Renting out a room, building a blog that you can monetise, vending machines and selling online products are all ways you can bring in the extra cash you need to save, invest or free yourself from debt. I’m not going to pretend it’s easy, because it isn’t. Although it says “passive”, there is nothing “passive” about it. It takes hard work initially to set these systems up, but when you do, it is so worth it!

I strongly encourage you to start exploring how you can set up a passive income stream of cash into your life WHILE you manage your money carefully. There is no point in bringing in more money if you have poor money habits – it will just leak through your fingers faster than sand or water.

What is Passive Income?

Passive income seems to be a new ‘buzz phrase’ at the moment that a lot of people (especially online) are using.

But what exactly does this mean?

Passive income is money that comes into your life WITHOUT you needing to be at work or doing a lot to produce it after the first initial effort – in other words, when you’re on holiday, when you’re asleep, or when you’re going out for dinner, money is being made.

24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

Just about anybody who wants to build real wealth these days is turning to passive income, and thanks to the internet, it’s easier than ever. There are now so many ways to create passive income, and they are suitable for anybody.

Let’s talk about why you should look at passive income, and how you can start earning it.

Passive Income: The Key To Financial Freedom

So, why should anybody begin looking at passive income? Well, passive income is the key to financial freedom. Who wouldn’t want to be able to say that they are financially free? When you’re financially free, you no longer swap your time for money.

You’re not a slave to money, you can go where you want, when you want. You can earn while you’re sick and out of work – some even upkeep their passive income streams as their full-time job, and make more than they ever would in the rat race.

Anybody can be financially free, and people are doing it all over the world after reading stories from other people who have done it! Some people are literally using passive income streams to make millions.

Imagine being able to travel the world, visit the places you’d always wanted to visit, and money not be an issue at all? You can create this lifestyle when you start earning passive income! And no, it’s not too good to be true.

20+ of our Best UK Passive Income Streams

Now that you’re on board with the whole passive income thing, you should explore the various passive income streams you can use to begin making money. The key is to choose one, stick with it, and master it, before moving on to another one. Before you know it, you have a number of passive income streams under your belt and you’re making a decent amount of cash!

Read on to discover our best passive income ideas, and pick the ones you like the most.

Investing in Stocks and Shares

Investing offers a real opportunity to make a passive income, but it’s important to remember that all investments come with an element of risk. As a general rule, it’s advisable to only invest money that you can afford to lose, as your money can go up as well as down.

There are several ways you can invest in stocks and shares, and there are also different types of ‘risk’ levels. For example, the fintech app Plum offers the opportunity to get started with investing and has its own version of low, medium, and high-risk.

Micro Investing

Micro investing is a good way to dip your feet in the water if you’ve never invested before. You can download apps (such as the ones mentioned above) that basically do this for you. They ’round up’ your purchases into a dedicated savings pot and invest the pennies.

You could try this option to get a taste of whether it’s for you, then look at making larger investments later on. Like the Plum app mentioned above, Moneybox is another fintech app that offers you the opportunity to do this.

Investing in Rental Property

Investing in property to rent out is a great way to make a passive income if you have a large amount of money you’re looking to invest. It might be a great option for someone wondering what to do with an inheritance.

However, getting started with property investing can be tough. If you don’t really know where to start, it can be a good idea to find a property manager who will take care of most things for you. Of course, there’s a lot to think about; taxes, who will live in your property, how you’ll cope if you don’t get tenants right away, and so on. Do lots of research first before diving in.

Property Investing for Beginners

There are ways you can invest in property without owning any too, which can be great if you don’t have a huge amount of cash to get started. You could get started in crowdfunding, stocks and shares, or start ‘property networking’.

Make sure you do plenty of research first, and know exactly what you’re getting into before you part with your cash.

Rent Out a Room

Renting out a room is a good idea if you have one spare, and there are always people looking for rooms to rent. If you’re not keen on that idea, what about renting out your driveway (more on that below)? Usually, taking a look around your home with fresh eyes and a passive income mindset will allow you to find a way to make more money.

Rent Out Your Parking Space

If you live in a high-traffic area, this could be a great way to earn some extra money without having to do very much at all! Particularly if you live in an area where parking is at a premium, like in a city or in a popular tourist area.

Try a site such as Just Park, as seen on the BBC, The Times, The Guardian, and Sky. Just enter your postcode and see how much you could earn.

What Else Could you Rent Out?

Renting is a great way for people to use things that they might not otherwise be able to afford to buy. For example, perhaps you have some power tools that not everyone has access to, such as a pressure washer, or a combi-drill.

Another way of looking at it is that it’s much more sustainable to rent something than to buy new, particularly when it comes to fashion.

Online sustainable community By Rotation offers the opportunity to rent, lend, and buy designer fashion. While it’s not quite ‘passive’ income due to the small amount of admin required, it’s definitely worth considering if you have a love of clothes and want to help reduce your carbon footprint.

Try House-sitting

With something as simple as checking on the property, feeding any animals, or watering plants, it’s not technically a passive income. However, if the requirement is to actually stay at the property while the owner is away, you could be earning money while going about your daily business.

If you want to go travelling but money is tight, this can be a great way to get paid, rather than paying out, for accommodation. It’s particularly useful for people who work remotely and can work anywhere. Try a global site such as Trusted Housesitters, which connects property owners and sitters all over the world.

Write and Publish eBooks

Do you have a little writing talent that you’d like to flex? Just about anybody can write and publish their own e-book. You could even pay somebody else to write the book for you, while you reap the benefits!

However, marketing your e-book is usually what makes it successful, and you’ll likely only want to do that if you can happily put your name to it and be happy with the quality. If you have expertise in a certain subject, this could be a wonderful option for you!

Build and Monetise a Website

Anyone can create their own website these days, with platforms such as WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace. If you’ve always wanted to start a blog, you could pick a specialist niche to focus on and create content around keywords that will drive traffic to your site.

One of the best ways to monetise a website as a form of passive income is through affiliate marketing and ad placements, but you do need to make sure you have plenty of traffic coming to your site first. To make money initially, you could write sponsored posts for brands in your website niche that are looking for somewhere to publish promotional articles.

Start Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing can be a good option for YouTubers and bloggers, or those looking to get started in creating that kind of content. Simply placing affiliate links can help you to earn commission on the purchases that people make, without the purchaser taking on any extra costs.

If your content is in-depth enough, then people will likely make purchases that make you a decent amount of money. You can use affiliate marketing through social media channels, your website (see above), and email marketing.

As mentioned above, you do need a decent following/level of traffic. You can’t just send out an affiliate link to your Twitter account and expect to replace your income though. It takes time and patience to build an online following, so stay in it for the long game.

Flip Websites or Domain Names

Buying and selling doesn’t just apply to property or bricks and mortar businesses.

As every business needs a website, and more and more people are choosing to build an online business, the buying and selling of domain names and websites is a worthy enterprise. When coming up with a business name, it’s common sense to try and find a domain name that fits, and while some may be available, others may not. Particularly if it’s a popular niche.

If you’re quite creative with a little business savvy, you could purchase domain names that may prove popular, and resell them for a profit. Be aware that not all domain names may be up for demand, and that what seems like a good buy may not be that popular, and subsequently, might not sell. Check out the GoDaddy site for more information on domain name flipping.

Equally, someone may start an online business, such as a niche blog, and decide to sell it later down the line. If it’s a worthy investment and you’re technically minded, you could buy the business, spend some time tidying it up and building it further (or pay someone else to do it for you), then sell it on again.

Build an App

Have you ever thought of something that would make a great mobile app? If you’ve got a great idea for an app that will help solve a problem, then this can be a great way to make some passive income (although there will be a lot of upfront work, including marketing to raise awareness).

Take a look at this article from Appypie for more information on how to create an app.

Sell Stock Photos

With so much content on the internet, there will always be a demand for good quality photos to accompany articles. If you have a talent for photography, you can earn a passive income from any images that you have listed on stock photo websites. If you’re creative-minded, consider what kinds of images might be popular. Think of the types of online publications that might use images, such as travel bloggers, DIY websites, parenting blogs, etc. Check out this article from Shopify for more information on how to sell photos online.

Create and Sell an e-Course

Another great tip for those with knowledge on a specific subject; making an e-course. Making a quality course can be hard work, but you’ll only have to do it once. You will need to consider how you’ll market the course, as well as whether you’re going to give feedback to students’ assignments and things so they get the most out of it.

Think carefully about your target audience and find out what they want to learn about your subject. It would be heartbreaking if you made something that nobody wanted. Your audience is out there, you just have to give them what they want! You can upload your course to places like Skillshare and Udemy, or you could use a different platform/your own website.

Start a Vlog

Vlogging is another great way to earn a passive, side income. Though like anything else, will require effort to get going. If you’re unfamiliar with vlogging, it’s basically the same as blogging, but via video rather than written content.

By creating video content such as How To’s, or short content on TikTok, for example, you have the potential to monetise what you put out there with sponsorship, ads, and affiliate marketing.

According to the Influencer Marketing Hub, a Youtuber can make between $10.5K and $17.3K per annum on ad revenue alone with around 20,000 views per day. You’d need to learn how to market your channel through SEO and social media, but with a decent amount of legwork, this can be quite a lucrative side income project. Once the video is live, it can be viewed as many times over and the more traffic you get, the more revenue you stand to make.

Create and Sell Printables

This is something that many bloggers and influencers are doing to earn an additional stream of income. If you know how to create a spreadsheet, a checklist, a PDF, you can list printable, downloadable files on a site such as Etsy and sell them. And the more printables you have available, the more income you can make.

Print on Demand

Ever fancied selling your own merchandise? You can sell things like mugs, t-shirts, calendars, journals, etc., through print-on-demand platforms such as Printify, or Inkthreadable. Quite simply, you work with a supplier to add your designs/brand to a ‘white label’ product like tshirts, caps, etc, and they are created, printed, and shipped ‘on demand’. Aside from the upfront work of producing your own designs (and of course, business admin), print on demand can be a great passive income stream.

Vending Machines

This might be a surprising one, but you can earn passive income through vending machines. You have to lay the groundwork first and work out the best place to have the machine, as well as have a system for refilling the products, etc, but once set up, it could be a literally “sweet” strategy to bring in an extra income (totally pun intended).

Use Cashback Sites and Apps

When you’re looking to buy something, check out a cashback app or platform to see if you can click through to the website and purchase your item there. This only takes an extra few seconds, and you can make a small amount of money back on your purchase.

If you remember to do this regularly, you can actually build up a nice amount of pocket money. Think of the money you could save. Better yet, when you withdraw the cash, make sure you put it back into your savings so your cash is really working hard for you. Quidco and TopCashBack are two excellent examples.

Cash in on Banking and Credit Card Rewards

Again, making the most of banking rewards and credit card rewards requires you to be very organised with your finances. Some credit card companies offer deals in the form of physical cash back or reward points, which you can turn into vouchers. BUT – unless you pay your card off in full each month, this is unlikely to be worth your while. If you don’t pay your card off in full each month, whatever you are earning in rewards is likely to be cancelled out in interest charges.

What is the Most Profitable Passive Income?

The most profitable passive income will depend on which passive income stream you want to start building. You’ll want to consider whether you need to invest any money, how much time you need to commit, and what sort of returns you will see. There’s a lot to consider when working out how profitable something might be, as it depends on what your operating costs are, if any. Take a look at this post on Forbes for more information on profit for business.

If your passive income is in the form of investing, rather than business, you’d need to consider fees against any gains you make to work out how profitable your investment is.

How Can I Make £1000 a Month in Passive Income?

As mentioned above, passive income is something that takes time to set up. But many of these passive income ideas have the potential to make you £1000 a month, and the more passive income streams you have, the more money you’ll make.

What is the Easiest Way to Earn Passive Income?

Well, it depends! ‘Easy’ is very subjective; what one person finds easy, another may find quite challenging. For example, if you wanted to set up a YouTube channel but have no clue where to start, you might find it quite labour-intensive to get set up.

But if you’ve always wanted to start investing, with no knowledge whatsoever, you might be surprised to discover that it’s entirely possible for anyone to get started.

The best thing to do is decide which form of passive income appeals to you the most, based on your interests, skills, and available assets, and take it from there.

How do I Turn 500 into Passive Income?

If you already have a bit of cash to invest, there are a few options you could consider, all of which have been mentioned above. If you want to simply invest your money and make some returns, then look at investing in either crowdfunding, peer-to-peer lending, or investing your cash in stocks and shares. *Always remember your capital is at risk – the value of your investment can go up as well as down. Please always make sure you do plenty of research before investing – this is not financial advice.

Alternatively, you could use that cash to invest in a business such as starting a niche website. You’ll need to purchase a domain name and website hosting, then make a plan to grow the site with a carefully thought out content plan and monetise it through affiliate sales, ads, or sponsored posts.

How Much Money Can I Earn from Passive Income?

Earning a passive income really is limitless! As mentioned previously, it’s something that will require a little to a lot of work upfront, and what kinds of passive income ideas you decide to build. The only limit is what you can do. Remember, what you put in, you get out.

The Fastest Way to Earn Passive Income

The fastest way to earn a passive income is to find something that will yield results as soon as possible (such as renting out your parking space). Something like growing a blog, or writing an ebook, will take time and patience, but with consistency and persistence, the rewards will be worth it.

So take a look at what you can do, and join the path to financial independence with these best passive income ideas!

What if I don’t know what to do?

Don’t fear. You can teach yourself absolutely anything using YouTube, and if not, there are always skill-sharing platforms like Udemy you can use to learn something new. There are books, blogs, and more resources out there dedicated to becoming financially free.

Commit to doing this and you could be earning more money than you know what to do with!

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