side.

Before you start taking steps to make extra money while working a full-time job I recommend thinking about the time you have available to commit and the type of work you want to do. 

For example, if your full-time job is demanding, you may want to opt for something creative that you can work on for 2 hours a day in the evenings or on the weekends. 

Here are some examples of ways to make extra money when you have a full-time job. 

• Sell printables

• Graphics design

• Proofreading

How Can I Make An Extra 100 a Month?

There are many ways to make an extra 100 a month. You can use the skills you already have to offer freelance services or you can do things like complete surveys and participate in market research. 

How To Make an Extra $500 a Month Passive Income?

Passive income is my favourite type of income. To make passive income you need to either invest some time upfront to create a digital product or you need to invest some money to buy an asset like stocks or property. Once they are up and running they will generate passive income. 

Here are some examples of how to make $500 a month in passive income.

• Invest in the stock market

• Rent out a spare room

• Sell digital products

Final Thoughts

There are many ways you can make an extra £500 a month. You can use the skills you already have to offer services, take on side jobs or start a side hustle.

Before you get started I recommend thinking about the time you have available to commit and how you want to do it. I.e. do you want to work from home? 

Once you have figured this out, you can read the ideas in this post and choose the best option.

Also, think about what you want to do with this extra money. Do you want to save it, invest it or use it to pay off debt? Knowing this beforehand will save you from spending it on a shopping spree and regretting it later. 

Have you found these ideas to make extra money helpful? What are some of the ways you make extra money?

This post is all about how to make an extra 500 a month.

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