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A blogger who turned to online money-making schemes to make ends meet while unemployed has been able to quit her job after earning £100,000.
Emma Drew, 28, from Littleforth, Cambridgeshire now makes around £3000 a month from activities such as mystery shopping, risk-free betting and online lotteries, which she documents on her blog From Aldi to Harrods
Her husband Tony has also been able to given up his job to work alongside Emma, and the couple were able to splash out almost £30,000 on their dream wedding and honeymoon last year without a second thought.
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Emma Drew, 28, from Littleforth, Cambridgeshire (pictured with her husband Tony) makes around £3000 a month from activities such as mystery shopping, risk-free betting and online lotteries, which she documents on her blog From Aldi to Harrods
And giving up work her job as a website administrator in November 2015 as she is now earning almost twice her previous £1600 a month take home pay.
Last month she earned £701.64 from matched betting, £1,340.99 from affiliate links on her blog, £686.80 from website she's set up featuring posts and advertising, £41.64 from online surveys and £848.39 from things like mystery shopping, website testing and cash prizes - a total of £3,619.46.
And what' more, she has improved her quality of life and can spend more time with Tony.
'Leaving work has meant we can manage our time better,' Emma told FEMAIL. 'Tony used to work night shifts and by the time I got home we'd have an hour together before he had to leave.
'I like that I'm making myself money instead of a boss. It makes me want to work harder because I'm directly gaining.
The couple were able to splash out £20,000 on their wedding last year without thinking twice, thanks to their extra income
A haul of free products from one of Emma's mystery shopping trips
Emma gets household goods for free after signing up to a website that invites people to try out products and review them for Amazon
To that end, Emma has set herself a goa l of earning £5000 a month by the end of this year.
'We're already earning more than we did when we were both working but I have my eye on that prize. It's just my personality. I've always been quite entrepreneurial.'
To begin with, Emma turned to making money online out of necessity.
'After I graduated I got caught up in the recession and I could not get a job for a year. I turned to making money online so I could exist - just to make ends meet.
Emma gave up her job as a website administrator last year and now works for herself full time
Emma used to spend only an hour a day with her husband a day as he worked nights, but now they have both left their jobs they can spend more quality time together
The couple on Honeymoon in Disneyland. They were able to splash out £8000 wi thout thinking twice and have just booked another trip to the Florida theme park
'I didn't want to do anything that I had to put money into upfront. I was researching things I'd read about to check they were not a scam and then I'd try things out for myself.
'I delivered BT phone books and sold my smelly shoes on eBay to men that like things like that. As you go through it you learn what works for you.
'I found that survey websites were consuming too much time You could spend an hour on one and get 50p.'
One of Emma's most lucrative endeavours is mystery shopping, for which she's paid in cash or free products.
Emma and Tony enjoyed a fire works display at the end of their wedding
Emma's online earnings were able to fund the sweet touches they wanted to add to their wedding su ch as an ice cream van
Savvy business woman Emma is aiming to be earning £5000 a month by the end of this year
I love mystery shopping, and every month it makes a hefty chunk of our online income. Mystery shopping is also great for the free items we get, which in turn helps to reduce our budget elsewhere.
HOW TO GET STARTEDAnything that tells you you will be earning £500+ per day is usually a scam. Just ask yourself whether to have to pay for it. If you do, people are making money from selling the "system", and your job will be to continue selling this "system". Instead, you can read about real things that I have been doing to make extra cash.
You won't get rich quick. Earning money online takes time to research opportunities and wrap your head around it.
There is rarely just one thing to do to earn extra cash. It is a good idea to spread your earnings from a few sources. You never know what is around the corner, and by not having all your earning eggs in one basket, so to speak, you minimise the risk of losing out.
Not everything will work for you – perhaps something doesn't interest you, or you just don't get it. Don't wast e time on it, move on to something else.
Set up a totally dedicated money making email address as you may inadvertently sign up for spam websites when you start out.
Research companies before getting involved. Google their name and the word scam and see what other people are saying.
'We have used mystery shopping to purchase groceries, toiletries and even to help with Christmas shopping.
'I've got about 30 to 40 apps and when I'm out a notification often pops up on my phone if I'm near a mystery shopping opportunity.
'It just says something like: "if you're in the store can you take a few photos or answer a few questions".
'I've earned £50 before by going to a bank and applying for a credit card and having the conversation recorded. It's not bad for an hour's work.'
'You maybe get as little as £2.50 but it can be up to £10,' she explained. 'If you can fit in a few in a day it adds up. We sometimes take a few hours to do 10 or so.'
'As well as shopping in popular high street stores or restaurants, mystery shopping is also conducted over the phone or online.
'There are mystery shopping companies who only focus on online assignments, or you can find these mystery shops amongst traditional assignments.
Emma uses apps such as Field Agent, Roamler, Streetspotr and iPoll for mystery shopping opportunities.
And she recommends websites such as Red Wig Wam, Market Force and Grassroots.
She can also earn an average of £50 to £80 in an hour through matched betting, which involves taking advantage of offers by betting companies for a free first bet.
'It's a guaranteed risk free way of turning a free offer into money. It's a great way to really boost your income,' she explained.
A free meal Emma got for trying out a restaurant. As well as being paid in cash for mystery shopping, she receives free meals and produ cts
Free meals Emma has landed as a mystery shopper through apps that send her notifications when she's in the vicinity of a business that needs reviewers
'Let's say Red Rum is running a race got to the bookies and bet that he's going to win and that he's not going to win. So either way you get money.
'During Cheltenham I made £550 in four days using special offers. Then there's the Grand National, the premier league - there are always offers.'
Emma is also signed up to various free lottery websites and has won £50 and £80 on the Sefie Lottery and Ashleigh Money Saver's draw .
EMMA'S TOP TIPS FOR EARNING EXTRA INCOMEBlogging – making money from adverts, affiliate marketing and accepting sponsored posts.
Matched betting – making use of bookmaker's free bets to get a guaranteed profit, tax free.
Complete online surveys – Prolific Academic is my favourite survey website along with MintVine.
Mystery shopping – you can check out my guide to mystery shopping in the UK and grab yourself £50 with this simple mystery shop.
Website testing with WhatUsersDo.
Earn from smart phone apps – my e-book, 50 iPhone Apps To Earn Cash is just 99p at Amazon.
Write an e-book for sale at Amazon.
Investment – this is a great way to diversify your income, and you can get an extra £100 bonus when you deposit £1,000 in to RateSetter for 12 months.
''Free lottery websites are free daily or weekly prize draws. Entering is really simple – simply register for each site and input the details required, whether it's uploading a selfie, registering your phone numbers, or your birthdate and bookmark the websites.
'Then check them every day to see if you have won. The websites make money from advertising revenue, which is then shared with you.'
Emma also makes money from affiliate links on her blog. If there's a product she likes she will include a link for readers to click on to buy it, earning her commission.
Emma is more of a money maker than a super scrimper but still enjoys a bargain and shops in the reduced aisle at the supermarket
Emma and Tony pictured on their honeymoon at Disneyland, Florida
'It do esn't cost me or the end user anything extra,' she said. 'And you don't need to be a blogger to do it.
'Anyone can recommend things to their friends on social media and add affiliate links.
The best way to go about it is to google the name of the product and "affiliate" or "refer a friend".
EMMA'S GUIDE TO MAKING AN EXTRA £500 A MONTHMystery shopping: My favourite company is Market Force, simply because of the clients they have available. If you register you will recognise a whole host of high street names. I also recommend Grassroots and The Mystery Dining Company.
Sell your skills: Whatever you can do, you can make money from it. Fiverr allows you to sell a whole host of services for $5 – you can do things like post on forums, leave comments on blogs, design logos and much more. You could also look at People Per Hour for jobs that you can complete – you could set up social media pages, write articles or record an audiobook.
Focus groups: These days, attending focus groups sometimes doesn't even involve leaving your home – you can complete online focus groups and group discussions to earn cash.People4U connect you to relevant focus groups both online and at real locations across the country.
Blogging: Starting a blog is a great way to not only earn some extra cash, but also to become part of a community. There are many ways to make money from creating a blog – sponsored posts, advertising, affiliate marketing and more. You can get started easily on Blogger or pay for paid hosting and a domain name (yourblogname.com for example).
Transcribing: If you have a good typing speed then you might want to consider working from home as an audio typist. Working on a shift basis, you can be sent audio files to transcribe on a regular basis. There is a deadline with each file you receive and you will be paid for the number of minutes you transcribe, not the number of minutes you have spent transcribing.
Buy to sell: Visit charity shops and car boot sales to find items you think you can sell for more elsewhere, usually eBay. Remember that if you are buying to sell, as opposed to decluttering your own items, you will need to pay tax.
I definitely think that without eating too much into their free time the average person can earn an extra £300 to £500 a month doing what I do.'
While Emma rarely speculates to accumulate, she does spend a small amount buying things to sell on eBay.
'Car boot sale season is coming up,' she explained.
'We'll see what we can find to sell on eBay. We've had quite a lot of success finding things that sell really well. We also sell our old things at car boot sales.'
Although she likes a bargain, Emma is more about making money than being a super saver.
'We walk to the Co-Op every evening to shop from the reduced shelf and I do meal planning. But there are only so many cutbacks you can make.'
'There's a great app called Tengi t hat's like WhatsApp and it gives away cash prizes from £5.00 to £1,000 so just doing little things like switching to an app like that can earn you money without having to do much.
'I get cashback on my shopping through Quidco and I will look for things that pay in supermarket vouchers or Amazon vouchers as they always come in handy.
'There's a great website called amzreviews where you can sign up to test a product and write a review for Amazon.
'I've had over 600 free products from camera accessories to face creams.'
Although she now has more free time than ever, Emma admits that she likes to keep busy.
'I've had to learn how to relax. When I get free time at home I don't know what to do with myself,' she explained.
'But not working does improve your quality of life. I have time to cook from scratch.
'But there's some days I look at the TV and think that's all I want to do today, and I can.
'As well as having more time we can have nicer things. We're not about living a luxury lifestyle but our earnings mean that when we want something we can get it without thinking twice.
'I've just bought a brand new car and we've just booked another holiday.
'We were able to pay for our dream wedding last year at an old country manor.
'We were able to have all the little touches we wanted like fancy canapes and an ice cream van and fireworks at the end of the night.
'The wedding cost around £18,000 to £20,000 and we went on honeymoon to Disneyland Florida for about £8000.
'If we'd been relying on our income alone we would have had to wait three of four years to save up for a wedding like that.'
Source: Blogger QUITS her job after earning a staggering £100,000 through online money-making schemes and apps - including risk-free betting, lotteries and mystery shopping
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