1. Organise club nights

With many students out on the tiles two or three times a week there’s money to be made in entertaining them. Birmingham University graduate Gary Linton set up his own promotions company with a couple of friends in the holidays before his final year. "We established a brand, set up a website, scouted out suitable venues, designed flyers and hired bands." As the money began to pour in – at its peak, the company was pulling in profits of between £800 and £1000 each week – they were able to employ a team to hand out flyers and a manager to oversee them. "It was a fantastic experience and I learned a lot about running a business. But it did require a good deal of work".

2. eBay

Trading in that nasty jumper your grandmother bought you for Christmas or the TV set that’s been collecting dust in the attic for years can help boost the coffers. "Pretty much anything will sell", says Aaron Selman, a student at Newcastle University. "But it is time-consuming listing each item individually". A more cost-effective method, Aaron explains, is to buy in bulk (in his case, clothes shipped over from the US and scooters bought off a friend's dad) and sell them on at a mark-up. "All you have to do is field queries from your customers and go to the post office to send the items off. If you put the effort in, I’d say it’s possible to make up to £15,000 a year".

3. Online poker (undertaken at your own risk)

For some, the possibility – however remote – of wiping out thousands of pounds of debt in one bleary-eyed evening of glory is too much to resist. Of course, if you're skilled and extremely lucky, it can happen. One especially gold-fingered student player was able to buy himself an Audi TT on the back of his poker earnings. The flipside can be grim, however. One former undergrad at Manchester University, who preferred to remain anonymous, blew his student loan cheque in a single day.

Source: The Times Online
Read the full article here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/education/student/article4962966.ece