Raising cash in a hurry #19: Do odd jobs in the neighborhood
Posted by: in Money General TalkFiled under: Debt
Late on rent? Loan shark breathing down your neck? Can’t fill your car with gas to get to work on Monday? Assuming all available funds and traditional sources of credit are tapped out, here are 25 (legal) ways to raise cash in a few days. We list them in order from least to most desperate.
You’re out of cash. What do you do? Hit up Mothers and Fathers.
No, not your mother and dad, silly. Mothers and Dads; those worn-out individuals with small children under five who barely remember what it’s like to go to a restaurant and not spend the evening quelling tantrums and wiping up spilled water. There are a lot of part-time jobs you can get in order to turn a quick buck, but exercising the babysitting option is one of the most immediately lucrative. Supply and demand, you know.
I mean, babysitters earn upwards of $10 an hour these days. Offer to sit for friends’ kids Friday or Saturday night. The parents will be only too happy to hand you cash when they return. One friend of mine used to leverage her evening take by mentioning casually that she’d be happy to spend the night with the children for $100…which was always swiftly obliged by the male half of the equation, if only so he can get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.
Reliable babysitters are in high demand. You can nearly name your price. Indeed, as a parent, I’ve been known to offer last-minute desperation bonuses for a sitter who’ll show up on a moment’s notice when the original sitter is a no-show. I gave one girl her regular pay plus a $50 tip, just to thank her for pinch-hitting at the last minute. (It was cheap compared to losing out on my $300 theater tickets).
You probably superior have some experience with kids, either through raising your own or having had a lot of babysitting experience.
Continue reading Raising cash in a hurry #19: Do odd jobs in the neighborhood
Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Entries (RSS)