Whether times are good, bad or somewhere in between, there is always a need for a quick buck. Maybe you need to pay off a debt quickly or your car suddenly needs a major repair.
Of course, taking stock of your assets, building an emergency fund, and increasing your income are ideal steps to plan for such situations in the future. Luckily, in the meantime, there are legitimate ways to earn quick income if you’re in a tight spot. Here are some reasonably clever ways to get some cash fast:
Sell unwanted items
If you have unused items just gathering dust, then that’s money you’re leaving on the table. Perhaps you should check out a reputable online platform like Facebook Marketplace, advises Kristin Stones, owner of financial blog CentsandPurpose.com.
“It can be very quick when you list your unused or unwanted items on Facebook Marketplace,” says Stones. Users in the region can post photos of things they want to sell or even give away on the website, e.g. B. cars, clothes and musical instruments. “I often get a message within minutes or hours of listing items,” she says.
Stones adds that it doesn’t always work out – a buyer may not show up, or may seem interested at first but then lose interest. But she thinks it’s usually quicker than holding a street sale.
Another site where you can sell your junk for cash is Gazelle, which buys and sells used cell phones and other gadgets. Decluttr allows its users to sell cell phones, electronics, CDs, DVDs, video games, books, among others.
Sell gift cards
There are a number of sites that buy unwanted gift cards, e.g. B. GiftCash, CardCash and ClipKard. The amount you can receive per gift card varies. For example, you can expect to get around $20 for a $25 gift certificate from a popular store like Target, while you might get less for a $25 gift certificate from a less popular store.
Sell concert tickets
If you have concert tickets that you cannot use or would rather sell, you should look for a website that will buy them for you, e.g. B. StubHub, SeatGeek and Ticketmaster. The amount you can get for your tickets depends on the popularity of the show or event and you can usually get your money through PayPal or a direct deposit into your bank account.
Ask for a raise
Applying for a raise is a quick way to get extra income. Of course, if the raise is approved, you’ll have to wait a pay cycle or two before you get the money, but in the meantime, you can apply for a pay advance. A bonus: if you ask for a raise now, you can avoid needing a quick buck in the future.
lend money
If you’re short on cash, you can ask family or friends for a loan. Your bank may also offer low-interest loans, and if they don’t, your church or community center may have ideas about where you can get low-interest loans. Do whatever you can to stay away from payday loans and car loans, which have high interest rates (usually 400% APR) and short payment terms of two or four weeks.
Reduce your expenses
Fast saving can be a form of making money quickly. The reduction of the overall expenses, e.g. B. Getting cheaper insurance or comparing cell phone or cable plans to get discounts is an easy way to find extra room in your budget. You might also want to consider refinancing your home or car, or debt consolidation to reduce costs.
Take a poll
One of the quickest and easiest ways to make quick money is by taking an online survey, says Sam Shepler, a Boston-based filmmaker-turned-entrepreneur and CEO of TestimonialHero.com, which produces testimonial videos for businesses .
Shepler recommends sites like Survey Junkie, Swagbucks, and InboxDollars.
“They get paid for your opinion, and you can easily make up to $45 an hour if you work hard enough. Best of all, most surveys take no more than 5 minutes,” he says.
Take a part-time job
Sure, you could deliver pizzas or drive an Uber. But maybe you can make money in your neighborhood without putting too much strain on your car, says Nick Loper, founder of SideHustleNation.com, a blog and podcast about finding side jobs and side hustles.
“The best chance of making money fast is by offering a service or reselling a product,” says Loper. “In service, you should start with the skills you possess, or with the issues you have overcome in your own life. What pains have you paid for to go away? It can be something as simple as eliminating Pet waste or cleaning the gutter, but also something as complex as developing software.
And now that it’s time for spring cleaning, there might be an opportunity to clean driveways with high-pressure cleaners or clear out garages, says Loper.
Sell plasma
Plasma donations are one of the best strategies for anyone who needs extra money. Plasma is the liquid part of blood that contains red and white blood cells and is used in a variety of medicines, medical treatments, and medical research.
The amount you can receive for a donation varies, but plasma centers often pay between $30 and $50 if you donate regularly. Typically, you can donate plasma twice a week, making it possible to make at least a few hundred dollars a month. Some plasma centers advertise that you can make up to $1,000 in a month.
On average, a plasma donation takes two hours, and of course you are doing a good deed.
Take part in a medical study
You can do more than sell plasma. You could take part in a medical study, says Swati Chalumuri, who is based in Bellevue, Washington and runs a blog called HearMeFolks.com that focuses on passive income opportunities.
“While it may seem a bit unconventional, taking part in a medical study gets paid quickly,” says Chalumuri. “The best part is that you might not even need to get vaccinated, instead you can take part in non-invasive fitness studies.”
On the other hand, yes, you may need to get vaccinated. Chalumuri says you could make around $300 to $500 per study, which “will be paid out in phases as the study progresses.”
She recommends visiting the websites of teaching hospitals or medical science schools in your area.
Participate in a focus group
This can be a quick way to make money if you’re lucky with the timing. If you type “focus groups near me” into your favorite search engine, you’ll likely find a lot of market research companies searching consumers to get opinions on products. You can also register with the FocusGroups.org website to gain access to focus groups. You can make $30 or even $150 or more, but you have to be the kind of consumer the market research company is looking for. For example, you could search for a specific age group. Finding a focus group can take days or weeks, or you can find one in minutes. If you are looking for a way to make some quick cash, this can be a great way to do it.
Recycle for money
Let’s face it: you probably won’t make much money this way. But if you have a lot of soda cans or scrap metal in your garage, you could collect them and take them to a recycling center to get paid on the spot.
Remember that you can also get money for recycling other things like ink cartridges. If you e.g. For example, if you buy ink cartridges from Staples, you can return them and receive a $2 reward. While this isn’t exactly an early retirement plan, recycling can sometimes make a quick buck. If you own old electronic devices including cell phones, Flipsy.com might buy your old iPod, tablets, Samsung watches and more.
Find Unclaimed Money
On sites like Unclaimed.org and MissingMoney.com, you may find money that is owed to you but has never been collected. The process of recovering unclaimed funds can take several weeks as you will need to request documentation and verify your identity before receiving the funds.
Mary Pitman, author of The Little Book of Missing Money, is a big fan of these websites. When you visit a site like Unclaimed.org, it recommends that you not only look up your name, but also type things like your last name and first initial.
If you’re looking for a retirement plan you left behind with a previous employer, Pitman suggests checking the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits or pbgc.gov. If you or a family member were in the military, she suggests checking insurance.va.gov/unclaimedfunds for unclaimed life insurance funds — premiums, refunds, or death benefits.
Rent out a room
This may not be practical for some people and it usually takes a while to find the right tenant. But if you’re looking for ideas on how to make a quick buck, it belongs on your list.
On the one hand, you can collect the first month’s rent immediately when you’ve found a tenant, and when it turns into a long-term contract, you’ll have an influx of money every month.
The flip side of the coin is that you have a tenant in your apartment that you have hopefully screened thoroughly. If you don’t get along very well, the extra money might not be worth the hassle.
Advertise on your car
If you drive a lot, e.g. For example, commuting to and from work, you could work with a company like Carvertise, which pays people to wrap their cars with promotional wraps. How Much Can You Earn? That depends on the brand in question. Carvertise estimates that the individuals selected will make at least $100 a month and possibly up to $300 a month driving their car around as usual.
Sell things
We’re not talking about houses here. Forrest McCall, who lives in Louisville, Kentucky and runs the personal finance and entrepreneurship blog Don’t Work Another Day, suggests selling goods you acquire at flea markets and garage sales.
“Typically, you can pick up items at a flea market for a few pennies and sell them online for a profit through sites like Amazon or eBay,” says McCall.
He adds that this can take a little time – and of course, you should choose unique or practical items that people will also want to buy.
Host a flea market or garage sale
Garage and yard sales require you to price everything, put up signs, and advertise on social media. But if you commit to this project, you can make a tidy sum in a week or two, or however quickly you can get there.
