Found Money: How To Generate
Quick Cash In An Emergency
Increase
your Cash Flow without Going Further into Debt
• Take on a hobby
that you can translate into dollars. Can you walk a neighborhood
dog? Teach basket weaving? Host a dining room? Baby-sit for your
sister’s kids? Do Computer graphics? Consider which of your
talents might be worth a few extra bucks and then go out there
and do it.
• Take on a
part-time job. The holidays are soon coming up, and many people
supplement their salaries with part-time retail jobs. Just don’t
spend it all on holiday gifts and be sure to bank it into your
savings.
• Spend more
wisely. We all have our own ways of wasting money. Now see how
you can eliminate the ones that you wouldn’t miss. Just saving
the dollar you would normally spend on that cup of coffee each
day adds up.
• Borrow from a
trusted friend or relative. The interest rate is low to nil, the
cash is quick—but guilt is even higher. Be sure you have a plan
for how you’re going to pay back the loan even before you
approach them.
Nowhere to go but
up
You can spend your
precious time crying in your milk wondering why you have been
singled out in this way or you can get busy and look at how this
could have happened to you in the first place. You will need to
face some touch answers if you want to avoid future financial
crises.
Suffering a serious
financial crisis is an excellent time to self-assess. Ask
yourself where you went wrong, where you’re not paying
attention—and how you might be setting yourself up for future
financial setbacks. Understanding the answers to these important
questions will help you out next time around should the same
befall you.
Be prepared before the
crisis starts. You won’t be able to anticipate every time a
financial burden lands in your lap, but, if you want to be
cushioned against it, you have to anticipate the unanticipated.
Be very careful. An
emergency fund is set up for . . . emergencies. It’s not
supposed to be depleted on a whim and every month. Take a closer
look at your expenses these last few months, and if you have had
to lean heavily on your emergency account to pad your budget,
it’s time to rethink your money management issues and in a
hurry.
Pay special attention.
Take a page out of this lady’s book…she noticed that her towels
were slightly singed when she took them out of the dryer one
day. Instead of calling the repair guy, she shrugged it
off—until the next load caused her entire house to go up in
flames. We all have these same moments where we glimpse a
potential crisis hovering on the horizon and do nothing until it
is all too late. Pay attention to the smaller details and avoid
the larger calamities.
Plan further ahead. Your
clutch is likely going to give out every 80,000 miles or so. The
roof can give out every 15 to 20 years. A vacuum cleaner might
give up the dust in as much as five. Avoid the obvious and pay
excessively later. It is your call.
Your five-year-old
desktop is getting creaky. You could wait until it dies.
However, according to Murphy’s Law of Money, it will expire at
the worst possible moment. Either way, paying for a new computer
might not be part of the budget so planning ahead gives you some
control over when you take the hit. Start to plan today for what
you know will be coming—come hell or high water. Plan smartly
for the inevitable.
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