If you have a medical emergency, just lost your job, have unexpected home repairs, or need to finance an expensive purchase, you may need cash fast. Unfortunately, most people do not have savings to cater to financial emergencies. According to a FEMA report, around one-third of American households do not have any savings at all. The good news is there are various strategies to earn extra income quickly. If you need fast cash to cater to an unexpected expense, here are nine ways to raise money quickly.
1.Borrow from friends and family
One of the easiest ways to get quick cash, especially during a medical emergency, is by borrowing from your friends and family. Borrowing from a friend or a family member is excellent as you incur little or no interest. However, it is worth noting that borrowing from a loved one could ruin your relationship, especially if you do not pay them back within the agreed timeline. For this reason, draw a contract indicating when you intend to repay them and the interest on the cash borrowed if your friend demands interest. Be sure to honor the agreement to avoid bad feelings between you and your friend.Â
2.Apply for a loan
If borrowing from your loved ones makes you uncomfortable, consider applying for lender financing. An excellent loan option is online payday loans available 24/7. Payday loans are short-term loans that you must repay by your next paycheck. This type of loan is not credit-based, meaning you can secure lender financing even with a bad credit record.
You also do not need collateral to benefit from a payday loan, as they are often unsecured. What’s more? Payday loans have a quick approval process. Once you submit your details, you will likely get the lender financing within 24 hours, making payday loans an excellent fix when you need quick cash.Â
With that being said, payday loans charge high interest rates, usually 400% APR. You could also incur additional charges if you default on payment, so conduct extensive research about payday loans and examine your debt-repayment capability to establish whether a payday loan is right for you.Â
3.Obtain a loan from your retirement fund
You could also raise cash fast by borrowing from your retirement account or 401(k). However, understand the conditions of taking out a loan from your retirement accounts. For instance, you can obtain a loan from your IRA, but you must be able to repay the cash within 60 days of borrowing. You can also borrow only once from your IRA account.Â
You could also borrow as much as $50,000 from your 401(k). However, you must first ascertain that your employer approves 401(k) loans. You should pay a 401(k) loan within five years, and if you default, the debt could be considered taxable income, increasing your debt burden. If you lose or quit your job, you must settle the debt immediately, even if the five-year repayment period has not elapsed.
4.Hold a garage sale
If you have unwanted or unused items such as books, clothes, and electronics around the house, consider organizing a garage sale. A yard sale does not only help you to get a decent profit from selling unwanted belongings. It is also a perfect opportunity to interact with neighbors and declutter your home.Â
To hold a yard sale, gather the items you no longer need or use and bring them to your garage. Next, price them right to make a significant profit. You should then advertise your garage sale on your local newspaper, church bulletins, and platforms like Facebook and Craigslist. This enables you to attract as many people as possible to your sale.Â
5-Take on a side hustle
If you have extra time on your hands or just lost your job, consider selling services to get extra cash. Below are some odd jobs you could take on:
a) Babysitting
Did you know you could make an extra $20.00 per hour for babysitting? If you are excellent with kids, you could become a part-time babysitter. With that being said, parents will likely vet their kid’s babysitters thoroughly. For this reason, work on building an excellent reputation as a good babysitter within your locality to benefit from referrals and recommendations from your clients.
b) Pet-sitting and dog-walking
If watching other people’s kids does not appeal to you, consider getting extra income by playing with cats, walking dogs, and watching your neighbor’s pets. Pet sitting is an excellent side hustle because you can pick your working hours and days. You can also establish the minimum requirements for the kind of pets you want to pet-sit.
You could also charge more for pet-sitting cats and dogs that require special care or those with poor health conditions and need drug administration. To get started as a pet sitter or dog walker, set up your profile on an online platform like Rover and market your services.Â
c) Mow lawns
If you have mowing equipment, get up to $211 per lawn you care for. You do not even have to invest in a robust marketing strategy to win gigs. You just have to stroll in your neighborhood, identify lawns that need maintenance, knock at the owner’s door, and explain the services. Next, set a reasonable price depending on the size of the grounds.
d) Make deliveries
If you are a car owner, make extra cash by shopping, picking up, and dropping packages at client homes. You could create profiles on apps like Grubhub, UberEats, Instacart, and DoorDash to get delivery gigs.Â
6.Pawn an item
Pawn loans are effective ways to get quick cash during emergencies. To pawn, you should identify an item of value such as jewelry, firearms, an up-to-date electronic, or a musical instrument and bring it to a broker. The broker assesses the item’s worth and then loans you a fraction of its resale value. Your item becomes collateral, and you will likely get it back once you clear your debt. If you default payment, the pawnbroker sells your possessions to recover their cash.Â
7.Get a paycheck advance
An excellent way to get your hands on cash is by asking your employer for a cash advance on your salary. You often repay a salary advance via payroll deductions. Most employers do not charge interest on salary advances, enabling you to reduce your debt burden.
8.Liquidate an asset
You can sell assets like jewelry, recent model electronics, and clothes, among other value items, to raise cash fast. Depending on the quality and value of the item you want to liquidate, you could make a fraction or more of the much-needed amount.
9.Rent a room
If you have an extra room, you could consider getting a roommate for additional income. If having a live-in roommate is not ideal for you, you could consider renting the spare room to tourists who need a temporary place to stay. You just have to set clear expectations and rules before renting out your home to avoid issues down the road.Â
Endnote
With inflation and the high cost of living around the globe today, finding ways to raise cash fast to increase your income is critical. Fortunately, there are various ways to raise money quickly, from applying for short-term loans, organizing garage sales, and renting an extra room in the house to taking on odd jobs. Identify what works for you, and start making quick cash to return to your financial position and even build an emergency fund.
