I make £250 in a day helping neighbours with odd jobs. How you can side-hustle using apps

It’s a grey Friday morning as Alison Goldsmith walks down a narrow road off Chingford High Street in east London.

In one hand is her phone, the map open with directions, and in the other a large bucket filled with bin bags, gloves and garden tools. She turns into the driveway of number 10 and rings the bell.

‘You must be here about the apples,’ a man smiles as he opens the door. ‘Come this way.’

Alison, 60, has arranged to be here through Airtasker, an app that connects local ‘Taskers’ with people who need jobs doing and are willing to pay.

Tasks can be anything from cleaning, gardening, deliveries and decluttering to more skilled work such as carpentry and plumbing. Some are more random.

‘I once made an outfit for a man who needed a Halloween costume,’ says Alison. ‘That was a fun one. I got £200 for it. I saw a job recently to dress up as an ostrich as a team mascot, but I didn’t get it.’

With inflation rising, more people are taking on odd jobs to earn extra cash. A survey of 2,000 people by software firm Sage found 47 per cent had a side hustle, earning them an average £546 a month.

There are lots of apps to help, whether it’s Vinted or eBay to sell unwanted items or MyTutor, which links students with vetted tutors.

For those who enjoy odd jobs, there is AirTasker. The app has seen 191,000 users sign up to post tasks in the past 12 months, and 89,000 Taskers register to do them.

The most popular tasks include house moves, furniture assembly and residential cleaning.

Alison’s task is to clear a garden of apples. The owners returned from holiday to find their tree had shed hundreds. Thirty minutes and four full bin bags later, the garden is clear and Alison has earned £75, which includes a disposal fee as she will take the apples to her local recycling centre where she is waste registered.

AirTasker has a calculator tool to help customers set a price, but it is up to them how much they think the job is worth. The average task in the past 12 months paid £130.

Do the maths first, says Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at investment platform AJ Bell: ‘Factor in any costs. It’s easy to work very hard for very little.’

AirTasker takes a cut of 12.5 to 20 per cent depending on how much Taskers earn. It says the top 1 per cent make £10,000 a month.

‘I started using Airtasker when caring for my dad a couple of years ago. It was hard to fit in work around that, and I liked the variety, flexibility and spontaneity,’ says Alison, who’s next off to deliver balloons from a party shop to a house two miles away for a seventh birthday party.

Reviews rate Taskers on reliability, communication and how well they do the job, and Task-setters on communication and whether the task description was accurate. Alison has a five-star rating across 125 tasks. All Taskers are identity checked and can add badges to their account to show they completed a DBS police check or have trade qualifications, such as a Gas Safe licence.

Some tasks need doing immediately, while others are booked weeks in advance, such as house moves, says Alison, adding: ‘I’ve driven students to university in Wales or Manchester. It’s cheaper than getting a removal van or courier as they can travel with me.’

Balloons delivered to a very happy mum, another £25 earned and it’s time for our next task.

Victoria bought some plants that need potting but, after rupturing her Achilles tendon, she can’t do it herself. She keeps Alison company, and an hour later when they’re done she says: ‘They’re beautiful – I’m so happy with them.’

Alison has chalked up another £50, but for her the social aspect is just as important: ‘I like helping people – making their day a bit easier. We need a bit more of that.’

Of course, she doesn’t have the money yet.

The funds are paid by the customer and held by AirTasker, and are released only once both parties have confirmed the job has been completed.

With any app you use for making or receiving payment Coles says: ‘Check the terms, fees, what happens if the work is cancelled or if there is a disagreement.’

Consider public liability insurance if not provided (AirTasker provides this) and be sure to tell your car insurer if you are using the vehicle for business purposes.

‘If you make less than £1,000 a year from self-employed work you don’t have to pay tax or complete a tax return for it, but as soon as you make more than this, you need to do both,’ says Coles.

Alessandra is our last stop of the day. Her garage is filled with old toys and furniture and she wants it decluttered for £100.

Alison works quickly and methodically, splitting items into: keep, recycle or regift piles, and 90 minutes later we hear a gasp from Alessandra as she returns to check on our progress: ‘Oh my god, I have a garage again!’

Another happy customer – and a total of £250 in Alison’s pocket.