If you needed to make some extra money...

[just_lily]

... what would you do?

I need some new ideas. If you needed some extra money for some reason, say $500 to $1000, what would you do?

[neetling]

I'd have my husband work as much OT as he could stand (if it was available)

[busymama77]

I would put on my crafy hat and make some stuff to sell.

[dagny.galt]

That depends on the time frame. Is the $$ needed today? less than a week? two weeks? a month? Is it a one-time thing? And how desperate is the need for this money?

If the money was critical, and the time frame short, a few days to a week, I'd get on Craigslist and sell anything possible/practical.

If the time frame was slightly longer, but the need still high, I'd sell things and also look into plasma donation, "gigs" listings on Craigslist, short-term jobs, overtime, etc. I'd also employ any skills/crafts, locally or online.

If the time frame was a month or more and the need not so high, I'd do the above, plus cut our budget in as many ways possible -- cut grocery spending to minimum and eat out of the freezer/pantry, cut driving to a minimum and combine trips to save money on gas, etc.

[TheSavedQuarter]

My goal this year has been to save an extra $500 a month, a quarter of my family's income for the whole year, and I've found a number of ways that are working for me.

1. Babysit. I've found a few families on Craigslist and watch their babies in the evenings for date night a few times a month. I used to be a nanny one day a week for a family that let me bring my kids. It was a great deal because our kids got along and I could make money while they played.

2. Mystery shopping. This doesn't pay immediately, but has been really positive for me. I get a lot of things for free that I would otherwise pay for and get reimbursed and paid besides. Recently, I've gotten high end salon beauty products, paint, house plants, an eye exam (I needed it and Medi-Cal doesn't cover it), an oil change, kid clothes, movies with popcorn and soda, a bowling date, restaurant meals, and other stuff by mystery shopping. Don't pay to get started, that's a scam, but there are a lot of legitimate sites. I now get e-mail job offers and don't go looking for jobs anymore, but Mysteryshop.org and Volition.com are a good place to start. I don't have any kind of certification and still get good job offers.

3. Focus groups. These pay pretty well if you're near a city that does them. I find them on Craigslist. Usually they pay $100 or so for an hour or two of time. I've done three this year.

4. Sell your stuff. Ebay, Craigslist, or a good old fashioned garage sale. I've also had luck doing the "drugstore game" getting free stuff by combining coupons and sales, and reselling the freebies on Ebay. Rebates are good in this regard, too.

5. Online survey sites. These take some time, but I've done okay with them. I don't do anything that will make me less than $6/hr, but I've been able to make that pretty consistently, at least an hour a day. It adds up if you're consistent.

6. If you have a blog, monetize! I just started to monetize my blog and I'm earning about $50-60 a month right now. It can definitely grow but I've not been really on top of that yet.

[ancoda]

Around here people sell their hair and plasma.

Hair gets sold online.
The plasma at a plasma bank.

[happysmileylady]

It genuinely just depends on the situation. I need $500 tomorrow to keep the electric from getting shut off (not a likely situation, but the most immediate that I could think of), I would likely start selling electronics and other crap on CL. If I have till the weekend, I probably am throwing together a garage sale too.

If it's more like we need to have a car repair done and it's not urgent, that probably is going to be some more OT by DH, or me selling a couple of crafts or something online. I have done contract type of work for quick money too-I worked for the census earlier this year, last year I did phone book delivery etc.

I am a photographer and am trying to build my business. I have offered free sittings before, with discounted prints, and that can generate some cash quickly too(free stuff generates lots of interest)

So, basically, it just depends on how much I need, how badly I need it, what it's for and what my abilities are.

[laughingfox]

I see that you run a home daycare. Would you be willing to watch kids late at night? Or even over the weekend for parents who might need/want to go out of town? I imagine that could be very lucrative.

Unfortunately, I've tried just about everything else in this list, and it's always been a total flop for me. Good luck!

[Poddi]

If it's a one time thing, I'll sell some stuff on Craiglist or Ebay. It shouldn't be too hard as we really have too much stuff. If it's every month, I don't know. We better get a part-time job or something.

Are you thinking about Christmas expenses? You can probably try to get a temp job in malls painting windows/decorating or wrapping gifts.

[caiesmommy]

I would do what I'm doing..wait tables. I make A LOT of money. I did training(even though I've waited before) and started serving Thursday in 3 shifts a total of about 21h(A LOT b/c I covered a sick shift for a total of 12h) between my pay and tips I made over $500 bucks on a long weekend which was slow as can be!

Last night I worked from 5-8:30 made 60 bucks cash and get 75 bucks from last night on my next check so 3.5h of work for a total of 135 bucks. And it was SLOW and there was too many of us on the floor. but 135 bucks in 3.5h= 38 bucks an hour

Can't complain!

[JudiAU]

I think your easiest method is to do some childcare at night, with the kids you have. Maybe a PNO? Parent's Night Out - i.e. one night a month host one, keep the kids late until like 11 p.m. parents go out etc. Very popular at my preschool.

[Ellien C]

Originally Posted by JudiAU

I think your easiest method is to do some childcare at night, with the kids you have. Maybe a PNO? Parent's Night Out - i.e. one night a month host one, keep the kids late until like 11 p.m. parents go out etc. Very popular at my preschool.

I gotta agree with this one. Even some kind of sleepover-slumber party for a set price would be awesome. I would TOTALLY do that.

[zebra15]

Since you do daycare I 2nd and 3rd the 'parents night out' idea. My sitter calls it 'kno' kids night out. She orders pizza, a movie and a craft for the kids and charges $25-30 per kid for 4 hrs. Overnights are $50 per kid. Its a huge hit with both kids and parents (She runs this 1x a month saturday 6pm-sunday 9am or pick up at 10pm saturday night)

Some other things *I* do are sell outgrown kids stuff at the resale shoppe, craigslist, ebay (not so much anymore). CUT THE BUDGET,

get crafty and sell those - the holidays are coming and crafts will be in demand soon.

A goal for 2011 is to try out 'secret shopping'. thanks to the PP for the info!

I am a substitute teacher, The licensing was easy and the pay is good. The work is super easy (when I can find it, its still early in the year so I expect things to pick up in the next month or so) IDK what your DH does (or if you have one) but if subbing fits into the schedule its something to consider.

*again I guess it all depends how soon you need the $$

[Denvergirlie]

We've done "gigs" on Craigslist - office cleaning, deliver menues door to door, etc.
Yard sales
Storage unit auctions (storage units that people don't pay on, we buy, sell things on ebay, craigslist, consignment sales, yard sale, etc)
Scrap metal - crusie the alley's looking for steel, stainless, cans, etc. We sort and take to scrap yard

[texmati]

If I had to raise 500-1000 quickly, I'd sell stuff on CL. If I was looking for that much each month-- perhaps do afterschool pick up, or over nights as pp mentioned?