Money raising ideas

[NYCDiane]

I've been out of work since January. I have been looking, but there just aren't any jobs out there!!! Money has been so tight and it's just getting harder and harder to get by!

Anyway, I'm trying to pay off/pay down debt so I can at least have that off my mind! The other day, I emptied my change jar and used that money to pay off one credit card. I have 2 other small balance cards to pay off and 1 larger balance card to pay. There is a lot more other debt but I'm concentrating on these first just to get them out of the way.

Does anyone have any ideas on quick ways to raise money?? I don't have anything of value to sell on ebay and just don't know what else to do.

Any input is appreciated!!!!

 

[worm761]

Outside of selling things off there really isn't a way to make fast money.
Have you offered to pet sit/house sit/ get the mail for a fee while neighbors are on vacation?
Have you thought of watching one or two kids while you are unemployed? Many people just need a summer sitter.
What about running errands for busy people for a fee?

 

[LJSquishy]

I've found the best way to come up with extra money is by cutting back on the grocery/household budget. Nothing big, just a little here and there.

You can make your own household cleaners & soap instead of purchasing them...which seriously saves a ton of money. Vinegar is your best friend!

I also use less meat in recipes than they call for and instead add cheaper fillers like adding extra veggies to bulk it up. I try to make recipes that have meat as an ingredient rather than as the entire main dish (such as making stir-fry instead of having baked chicken).

If you don't already do this, it may help...Use cash to pay for your groceries/take out/etc. I love seeing cash in my wallet and have a hard time parting with it. It's so easy to just slide the debit card, but when you have to physically part with your money you think twice before making a purchase.

I've been making my own french bread, soups to freeze, etc. Making your own soup and freezing it is so much cheaper than buying cans of soup (plus it's way better for you!). I also sometimes buy whole chickens and can use one chicken for several meals (not as a main dish but as an ingredient).

 

[Teresa Pitman]

Sometimes when jobs are hard to find you can do better by creating your own job, as a previous poster mentioned. Try to see a need in your community that you can fill with your skills.

I know people (for example) who made money by:
-making goody bags for children's parties
-making lunches for kids at school (they advertised them through certain schools, took weekly orders, and dropped off the prepared and labeled lunches for the kids each day at lunch time)
-delivering treat packages to university students (paid for by the parents)
-cleaning offices at night
-cutting lawns, weeding gardens
-picking up dog poop in people's backyards (I am so sorry that the guy who did this for me for several years got a regular job!)
-putting together IKEA furniture
-buying fruit and vegetables at the Farmer's Market and delivering to people's homes
-offering a week of "summer day camp" at her home, doing fun art and music and crafts activities

The trick is trying to match your skills to what is needed, and to look for things that won't require you to put in much money up front.

TP

 

[tvguy]

As Judge Judy would say "pick up soda cans for the recycling money".

 

[BeachLove]

I've been out of work since January. I have been looking, but there just aren't any jobs out there!!! Money has been so tight and it's just getting harder and harder to get by!

Anyway, I'm trying to pay off/pay down debt so I can at least have that off my mind! The other day, I emptied my change jar and used that money to pay off one credit card. I have 2 other small balance cards to pay off and 1 larger balance card to pay. There is a lot more other debt but I'm concentrating on these first just to get them out of the way.

Does anyone have any ideas on quick ways to raise money?? I don't have anything of value to sell on ebay and just don't know what else to do.

Any input is appreciated!!!!

Have you looked for jobs in fast food places? As a waitress? At the mall? Car dealer? All of those places around me are constantly trying to get people.

 

[honeybunches]

It isn't huge money but you could try doing surveys. On several sites you can have the earnings deposits into Paypal.

 

[califlorican]

It isn't huge money but you could try doing surveys. On several sites you can have the earnings deposits into Paypal.

Yeah, agreed. Amazon Mechanical Turk is actually not bad at all, once you get past a certain amount, a lot more opens up and you can make more money. I've made $1,200 this year just from doing it in my spare time while I have nothing else to do at home!

 

[mermaidwannabe]

Yeah, agreed. Amazon Mechanical Turk is actually not bad at all, once you get past a certain amount, a lot more opens up and you can make more money. I've made $1,200 this year just from doing it in my spare time while I have nothing else to do at home!

So do you "pay your dues" by taking $1.20 ones that are supposed to last 20 min and then you get better paying ones? And the $1.20 ones are on the high end of what I saw when I joined.

 

[Colleen27]

So do you "pay your dues" by taking $1.20 ones that are supposed to last 20 min and then you get better paying ones? And the $1.20 ones are on the high end of what I saw when I joined.

I was wondering the same thing. I played around with it one year before Christmas, thinking I'd build up a little Amazon Payments balance to help offset the shopping I'd surely end up doing with them, but I can't see how anyone makes more than about $2-3/hr. And my time is worth more than that.

 

[Colleen27]

What do you normally do for a living? Is there any way to translate that into freelance or odd-jobs type work? That's the best advice I've read or heard given to people looking to make money outside of traditional employment - rather than looking for a "method", inventory your skills and abilities and look for a way to put them to use in your community. Surveys and MTurk and such make pennies, which is fine if it isn't filling time that could be used more productively, but there are probably better opportunities to be found around you.

 

[darwinsrule]

Dog sitting is definitely a good idea. We found our dog sitter through an online company that has people who dog sit in their homes, not in runs like a kennel. We paid $40/day, but some people in our area were charging as much as $85. The company took payment so the dog sitters didn't have to worry about getting paid. We provided our dog's food, crate, etc.

 

[crazelion]

I make a combined 50 bucks a month or more do rewards programs. I like do doing gifthulk, swagbucks, quickrewards and amazon mturk. Will I get rich from it no. Does help with the fun outings for the kids yes.

I pay for Christmas using Amazon gift cards alone.

I just bought 4 android tablets for 29.99 just for bus trips alone. I caught a deal on ebay that was on slickdeals. This for the kids to watch movies and they break it there is no big deal.

 

[saucymb]

Scrape together $50-$100, and go to some yard sales/thrift stores in the next month. Buy GREAT CONDITION children's clothes, boys if you can find them, good brands (Gymbo, Janie and Jack, boutique if you can find it, Gap, ON, just make sure it is in GREAT shape). You can find them for $.25 - $1.00 each at garage sales, around $2-4 at thrift stores. You could even look on Craigslist for a lot of clothes. Just make sure they are in great shape.

Go to consignmentmommies.com and use their search feature to find consignment sales coming up near you (fall sales are starting now!).

Register for a GOOD one (look for the Consignment Mommies awards), and you will turn that $50-100 into $300 or more.

This is not FAST money, but it is GOOD money. Flexible with your schedule.

I've been doing this for a couple of seasons (investing far more than $50) and it's paying off big time.

 

[califlorican]

So do you "pay your dues" by taking $1.20 ones that are supposed to last 20 min and then you get better paying ones? And the $1.20 ones are on the high end of what I saw when I joined.

I was wondering the same thing. I played around with it one year before Christmas, thinking I'd build up a little Amazon Payments balance to help offset the shopping I'd surely end up doing with them, but I can't see how anyone makes more than about $2-3/hr. And my time is worth more than that.

In the beginning, yeah unfortunately you have to deal with the low paying ones. I felt the same way about it and stopped for 5 months. Then, I was in need of some extra money and started, and once I hit more than 100 submitted, then 500, better paying things opened up. Some days are better than others...if I can't find anything worth my time now, I just don't do it.
Like I said though, I just do it when I have spare time at home after I've done everything else. There's a forum (mturkforum.com) where members post the better HITs, and that's where I go to find the ones that pay the best!
Hope that helps...it's a little frustrating at first, but it gets much better!

 

[mermaidwannabe]

In the beginning, yeah unfortunately you have to deal with the low paying ones. I felt the same way about it and stopped for 5 months. Then, I was in need of some extra money and started, and once I hit more than 100 submitted, then 500, better paying things opened up. Some days are better than others...if I can't find anything worth my time now, I just don't do it.
Like I said though, I just do it when I have spare time at home after I've done everything else. There's a forum (mturkforum.com) where members post the better HITs, and that's where I go to find the ones that pay the best!
Hope that helps...it's a little frustrating at first, but it gets much better!

Good to know, thank you!

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

Have you thought of just selling off stuff - furniture, things you don't need or use anymore on Craig's List?
I've made some money on Craig's List this summer and while it's slowed down a bit, I'll be relisting a few more items.

I've been doing ebay and while it was slow to get started (I could only list 10 things a month until I'd sold 25 things and then could list up to 50 things a month), I am now bringing in an average of 100.00 extra a week. That is after the fees and postage costs. I never thought my Hallmark ornaments would sell for anything but some of them are.

It has been worth it to me just to get some of these things out of our basement.

As a previous poster said, you should offer pet sitting services or even just stop by your house to make sure it's ok services for when people are on vacation.

I hope you find something that will work for you!

 

[luvmarypoppins]

Do you live by a research university or hospital. Sometimes they have paid studies you can participate in and so do drug companies.

I know around here some of them are offering $200. Some you just have to answer a questionare and have a blood test etc.

Also look into focus group opportunities for marketing firms etc.

 

[timmac]

So do you "pay your dues" by taking $1.20 ones that are supposed to last 20 min and then you get better paying ones? And the $1.20 ones are on the high end of what I saw when I joined.

It's worth keeping in mind that mturk is targeted towards those who aren't looking to make US minimum wage, for instance. Whether that be people in foreign countries (where the earnings are relatively substantial) or those who just want to do it "when they have a few moments", it's just how it works sometimes.

Do you live by a research university or hospital. Sometimes they have paid studies you can participate in and so do drug companies.

I know around here some of them are offering $200. Some you just have to answer a questionare and have a blood test etc.

This could be a good money maker, but I'd advice caution and some level of hesitation. Anything that involves actually taking a drug could have unexpected side effects. My dad used to work--in the lab--for a company that did this type of work (actually, for a summer, I did too, even) and there were plenty of horror stories of experiment subjects.

 

[Marionnette]

I've been out of work since January. I have been looking, but there just aren't any jobs out there!!! Money has been so tight and it's just getting harder and harder to get by!

Anyway, I'm trying to pay off/pay down debt so I can at least have that off my mind! The other day, I emptied my change jar and used that money to pay off one credit card. I have 2 other small balance cards to pay off and 1 larger balance card to pay. There is a lot more other debt but I'm concentrating on these first just to get them out of the way.

Does anyone have any ideas on quick ways to raise money?? I don't have anything of value to sell on ebay and just don't know what else to do.

Any input is appreciated!!!!

Are you still collecting unemployment? Make sure that any income from part-time work does not have an impact on your benefits. You wouldn't want to put a ton of effort into a low-paying part-time, temporary job if it means losing the same amount from your compensation.

Unfortunately, the only quick way to make money is to sell something of value. If you don't have anything that you can put on craigslist or ebay, then look into selling your plasma. It's an extreme measure and I wouldn't do it myself, but if you're at a point where you feel that you need more money, this could be a possibility.