An emergency fund is for when you find yourself in an unexpected situation, like if you lose your job during a pandemic. Most people don’t think of saving for an emergency until they need extra cash. If you are able to save some money each month, your goal should be to set aside enough money to cover your expenses for a couple of months. But what happens when you don’t have an emergency fund and you need cash quickly?
Read on to find out a few ways to jump start your emergency fund.
1. Sell Stuff
You may think that you don’t have anything to sell but take a good hard look. It’s easy to find stuff to sell while you’re cleaning out your house so you can sort through all of your belongings. People buy clothes, shoes and accessories in good condition on many sites online. Consider selling gym equipment, collectible items or electronics. If you have a car or bike that you don’t use often you can even sell those online. You can sell your stuff online and ship the item to the buyer on Amazon and eBay. A couple sites to sell stuff locally (you’ll be responsible for meeting up with the buyer but the sites don’t take a cut of your sales) are Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.
2. Freelance
There’s endless ways of making money these days online. If you want to put your talents to work, consider finding a site that connects freelancers in your skill set with companies. For writers, you can make money on ClearVoice or iWriter. For graphic designers, check out Upwork or Freelancer. Search online for “freelance coding sites” or whatever skill you have that companies could benefit from and pay for. You can find a variety of freelance jobs on Fiverr, including logo designs, voiceovers, translation, data entry and much more. You set your own prices for gigs and you can work however much you want.
3. Tutor Online
With a college education you most likely qualify for several online tutoring jobs. Tutors on Course Hero earn about $10-20 an hour answering questions from students and top tutors earn an average of $500 a week. The more questions you answer the more money you make and as your rating goes up you’ll have the opportunity to answer more questions. You can also tutor on Chegg where top tutors earn about $1000 a month. You select the subjects you want to help students with and Chegg will direct students to you. You set the schedule and how much you want to work and you can do it from the comfort of your home.
4. Take Surveys
If you prefer to make money online doing easier things, there are many other options. You can make money taking surveys and watching videos on Swagbucks. You can also get paid for shopping online and searching the web. Swagbucks currently has a $10 sign up bonus. This method won’t make you as much money as the others mentioned as taking surveys does not pay very much. But if you want to make some extra cash while you watch television or exercise, this may be right for you.
Learn about different types of bank accounts to find the right one for your lifestyle to help you reach your financial goals.
5. Resell Unused Gift Cards
Avoid selling unused gift cards on sites like Amazon and Craigslist. Instead sell them on sites that specialize in gift card exchanges. Card Pool offers up to 92% cash back and pays in either an Amazon gift card or a check sent by mail.
6. Test Websites
You can test website features for companies on UserTesting. Websites like Walmart and Home Depot use this company to get real people to perform certain actions on their website and provide feedback on the user experience. Most test sessions take about 20 minutes and pay $10 and you get paid via PayPal. You’ll need a computer or smartphone and an internet connection of course.
7. Deliver Food
Be a driver for Uber Eats and deliver take out food from restaurants. You decide when you want to work and you can get paid up to 5 times a day. With the current Coronavirus situation people are not eating at restaurants and they are relying on food delivery people. There are different vehicle requirements depending on if you want to use a car, scooter or bike.
8. Deliver Groceries
People order groceries on Instacart whether there is a pandemic or they just don’t have the time or energy to stop by the grocery store. You can choose to be a full-service shopper and shop and deliver groceries or you can be an in-store shopper, which doesn’t require you to have a vehicle. Choose when you want to work and enjoy the flexibility.
With so many options to make money for your emergency fund, the next step is to pick one and get started! Challenge yourself to a few hours each day and see how much you can make in one week. You can start building your emergency fund quickly, you just have to put in the work.
Saving $1,000 is Dave Ramsey’s first baby step to financial freedom. However, we think that a significant issue with Ramsey’s baby steps method is that you can only work toward one financial goal at a time. Find out more about Ramsey’s baby steps and why this financial plan might not be the best fit for you.
Financial freedom begins with good habits.
Rebecca & Tiago, theloadedpig.com