How To Make Money ASAP

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Need to know how to make money ASAP for those times when the bills are coming in and payday is still weeks away?

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Learning how to make money ASAP is information that can truly be a lifesaver.

If you have ever had life throw unexpected and wholly unpleasant surprises your way (a global pandemic, by any chance?), then we’re sure you can totally relate.

We had that in 2018, when we relocated to another part of the country during which we had to temporarily rent an unfurnished flat.

After only three months, we found our dream home and bought it, furnished it, did a little renovating, replaced the fridge which broke and bought a washer-dryer because the previous owners took theirs, got our car towed to the garage when it broke down on the motorway and just life, in general, being life. *sigh*

With only one income, our line of credit running out and the bills coming every month, we had to figure out how to make money ASAP.

So, how do you do that?

Sell.

You either sell items or sell your skills and expertise. Those are your only options if your goal is to get money ASAP. And in most cases, selling items is a lot easier than selling your skills and expertise.

This list is what we used to generate the extra that we needed and really helped us out. We hope it will help you too.

Side Note: Once you get your immediate financial needs met, consider creating a financial plan so that you’re covered in case anything happens again. That’s the plan we now use ourselves and have successfully implemented (we’ll have to create a post all about it in the future) so we stand by it.

If you need a bit more handholding, then we highly recommend The Complete Personal Finance Course: Save, Protect, Make More. This is an online course that will show you a faster way to take control, get systems in place, make more money, and plan a prosperous financial future for your family.

If you’re neck-deep in debt and need help, consider debt relief.

Finally, if you’re mental health is suffering because of money worries, please contact your doctor or a licenced therapist.

How to make money ASAP#1: Sell Items

The first thing we did to make money ASAP was to actually take a look at all the junk stuff we had and sell them across different platforms.

It’s the fastest way to get cash if you really need it fast.

Sell on MusicMagpie

MusicMagpie probably doesn’t pay you for your items as much as if you were to sell privately to someone.

But if speed of sale is what you’re looking for, then you’re in the right place.

All you have to do is download the app, scan the barcodes on your books, CDs DVDs and games or select which tech item you want to sell.

You get an instant price and if you agree, then you can pack up all of your stuff in any old box and print off the mailing label they’ll send you.

Just remember: you should be selling items that are worth a total of at least £5. But don’t worry, you can sell up to 500 items per order.

We once sold over 20 books, 10 DVDs and a mobile phone at one time and received about £30.

It may not seem much but £30 can get you enough food for two weeks if you’re savvy enough.

Sell on Facebook Marketplace

Our second favourite if you’re in a rush to get extra money is Facebook Marketplace.

We know most people hate it because they go on Facebook for social connections but honestly, it’s a godsend if you need to offload some extra stuff that you don’t have any use for yourself but that others might need.

You can sell almost anything under the sun. The operative word here is almost. Facebook is quite strict with their prohibited content so make sure that you don’t cross the line.

That way, you don’t lose access to this valuable resource (Facebook does ban people from Marketplace).

For example, before we read their Commerce Policy, we just listed everything we had for sale. Most of them were fine but, lo and behold, we got a notification from Facebook that we were in breach of their policy because we tried to sell this board game.

Apparently, it was a no-no.

So, yeah. Read the commerce policy first and then start posting your items.

Sell on Amazon

Okay, full disclosure. We actually haven’t sold any secondhand items on Amazon but it’s not for lack of trying.

We probably shouldn’t have put this here because it sometimes takes awhile for your items to sell.

BUT we know that for some people selling on Amazon works pretty well so ta-da!

Sell on Motorway or We Buy Any Car

Can we tell you a secret?

We sold our car!

Yep, after much hemming and hawing we decided to ditch our car.

We realised that Kevin used it primarily to get to work. The rest of the family just walked everywhere (since I don’t drive).

Also, we already had a fully functioning bike so when the weather’s good, Kevin could just cycle to the train station (2 miles away) to get to work.

When the weather is bad (and trust us, in Scotland, it can get really bad), he can just hop on the bus.

Why do we need to pay for MOT, road tax, insurance, petrol and the garage (because our car seems to have developed a habit for breaking down)?

I mean a recent article by The Money Advice Service showed that it costs UK motorists an average of £3,000 a year just to run a car after purchase!

So we are now car-free. And actually very relieved that we won’t be suddenly hit with unexpected car repair expenses anymore.

You can try Motorway or We Buy Any Car.

How to make money ASAP #2: Sell Skill and Expertise

After we’d run out of things, we started thinking about the skill and expertise we had that we could sell and then look at the best websites where we could start advertising our availability.

Sell on Just Answer

For the longest time, we thought that some professions require you to be physically present in order to do something.

If you’re a doctor or a nurse, for example, you kinda have to be seeing the patient yourself in order to make a diagnosis.

If your toilet is leaking, a plumber needs to come over to sort it out.

Luckily, in this largely digital age, even such service professionals can now offer their expertise online…without them being there.

So, if you have expertise in any of JustAnswer’s listed qualifications and you match the years of experience they require, you have a great shot of actually doing some remote work and supplementing your income.

This may not be as fast as the other options in this list and you do need to have a certain level of expertise but it’s entirely possible that you can eventually replace your full-time income with this opportunity so why not try it?

Sell on Uber, Lyft or Grab

Full disclosure: We haven’t actually applied for this although it’s always been a back-up plan. Of course, we don’t have a car anymore so, we guess, this option is now out of the question.

But, you certainly can use it.

If you have a car, you love to drive and you meet their requirements, you can offer your superb driving skills to Uber, Lyft or Grab (in Asia) and earn some much needed extra money.

Sell on Amazon Home Services

Did you know that you can now sell your skills and expertise on Amazon?

We didn’t until we needed to find out how to earn money and fast.

The process is simple enough. You just apply on the Amazon US or Amazon UK website, make sure you meet the requirements (mind that the UK site has more requirements than the US site) et voilà, you can sell your professional services with Amazon along with other handpicked service providers.

There are a few key benefits to selling your services on Amazon. The greatest of which is probably the fact that you can leverage the trust that people have on Amazon as a company. And then of course, you get free advertisement because your services show up when people browse related items.

Pretty nifty trick if you’re getting tired of marketing your own services and not really getting any good results.

Sell on Fiverr

Fiverr was a pretty recent discovery and what makes it quick and easy is the fact that it focuses on micro-gigs so you can sell a variety of services and you don’t need years of experiences for them (although that certainly won’t hurt).

For example, if you’re amazing and quick at finding grammatical mistakes, you can offer proofreading of, say, 100 pages with a turnaround time of 24 hours for £5 (more if your future client needs your result sooner).

All you have to do is sign up with Fiverr, create a profile (you’ll need to get on the desktop site) and then start offering gigs.

It might be worth starting from the bottom, which is £5 and working your way up to offering pricier gigs.

Maybe £10 for 1000 pages of accurately proofread document? And then just scale up as you gain more experience.

Some freelancers do this full-time so this can also be a great way for you to test the waters if you’re interested in freelancing or doing remote work.

Side note: Depending on your niche, going freelance might not give you cash as quickly as you’d like. If you need money, like yesterday, then I recommend selling products that you already own as opposed to going freelance (check out this freelance writer’s experience here).

Sell on TaskRabbit or AirTasker

Another great way to earn extra money is by signing up as a Tasker with TaskRabbit or AirTasker, which focuses on helping people get odd-jobs and errands taken care of.

For example, if I need help building that Ikea flatpack that’s been languishing somewhere in your garage, I can just connect with a Tasker and pay them to do it.

Cha-ching for you!

A few great advantages of being a Tasker is that you can make extra money, meet new people and choose your own schedule.

As with the other sites, you just need to sign up, complete the required info session and verify your information and that you have the right to work and you’re all set.

Sell on Care.com or Childcare.co.uk

Interested in working with children?

Registering your skills and expertise with either Care.com or Childcare.co.uk might be your answer.

You’ll obviously need to meet stricter requirements since you’ll be working with a group of vulnerable people but if meet them, then you shouldn’t have a problem.

These sites connect you with parents looking for care providers in various capacities – babysitters, nannies, childminders etc.

Sign up, complete your registration and submit your documents for verification.

Sell on Etsy or CafePress

Technically, you sell items on Etsy or CafePress but we included it under services because really, you need some artistic or crafty skill to succeed here.

You can’t just sell anything willy-nilly.

You want to stand out and you do that in these sites with your impressive design.

If you have that or can somehow source it (have an idea but no design skills, maybe a friend or a Fiverr freelancer can help?), then all you need to do is sign up, complete the registration and verification process and you’re all set to start.

Of course, selling on either of these platforms isn’t as easy as, say, selling your car on Motorway simply because the competition can be quite tough.

There is also a learning curve to actually using Etsy or CafePress correctly and effectively. You can’t just post one item and hope for the best (this isn’t eBay, after all).

But done correctly, you have a fairly good shot at generating a great income from these two platforms.

Final thoughts on how to make money ASAP

There you have it – how to make money ASAP.

Just a few very important reminders here.

If you are selling used items, it is very important that you are honest about their condition. Disclose any defects and accept the corresponding decrease in price. This is far better than trying to con some unsuspecting client and then risk getting your account banned and whatever money you earned revoked (yes, that’s been known to happen).

Same goes for any services you sell. Don’t offer any services that you can’t actually do.

A great rule is to under-promise and over-deliver.

Remember, most of the sites in this list ask clients or buyers for reviews and if they’ve had a negative experience, they WILL take the time to leave a review.

I don’t know about you but we personally read reviews before buying anything – item or service.

Have you used any of these services? Let us know what your experience was by commenting below!

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in April 2019 and has been completely revamped and updated for relevance and comprehensiveness.

Discover how to make money ASAP and never worry about money again.

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