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I BLEW my budget… I have gone WAY over… but still have 1 week left until pay day… what CAN I do to get easy money so I don’t over on my budget?

First things first…

“Spending Freeze”  STOP ALL your spending for that week… or until pay day, or until your budget “resets”.  STOP spending on practically everything!

Check you Mindset… when you “feel” like something might be an emergency… and you REALLY need to buy something… double check to make sure it’s a true

Need= life or death… or going further into debt situation.

THAT being said…

You really have spent your last $10 for the week.  You have been doing so good with your budget and savings… BUT this week everything happened.  My car broke down, I got unexpected medical bills, ect… I just need $100 more to make it through to get our next pay check… WITHOUT having to take from my savings or other budget items.

What can I do to make some fast money to pay for groceries and gas till the next check comes in?

Easy Money Fast Ideas

They WON’T work EVERY TIME you go over budget… just in case of emergencies.  You’ll see why.

1. Go through your freezer, pantry, and fridge.  What food can you “make do” for dinner for the next couple nights?  Do you have food already that can be used?  Some ideas are make homemade items for dinner…”Here are my Food Storage Dinner Recipes to get a recipe for tortillas, and corn bread which are all very filling.  ANY left overs you have in the fridge, warm up in a tortilla for a “new meal”.  Or find some cheap meals to make.  Remember those 10 cans of soup that were on sale… but you never ate because they were just too “salty”… now is the time to pull them out.  Also, breakfast items can be cheap to make and are very filling using basic cooking/baking ingredients most people have at home.  Read this list of Food Storage Breakfast Recipes where you can learn how to make yummy Oatmeal OR Oatmeal bars, pancakes, biscuits, and muffins from scratch.  BREAKFAST can count as DINNER too!  What about lunch?  We already talked about breakfast items… Pancakes and Biscuits can make a great substitute for lack of bread; use them to make sandwiches.  OR, try making homemade bread.
2. Return unused/new items.  Have you recently gone shopping… and realized you didn’t like the clothes, picture frame, or whatever because it didn’t fit, or just wasn’t you?  TAKE it back!  It takes extra time, but return those 2 shirts that “just didn’t fit” or that “birthday gift” you bought for someone just because it was “them”… It’s really quick way to get easy money.  Return items you might not need until another month… go back and BUY it when you need it.
3. Sale your plasma.  YES it’s safe!  And YES people do it!  Read a step by step guide on how to donate plasma and tips if you are a “first timer”.  Interested?  Then find a Plasma center near you.  It looks like you can make $20-50 each time, the first time paying less.  This might be a little more of an uncomfortable way to make easy money, but I have many friends who have done this in college to help pay bills.
4. Have a car wash.  Even during the winter, on “Warm” days between the “snowy” ones… car washes are PACKED!  You’d be surprised with how much people would pay you to wash theirs without having to wait in a line.
5. Sale your clothes.  Do you have a box of extra clothes you’ve been needing to do “something” with… try to sale it on Craigslist.  If they are “brand name” type clothing, you might even get more $ on Ebay.  There are also Facebook Groups where you can sale items near you (this might take some searching to find a group in your area).  Some of us might have extra “maternity clothes” or baby clothes that don’t fit, but are still in nice condition.
6. Set up a small garage sale.  I used to think garage sales had to be something HUGE… after moving to Nebraska I realized almost EVERYONE has one EVERY summer!  I kept thinking “How do they have that much stuff?!” They were having little ones.  Just a table or two of items.  Pull them out and make a sign… you can have one set up in an hour or 2.
7. Try asking a friend or neighbor to carpool to work, or take your kids to school… Trade and offer to carpool next wee (when you have gotten paid and are back on budget).  Not paying for gas is easy money that stays in the bank.
8. Look for “odd jobs”on craigslist.  People have some basic posts with just help mowing their lawn, or moving boxes around.
9. Sale your jewelry or old electronics that you haven’t worn in years.
10. Be a Guinea Pig.  Do some google research, some medical centers or large hospitals in your area might be having a “medical test” or “medical Study”
11. If you absolutely HAVE A bill to pay that week… can you call to  get an extension, and pay it next week?  They may let you push it back WITH OUT PENALTIES!  If you do have penalties, then pay the bill.  There is NO point in NOT paying a bill, because you will pay more for it in the end, thus adding it to debt.  You will ALWAYS pay more later…using more $$$ then you original owed.
12. Sale your old school books… or books in general.  Read about how to sell your stuff online.
13. Baby Sit. Yep, sounds basic, but it works to earn money.
14. Put your Teenagers to work!  Read “Over 20 ways your Teenager can make money online“
15. Wash Windows.  Go door to door and see if your neighbors need help. OR out to local businesses too!
16. Sell your skills on craigslist… maybe you are great at editing papers, or torturing… someone may be looking for those as a one time shot.

Have you tried any of these ideas?  I know we’ve tried a few ourselves!  Some work better than others, but everyone is different.

Will all those ideas…. I still have to get up on my soap box and say:

I do NOT recommend living pay check to pay check

Make sure you Create a Budget and learn how to mange your budget  to make sure you are better prepared next time around!  Learn 15 things to try when you are over budget or have trouble making ends meet.

Now, get back on track, and be more Aware of where your money is going next.  And, ENJOY your new space in your house from selling all our “old junk”!

What have you done to “make money fast”?  Comment below

Further Reading:

8 Reasons you are Always Over Budget- and their solutions

A few of my resources:

Fun Cheap or Free

A Mitten Full of Savings

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Thanks for reading!

This post may contain affiliate links.  Read my affiliate link disclosure here