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Thursday, January 05, 2006

Gettiing Out Of Debt (Creative Solutions)

Getting into debt sometimes happens quickly. Due to unforeseen cicumstances like sudden illness, tragic death in the family or divorce, one can plummet into an abyss of unpaid bills and a constant stream of phone calls from collection agencies.

Desperate times call for desperate measures someone once said. Think of creative solutions to make income. Not a creative soul you say?

Here are some tips:
1. If you are home after work with your own kids or are good with kids, then advertise that you are available to care for other's children. Tell your family and friends that you are available to care for kids so that they can shop, go to the salon or have a minute of downtime. Make sure you set the fee in advance, so that there aren't any misunderstandings.
2. Sell your old books.
3. Sell your old DVD's and CD's.
4. Are you artistic? Try www.cafepress.com They can press your images on anything from a mug to a tshirt. Wear your designs and spread the word. It may just catch on. (Little tip: Kids love to belong to groups, draw a design for your child's team to spread team spirit among the players and families.)
5. Do you, your frineds and family like to go out often. Is there always a problem concerning designating a driver. Make it known in advance, that for a fee you will become the taxi for the nightly outings.
6. Watch other people's pets for money. This is also known as pet sitting services.
7. Become a dog walker. It's not only good exercise for you, but it pays those pesky bills.
8. Get paid to do your neighbor's household chores. Hauling large items to the dump, mowing the lawn, plowing and/or shoveling the snow and car washing are just some of the tedious tasks that some are willing to pay others to do. Take advantage of the opportunity!
9. Sell your kid's old clothing and toys on ebay. You will make more money from selling the items on ebay than from selling them at a garage sale.
10. Become a tutor. In this day and age, many people are what I like to call "computer illiterate". If you are computer savvy and can teach, go for it. You can also become a tutor for a non English speaking person. If you are good with kids and have the patience, you can become a tutor and help kids with their homework. Trust me, there are people that have the money to pay others to do the homework with their kids. This was my little sister's first job!

Good Luck and let me know how it goes!

1 comment:

Laurel Johnson said...

Thank you for visiting my blog and leaving a comment. You give some very practical advice on your blog. I see you live in an urban environment. Here in the rural area where I live, even the smallest menial jobs are hard to find sometimes. I'm retired, but know many younger folks who struggle financially. Sometimes I wonder if TV and movies have not convinced us all we shouldn't do menial work. Maybe that's my age showing.