- Cut your energy bills in time for Christmas
- Check if you're energy obese
By Chiara Cavaglieri, financial expert from Moneymagpie.com
Here's a round-up of the quickest-to-arrange Christmas money-makers around. Follow these tips and you can earn some extra dosh to help you through the Xmas period.
Christmas Jobs:
Be a Santa
You could make up to £200 dressing up as a Christmas character. Santas and elves are in demand from early November until Christmas Day (and occasionally beyond) to entertain children and adults at parties, department stores, shopping centres and even nightclubs.
It's not just a job for the men though. Elves are in high demand and are generally women.
Dress up as the man himself or one of his little helpers and get paid to make kids happy!
Apply for work either through an agency like StarNow.co.uk, or by answering ads in papers or online at sites like Gumtree.com.
Go to the jobs section of Gumtree and enter Santa or Christmas into the search box to see what comes up. You could also post an ad offering your services as a Santa/elf.
Be a Christmas postie
Being a part-time postman can be a great way to earn extra cash in the run-up to Christmas. Royal Mail take on about 20,000 extra staff in November and December to help cope with the increased volume of mail.
These jobs offer flexible working hours, good rates of pay and are available nationwide. Mail sorters can expect to earn between £5.95 and £7 per hour, while experienced drivers can make up to £18 an hour.
There is also money to be made delivering catalogues and brochures over the festive season. Often these deliveries can be done in your own time, which is great if you're busy preparing for Christmas.
Check out websites like Gumtree to find delivery jobs in your local area. Just watch out for companies that ask for cash deposits as they may be scams.
Shop work
Working in retail is a great way to make a bit on the side at Christmas. A lot of high street stores, particularly big department stores, need an extra helping hand to deal with the Christmas rush.
Try big chains like Marks & Spencer, Next and Debenhams. Visit the stores and ask if they have application forms for Christmas work.
Not only will you be paid higher rates if you work bank holidays, but you're likely to get a discount in store too, so you could save on your Christmas prezzies!
Host a Product Party
Christmas is a great time to host a party with friends and family. A consultant will come round with the products and show you and your guests how they work. You can all test them out and have a giggle. Choose the company that sells the kind of products you would want to buy.
As a hostess you don't usually make any money, but you will get some free products and discounts and there will be special offers on a regular basis. In addition, if you have a great time you could become a consultant and organise the parties from the other side.
As a consultant you earn commission on the items sold at any party you arrange.
Virgin Vie - www.virginvieathome.com Ann Summers - www.annsummers.com Body Shop - www.thebodyshop.co.uk Just Trade - www.justtrade.co.uk/party Shoes Galore - www.shoes-galore.co.uk/party I Am Natural - www.iamnatural.co.uk/party
Bar Work
As with high street stores, pubs and bars often take on extra staff over holiday periods and particularly at Christmas.
If you're willing to work on Christmas Eve, Boxing Day and New Year's Eve, you can expect double the usual hourly rate. Apply now, as these jobs tend to go pretty quickly.
Promoting clubs
It may sound too good to be true, but you really can get paid to party. Clubs in cities all over the country need more punters to come through their doors and spend money.
So if you love clubbing, have lots of friends and you're reasonably organised, you can make money from going out!
The idea is to create your own guest list for a nightclub from as many of your own contacts as possible. Depending on the club, you’ll get a certain amount of commission for every person you bring to the event.
Babysitting
Spend a couple of nights looking after some rug rats and make good money. Go it alone or join an agency, which is sometimes easier than having to ask friends and neighbours for payment.
Babysitters are generally paid a minimum of £5 per hour, but it can vary a lot from region to region and depending on the person's level of experience.
In central London you can expect around £10 per hour. Apply to an agency like TopNotchNannies.com for babysitting, nanny and maternity nurse work.
Get Selling:
Christmas cards
Handmade cards are always nicer than store-bought ones. As well as being unique and thoughtful, they can be easy to make. You can even make them while sitting in front of the TV, then sell them at local shops or markets.
If your Christmas designs do well, there's every chance customers will come back for something different on other occasions. Get all your Christmas card materials from KookyKards.com.
Alternatively, you could become a greetings card writer.
Christmas cakes and biscuits
Love spending time in the kitchen? Use your culinary skills to whip up some desserts and sell them at car boot sales or markets. Find your nearest car boot sale here at www.carbootjunction.com. You'll need to have a good few recipes under your belt and a reasonable idea of what people would buy.
Phones
Sell your old mobiles - a good many people have a few rusting in drawers, but there are now companies which will pay you decent sums for them. Check how much you could get.
Make sure you check prices for your model on a number of sites to see which pays the most. You can also recycle your old iPods at Bananagreen, www.bananagreen.com.
Books
Have a good clear out of old books that you've finished reading them. Not only is it a great way to make some extra space ready for all those Christmas presents, but the books can be sold to make some extra cash.
Visit GreenMetropolis.com where you can make £3 for every book you sell. Register your details on the website (for free), enter the book's ISBN number (check the back of the book) and describe its condition.
Green Metropolis will then put the book into their bookstore. Once a book has been sold they send an email and credit your account.
You will have to pay to post the book to the buyer - but if it's a large paperback or hardback you can add that cost when you register the book.
There's no charge for listing your books, so it really is a great way to make money. And as an added bonus, 5p from every book sold is donated to the Woodland Trust's 'Plant a Tree' campaign.
Music CDs
Make up to £3 for each of your unwanted CDs at Musicmagpie.co.uk. Most of us have CDs lying around - and many people only listen to music on their computers anyway - so it's a brilliant way to make a bit of money on the side. You must sell between five and 250 CDs per transaction, and you'll receive between 25p and £3 per CD.
All you have to do is enter the CD barcodes and the website will make a cash offer for each one. Once you accept the offer, they'll send you prepaid padded envelopes to post your CDs - and as soon as they've been checked you'll receive your money.
