Do you need to earn some extra cash? Okay, most of us would like to earn more so that might be a silly question. The problem is that many of us can’t bump our income the obvious way by getting a second job. Life’s commitments just make it unrealistic to think that everyone can give up that much of their time each week.
Fortunately, there are some ways to get your hands on some extra money without committing to a new job. Of course, the amount of money you can earn will vary depending upon what you put into it. Nonetheless, here are five ways to bring extra cash into your budget:
Have a garage sale. Every household has things cluttering up their closets or attic that they can do without. Why not get rid of them? Old clothes, gadgets you don’t need, and even toys make great fodder for garage sales. Dedicate a week to preparing for your sale. Create attractive displays and work hard. In a week you’ll be able to reap the rewards of your efforts.
Get crafty. Do you knit? Maybe you make the prettiest little potholders anyone’s ever seen. If you have a talent for creating something, you can put it to good use by making and selling it. Websites like Etsy make it easy to sell online. On the other hand, you may prefer to join the artisans at your local craft fair. Set up a table for the weekend and come home feeling like a successful tycoon.
Help out other parents. If our family commitments keep you from being able to take a second job, why shouldn’t you help out someone else while he or she is working? You can organize a Saturday “daycare” program allowing other parents to drop their kids off while they run their weekend errands. Your kids will love having other kids to play with and you can earn some extra cash.
Sell something big. I listed this separately from having a garage sale because giving up a large item in your home is a lot different than selling your old junk. However, if you really need the cash, you may find that you can do without some of the grown-up toys in your home such as a big screen television or blu-ray player. You can list them on Craigslist for free or take out a classified ad in your local paper.
Join a “party” sales program. Is jewelry a passion of yours? Maybe you like to cook. You can even enjoy home décor. There is a type of home sales program for almost everything these days. Choose one that you can be passionate about since your passion will make it easier to sell your products. I like Pampered Chef, personally, but I’ve seen other be very successful at programs like Silpada, Home Interiors, or Creative Memories.
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3 responses so far ↓
1 Betsy Bargain // Mar 10, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Some good ideas for earning extra money. Thank you. We can all use extra money these days!
2 Cat // Mar 10, 2009 at 11:31 pm
I like your suggestions about ways to earn extra cash but I would like to expand on one topic. When you sell at craft fairs, you usually have to pay a fee to do so. The fairs will “rent” you a space to set up your table. These fees can range anywhere from $10 to several hundred dollars. Some also want a percentage of the sales. And there is no guarantee that you will sell your product. Before you go out and spend money on material to make an item or invest in an inventory to resell, go to a few craft fairs and talk to vendors that have items similar to what you have in mind. Besides the cost to rent the space and the cost of material or inventory, you will also need to invest in tables, table covers and display equipment.
As for selling on Etsy, it costs 20 cents to list each individual item and when it sells you are charged 3.5% of the sale. There is so much on Etsy already that it is getting harder to make a sale.
I actually make jewelry and pet treats to sell and have been doing it for 15 years. The economy has become so bad that sales have dropped significantly over the past year. I don’t want to discourage anyone from getting into this business but I would hate to see someone spend a lot of money and not be able to make it back. I am working on my website because my profit margin at the shows has dropped so much. I’m trying to figure out another way to sell my crafts.
Another way that I have found to make a little extra cash is by donating plasma. Biomat USA has several centers across the country and they will pay you for your time when you donate. The center in my area will allow you to donate up to twice a week and they pay $30 for the first time and $35 for the second time each week. Technically they can’t pay you for blood products in Texas so they call it compensation for your time. Their website is: http://biomatusa.grifols.com/ Click on the “Locate Donation Center” link and then select your state from the pull down menu to see if there is a center in your area. You can call them and get the details and medical guidelines. I started going to them a couple of months ago to supplement my income because my craft sales have gone way down.
3 Stephanie // Mar 11, 2009 at 10:09 am
A great way that I raise cash quick is sorting through my closet & taking clothes to a consignment store or a store that gives me cash right away (Platos Closet) and/or going through my bookshelf and going to Half Price Books, or selling to cash4books.net http://cash4books.net/index.php?ref=103065. They change the books they accept all the time; I just had an order for $40 of text books I hadn’t sold on Half.com! Extra cash like that adds up
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