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| Good money making tips are hard to come by. Here are a few I like. |
This is more of a rant than an actual "how to" article but I promise I'll share some tips after I have had my say. If you don't want to read the rant (shame on you!) then just scroll down to the second part of the article. Now, if you feel as frustrated as me then I hope you share my conviction that every blogger who writes one of those "100 ways to make money" articles should be laughed off the Internet. Seriously, who believes searching for money in the couch or holding a yard sale is a way to make money? I'm not the yard sale king in my neighborhood. I don't think anyone would want to buy my junk and I don't want to spend a Saturday sitting by the street with all my stuff on display.
If You Have No Money to Work With, Try These Ideas
If you're broke, completely broke, and you need money right away I suggest you borrow it from your family. I know, you want to make money, not borrow it. But it's hard to come up with money in an emergency. You won't have many options.
Pawn Stuff Yes, you can take stuff to the pawn shop where they will give you pennies on the dollar. If you really love what you own I recommend that you NOT pawn it. Pawn shops will buy things or loan you money. Either way they are looking to make a profit so they won't give you full value for anything.
When I was in college I pawned some stuff. I'll never do that again. The people at the pawn shop were nice, professional, and considerate. But I felt cheapened by the experience. I guess if you find some stuff by the roadside that is really worth something you could take it to a pawn shop. I would clean it up, first. I have a friend who occasionally finds nice stuff in the trash, but that's really hit and miss. It's not a good use of your time.
If you have a lot of friends and relatives who have stuff they don't want, you could ask them for donations. Honestly, pawn shops only take stuff they believe they can sell. Don't embarrass yourself by carting junk down to a pawn shop. Either you have something of value or you don't.
Sell Blood I've never sold my blood to make quick cash but it's something I've always considered doing. Some people do sell their blood.
If you are in good health and you really need the cash, then try it.
Work for a Day I've never done this but I used to work for a company that hired day laborers. Most of these people were homeless or nearly homeless people. They were hard workers and although a few of them had a little body odor they did the jobs they were hired to do. You can look for a company like LaborWorks and go get a daily job.
So what's the catch? Well, you have to get up really early in the morning. Their Website says "show up by 5:30 AM to any of our locations." OUCH! I'm still asleep at 5:30 but if you're hungry and need some cash, you might have a shot with a group like these guys.
The Houston Chronicle explains more about day working in this article. I can't promise you'll find organizations like these in every community. I can't promise you can sell your blood, either.
If You Have a Little Spare Change, You Have A Few Options
These are ideas for making passive income. That's where your money works for you and you don't have to do anything after you start investing. You'll need at least a few dollars. I guess $10 is a safe minimum. I know there are a few apps that let you sign up with as little as nothing or $5.
Apps for Microinvesting You may have heard about these already. Top Ten Topia has a great article about microinvesting. So here is how it works: whatever money you put into your account is used to buy stocks or something. You'll make money the old-fashioned way. You have to be patient.
I've heard of a guy who made a few hundred dollars by buying and selling stocks every few days, always trading up. He used a company called Robinhood. They're listed in the Top Ten Topia article. Robinhood doesn't charge you any brokerage fees. They make money off the interest they collect from uninvested cash and by selling their customers additional services.
You have to learn how to pick good stocks. If you don't think you can do that then I recommend putting your money into a mutual fund. Any of the Standard and Poor 500 index funds should be okay. Just keep buying shares and you'll make money over time.
You can do all this from your smartphone. I think you will need a bank account for everything.
Lend Money to Other People All you have to do is sign up with a company called Prosper. The minimum account balance is $25 so it's easy to get started with them.
These guys loan your money and handle the payments. I've read there is some risk these loans won't get paid back but I guess that's a risk even the big banks take.
That Was Five Ideas
I wish I could give you 100 tips on how to make money but there aren't seriously that many ways to do it. Either you go get a job or a second job or you do stuff like this.
I hope I didn't waste your time with this article. I'll try to share more tips in the future.
