Make £3,300 from your mobile phone

That phone in your pocket can make you some serious cash!

I really like the idea of giffgaff. The mobile network is completely different to other networks out there in that it is community-based – if you have an issue, you don’t have to phone up a call centre in goodness knows where. Instead, you post your problem on giffgaff’s community pages, where fellow users will then post advice and help out.

There are two big bonuses to this model. First off, it keeps giffgaff’s costs pretty low as they don’t have to cover the cost of a call centre, meaning the network’s tariffs are exceptionally competitive.

But there’s also a benefit to be had from being helpful on the community board – by doing so, you earn points, which can then be exchanged for money off your bill, extra texts and internet access, or just cold, hard cash.

Last week giffgaff paid out more than £250,000 to its users, including £3,357.57 to one particularly helpful user, Usman Aslam from Birmingham. Not only does the network offer some great tariffs, but it also gives you the chance to make a few quid as well!

However, there are plenty of other ways that you can make a few quid from your mobile phone.

Recycling your old mobile

Perhaps the easiest way to make money from mobile phones is to recycle your old handsets once you upgrade.

So for example, with Mazuma Mobile, my old handset (the Nokia 5800) is worth £50. Not bad for a handset currently sat gathering dust at the back of the sock drawer!

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There are plenty of other outfits offering this service that are worth checking out, including Envirofone and Sellmymobile.com, while you can even exchange your old handset for Airmiles with Airmiles Mobile Recycling.

Earn cashback

Since I discovered the magic of cashback websites, my online shopping habits have completely changed. Now, when the time comes to get presents for my loved ones, I always check to see if there’s the chance of getting a bit of cashback as part of the deal!

Cashback websites work very simply – you follow a link from the cashback website to the retailer you want to buy from. Your purchases are then tracked, and you get a percentage back in cash. It’s brilliant!

What’s more, you can now earn cashback when shopping on your mobile. TopCashback’s app works exactly like the website, but my personal favourite is the Quidco app. That’s because not only does it allow you to earn cashback on your online shopping, but also on any shopping you do in certain stores in person! Even better, you can get cashback just for ‘checking in’ at certain retailers – you don’t even need to spend a penny!

For a full rundown of this very clever app, be sure to read Get paid for walking into a shop!

Design your own apps

Back when I got my first mobile phone, all it was capable of was making phone calls and sending text messages. Being a phone, essentially.

Nowadays, smart phones are exactly that – smart. I can do my grocery shopping on my iPhone, I can order a pizza, organise my lovefilm list, even time the contractions during my wife’s labour!

Applications (or apps) for mobile phones are big business now, to the point that even a task on 'The Apprentice' was dedicated to them. If you’re a bit of a technological whizzkid you might like to have a go at designing the app yourself.

However, you can also use something like FundedApps. It’s a new app that allows normal members of the public like you and me to submit an idea for an app of our own. All you have to do is put together an outline of what the app is, and who it is aimed at, and should the firm like the idea, they’ll invest into building it. At this stage you’ll get £250, and once the app is launched, you’ll be entitled to 25% of the app’s net profit.

Given that 27 million people in the UK have used an app at some stage, there’s a chance to make a few quid if you come up with a decent enough idea!

Get a better deal

OK, so this isn’t so much about making money as saving money, but the fact is that many of us are on the wrong tariff for our mobile phones. We pay for features, like free text messages or minutes, that we simply don’t use and waste a small fortune.

Part of this is down to our love of getting a phone for free when we take out a contract. But in the long run we end up spending more than if we had simply shelled out for the phone in the first place, as I explained in Why the EU is causing your mobile bill to go up.

If you know what you need from your mobile phone contract, then give Recombu a go, as it has a great selection of handsets and tariffs. Otherwise, you might like to have a go on the Bill Analyser on Mobilife.com, which will analyse your usual phone usage and recommend the most appropriate deal for you!

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