I saw a tweet the other day that said “Why does January feel like it’s lasting longer than the whole of 2017” and I’ve never seen something so relatable. It feels like it’s going on forever. At the time of writing this it’s still 2 weeks off payday, we’ve just had ‘Blue Monday’ and the weather is terrible, so it’s hard to be positive really.

Anyway, with this in mind, I thought about all the little ways you can either save Money, make money or little perks that will help ease those January blues a bit. Below is a selection of things I’m doing myself to kick start the year off.

Free Samples

If there’s any perk to January it’s all the deals. First, you’re hit with the January sales in the shops, then all the restaurants and bars get involved with 50% off food and drinks throughout the month, and brands start to give away products for things like testing, in the hope you might buy further once having a bit of money.

There’s a few free samples sites out there, where brands upload samples for the general public to try out. These can be anything from food, beauty products or every day items, which you can apply to try out and they arrive through the post. It’s not much but a free sample of something like toothpaste or a meal deal goes a long way at this time of year.

Make Money Online

There’s a few ways to make money online, you could fill in customer surveys and chip away at a few quid here and there if you have spare time, or check out sites like Fiverr where you can use your freelance skills to make a bit of cash on the side.

One site i’ve recently heard about, and currently trying out, is Prolific, where you can make a bit of extra money by doing online Academic studies. These pay a bit more than the usual online surveys as they’re a bit more specific to certain demographics and needs.

What’s your top tips for getting by in January and making money online? Let us know what you’d add to the list…