In a bind? Need some fast cash? We're talking here about small bursts
of capital, not millions of dollars -- enough to satisfy your monthly
obligations or get that nagging creditor to stop calling you.
None of the 32 strategies listed here to get some money
quickly will break the proverbial bank. Some are easier than others,
but nearly all require very little to no capital. They are meant to get
you through the difficult times.
Some of these strategies will
require you to be in certain locales, while others are
location-independent, but it all boils down to being resourceful. We've
all found ourselves in a tight spot at one point in our lives or
another, but to the person who's committed, anything is possible.
Much
of this has to do with mindset. When you lack money, scarcity thinking
sets in. The scarcity mindset is negative and thinks that there's never
enough of whatever it is to go around. When you find yourself thinking
like that, do everything in your power to move into an abundant
mindset.
Our thoughts are incredibly powerful.
We have upwards of 60,000 thoughts per day, many deep within our
subconscious mind, much of which are repeated. We have to be stewards of
our thoughts. Once you find yourself thinking negatively, you need to
jar yourself out of that.
When you're looking to make money fast,
you're often in a tough spot financially, even desperate to make ends
meet, but everything that we have and everything that we become is
partly born from our thoughts. Think and you shall become. Curate and
cultivate the right thoughts if you want to live an abundant life.
The psychology of making money.
Regardless if you
need to earn some fast cash or we're just talking about making money in
the grand scheme of things, there's an important psychology that needs
to be mentioned before getting into the strategies. If you study Freud's
model of the mind, you'll discover the Psychic Apparatus. It's the three-part construct in your mind that controls all of your behavior.
Those three are the id, the super-ego and the ego. The
id lives deep within the subconscious from birth. It's the source of
our sudden and most instinctive urges. When you find yourself doing what
you know you shouldn't, blame your id.
The super-ego is formed
later in life to balance the id. It forms and breaks off from the id
through our upbringing, parental guidance and our sense of community and
beliefs. People who are careful with their money can thank their
super-ego.
The ego is the driver making the decisions. It decides between the
devil (the id) and the angel (the super-ego) on either shoulder (yes,
all those cartoons you've ever seen are partly true). We have voices in
our mind, and it's up to the ego to decide which one to fulfill. Its
goal is to satisfy the id in some way while also attending to the
super-ego.
Get-rich-quick schemes and fad weight-loss diets are
naturally popular because they satisfy the id while also attending to
the super-ego. The ego's job is complete when it sees something like
this. The appeal of "fast'' stems from the innate desire for instant
gratification, so beware of what seems too good to be true (they often
are) when you're looking to make money quickly. Be wary. Listen to the
conversation deep within the confines of your mind and do your best to
tame the proverbial beasts.
What are the best ways to make money right away? While a
search online when you're in need of some fast cash will produce
millions of results, not all will be legitimate. It's up to you to
filter through the so-called noise. These 32 strategies will help put
you in the black, even if it's in a very small way. Once you are, resume
planning and focusing on the bigger picture.
1. Drive for Uber or Lyft.
Companies like Uber and Lyft
offer a great opportunity to make some quick cash. You'll need a clean
driving record, a fairly new car and the authorization to work wherever
it is that you live. If you have all of those things, you can work when
it's feasible for you, whether that's in the middle of the day during
rush hour, or in the wee hours of the night on a weekend. The choice is
yours.
2. Become a market research participant.
In
college I participated in loads of market research. It's fairly quick
money for not a lot of work. Companies looking for consumers' opinions
on a variety of products and services put you in a room to garner your
opinion. That's it.
This often involves writing or stating your
opinion, answering polls or surveys, or breaking off in a discussion
group. The mechanics don't matter much. The point is that you can rely
on it from time to time.
3. Sell old books on Amazon.
Amazon makes it fairly easy to list and sell old books on
its marketplace. You can make more than just a few bucks If you have
pricey text books from college. Be sure the books are in good condition.
You'll get negative reviews if you attempt to sell books that are
falling apart. Remember, add value where you can, no matter how small it
might be and no matter how few people might readily notice it.
4. Sell, or resell, used electronics on Craigslist.
The
market for used electronics is vast. You can use Craigslist to part
ways with your old iPhone or your MacBook. You can grab a premium for
these types of electronics. Some people even flip items by buying them
and reselling them.
You could also use a website like Gazelle
to sell your used phones, no matter what kind you have. Companies like
that have made an entire business model out of buying used phones and
refurbishing them. Either way, you can expect to get a fair bit of money
relatively quickly if you have these items laying around your house.
5. Do tasks with TaskRabbit.
TaskRabbit lets
you tap into an existing marketplace of people looking for help locally
with chores. The tasks aren't always small. This platform (along with
others) offers bigger tasks, such as home renovations, as well.
Amazon is getting into the task business with Amazon Home Services.
The services listed there range from very small repairs to larger and
more involved tasks that would take considerably more effort.
6. Deliver for PostMates.
You can earn some cash when you're in dire straits by using PostMates,
and you don't even need a car, just a bike for deliveries in busier
cities and downtown centers. I've used it often to get food from
specialty places that don't deliver themselves, but it can be used for
many things.
PostMates states on their website that you could
earn up to $25/hour doing deliveries. You could also earn some tips in
the process so it's a great option for people that are looking to do
something in their spare time, similar to the big ride-sharing apps that
are hogging up app stores everywhere.
7. Flip real estate contracts.
Ir you're thinking this is cost prohibitive, it's not. You can flip real estate contracts
without ever taking possession of the property. This isn't a
fixer-upper endeavor, just securing a contract and selling it to an
interested party. That's it.
You
can do this with just a few
hundred dollars in most cases to open up escrow. There are companies
dedicated to teaching how to do this like REWW. It's good for making a
little bit of money, but is also potentially something more long term as
well.
8. Sell on CafePress or Etsy.
If you can design digital items, you can sell them for a share of the profits on a site like CafePress.
You can do this with nothing more than some design software. They can
include custom logos, inspirational sayings and other topical or
trending designs appealing to the masses.
You could hire a
designer to assist you with this, but you still need to come up with the
ideas. This works best if you understand design yourself but requires
no overhead. Items are printed and delivered on-demand. You simply
receive a share of the proceeds. Similarly, you could sell items on Etsy as well.
9. Answer questions on JustAnswer.
People looking for expertise online. JustAnswer
(and several sites like it) allow doctors, lawyers, engineers and
others with enhanced knowledge to earn a small income merely answering
questions from people who would otherwise have to pay a hefty sum for
those answers.
This platform is a great resource for people. It's
also lucrative (for the time spent) if you're looking to earn a bit of
cash in a hurry. Don't expect to get rich answering questions, but you
can generate a few bucks here or there if you're in a bind.
10. Do gigs on Fivver.
No matter what type of service you offer, you can likely offer it Fivver.
This is terrific for digital services such as graphic design, web
design, short audio or video clip creation, editing services,
writing and so on.
Fivver has expanded beyond just the $5-per-gig
model. Fiverr Pro pools the best talent on its platform. Depending on
your skills, you could do considerably well on here.
11. Walk dogs.
There are networks devoted connecting dog owners with dog walkers. Rover
is one of the largest networks of dog walkers out there. Of course, you
could also use social media or just knock on neighbors doors to
advertise your services, but you can easily use one of these services.
Do
a great job if you're serious about building a track record of solid
reviews. That will help you make money in the future when you're in
desperate need of it.
12. Babysitting with Care.com.
You
can easily do some babysitting when you need to make a few bucks
quickly. Parents everywhere are always in need of babysitting and nanny
services.
Websites like Care.com connect
parents with babysitters. The company does all the background checking
and other due diligence to put parents' minds at ease. Of course, you
can appeal directly to people in your personal network, but if you're
looking to generate recurring revenue sign up with a site marketing to
parents looking for child care services.
13. Photography
Have
an eye for photography? Of course, you need to be good at this to earn
any money but it you are, you can sell photos on Shutter Stock or iStock
Photo (along with many others) to generate a passive income from
something you might be very passionate about.
For
a quicker way to earn by taking photos, solicit people looking for
photographers to cover their wedding, engagement, child's birthday or
any other life event. You'll need a good camera and some experience, but
you can definitely earn some must-needed income this way no matter
where you live.
14. Do personal training.
If you
understand fitness, you could be a personal trainer. People pay good
money for personal trainers, if only to have someone keep them on track
towards their goals. You can add value while also helping yourself
financially.
This could also break off into nutrition and
assisting people with meal plans, and so on. You could solicit clients
in your local gym, but depending on where you live, you might need some
certification to do this (not to mention the gym's approval). You could
also use a site like Fitness Trainer to advertise your services.
15. Tutoring
Parents are always willing to invest in
their children's future. If you have a great deal of knowledge in
subjects such as math, science or computers, you could tutor for cash.
Both Indeed.com
and Care.com offer opportunities for tutoring local students. You could
opt for either of these platforms or simply find your clients through
your personal network or social media.
16. Advertise for companies with a car wrap.
Platforms like Carvertise
connect brands and companies with drivers. The process is simple --
agree to turn your car into a roaming billboard for a price. If you
qualify, you can earn a set monthly fee for advertising with your car.
You won't have to pay anything to do this, but you'll need a clean
driving record and a fairly new car.
You'll have to drive the car
enough to be worth it for brands paying for your services. If you have
all that, then you could make a bit of side-hustle income through this endeavor.
17. Do gardening for homes.
Offering
your services as a local gardener could make you enough money quick
enough to satisfy some pressing needs. There are loads of options from
mowing lawns and pulling weeds to planning gardens and decor. If you
pitch to enough neighbors, you'll find at least a few takers.
It'll definitely be worth your while.
18. Housecleaning.
There's
a variety of platforms online that you could tap into for doing this,
or you could simply scour your neighborhood or post on social media. You
could use Amazon's Home Services for this as well, or you could create
your own simple, one-page website to advertise.
Either way, this
is a terrific way to make upwards of $20 per hour or more doing a job
that's often in high demand. You could easily make this a long-term gig
if you perform well and don't cut corners.
19. Home organizing.
You
could easily do home organizing for people. If you're a tidy and
organized person yourself, and you're good at organizing spaces, why not
offer your services to people around you? You'd be surprised at how
many people, even on your own social media feed, might take you up on
doing something like this.
Again, a site like Care.com also helps to connect home
organizers with people looking for this type of service. It all depends
on whether you want to go through a professional company or pitch it
yourself to people that are already in your personal or business
network.
20. Wash carpets.
Rent
a carpet cleaning machine at your local home improvement store, or buy
one if you think you can get enough work doing this. You'll likely find
lots of people need something like this, but haven't actively looked for
the service.
You can wash carpets in the owner's homes, or have
them steam-cleaned offsite, depending on the job and the trust you build
with the owners.
21. Give blood.
You can \make around $20
to $50 per donation of blood, depending if your blood type is rare or
common. You can also donate plasma. Different states have different
minimum requirements that must be paid when people donate plasma.
Plasma
donations help people who are fighting Leukemia and other immune
disorders. This is a bit more complicated and involved than donating
blood but you won't get much more than donating blood.
22. Decorate homes for the holidays.
Whether
it's New Year's, Christmas lighting, Easter, Fourth of July or any
other holiday, you can get paid to help decorate homes. This might
involve putting up lights inside or outside, decorating trees, setting
up games and other decor.
Use the internet and social media to
find clients, or simply advertise to your local network. There are loads
of options when it comes to doing specialty jobs like this.
23. Medical studies participant.
If
you don't mind throwing caution to the wind, consider becoming a
participant in medical studies or drug trials. Companies pay a
significant amount of money to participants.
You'll need to find
the companies conducting medial studies and expect side effects. If you
can live with that, then you can definitely make some money fast without
too much effort.
24. Rent a spare room on AirBnB
AirBnB can
s a terrific platform for renting out a spare room. You can make some
good money, especially if you live in a tourist destination. If you
don't mind the neighbors, then this is definitely an option. You can
crash with friends and family and rent out your entire house if you're
really desperate.
25. Do micro gigs on Mechanical Turk.
Mechanical Turk
is a platform by Amazon that allows you to do small jobs and get paid
for it. But don't expect too much money out of this. These gigs truly
are "micro" and range from a few cents to a few dollars at the most. But
if you string several of these together, it might be in your benefit.
You
don't need any serious qualification to do this. Usually this involves
clicking on links, taking surveys, giving an opinion, doing some light
categorizing or other human-intelligence tasks (HITs as they like to
call it).
26. Sell vintage clothes at a thrift shop.
You'll
likely get paid by the pound but it's some money, so if you're in need,
then why not -- especially if you have no use for those clothes
anymore. This works best for things like maternity clothes, old
children's clothes, clothes that you haven't worn in years or are simply
out of style.
27. Open a cash-bonus checking account.
Check
with your local bank to see if they're giving away cash bonuses for
opening up accounts. Banks run promotions like this all the time, so
grab some real cash quickly if you're in need. It won't break the bank
(no pun intended) but it will give you a quick $50 or $100 -- maybe even
more -- when you really need it. You might need to deposit a minimum
amount of cash (usually in the thousands) in order to qualify for these
types of accounts (but not always).
28. Get a small micro-loan on Fundera.
You can get a small business loan (very small) on Fundera, or Prosper
if you're looking for a very small personal loan. Depending on your
credit and your financial and employment situations, you can secure up
to a few thousand dollars like this.
There are loads of platforms that offer these small micro loans. You have to pay them back but it can help if you're in a bind.
29. Conduct a webinar.
Okay,
it sounds intimidating but webinars are one of the best ways to earn
cash quickly. You're speaking to a highly engaged audience. If you
position yourself and the offer correctly, you can make loads of money
in a very short period.
GoTo Webinar is by far the biggest platform. Webinar Jam is
one of the most feature-rich platforms out there. Whichever you go with
comes down to how well you can sell. It takes practice, but this is
fast cash at its essence.
30. Wash or detail cars.
People
are always looking to have their cars washed and detailed. You could be
a mobile car washer and detailer with a permanent location. Reach out
to people you know or make some flyers and put it in your neighbors'
mailboxes. If you want to get serious about it, prop up a one-page
website or give out business cards. You can make money quickly doing
this.
31. Lead walking tours on Viator.
If you live in a tourist locale, consider doing walking tours on Viator,
which is one of the largest platforms for tour operators in the world.
You'll really need to work hard to get a good reputation. To find
clients quickly offer free tours and ask for tips at the end.
This
is leveraging the principle of reciprocity with the power of free.
People love to get things for free, but they feel obligated at the end
to give something in return. That's why supermarkets are always giving
away food. They know if you like it, you'll buy it.
32. Pawn your valuables.
If
you're running on fumes, financially speaking, but you have some money
coming your way soon, consider pawning something of value to borrow fast
cash. Of course, to get those items back you'll need to pay back the
loan with interest. If you don't pay it back in time, that you'll lose
the item. If it's really something that has a lot of intrinsic value to
you, don't do it. But if it's something that doesn't, you can certainly
consider it depending on your situation.
