Creative ways to MAKE AND SAVE money...

Hi there...

I thought i would like to share some creative ways to make money, that maybe no -ones thought of...I owe £8,000 so I should take my own advice really...hahah! (hang in there as this is quite long!)

1) Ever thought of appearing on a game show - ive been on 6 or 7 and im not a trivia genius (never won the big one tho - always come second ). there are web sites dedicated to tv companies trying to find contestants ( i shall lsit below). You get a great experience of a day or two out, all meals and expenses paid for and you may even get to meet a celebrity (ha). Theres also the prize of course, which in some cases can be holidays, cars and cash. Even if you dont WIN, you may get merchandise that others dont have and can ebay later (A Crystal Maze crystal anyone - circa 1991)?

http://www.beonscreen.com/uk/user/show_latest.asp
http://www.ukgameshows.com/index.php/Contestant_Calls
(you can always look in the back of the national newspapers too!)


2) Donate your body to science! (well...not literally). A relative of mine works in the pharmeceutical industry and has links to some of the big pharma companies ie Glaxo, Roche, etc.. There are lists of clinical trials that they need people for, some healthy volunteers and some people that have specific diseases ie asthma, so in some cases it might help you. They can be as simple as taking a tablet for a week and having two blood tests...about £110, to staying in bed for a week reading a magazine and watching tv whilst they
test you for things, (potentially £300-£1000).

Obviously there is more pay for more discomfort and trouble. My relative says that the things they test on you generally are medicines that already available to the consumer (nurofen etc) and that is what they call 3rd level, or 4th level trials. This also means it would have been tested on animals first and then a few rounds of human tests before it gets to you. Its how medical students pay their way through medical school apparantly.

The only thing you may need to be warned of though (and my financial advosor didnt even know the answer to this one is, that IF by very large odds you happen to contract a disease and they ever link it back to the fact that you VOLUNTARY took the stuff that caused it, it may have implications on life insurance etc...as you have to sign a disclaimer to say you wont sue the medical company if anything happens to you...

http://www.biotrax.com/home.php
http://www.charterhouse-clinical.com/volunteerrecruitment.html
http://www.2from.com/cro1.shtml
http://www.hmrlondon.com/volunteering.htm

3) Get a big pile of womens magazines, Take a Break, Company, Essentials etc. But look at the letters/advice columns. Take a Break for example pay up to £25 for a Top Tip (stain removal, novel things to do with a stale baguette....you know the stuff).

They also pay anything from £100 to £350 for true life stories (take a break, chat) - just a couple of pics of you and your story..

Also, you could write a witty letter, or question about fashion, men, the last issues articles etc - they often award you prizes for getting a letter printed - it may be that only 50-100 people actually bother to write in. If you use a couple of names at different addresses, then you can multiply it, just keep a record!

4) If you're in any way artistic, then loads of places will accept drawings/paintings/art for stuff. ie - I made up a character then redrew it on graph paper and sent it in to 'Cross Stitcher' magazine - got £175 for it!!!!

write a nice letter/email and do some rough ideas, they will let you know if they want anything. The list is endless as to what you can do - Short stories, embroidery charts, card making magazines, greetings card companies (both pics and 'verses/jokes/captions). ...remember you dont have to be DaVinci - purple ronnie after all was only a stick man!!!

5) if you do the National Lottery, switch to the IRISH LOTTERY. Same stake, same draws, mon and wed nite...BIGGER PRIZES. Put a £1 on one line and you get £416 for 3 NUMBERS!!! i put .50 pence on a week, and for that stake it enters me in one line and the winnings for 3 numbers is £108. its out of 42 numbers and you can include the bonus, so its 3 numbers outa 7 for example. I win generally every 6-8 weeks... ive got my whole family onto it! you have to go in to a betting shop, but they are friendly and will explain if for you!. you can even play on

https://www.ladbrokes.com
and results on 'www.winonnumbers.co.uk, or ceefax (4 tel - the channel 4 one page 649)

6) Want to defrost your freezer or empty your cupboards..? then EAT your way through it! We buy loads of stuff every week through habit, but have cupboards full of sauces and freezers full of meat. i havent done a BIG SHOP for 2 months. I get out all the sauces, pasta meat,etc every few days, then i do a shop at a cheap supermarket, just for veg, meat and the basics to use up those bits. Then when the cupboard and freezer are empty, you CAN do a big shop, and have room for all those two-for-one deals!

7) Ebaying - have you got loads of bits you could ebay but dont think its worth it? why not lumpt things together. Tie up 20 issues of an old magazine, or make a box up with '10 various size 12 tops from Top Shop' . Its a bit like a lucky dip, but gets rid of your clutter, and probably sells things you wouldnt sell as singles!!??

8) its another gambling one im afraid, but im not endorsing anything! TRy to find gaming FREEROLLS - poker, bingo, pub games online. ie Virgin Poker FreeRoll. Costs nothing to enter (usually about $3-$10), and the other day I won $4, which now allows me to enter a game that costs that, with a prize of $300 - i dont EVER use my own money.. there's no need if youre good!

9) Be CREATIVE with your freetime. The reason i spend extra money i dont have is because i order pizza at the last minute as i forgot to shop wisely, or miss out on vouchers/free admissions, as i forgot where i put the local paper? If you know you dont have any 'fun money' plan things in advance. for example, i know im skint, so ive made sure, i have my 'two for one' voucher for the science musuem and for lunch printed and in my purse, then ive found out the opening times of the RSPB bird walk, then we're going to 'bargain time' at the cinema..and theres some nice things out the freezer to cook up a nice meal, rather than realising your starving and everythings frozen! (prob saved double what all these activities would cost if i left things till the last minute!)

10) pub quizzes - cheap fun nite out, and maybe you wont win the main quiz, but a lot of the pubs round here have a 'bonus fun round'. ie theres a pot that grows every week, and its a quess-timate fun question that everyone has a go at usually for a large pot. I won £422 last year for guessing Kylies exact age (to the nearest day) ! anyone can have a go!!!

...think thats all for now..good luck everyone - stay positive and creative!