Isn't it strange that however much you earn, it never quite lasts until the end of the month? Many people need to earn 'a bit on the side' to pay for extras or just to pay off debts.
Of course there's always babysitting or the usual bar or shop shifts at weekends, but you can't always get that kind of work and, anyway, who wants to do yet more childcare when you've been doing it all week?
In fact, there are loads of ways you can make some extra cash, often with a minimum of time and effort. It's just a question of looking around, asking friends and thinking laterally. What are other people doing? What skills do you have you could sell elsewhere? What things do you have in your home you could make money from? If you sit down and think about it, you might be surprised at how much you could make. And many money-making pursuits will happily fit around childcare work.
For a start, how about taking part in market research focus groups? A few companies - not many - in Britain have a pool of people they call on regularly to join a focus group. Saros Research (www.sarosresearch.com), for example, has a database that you can join, putting in your details including age, sex, earning levels and so on, so that when a focus group is being put together and they need someone like you, they will e-mail you an invitation.
The 'work' is very easy. You will go to a local office and sit around a table, giving your opinions on a product or an advert or similar. It could be anything from electric blankets to ice cream or BMWs. You can receive between 30 and 100 for a session, depending on what you are talking about in the focus group - plus free food! You can also earn money by recruiting other people for the focus groups.
Australian nanny Sue Anderton says that she has taken part in two focus groups for Saros Research so far and has made 110 just for sitting around talking about electric blankets and shampoo. 'It's a nice way to make some money,' she says. 'You meet people you wouldn't normally get to know and they give you food and drink too. It's not hard and it is actually quite interesting to talk about these products. It makes you think about things you usually take for granted.'
Then there's mystery shopping. Thousands of ordinary people in the UK get paid, rather than pay, to go shopping, eat out in a restaurant or just pop out for a drink. Fees per visit vary between companies, but they are usually between about 6 and 20 - and of course expenses are paid, so your food and drink is covered as well.
LET ME ENTERTAIN YOU
To get this work you will need to register with mystery shopping companies (see box). When you go into shops, pubs, ticket offices or wherever, you will be asked to note and report on aspects such as the decor and tidiness of the place, the number of counters, customers or staff members, staff members' names and their job descriptions. It's not difficult and it means you can get free dinners, free cosmetics and even free nights in hotels.
That can't be bad!
Of course, anyone with experience of childcare can expand into related areas like entertaining at children's parties. There's a huge demand for fun and charismatic people to entertain, particularly as so many parents seem to be in competition with each other when it comes to producing the best events. Obviously you need some sort of act. It helps if you are already skilled in magic tricks, balloon-modelling, juggling, crafts or comedy, but even if you lack any of those skills, if you love children and if you know how to keep them enthralled for half an hour or more, you will be able to find work in your area. In London the going rate is around 15 per child with a minimum of, say, 15 children. Outside of that area it is about 10.
If you live near a university or teaching hospital you could get work in a psychological research department. The tests they put you through are usually pretty easy, involving either brain scans or simple memory tests, and you get between 10 and 60 per session. You will be paid cash for your time and your travel expenses, although many departments will only recruit in their local area. For example, Clinical Neuroscience in Kent recruits people for memory tests, brain imaging and cognitive function studies. The Manchester-based School for Psychiatry and Behavioural Sciences will pay up to 60 a session for brain scanning and imaging studies.
Then, of course, there's the internet. If you have access to a computer you can make money in various ways. You can sell pretty much anything on www.ebay.co.uk, and countless people do! Some make a constant, good living out of it, others just use it to sell stuff they don't want any more.
Selling on eBay is not hard, but do a bit of research before you take the plunge. The website has all sorts of tutorials to guide you through the selling/buying/bidding process and it's well worth studying the ins and outs before you start using it. Many people only like to sell books, videos, DVDs or CDs, for which www.amazon.co.uk is the most popular site.
London nanny Ayesha Fields regularly sells items on eBay and on Amazon.
'It's a great way of making money from things you don't want anymore,' she says. 'I have a purge of my belongings every now and then, and it's a great feeling to be tidier and make money!'
Once you really get into the process of selling on the internet, you could set up your own retail site. The concept is simple enough - you sell (either products or a service), the customer pays (ideally by clicking her mouse a few times), you send (either by post if it's goods, or over the net if it's services), and that's it. The possibilities are endless. You could sell food, T-shirts, lawnmowers, CDs or designer bras. Services you offer could be Christian dating, tarot card-reading, song-critiquing, child-rearing advice or style tips!
ON WITH THE SHOW
If you work part-time or have days off during the week, you could sign up to be a film and TV extra or 'walk-on'. Anyone can do it. You don't need any acting ability or particular looks, but you do need to be available on weekdays. Just contact some extras agencies and get yourself on their books. 'Check with the union BECTU if you want to know if an agency is approved,' says Rob Martin of Casting Collective agency. 'There are some sharks out there who will charge a fee and then do nothing for you, so check them out.' The basic pay is Pounds 64.50 per day, but you can get up to 200 with 'add-ons'.
One very occasional way of making sensible money which very few people know about, even with the general election still fresh in our minds, is being a poll clerk. This is an important job that only happens about once a year but pays very well - about 230 for the day, in fact. Election day polling stations have to be staffed in order for candidates to be elected and, if you can get that day off, why shouldn't it be you there?
First of all, apply to your local council to express your interest and your name will be put on a list. If you are successful, you will be sworn in the day before the election. As a poll clerk you have to issue the ballot papers, and register and tick off each person as they come to vote. You can also apply to help count the ballot papers in the evening, but be aware that this is pretty frantic work.
If all else fails, you could sell your body!... well, bits of it. It is possible to sell your hair. It must be at least six inches long and clean and have had no colouring, perming or tinting. The main buyer of real hair for wigs, extensions and so on is Banbury Postiche. 'People can send us their hair by post and if we want it, we'll weigh it and send them a cheque back,' says sales director Nick Allen. 'If it's not right we'll just send it back to them.' The fees paid are 3 per ounce if your hair is six to 12 inches long and 5 per ounce if it is more than 12 inches long.
The company has asked me to point out, though, that no one is going to get rich by selling their hair!
Jasmine Birtles is author of A Bit on the Side: 500 Ways to Boost Your Income (Piatkus, 10.99)
USEFUL CONTACTS
Mystery shopping
* Retaileyes www.retaileyes.co.uk
* TNS www.tns-global.co.uk
* IMS www.ukims.co.uk
* Cinecheck www.cinecheck.com, tel: 0800 5870520
Psychological research
* Biotrax www.biotrax.co.uk,tel: 0161 736 7312 (information on centres doing psychological research as well as medical)
* Clinical Neuroscience Research tel: 01322 286862
TV and film extras
* The Casting Collective www.castingcollective.co.uk,tel: 020 8962 0099
* Ray Knight www.rayknightcasting.co.uk, tel: 020 7722 4111
Selling your hair
* Wigsuk.com (also known as Banbury Postiche), tel: 01295 750606
* Wig Specialities www.wigspecialities.co.uk, tel: 020 7262 6565
