5 Ways To Boost Your Income During Lockdown

*This is a collaborative post

We are living in trying times, and this is especially true when it comes to our finances. Many of us have had to make changes to our finances due to the losses in income that the pandemic has caused.

Chances are, you may have been affected too.

With bills to pay and food to put on the table, it’s a stressful time at the moment, but if you are relating to what we’re saying, here are some ways to boost your income.

#1: Sell anything you don’t need

Do you have items at home that you no longer use, perhaps because you have replaced them with something else? Ask yourself, could I sell my mobile, my old laptop, or those books that have been gathering dust for years? Could I sell the DVDs I no longer watch or the music CDs that have become redundant because of Spotify and Alexa? Check Amazon, eBay, and the various specialist sites online, and sell anything that isn’t needed or wanted in your life.

#2: Make sure you’re getting what you’re owed

The government announced a range of plans to help people financially, so it might be that you qualify for extra support. Such support includes furloughed wages if you are employed or a taxable grant if you work on a self-employed basis. At the very least, you should claim unemployment benefit if you have no other income coming in, so check online for how to apply. 

#3: Make money from your hobbies

You’re probably spending more time with your hobbies now that you’re in lockdown, so use them to make money if you can. If you enjoy writing, you could use one of the freelance job sites that are available to writers. If you enjoy craft activities, such as painting, sewing, and woodwork, you could sell your work online, using sites such as Etsy. Or you could set up your own website, and use that as your selling platform, for whatever it is you can offer people.

#4: Sell your story

Do you have a story to share with the world? It might be something to do with life post-quarantine, or you might have something else to share from those halcyon days when life seemed relatively normal! If so, sites such as Real People accept ideas from all kinds of people, and they then publish stories they like in their magazine. Just imagine your face lining the shelves of supermarkets across the country! Check out their website to find out more. 

#5: Start a blog

If you have something to share with the world, you could set up a blog online. It’s possible to make money through advertising and affiliate links, so research ideas for how to get started on one of the many How-To sites online. There are also blogging tips on our website, so check out some of the articles we have published already, and find out how we have managed to bring in an income.

Those were just a few ideas – we hope they were useful – but if you have any other tips for our readers, please share them in the comments section below.