There are plenty of ways to boost your income. Some of them are even fun.

1. Cash in on your home

The Government's Rent a Room scheme allows homeowners to receive up to £4,250 a year in rent from a lodger tax-free. You can also rent out your garage or parking space at Gumtree or specialist websites. Good spots can fetch £40 a week.

2. Be a guinea-pig

Sign up as a secret shopper at RetailEyes for the chance to make money by using shops and services incognito and reporting back on your experience. An assignment might involve using a gym or going for drinks with friends, and pays about £6 an hour plus expenses. Most can be done during evenings, weekends or lunchtimes, so can be fitted around a full-time job.

3. Register as an extra

Occasional work as a “supporting artiste” on film and television productions pays about £80 to £160 a day. Benefits include good free food and the chance to make friends and glimpse famous actors. Agents charge a joining fee and commission and are listed at Nasaa.

4. Trade online

If you own unwanted items that are saleable, why not make some money from them? Selling goods on eBay is not free - you pay a small upfront insertion fee, plus commission of up to 8.75 per cent on completion - but the site gives you access to a wide market. An alternative is to try your luck at Gumtree, where listings are free.

5. Sell your skills

Capitalise on any marketable abilities that you have by, for example, teaching French or walking dogs in the evening or at weekends. You can advertise in local newspapers, newsagents' windows, or free of charge at SetYourRate.

6. Join a time bank

More than 100,000 Britons have joined local exchange trading systems (Lets), or time banks. These schemes enable members to trade skills, and sometimes goods, using credits rather than cash. Find out more at LETSlinkUK and TimeBanks.

7. Grow your own food

A garden patch or allotment can produce vegetables that would retail at £1,000-plus a year, albeit in return for a significant commitment of time and effort - think of it as a free workout thrown in. The Royal Horticultural Society's Grow Your Own campaign offers plenty of advice here.

8. Claim your share of benefits

Billions of pounds in tax credits go unclaimed each year. Citizens Advice says that many people entitled to the working tax credit and child tax credit do not claim. Check at Entitledto or Citizens Advice.

9. Track down old accounts

Up to £15 billion is held in about half a million dormant accounts - where a bank or building society has been unable to contact the holder. Mylostaccount brings together the tracing schemes of the British Bankers' Association, the Building Societies Association and National Savings & Investments.

10. Part-time work

10. Working a few hours a week can provide a valuable supplement to a student loan, full-time salary, or a pension. B&Q, the DIY retailer, has a well-known policy of welcoming older workers, as does Universal Aunts, the home and family help provider that offers male and female “aunts” to take on jobs including collecting children from school, shopping or cooking a meal. For general listings, go to Reed, the employment website.

Five news stories

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Five websites

Mylostaccount.org.uk

RHS Grow Your Own

Gumtree

eBay

Citizens Advice