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Kristian Charles Williams

Kristian Charles Williams

May 10, 2023

How to make money during COVID19 (part 1)

Are there any legitimate ways to make enough money from home to substitute a salary on which one can live?

How to make money working from home during COVID19

Let's face it. We've all considered working from home! You actually even get tax returned for working from home!

Maybe you wont have to do any work if your holding just 1 full bitcoin? (if you are and thinking of selling bitcoin, then don't forget about the SA108 form haha!)

And in this post-lockdown 1.0 'Brave New World' many have proven that it is indeed possible to work from home and have lived to tell the tale.

The list of factors which have driven this new financial dawn include :

  • Children off from school and no childcare
  • Job Loss/redundancy
  • Still employed but time on your hands (Furlough)
  • Self-employed but with time on your hands (SEISS)
  • Quarantine and Self Isolation

Working from home is a subjective outing (is it not?) and the optimistic, home-loving individual will cling to the pro's and shun the cons whereas the more regimented, corporate-minion who is more used to the clinical, stifled atmosphere of an office may find the confines of their home for all 24 hrs of the day a little too much to bear.

For the home-lover you will relish avoiding the daily commute, working flexible hours, and having the ability to enjoy other pastimes in the sunlight of the daytime. You could even dive out and work from a coffee shop or an eatery to break the solitude of being in the house.

TAXO'D TOP TIP - Think working form home means extra utilities? Don't forget that their are lots of working from home expenses that are tax deductible.

So, this is Part 1 (of 2 : How to make money during COVID19) .... Let's have a better look at some of these paid 'gigs' you could look at as a part or full-time job working from home .. or as AmeriCANS like to coin it: 'The Side Hustle'!

Onwards my British hustlers...

1. Be a parcel-delivery driver

Gone are the days of the Royal Mail monopoly ... there are so many options for delivery driving now and so many companies (work for more than one if you wish) You can apply completely online, a DBS check would be carried out not to mention you would need to be able-bodied (certainly able-bodied enough to be in and out of the vehicle delivery parcels.) Payments are weekly, fortnightly, or monthly and many companies can even arrange for the van hire/lease (which in some cases you can do personal miles in) or if you already have a van (or a vehicle that is large enough) you can use this. All of these things are tax-deductible on your self-assessment. Yay! Companies include Amazon FLEX, YODEL, dpd, Hermes, PARCELFORCE, UPS, DX, DHL.

2. Deliver for high street stores

Argos, AO, TESCO, Sainsburys, ASDA, Waitrose, JOHN LEWIS all offer freelance home delivery jobs and you will find many jobs for this sector posted in popular job listing sites such as glassdoor, jobsite or indeed. Also here you will find more robust delivery jobs you will need qualifications for such as LGV deliveries.

3. Be a deliverer of tasty nosh

What rock have you been under if you haven't had food delivered by UberEats? well, you can deliver for them as well. Depending on your location often you can deliver on variable modes of transport (pedalbikes, scooters, cars, vans) Other companies include deliveroo, DOORDASH, JUSTEAT, GRUBHUB, zomato, Postmates, SWIGGY.

TAXO'D blog - work from home

4. Have a clear-out and sell your ST**

There's a lot of equity tied up in items around your home long-retired out of everyday use. There's some quick money to be made by selling your things. If you haven't used items for 6 months - get them listed on an online site. Some people love not having to deal with actual buyers (eBay, Etsy, Amazon, depop) but expect to pay more fees for these services. You will also have to ship all your sold items and all transactions will be made via PayPal. Other peeps are happier dealing with the buyers in person (Gumtree, shpock, Facebook Marketplace) where fees can be avoided and 'cash on collection' seems to be the most go-to currency. Other sites worthy of a mention are Autotrader, webuyanycar , wizzle, wewantanycar, and cash4cars (if you have a vehicle to sell) World of Books, ziffit or cex (if you have books, records, or DVD's / CD's to sell) and finally if you just want to get rid of your things and support charitable organisations : OXFAM are great for old clothes, the British Heart Foundation is great for furniture and you can always find a Cash for Clothes near you which will give you a very modicum financial reward for your clothes, bric-a-brac, toys, and electrical items.

5. Sell unused gift cards

Couldn't be more straightforward. If you have unused balances on gift cards .. companies such as Cardyard and Zapper will buy and sell these in exchange for cash. Use of home as office? Exactly! You don't even have to go outside ;-)

6. Sell your old mobile phone

Here's a great home based job without investment! Sell your mountain of old phones. As expected the prices will be less than selling them elsewhere but if time is not on your side and you want a hassle-free life then try these sites for selling unwanted mobile phones: sellmymobile, mazuma, and musicmagpie.

TAXO'D TOP TIP - Make sure to keep all your NOKIA3310's. As (let's face it) the only way to dispose of these is in a Red Hyper Giant Star.
TAXO'D blog - work from home

7. Online Research job. Complete surveys

The money is reportedly piiiiiiish! Nominal... I mean Nominal! but the work is both mentally and physically untaxing. It helps if you are a match for the survey's target audience. Do not waste your time on surveys that require you to sign up for an email list or give any of your details as these are nothing more than advertising. The best-paid survey sites include i-say, Swagbucks, opinion outpost, opinion bureau, Toluna, MOBROG, e-rewards, UNIVOX, Panelbase, and YouGov.

8. Complete simple tasks

Work form home jobs near me? From assembling an IKEA desk to planting flowers... From correcting online texts to sourcing images for Captcha checks - tasks are often relatively simple things that some people cannot do or simply do not have the time to do. Sources of paid task-work include TaskRabbit, EasyShift, clickworker, Appen, MTurk.

9. Complete bigger tasks

Basically .. BECOME A FREELANCER! A freelancer can be so many things but will require you to be a master (OK .. by that I mean 'to have knowledge of') a certain skill like graphic design or SEO management. Work remotely (part time jobs from home) and respond directly to people who have posted a job. Fiverr and Upwork are very popular but also check out flexjobs, 99designs, guru, Toptal, PeoplePerHour, freelancer, Truelancer, and Outsourcely.

TAXO'D blog - work from home

10. Try to break products

When launching a new product, whether it is a new toy for pets or a new fizzy drink for kids, brands need to make sure the product fits their target market. And that's where you come in .. and they will pay you, offer you gift card rewards or charitable donations! paidproducttesting, testerjob, UserTesting, trymyUI, and LifePoints are popular product testing sites.

And breath ..

Good luck my freelance brother and sisters in these worryingly exciting or excitingly worrying times. We will all prevail .... it simply depends on how we choose to approach it.

Tune in for Part 2 : (How to make money during COVID19).... coming to a social distanced 'Blag' blog soon!

Why not let TAXO'D tax return app for freelancers handle all of your tax woes?

We provide an end-to-end tax solution for all freelancers and most self-employed tax payers. Record as you go, know what you owe and file direct to HMRC. No Green Form. No More Accountants. All from your phone or desktop.

TAXO'D is a salary tax calculator. You record as you go (on your phone or your computer) day by day, throughout the tax year. As the weeks unfold and you are actively recording your income and expenses. With TAXO'D personal tax app - you will see in real-time displays the tax and National Insurance that you owe.With TAXO'D tax return software know exactly what tax you owe and when you owe it. Simple.

TAXO'D mobile tax tool does away with the need for an accountant, saving you further money and time. If you are earning money independently and responsible for your own taxes then sign up today. And find out why TAXO'D is the best self assessment software for freelancers and contractors.

Tax Sucks! Spend less time and money on it with TAXO'D tax filing app

Disclaimer: This is simply a guide and should not be treated as tax advice. Contact HMRC directly if you need tax advice.

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TAXO'D blog Author

Kristian Charles Williams

Head of Growth, Partnerships & Mugician

A freelance human and one that resides in creative industries. For the best part I have been an independent musician and a (not-so-independent) composer.

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