So, if you're trying to live simply, and you've decided you aren't ready to shock your family with the no material gifts, you're going to need some money. Whatever you do, don't use credit cards and go into debt to make other people happy or meet their expectations. Instead lets talk about ways to boost your income before then. Today's challenge will be to get to work on one or two of these ideas this weekend so that you're in better shape as the hectic holiday season gets closer.
1. Have a "stuff" sale - call it a yard sale, tag sale, garage sale, estate sale, whatever you want, but sell off your unwanted stuff. Pick a weekend (As soon as possible if you live where it's cold!), and schedule a sale. People will buy your stuff even if you think it's worthless, there's always people out there looking for things like it for cheap money. Here's some ideas: kitchen appliances (George Foreman grills, doughnut pop makers, popcorn poppers, irons you never use, mixers or food processors you won't use, etc.), Bath or Body gift sets - you know, all those gift packages of soaps, lotions, bath salts, etc. that you've never opened. Most people never do, they just leave them packaged as a decoration in a bathroom or spare bedroom. Sell it! Old dishes & glasses, clothing, toys your kids have outgrown, board and card games and puzzles no one uses anymore, old music and computer cds, radios and those old boom boxes stored away, coats and boots, shoes, books, unused perfumes, lotions, makeup and colognes, old ties, knick knacks, statues, and basic decorations that aren't necessary - they just clutter your home.
2. After you've sold off the smaller, cheaper things, consider selling your more expensive things on websites like www.letgo.com, or www.offerup.com. Those are great places to sell larger or pricier items like real jewelry, furniture, artwork, collections and collectibles, old cameras, larger appliances, etc. I have a friend who sold almost $1000 worth of unwanted pieces of furniture in one weekend, and another couple of hundreds worth of jewelry another weekend.
3. Craig's list or some other local website where you sell to people near you is great for stuff like tools, or things someone who works in your field can use. It's also great for selling off things you don't need like that spare car, bike, motorcycle, fishing boat, etc.
4. Pick up a TEMPORARY part-time job. If your car is 5 years old or newer, you could become a driver for Uber, Lyft, or any of the other dozens of new driving services out there in your area. You know exactly who's picking you up with a photo ID before-hand, and it's built to protect both driver and passenger. The best part is that you get to set your own days and hours, and you can be as flexible as you want.
5. Afraid of picking up strangers? Try UberEats. People order food, you drive to go get it, charge a fee for the service and they tip you. Never underestimate how many people will pay to have food delivered instead of going out to get it themselves.
6. There are also sites out there that will pay you to take online services. Each survey is worth points, and when you get so many points (varies from company to company, even AARP has a program like this), you trade it in for gift cards and items that can be used to do your holiday shopping. It takes time, but it's flexible enough to work around other things. What if you scheduled one or two days/nights a week to work on just that? You'd have a fairly steady stream of additional income.
7. Mystery Shopping. If you've got pretty good language and grammar skills, you can be a mystery shopper. You walk into businesses, view apartments, check out casinos, or make phone calls, then report back if they did everything right according to instructions given to you ahead of time. Usually it's easy things like ordering food and beverages, making sure they're all in uniform, time how long it took to receive your order, maybe take a photo of the food, and report if it looked and tasted right, was the establishment clean? easy things like that. A word of caution though, be careful you choose a reputable company, and they should NEVER ask YOU to pay for ANYTHING to join them. A few I've worked for are: EPMS (epsomonline.com), Intellishop, Sentry Marketing, BestMark, MarketForce, and A Closer Look. Sometimes you get lucky and get a great shop that offers you a free night in a hotel in another city that you needed anyway during the holidays. You get reimbursed plus a small fee paid to you but it saved you from paying for one and not getting reimbursed.
Be creative - there's lots of ideas how to make money before the holiday sets it. I challenge you to plan something to get started on today.
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