How can I make some extra money quickly?

ElleWoods

Money is already very tight and in the last week I've had my car tax to pay (£170) and it failed it's MOT yesterday which cost me another £195. Just checked my bank account I'm overdrawn and it's only the 4th . I'm quite upset as I've not been overdrawn in almost 2 years. I don't get paid again for over 4 1/2 weeks and have no idea how I'm going to manage, even to buy food. The more overdrawn I become, the more it will eat into next month's pay, so I'd like to try to make some money to neutralise the extra amount I've had to spend this month.

Already got some bits on ebay but it's not going to amount to much as they are small things, so I'm looking for ideas how to make a bit of money. At work at the mo, but will have a good browse on here this evening, but in the meantime if anyone has any ideas I'd really appreciate it.

CC x

gazania_2

sell the car?

ElleWoods

I need the car to get to work and to drop my son off at nursery on the way there. It's isolating enough being a single parent - I would be totally cut off without my car! So thanks for the suggestion but it's just not practical.

studentsaver90

A car boot sale can always raise a small amount of money, it's amazing what people will buy if it's only 20p, get rid of all your useless junk and make a small amount of cash, depends how much stuff you have lying around that you're willing to sell.

jasonwatkins

cash converters is always an option as well for short term money - but don't fall into the trap of taking the maximum amount they'll offer you, which you can't afford to buy back.

if you only need £10, and you take, say, an ipod into one of the shops, then ask for £10 for it - if they offer you £20 or £30, as tempting as it is, don't take it because you'll still have to pay it back.

you could also look at borrowing a SMALL amount of money against the car - some cash converters do this as well. i think you basically give them the log book but you do keep the car - when you pay them back, then you get the log book back - but don't quote me on that, as i've never had a car, i've just overheard someone doing it.

the golden rule if you do go to cash converters in any aspect is to remember that whatever they give you has to be paid back, plus interest, so either ask for what you need, or just slightly less, so you know you'll be able to pay it back and won't lose your stuff.

i personally find sainsbury's 'basics' range to be good if you're low on funds - you can get angel delight for 8p a pack, and a pack of 10 fish fingers for 49p - which are lifesavers for fish finger sandwiches

Antispam

If you make any money let me know I have a few £50 notes from you. But shhh its against the law

Poppycat

MoneySpider08 :spam:

fluffyb

I've been browsing this morning for the same reason, and came across a site called ibootsale. I'd not heard of it before but it's a virtual car boot sale and at the moment the 'pitch' is free and you can also put on 25 items - again, free at the moment.

I might give it a go myself

elliep_2

I know it might sound a bit childish but if you just need a bit short term then you could try offering to wash your friends/neighbours cars for a fee? or clean their houses or something?

thumbelina

Women's magazines pay between £10 and £15 for letters, tips, photos etc. I recently got £25 for getting a 20-word Woman's Own 'rant' published. It's not going to bring in money this month because of copy lead times, but if you start now, writing one thing a week, you'll have a steady flow of extra cash in the months ahead. No need to buy the mags - just take down the details from WH Smith. You can usually email your contribution, so it costs nothing.

Another suggestion - local community groups (WI, church groups, retirement associations, literary societies etc) are desperate for speakers. Some of their members have been attending for 30 or 40 years, so they're always looking for something new. Could you speak to a group? (Subject is irrelevant; if you've got special knowledge of a topic, fine, but talking of how you manage on a low income, or showing slides of a holiday, or history of a local place of interest, or demonstrating a craft, or leading community singing will all be appreciated). Again, it's not really a short-term option - I'm getting phone calls booking me in 2010! But this week I spoke at a few day's notice because someone had dropped out, so that's a bit of extra, unexpected cash this week.

glowgirl_2

Hi Thumbelina

What a great idea about speaking to local groups, I have lots of things I could talk about, how did you get into this? did you advertise yourself or just ring up local groups offering your services? sorry for lots of questions but this really appeals to me also how much do you get paid per speach? I fully understand if you dont want to say or feel free to pm me if you prefer. Look forward to hearing from you.