Ways to increase your income

Claim benefits ›

People miss out on millions of pounds in benefits each year. Have you checked you are getting everything you can apply for? Such as council tax discounts and tax credits.

Track down money you have missed out on ›

Gretel is an organisation that can help you find lost accounts and unclaimed funds. Such as your first bank account.

Make sure you are being paid under the right tax code ›

You could be on the wrong tax code if you recently started work or changed jobs. Find your tax code on your latest payslip, P45 or P60.

Use the government’s ‘Help to Save’ scheme ›

If you are on a low income, you could use this and boost your savings by 50p each time you save £1.00. It is open to people on Working Tax Credit and Universal Credit.

Get others to contribute more

Ask adult children for board. Ask everyone you live with to contribute to bills, shopping or maintenance. It can be hard to ask for money, but make others pay their way.

Get government support for mortgage payments ›

If you are on some benefits, you can apply for a loan from the government. It is paid to your lender to stop your repayment rate from rising. By law, it must stay at a low rate.

De-clutter to raise cash ›

Is there anything you really would not miss that you could sell? You might be surprised. Take a photo and upload it to an online re-seller. Just avoid hidden costs, like postage.

Apply for grants for energy and water bills ›

There are a number of funds set up by the utility companies to help people on low incomes. You may not even have to be a customer of the company who helps you.

Get support for parents from the government ›

The Sure Start Maternity Grant may be able to give you a one-off payment of £500. Apply for free school meals and money for school uniforms and transport. 

Ask for more money from your boss

They might be willing to pay more to keep you. Look at adverts for jobs like yours and see if you are being paid fairly. Back this up with facts about your skills and experience.

Get a part-time job

If you have some free time can you take on some bar shifts or shop work? Or there are ‘work-from-home in your spare time’ jobs. Such as user-testing and filling out surveys.

Work extra hours

Can you pick up some extra shifts at work? If you can work nights and bank holidays, or be on call, you can ask to be paid a higher rate. But please don’t overdo it.