No spare cash just now?
Want to up your social media game, but your phone is a wind up flip phone??
Need to add to your bank balance so you can invest in your small business or get a new computer to run your new budding side hustle? There are options.
Desperate to pay for some training so you can start a new business, or change your career path but need a cash boost?
It might surprise you just how easy it can be to raise some money, if you put your mind to it.
Decide exactly how much you need and don’t be too proud to skip an offer. If you want something, you’ll find a way.
I’m not shrugging off serious debt, and if you are in financial difficulties, look up help in your area. There will be someone who will advise you.
That said, I’ve been in the predicament of one tin of beans or two. I even had an old school cookery book, 100 Things to do with a Potato. I know, It’s hard sometimes. Every pound, dollar etc counts, so think creatively.
Newspaper deliveries, corner shop to flipping burgers, some of the richest people on the planet all did humble jobs too. If you want money, it’s there, you just need to go look for it.
Online Surveys
These are always out there, they pay little, but they pay. You can often download the app to your phone, and earn vouchers for major stores or cash.
Swagbucks, Lifepoints, I-say are just a few.
Take games off your phone and use game time to earn cash.
Trading skills
If you’re fantastic at book cover design, it is a real skill, and you know that somebody else is great at spreadsheets, why not ask if you can trade your skill?
Could you write their business bio and they create a logo in Photoshop? You could even build a new career doing small but vital tasks for online or local businesses.
Whatever your background, you’ll be good at something.
Think about what you’re good at and what you need of other people, and see if there’s any way of bartering, a skills trade off.
Skills = cash
Get a [second] job
The wonderful Vanessa Lau admits to having to get a second job as a barista at the start of her journey to 7 figure entrepreneur. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. A job is a job. Any job. No position is too humble. Again, the past year has made us appreciate all workers in a way we didn’t before. Work is work. Do what you need to and hold your head up.
Sell things
Declutter. Check out my other blog post about that one. So many options, and it’ll help you focus on what’s important too.
Don’t forget to dig around in the back of drawers for those things you kept but have never used since. Old CDs, clothes, etc they can all raise cash.
Move
Obviously with the virus, it’s very difficult at the moment (2021). I appreciate that.
People relocate all over the world, to somewhere cheaper and easier to live.
Van life is becoming a trend now. Sell up, put some things in storage and up and go. It’s a biggie but can drastically impact your life, priorities and bank balance.
Build a Side Hustle
You might not want to build a 7 figure business, but how about selling your crafts for your holiday fund? Etsy is a wealth of inspiration, as is Pinterest. Sell t-shirts to your local yoga class, or online. Mugs to your local builder’s merchants.
If you love something you make, someone will want to buy it. Get creative.
Write and Publish A Book
Now, this is a bit tongue in cheek. This isn’t quick or simple, but it could be.
If you have something to say, say it. If you are skilled at something, write a book about it. You can get an ebook out in the world virtually for free – if you have access to a group of people who might pay for your information, go for it, right now.
It’s not all about earning
By spending less your cash flow will automatically improve.
Minimalism is an approach that focusses your mind on abundance, and can help you stop striving for things you don’t need.
Grow Your Own Food
Random, eh? This can really help you keep your food bills down, and of course get healthier. Grow salad on your windowsill, from scraps you might usually throw away.
If you have access to green space, plant some veg. It’s a healthy way to get exercise too. If there are local allotments, or a charity city farm nearby, go ask if you can help. They might trade your labour for produce.
Here are a few more quick suggestions to stay motivated and on track to the next exciting adventure
Continue learning
Life is transient. Everything changes. The 2020 pandemic has taught us we never know what is coming, except change.
Trends will come and go, fashions change, customer demand shifts. Technology evolves constantly. Always keep learning.
A positive mindset and optimism about the future is something you can work on every day. For free.
Study your mentors and your role models.
Be open to possibilities.
Study your craft.
Write every day.
Set an intention. Each morning.
Express gratitude. Each evening.
Don’t fall for the myth of just sit and manifest and it’ll arrive by magic. You need to put the work in. Manifesting is a positive mindset that sits alongside graft and ambition.
Now stop scrolling and go to work.
Come over to social media and let me know what you do to boost your bank balance, or grab that injection of cash when you need it.
My free Facebook Group is always open to optimistic mid-lifers.
You can work with me 1-2-1 too, so get in touch or DM if you want to get some in person motivation.