Quick Ways to Make Money: Is It Really Possible?
Okay, you’re short of cash – really short – and payday is weeks away. Maybe you don’t even have a job – but you need money, and you need it now!
There are plenty of ways to earn a quick buck, with something for every skill set and a varied range of payback times. Furthermore, there are many opportunities that won’t require you to pay out any money upfront (which is nearly always a scam).
Following some intensive research and no short amount of hard-won experience, in this article we present our guide to making money fast – and legally, of course!
Let’s start with the quickest options and go from there.
Sell Your Goodies
It may be painful, but sometimes there are more important things to do with your money than have it tied up in DVDs, games, clothes, or other goodies.
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Probably the easiest places to sell your stuff are eBay and Amazon, but remember to factor in postage and packaging costs, and any charges the sites themselves may make. With this helpful guide, you’ll be a marketplace master in no time!
Recycle Discarded Items
For instant cash, recycling is an option, and you’ll be helping to save the planet too!
Taking your glass bottles, old electronics, and metal cans to a recycling center can bring in some much-needed funds, and you may even find neighbors happy to pass on their old unwanted items.
To get started, look for a metal recycling company near you, and for recycling electronics, take a look at this list. Further listings for all sorts of materials can be found at Doxo.
Work for Neighbors
Are you any good at DIY? Are you willing to clean people’s homes, or take in ironing? Would you be happy to run errands such as grocery shopping, wrapping presents, cleaning and laundry, gardening, or even assembling furniture?
Plenty of people are too busy or not up to doing these tasks themselves, and by asking around locally, placing an ad in a local shop, or signing up with sites such as TaskRabbit, Zaarly, and Craigslist, you can connect with people who need your help.
While some services (such as mowing lawns) require an upfront investment in equipment, many others don’t – and if you already have (or can borrow) a mower, you’re good to go!
Cut Your Bills
While this isn’t a way to save money per se, a penny saved is a penny earned – and best of all, you won’t pay tax on what you save, so in that sense, it’s even better than saving money!
To begin, cutting bills is simply a case of calling your provider and haggling to get a better deal on your cell phone, cable TV, and other bills.
Taking your cell provider as an example, firstly find similar plans and prices on other networks, then call your own. Armed with information about what else is on offer, haggle cheerfully but firmly with your provider.
It’s always worth checking on prices, particularly if you’ve had your cell phone for a while. Sometimes the costs reduce sharply after a couple of years (usually when it’s considered ‘paid for’), but your provider is unlikely to volunteer this information!
You can cut other bills such as your cable TV in a similar way, and you can even try comparing bank, insurance, and mortgage charges (and more) on Credio. With a site such as MyRatePlan, you can compare cable and satellite TV, cell phone plans, and more.
Finally, it’s also worth considering whether you really do need that streaming service, or magazine subscription, etc. – canceling them outright sends the money saved straight back to your pocket.
Make Money Online
If you need instant rewards, it’s worth considering looking online. For example, you can get paid for completing online surveys at sites such as:
Other companies, such as Qmee, will pay you for searching Google, Bing, or Yahoo – simply install an add-on to your browser, do what you usually do, and get paid!
Furthermore, companies such as UserTesting will pay you $10 to video review all sorts of websites, mobile apps, and prototypes – and Swagbucks rewards you for all kinds of tasks such as filling in surveys, surfing the web, watching videos, and playing games.
Get Involved With Scalable Tasks
‘Scalable tasks’ are large jobs broken into tiny chunks – with you completing one chunk of that work for a small sum.
Sites such as Clickworker and Amazon’s Mechanical Turk work on the basis of crowdsourcing scalable tasks that businesses want to be completed quickly, mostly in fields such as data entry, web research, form filling, and spell checking.
For further information and ideas, look to sites such as Qmarkets and CrowdSource. You’ll see there is a huge range of possibilities depending on your skills, including research, quality assurance, and translation.
Become a Writer
If you fancy trying your hand at writing and can work quickly, money can be found at ‘content mills’ such as Textbroker and Blogmutt. If you have a bit more time, need more money, and have established writing skills, try paid writing gigs through sites such as Upwork, which is a marketplace for all sorts of writing jobs as well as many other types of work.
If you are great at crafting a resume, ResumeEdge will pay you to write them (on behalf of jobseekers), as well as LinkedIn profiles and cover letters.
Also, if you’d like to try your hand at product reviews, try sites such as Epinions and ReviewStream – and by signing up with sites such as Paid Forum Posting, you can also get paid for posting to forums, newsgroups, and bulletin boards.
Sell Your Handiwork
Are you au fait with knitting needles, or do you make items such as candles, soft furnishings, and jewelry? You could sell your goods on sites such as Etsy, CraftFoxes, or Folksy, which connect independent sellers with potential buyers.
This article provides an overview of some similar websites, complete with links, and the Design Trust has a great post on how to sell your crafts online successfully – while they’re based in the UK, the advice given is suitable for everyone, no matter where you’re based.
Rent Your Stuff
Finally, it’s even possible to rent out your stuff if you really can’t bear to part with it forever.
Rent My Items is a lending site where you can rent out almost anything – including Xbox and Playstation games, baby items, power tools, books, CDs, furniture, and more!
If you live close to a transport hub or crowded city center, there’s also the potential to rent out your spare parking spaces or your garage through ParkingBee. However, there are things to watch out for, including planning permission issues, local bylaws, covenants, and whether your mortgage and insurance have restrictions that might apply.
Conclusion: Make Money Fast
If you’re short of funds, there are dozens of ways you can make money legally – some will provide potentially long-term sources of income, whereas others are purely fast money gatherers. Your options include:
- Sell unwanted goodies.
- Recycle old items.
- Work for your neighbors.
- Cut or eliminate your bills.
- Earn money online.
- Work on scalable tasks.
- Become a writer.
- Sell your handiwork.
- Rent your stuff.
Have you found any other (legal!) ways to make cash fast? Let us know in the comments section below!
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