I am so sick and tired of hearing people complain that they are sooo broke yet they live in a house full of CRAP! Yes, I said it...CRAP! People's houses are being repossessed, their car's are being taken in the night and they can't afford to pay for groceries.....I for one have been in this situation and I know how it feels to want to do something but you feel limited. Sure, starting a business, selling handmade items or investing in a money-making scheme sounds good but it takes MONEY which when you are really down and out, you don't have. Sometimes you barely have cash for gas and milk. I personally know people who would rather have something repossessed than go without their cable tv and their cell phones. As a mother, losing a cell phone would be really crappy for me but definitely not the end of the world. I also would rather have food for myself and my child as well be able to afford clothing for her than have bill collectors chasing me. Electric is pretty darn important too but of course, we can all rationalize what means more to us than others and our lists would look pretty varied to be honest.
For those of you out there that are struggling to make ends meet and you can't get a second job to do so....this article is for you. This ain't your momma's go make a lemonade stand and squeeze those lemons till your hands hurt article...and it's not going to tell you to be unethical and steal either. It's for real people who need real money really fast. And it all starts right in your own home. No need to buy anything....
1. REASSES YOUR BELONGINGS ~ Being a pat-rack is a disease...an illness and it's a sign of some pretty serious pyschological issues. Sure, your mother left you some family china and some beautiful quilts...totally understandable. BUT if you save everything little thing even if it's broken, out of date and hasn't been used in 5 years just because you can't let go of anything...that's a problem. What you need to ask yourself is: do I lose my house OR do I decide to lose things in my house that I could probably do without? Remember, we only THINK material things make us happy and if we are spiritually evolved, we will know the truth that they don't. When we die, we can't take our collection of cars with us and we can't take a closest full of clothes from 10 years ago that we are hoping we will one day fit into.
And let me say this....I know that getting rid of something to pay a credit card bill is just giving into the man or whatever else you might think but sadly, until you can be totally free of debt and own your house outright, you have to play their game. We ARE caught in a never-ending cycle of work, pay bills, shop and do it all over again but until you get out from under it, it will consume you entirely. This plan is for paying your bills and making extra cash to get out of the holes we are in..not for buying a big screen tv or putting a down payment on a car. THINK about how much longer you will be scrapping by to get those payments under control too. Trust me, I know first hand how this viscious cycle works and I don't want to play the game anymore.
If you are seriously starving and can't pay your bills, you need to sell your stuff. No questions, no hemming and hawwing. This starts with toys your children don't play with anymore, clothes you and your family can't fit into anymore, furniture that is taking up space in the basement, insane collections, ..anything. If you can LIVE without, sell it.
You clean this stuff up, photograph it with a camera (borrow one if you don't have one), and you post this stuff online. I prefer Craigslist.org as it's totally free. Ebay is another method however you need to research your items before you put them and see if they are selling. Ebay charges a fee but you don't have to pay it upfront which is good because you can take your profit and pay afterwards. Also, the buyer pays for shipping so other than packaging supplies which be obtained from the post office for free, there isn't much you need except pictures and a free Ebay account. There are also numerous yahoo groups for classifieds that you can sell on..you just need to research them online and sign up. They are free as well and you can reach a lot of local sellers that might become regular buyers. A little bit of googling and researching and you can have hundreds of dollars in one week. You can sell almost anything using any of these sites.
2. There are free websites out there that are legit ways to earn money. The only one I have had any success with personally is Treasure Trooper. I like the way the site is set up and they make it kind of fun. You can do small offers where you can earn money for surveys and such and then you can do trials which will earn you more money. From there, you can start referring other people to sign up. I spent a lot of time on this site last year and made quite a bit of money. It helped me pay some important bills. The only thing I recommend is writing down the dates of when to cancel the free trials as some of them might try to bill you afterwards. I never had this happen..it never cost me a penny for any of the money I got except I did spend $10 on business cards with my referral info on it. I then passed them around and left them in public places which was good because that $10 turned into over $300 without much effort.
So by this point, you will have a super clean house and will have sold almost everything you have to pay your bills. You will also have made some extra cash online at Treasure Trooper.
In the meantime, here are some other great resources for getting by until the money comes in.
Angel Food Ministries ~ provides food relief to those in need
Freecycle~ Get rid of and get things passed on from others in an effort to keep things out of the dump
Start Sampling ~ free samples
And on a last note, think of something you can offer to others. Do you know how to work on cars? Are you the cleanest person around who loves to make thing shine? Do you know how to sew? Use a skill you already have to make money. Off to help someone do something for a small fee. Advertise for free on Craigslist that you can repair small engines.....sell the baskets you have made but are sitting around collecting dust. Chances are, you have a valuable skill that you just aren't putting to use..NOW IS THE TIME!
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