How students can make extra cash while studying

• 08 Aug, '16
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The penniless student is a well-worn and ever truer stereotype, as horror stories abound of months of eating beans on toast and accidentally spending your entire loan in the first few weeks. Both of these are highly unlikely if you keep an eye on your cash, but there’s no denying that it is expensive, living on your own for perhaps the first time and suddenly paying out for all your bills and food. If you’re savvy, you can generate some extra funds to help you out.

Here are just a few ideas for boosting your income that you can fit around your studies and social life

The first port of call is closer than you think - your uni is a great place to start looking for opportunities tailored especially for cash-strapped students. Towards the end of the summer, look out for jobs at the student union, which will fit easily around your studies and should be flexible, so you don’t miss out on any lectures. Unitemps is a specialist agency with branches currently covering twelve universities, which lists jobs like student calling, flyering, and giving campus tours, and will email you suitable jobs in the local area, too.

Fancy being a guinea pig for university research?

The psychology department, among others, may often be looking for study participants in return for cash, vouchers or entries into prize draws. Investigate on your university’s website, which might even have a dedicated website for getting involved in academic studies. Call For Participants is packed with chances to earn, though a lot of studies on here ask for help in return for just ‘Sincere Gratitude’ (hmm!).

One of the most flexible and fun ways to make money as a student is working as a brand ambassador. You’ll get paid to promote a brand or product by handing out freebies, posting on social media and engaging with fellow students on campus. Not only will you get awesome skills and a boost to your CV, this kind of job can get your foot in the door with a company and help kick off your long-term career.

Calling all theatre buffs and movie-lovers!

If there is a theatre, arts centre or other venue near you, find out whether they take on students as ushers for performances. You might get to see the show for free, One fab example of this is at the Warwick Arts Centre, which recruits students from the University of Warwick as volunteer stewards - you get to see the show as payment (saving on the cost of theatre and cinema trips), there are often paid shifts available including during graduation weeks, and you could progress to a paid role after your first year on the job.

If you’re especially proud of your twist on spaghetti bolognese, or reckon you’ve invented the ultimate hangover-cure toastie, immortalise its by writing a recipe and you could sell it online. Student Eats is always looking for new submissions - the more great recipes you can dream up, the more cash you could earn!

When you do spend money, you could earn some of it back, like a reward for shopping. When retailers advertise on voucher sites and discount sites, the site earns a percentage commission when someone clicks through and makes a purchase. Cashback sites work by offering that commission back to the buyer; you’ll earn the most back on big buys like phone contracts and broadband, but the little amounts you’ll get back on things like clothes, entertainment and even days out can add up and ease the pressure on your student loan. TopCashback and Quidco are your best bet, the most popular and lucrative cashback sites around.

There are many weird and wonderful ways of making money, and one profitable thing you might not have heard of is lost luggage auctions. When airlines fail to reunite wayward baggage with its owners, they regularly sell it via specialist auction houses. You could club together with some friends or flatmates and bid on a suitcase or two - the contents are a surprise and yours to keep, and you can sell anything you don’t want on eBay (just, er… wash it first, especially if it was lost on a return trip!).

Use your imagination and almost anything can be turned to cash. If you’re stuck for more ideas, check out Student Money Saver’s ultimate guide to making money here!