Some methods of making money online pay higher rates than others, so choose the ones that best suit your lifestyle. Here are some ideas and resources to get started learning how to make money online for free. Participate in market research. Online surveys won’t net you a hefty income, but you can earn a few dollars here and there. The problem is that the real ways to make money aren’t “get rich quick” schemes. Most of them require a lot of work and sometimes a lot of dedication before seeing a return on your time. But if you really want to make money online, work from home or turn an idea into a business, you can do it.

Have you ever stood in the middle of your living room, your hands clinging to a pair of inside-out turned pockets, and exclaimed, “There’s GOT to be something I can do to make a quick couple of quid?”

No? Best online real money earning app. Just me? Alrighty then, moving on…

Believe it or not, there are so many ways you can boost your income. The problem is that many ideas simply sound too weird or wacky to ever be taken seriously. Never fear! Your friendly neighbourhood money geeks have found a bunch of ideas that might just be crazy enough to work…

[July 2016 update: Yes, we’ve done it… 20 weird and wonderful ways to make money part two and part three!]

1. Trade in empty ink cartridges for cash

I’m no statistisst-isst-ician (yes, that’s a word) but I’m pretty confident that most homes in Britain have empty ink cartridges lying at the bottom of a drawer.

Instead of letting your ink cartridges languish away in the shadows send them to The Recycling Factory, who will pay you up to £4.10 per empty cartridge. Printer Cartridge Recycling lets you fill an online ‘basket’ with your empties and start paying back when it hits £5. You could even have a cheeky rummage through your friend and family’s old printers when they’re not looking (just kidding…obviously).

2. Get paid for your holiday snapshots

Stock photos can get samey, so businesses are always looking for brand new images to buy. Why not cash in?

You don’t have to be a camera wizard to take photos worth paying for. Can you make real life money with wow gold. If you have some digital snaps with decent resolution, consider selling them to online agencies such as Fotolia and 123rf. Every time someone buys one of your pictures you’ll get a royalty fee, and the subject matter can cover anything you want (within reason).

(Are you planing on jetting off somewhere? Here’s how to plan a fantastic holiday on a budget!)

3. Become a life model

You don’t need to have the body of an Adonis to become a work of art. Local colleges and universities constantly cry out for body types of all shapes, size and age as subject matter for their Da Vincis in the making. Some models earn around £10 per hour, and you may even be able to pick your favourite drawing to take home and keep!

(Hobbies are great for your wellbeing and can even give a little boost to your income. Find out how to make extra money through your hobbies!)

4. Sell your hair

Since the dawn of time, long hair has been a hallmark of a woman’s beauty (the occasional man too – romance novel model Fabio Lanzoni springs to mind). Hair extensions are more popular than ever, so if you have lovely long locks you can cash in!

Hop on Gumtree and you’ll find a plethora of ads from wigmakers willing to pay cold hard cash for your hair. It’s also worth contacting your local colleges and hair salons to see if they need ‘hair models’ to fine-tune their craft on.

Easy Money Making Ideas

5. Rent your back garden out to campers

If you live in a leafy or rural area and have a large back garden or patch of land here’s a clever way to make some quick cash while the sun’s shining: rent out your lawn to some happy campers!

AirBNB is an online hub that allows folks to list their back garden for camping. This is great news for holidaymakers wanting to set up camp for a relatively cheap price.

It’s free to list your garden as a potential camping spot, and you can even choose the amount you want to charge to campers (you pay 3% upon a successful booking), so everyone wins!

6. Flog it for a fiver

Ever wondered how you can make a quick few bob from your writing, acting or drawing skills? Maybe you’re a master photo retoucher or you’re happy to wear someone’s logo on your face for a day.

American site Fiverr.com lets you earn money by doing anything from writing a sweet ukelele jingle to creating a custom cartoon character. You can net $4 (roughly £2.50) each time you do one of a wide variety of small tasks. It won’t turn you into a millionaire overnight but it’s a great way to earn pennies in a pinch.

7. Get paid to buy booze

Got an 18-19 year old skulking around the house? Maybe you are that 18-19 year old, stuck indoors on a sunny day with no cash. If you’d sooner be down the pub with your mates, you can now get paid for it!

Serve Legal needs young folk to find out if pubs are serving people who could potentially be underage. It’s a paid gig and your drinks and travel costs are also covered. Find out how to apply.

8. Take some tourists sightseeing

You love where you live, and you love to show it off when far-off friends or family come to visit. You probably also hate falling into ‘tourist traps’ when you yourself go on holiday, so why not help others avoid them too?

Sign up to Vayable and put together a cheap and cheerful tour that visitors will love. You get to set your own rates for what each tourist will pay (Vayable take a 3% cut) while showing off what you believe are your hometown’s best features.

Online Money Making Ideas

Get some punters through the doors of your favourite family-run pub, or take them to that little-known local pencil museum you’ve been meaning to check out (okay, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea). Who knows? You make some out-of-town friends who can give you a tour around their home town in return!

9. Earn clubcard points for empty cans

We found this great tip on MoneySavingExpert.com. Instead of putting your empty drinks cans out for the dustman, take them to Tesco and trade them in for Clubcard points. They’re worth 1p in store but up to four times as much if you redeem them on things such as days out or breakdown cover, so it’s really worth doing.

All you need to do is check that your local Tesco has a recycling service. Go to the Tesco store locator to find a Tesco near you. If it has a recycling logo under the store name, you’re sorted!

10. Sell your trees

James told me that one of our debt advisors recently sold a monkey puzzle tree from her back garden on eBay.

Firstly, monkey puzzle trees are the weirdest looking trees ever*. Secondly, selling your unwanted shrubbery makes total sense. Trees take ages – sometimes half a century – to grow into anything remotely impressive. Ain’t nobody got time for that!

If you’re debating taking a hacksaw to your hawthorn, check first to see if someone’s willing to dig it up and cart it off for you. Better yet, they’ll pay you for the privilege.

(*MoneyAware does not share the opinions of the writer. We’re actually big fans of the majestic monkey puzzle tree.)

11. Refer a friend that’s perfect for the job

We all have that one fantastic friend who’s hardworking, loyal, and pretty much the bees knees, if only they could net the perfect job!

Should you have such a pal (or are that pal), then jobsearch site Refermehappy wants to hear from you. Join as either a ‘referrer’ or a ‘friend’ and you’ll get a referral bonus from the company should your friend get hired for a job you connect them up with.

12. Answer some bizarre text messages

If you’re a bit of a texting fiend, then this tip is for you. ChaCha lets people text any question – no matter how random – and can get an answer back in minutes. If you reply to these questions, you get paid!

It couldn’t be simpler. Log in to ChaCha to answer questions ranging from ‘What Pokemon takes less steps to hatch?’ to ‘How do I make myself more attractive?’. Again, at 15p per question, it’s a ‘slow and steady

Real Money Making Ideas