Thrifty idea - get your car to make money for you!

 I recently came across a new website, WhipCar which you can use to rent out other people's cars by the hour, day or week - or even better rent out your own to other people. This is a really nice way to get the most of out of a vehicle and a low cost way of using a car without owning one. If like me, you have to have a car but actually use it only occasionally, you can make a bit of money on the side by letting it out.
Here's how it works.
Car owners. You register your car on the website, you can upload a photo, describe the car's condition, list the mileage etc. You then get a suggested rental price but you can raise or lower this to whatever figure you want. You can also enter dates when your car is available. If someone wants to rent your car you get a text and an email and you can say yes or no.
Renters. You browse the site for suitable cars in your neighbourhood or any location where you want to pick a car up. You find one you fancy and make a booking.
All the insurance is covered by WhipCar once the booking is made. They take a cut of your rental fee and pay you the balance. Once you've registered your car, they send you a little pack to help you publicise your car's availability locally.
It's a cracking idea: a good way to keep car ownership down and to help car owners get the most out of their cars.
I signed up my Mini and within 2 days got a booking - sadly I had to turn it down as it happened to be the one weekend I was actually going away in it - I'm hoping I'll get another booking soon.
Clare F