7 Creative Ways to Raise Extra Cash

First the holidays and now tax season has many of us wondering how we’re going to make ends meet over the next few months. Sometimes the budget doesn’t stretch far enough to meet unexpected expenses that pop up. Long term solutions are best for improving cash flow, but sometimes you just need a quick fix and some fast cash to get you through a rough patch. I have some money making ideas that will raise extra cash, and don’t require a long-term commitment or a lot of effort.

7 Creative Ways to Raise Extra Cash

1. Put on an event. Do you have a specialty to showcase or a know-how that others would be interested in? Perhaps, you’ve had great success with coupons or are a whiz when it comes to social media. Chances are, there are other people who are eager to learn what you know. Offer and sell tickets to a one-time event. You can put together an event for free at eventbrite.com. The site allows you to sell tickets, promote the event, and even use Paypal for ticket sales.

2. Sell your photos. Are you a budding amateur photographer? If you’re a natural with the camera, why not profit from your talent. There are many stock photography websites such as istockphoto.com and shutterstock.com where you can sell your JPEG images. Usually you get paid when your image is downloaded. Get noticed for your mad photography skills and get paid at the same time.

3. Get paid to tweet. Have you amassed a large Twitter following? There are services such as sponsoredtweets.com and paidpertweet.com that will match you up with advertisers looking for tweeters to tout their brands. You can make as much as $5 per tweet, simply by tweeting.

4. Cash in your gift cards. After the holidays, you may find yourself with a collection of gift cards. Turn your plastic gift cards into cash on sites like plasticjungle.com and cardpool.com. You’ll get up to 92 percent of the cards value.

Related Article: 10 Creative Ways to Reuse Throwaways

5. Babysit. Parents are willing to pay top dollar for a mature, experienced babysitter. Sign up with sites such as sittercity.com that connect parents with babysitters in their area. Also, contact the organizers of local mom groups and ask them to share your contact information and credentials with the groups members. Be prepared to provide a recent background check and have CPR certification.

6. Adjust your withholding. If you typically receive a big tax refund, but can’t wait until February for your return, consider changing your tax withholding status to keep more money in your pocket. Although you should be cautious when doing this, and be sure to switch back to your standard withholding after a paycheck or two. You can use the withholding calculator on irs.gov to make sure you stay on track.

7. Peddle your wares. Now is a great time to clean out your closets and turn those items you no longer need into cash. Go through your jewelry box and visit sites like cash4gold.com and exboyfriendjewelry.com to sell necklaces, rings, and other jewelry you no longer wear. Craigslist, Amazon, and eBay are still great places to sell unwanted items. Old books can be sold at bookscounter.com. Simply enter the ISBN for any book you want to sell and see what you can make on it. Geolist is a free iPhone and Android app that lets you upload an image, description and price of what you are selling, then uses location based technology to share it with potential buyers.

Do you know of any other ways to raise extra cash?

You might also be interested in Simple Ways to Eat Healthy on a Budget and 5 Stay-at-Home Mom Budget Tips.