What to do When You’re Broke

I have lots of experience being broke; it’s nothing to brag about but something that I can talk about with authority.  I’m not just referring to my college student, Pell grant status when I ate a lot of Ramen noodles.  I’m referring to the down times between jobs, moves or volunteer service.  Lengthy unemployment phases that force you to discontinue your  health coverage and doctor or dental visits.  I’m talking about the broke experience of making extreme cuts to your power usage at home and your gas usage on the road.  Folks, I’m talking about being so broke that you think the prices at Goodwill are too high, and I’m not joking.

Here are 11 tips for earning some fast cash.  I’ve listed only the tips that my family or I have tried with success.

1. Yard sale: Set up pre-dawn and be ready to sale to the yard sailors who seriously want to buy your stuff!
2. Sell gold and silver jewelry- Don’t take anything that you will regret selling.  Visit several dealers to get the best value.
3. Sell used music records or CDs- This may take a few trips to different stores, as they buy according to what they have received.  Therefore, don’t get discouraged at your first attempt if they only offer you a cent for a CD…persevere!
4. Sell your blood or plasma- You don’t get as much for your blood, as you do with plasma.  However, the giving of plasma takes a long time.
5. Mow lawns in your neighborhood- This is hard work, but it can be steady work because the grass keeps on growing!
6. Take your fancy or funky clothes to a consignment shop.  Don’t take anything of sentimental value and don’t forget to pick up your pay!
7. Sell items on ebay- You’ll need to create an account.
8. Sell items at the local antique store
9. Baby sitting- Make some nice fliers and place them around.
10. Pet sitting- Ditto on the fliers.
11. Take your loose change to Coinstar or other money counters at the grocery store.  They charge almost 9%.   I was hesitant to mention this at first but just found a great article on AARP.org about it.

Sandra Rogers,

sandra@brokebutnotforlong.org

Look for jobs: http://www.indeed.com/p/index.php?pid=7080813311402333

Excerpt of AARP article by Elizabeth Pope below:

Watch the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves.

American households have an estimated $10 billion in spare change stashed in jars and piggy banks, according to Coinstar, maker of coin-counting products. For years, Akron, Ohio, welder Wesley Lance, 63, emptied his pockets into a growing collection of coffee cans. When Lance’s credit union waived coin-sorting fees during Roll Your Change week last year, his wife, Linda, 59, a bakery worker, hauled 20 cans into the bank using a child’s red wagon.

The teller announced the mounting total as she fed the sorting machine. “Everybody stared at me while the teller called out, $1,000 … $2,000 … $3,000,” says Linda. “It was just like winning at the slot machines in Las Vegas.” The final tally—$4,120.18—was a shock. “If we’d known we had that much, we’d have stuck it in a CD.” Meanwhile, it’s stuck away safely, waiting for interest rates to go up.

Roll Your Change is one of many programs around the country sponsored by America Saves, a national campaign sponsored by nonprofit, government and corporate groups to encourage money-saving habits. Check AmericaSaves.org for more information.

This entry was posted on February 2, 2010 at 02:25 and is filed under Finance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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