To be able to enjoy our lives and cover the costs of the things we want and need, boosting our incomes is a high priority. Everything costs something, so being able to earn enough to cover all of life’s essential outgoings is vital to avoid financial hardship. Many people have to balance spending on luxuries with their essential outgoings such as mortgage or rent payments, utility bills, food, and other household bills. Whilst some find this easy to do, others may struggle if they are on low incomes, meaning non-essential spending has to be cut back. If you are looking for ways to boost your income, here are 5 of the best passive income ideas that may help in the short and long term.
Having your savings work for you can provide an effortless boost each month. There are plenty of savings products available that may provide a better return than your current choiceof savings account. Ideally, you will have both a regular savings and a separate emergency savings fund, both of which can earn interest. If you don’t already have emergency savings, you can still apply through a payday loans direct lender that can help you cover an emergency expense when funds are low. This can help you in the short term whilst you build your savings up. Long-term, you can then have savings earning a good amount of interest, so compare savings accounts such as cash ISAs online and find one that will provide the best option.
Some may have more flexible terms than others, so if you need to have instant access to your savings, you may not want to choose an account that needs to be left for 12 months or more. Keep in mind that interest rates can go up and down, so during tough economic circumstances, interest rates may be low resulting in less ROI on your savings.
If you are not already exploring your investment opportunities, it’s a good idea to start. The right investment can provide the perfect passive income, as all you have to do is choose an amount you are happy to invest and then watch the stock grow. Investing is not without its risks, so whilst there is the potential for your shares to rise in value, they can also drop as there are no guarantees. Fortunately, there are many people who are experts when it comes to choosing investments, so if you are unsure where to start, speaking to a financial advisor can help guide you.
Perhaps you are interested in cryptocurrency markets and it’s potential, or you want to invest in a property instead. Whether you are looking at buying stocks or shares, or instead want to focus on physical assets to invest in, there are plenty of options. Buying physical assets is a potential alternative, such as buying artworks that could increase in value, or property that can be renovated and sold for profit. Investing your money well can help you receive an ROI that makes it worthwhile.
Maybe you have already started a blog that you enjoy updating regularly, or you have always thought about doing so. If you have a passion for something or a hobby that you are knowledgeable about, you could potentially not only increase your followers or page views but also increase your income. As a passive income, this would take longer to achieve than other ideas and requires more effort as you will need to write regularly in your spare time. If you are already not a confident writer, you may struggle to begin with, but long term you can find your stride and start to monetise your blog when it becomes popular. To do so you can look at selling affiliate products or running ads, for example, that will appear on your blog. Over time you could see this form of passive income grow and it will eventually require less effort on your part.
Alternatively, if you aren’t wanting to write a blog, you could start a video blog or vlog instead. Maybe you are more comfortable in front of the camera and have always liked the idea of earning through a video streaming site. Again, this will take more effort to begin with as you will still need to create content, but long term you could earn passively from video views that you made in the past. With a growing following, you could start promoting ads on your channel as well as partner with a brand to grow further.
If you own your property and have any spare rooms or even a driveway with space, you could look to list their availability to earn income. With many people looking to house share or rent a room, if you have the space and you don’t mind welcoming a lodger, you could help pay the bills by renting out a room. Unlike the other ideas, this needs careful consideration as you are potentially sharing your living space with a stranger, but if you are happy to move forward, you could save money on your mortgage and boost your savings.
If you don’t want to rent a room, you could look to hire out your driveway or parking space instead. With parking at a premium and many people looking for alternatives, there are plenty of people who list their driveways or parking spaces for use and earn a passive income doing so. This may not be the most lucrative idea, but if someone uses it every working day of the week, over time this will present a nice boost to your earnings.
Every time you spend cash, you have the potential to earn cashback on goods and services. By signing up for cashback and rewards schemes, you could passively earn and save money along the way. You won’t have to do anything different with your spending either, so after signing up to a scheme and registering your details, you can begin to earn straight away. Whilst some purchases will provide a small amount of cashback, if you are planning to buy a specific gift or large ticket item, you could earn plenty of points that can then be converted.
There are also many credit card providers that provide reward schemes on spending. As long as you stay within your credit limit and are paying off your balances regularly on time, the earnings on every purchase can quickly mount up. As well as the traditional cashback websites, you may find money saving apps you can install on your device too. All you have to do is register your debit card and the discounts are applied automatically after each purchase on eligible goods.
