When I was $15,000 in credit card debt, I was making just $31,000 a year. Needless to say, digging out from what I owed was going to be a lengthy uphill battle. But in fact, it wasn’t. I got out of debt in just three years. How? I found a way to make additional income–on top of aggressively budgeting, taking advantage of balance transfer offers, and reducing wasteful spending.
When you’re in debt and you don’t make that much money, time is the greatest asset you have on your side. Sure, you can try to find a raise, or a better paying job (all of which I also did), but for many people in this economy, that’s just not realistic. But trust me when I say there are ALWAYS low stress opportunities to make money, if you’re willing to make the sacrifice of giving forth a little extra energy, and your time. Here are three ways to do it:
1. Become a professional consignor. I always loved the idea of having just 10 pivotal fashion items in your closet and though I’m still far from it, it can be a great way to kick start an additional form of income, and declutter your life. Further, it will stop you from shopping and getting trapped by “sale” items that are low in value to your life. With those non-essential items, you might even realize an additional cash flow stream. If you’ve ever tried to sell clothes to a consignment shop, you know they don’t offer you that much for your stuff, even if it’s in good shape; they have overhead and need to realize a profit margin, too. If you’ve got a closet full of things you don’t use (and they’re of high quality), online consignment shops generally offer more for your items, and you don’t even have to waste your time or gas driving to the consignment store. Check out Tradesy, which offers you 70% of the sale, and allows you to post images of your items, easily and from home. Online pawn shops like UltraPawn will also offer low interest loans for things like high end designer bags, and you don’t have to part with them for good. Though you’ll pay some interest, it might be more beneficial to do so and use the loan to make a large lump payment on a credit card versus carrying that high interest credit card debt.
2. Find low stress neighborhood gigs. Yes I know, you spent all this money on a college degree (which might be the reason for your debt), and you work your booty off all week. But, when you put your pride aside, you can find alot of opportunities by offering services that busy people would rather write someone a check for than do themselves. By putting up flyers around my neighborhood, I found a daily dog walking gig that provided an additional $50 of income a week, and scored occasional dog sitting jobs that provided $200 here and there, just for me to care for a pet on a weekend while the owners traveled. If you’re handy, offer your basic services to neighbors. (I’ve paid a handyman $125 an hour, so you know there’s money to made there). Even raking leaves, laying mulch and offering to go to the grocery store for busy people can fetch you some easy cash. The best part? It doesn’t cost you a thing, and you’re totally in control. Set an amount of money you’re striving to make in order to supplement your debt–and get out of the “side biz” once you reach the goal.
3. Turn to contractor sites. Elance, FlexJobs and ODesk are all ways to find work that you can do from home in the short term, and you can even take your marketing a step further by reaching out to local temporary agencies, or your Chamber of Commerce which may be willing to offer your services to small business who cannot pay a mint for a professional contractor. You may have to be a bit flexible in your hourly rates for that flexibility–but every extra dollar you can bring in that goes straight to your debt is progress.
