It can be hard to make your money last while at university or college.
You can cut back your spending when you’re low on money, but there’s only so much you can reduce your spending. However, there’s no limit to the amount you can earn – which is why trying to earn more cash can be a great way to improve your money situation!
Here are 5 ways to make money as a student, with some info to help you decide if each option will be right for you.
Create online content that people love 📲
Being successful on social media or other online platforms takes a lot of work and dedication. But if you are willing to put in the work, it can really pay off.
One of the best ways to earn money from online content is by creating YouTube videos. By consistently creating videos that provide value for your viewers, your channel will grow and people will share your content. Once you reach a minimum number of subscribers and watch time, you can then start earning money from ads in your videos.
Blogging is another way to earn money online. If you continuously put out quality content, your audience will grow and you can earn money through advertising, sponsored blog posts and affiliate marketing (you include a link to a product in your blog post, and if someone buys the product through that link, you earn a percentage of the sale).
You can also earn money on TikTok. As with YouTube, valuable content will get liked and shared and you can grow your audience really quickly, much quicker than on any other platform. Again, once you reach a minimum number of followers and video views, you can join TikTok’s Creator Fund and earn money based on how popular your videos are.
The key is to make sure you’re providing value to your viewers – this can be by educating, entertaining or inspiring them.
Sell what you already have 💰
Why not look around your room and see if there’s anything you can get rid of?
One person’s trash is another person’s treasure, so you’re likely to have stuff you don’t use anymore that someone else would love to have – instead of letting it take up space, or throwing it away, go and make some money from it.
Whether you’ve got books, clothes, electronics or something else, there’s a website or app where you can sell your stuff. Some of the most popular sites are:
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eBay (where you can sell pretty much anything)
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Vinted (for clothes and accessories)
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Facebook Marketplace (also a big range of stuff)
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Depop (mainly clothes but increasingly other items, too)
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We Buy Books (books, games, CDs & DVDs – if you even remember what those are 💿)
You’ll need a bit of time to take photos of and list your items, but it can be really worth it.
Tutoring & teaching 💻
As well as the stuff you already have, why not sell the skills you’ve built up over the years?
Through school and any extracurricular stuff you’ve done, you’ll have learned lots and gained lots of skills – and there are people out there who want or need to learn what you know.
If you’re studying a subject for your degree (or you studied it in school), you’ll be able to tutor students that are studying it at either GCSE or A Level – plus, it should be quite easy to do if you’ve studied the subject at that level yourself.
It’s becoming more and more common to tutor online, meaning you can tutor people from anywhere and it’s very convenient. You can sign up to tutoring sites such as MyTutor or Superprof, or you can try to strike out on your own by using your contacts, setting up a website or starting a social media account for your own tutoring business! 🙏
You can also teach things other than school subjects. For example, if you’ve danced your whole life 💃 or your spaghetti bolognese makes the crowd go wild 🍝, you can try teaching dance or cookery classes.
Part-time jobs 💼
The most traditional way of earning money as a student but also the surest way of guaranteeing an income at university.
Bars and restaurants are a great place to start – they’re always looking for new staff. Just pop in with your CV and see if they have any openings.
You’ll also have access to lots of university jobs only available to students at your uni. Your student union is likely to have lots of jobs on offer and there might be jobs available for working at reception or elsewhere in any of the uni buildings.
This is probably the least flexible option as you’ll usually have to commit to a minimum number of hours or shifts, but it’s still a great way to make money as a student.
Deliver stuff 🚴
We know you probably love a good takeaway every now and again – how about making money from delivering them, too?
If you’ve got a car or a bike, you can sign up to work for takeaway delivery apps. Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat are the most popular options and they’re always looking for new drivers.
There are also grocery delivery apps that have become extremely popular since the start of 2020. Apps like Getir, Weezy and Gorillas need drivers to help meet their growing demand.
With these apps, you usually get paid per delivery, so you can sometimes end up sitting around and not getting any orders, one thing to be aware of if you choose this way to make money.
Further reading
Calculating the true cost of your subscriptions
