Fast Money ... Advice Needed

[savingdogs]

Well I'm a long way from having extra cash to stick in a mattress right now, and I believe the OP doesn't have that problem either or they wouldn't be wanting to get some fast money!

I'll stop hijacking the thread now, thanks for that tidbit of information.

 

[R-Lawrence]

Feel free to hijack!

Yeah, it sure feels like they want to keep us poor. But they keep forgetting that if we're disabled enough to qualify for SSDI, then we have more than the average medications and doctor appointments, so a lot of money goes to that. Then there's needing a special home, like with not many stairs. Keep the poor person poor.

I have to fill out an SSDI form annually, disclosing total amount in savings for Teen and I. Unfortunately (fortunately?) I haven't had much money in savings at reporting time because I usually take it out the month before to buy his school supplies. I'm quite sure they also review IRS tax filings for income.

As for my safe ... it has my grandmother's broach, some immunization and other important paperwork, and a tape my kid's father made when we were together. I'd desparately like to add cash to it! I would never get a box in a bank as that would be noted on records. Not that anyone could open it without a warrant but I want to stay off the radar as much as possible. I'm barely scraping by with Hubby's income and my SSDI ... can't imagine if I lose my money. A full-time job is impossible for me.

If I work in spurts then rest my hands and back for a while, I can manage to get a little something done.

Anyhoo ... got a lot of work done yesterday with my newsletters. Looking at my lists, I found 4 somewhat related topics, and with my 1000+ book collection, more than enough data to help fill pages for a couple of years. Plus my own experiences and experiments. Will sketch them out and work on starting next week. Meanwhile, I moved some chicks around today, rubbed on my pregnant goat who's overdue, started tonight's dinner (taco meat) and tomorrow's lunch (split peas with bacon) (both in crockpots) and still have to do some cleaning and tidying before Hubby gets home for the weekend.

 

[ChaneyLakegirl]

You should be able to sell on ebay. The paypal reporting is quite high - over $20,000 in gross (item + shipping). btw you will need to accept some form of online payments (paypal, etc) if you are going to sell on ebay. They no longer allow checks (unless the buyer requests). There is also a 21 day hold on your money until you establish some sort of track record, I can't remember the volume of transactions/feedback before this is gone.

You may also want to check out the "gigs' section on craigs list. I think there is potential for some cash jobs in that section. But you do need to be careful for scams.

According to the SS website, the first $85 you earn does not count towards the reduction. After $85, your ssdi will be reduced .50 on the dollar for each dollar earned. This is a monthly calculation.

Hope that helps and best of luck to you.

 

[ChaneyLakegirl]

I thought of a few more things overnight.

If you have/are going to have access to the internet, have you looked into survey sites? No one seems to be interested in my opinion, so I haven't had much luck, but my demographics are different from yours, so you might have better luck.

I do several paid to click websites. I probably make $30-40 every 3 months. I'm not getting rich at it, nor can I support myself on it, but it is a little extra under the table. email for more info if you are interested. Again, you will need internet access to do these and most cannot be done on public internet (like the library) you will need your own isp address.

When my daughter was looking at places to live when she was attending college a ways away, we came accross one place that exchanged room and board for doing farm chores. She wasn't that interested and we didn't look into it, but I thought it was a unique idea.

Some CSA's offer farm shares for labor. If you are not able to grow enough food for yourself/son, perhaps this would be a way to earn some additional. I'm not sure about how each one handles the under the table thing, though.

If you end up near a walgreens and/or cvs, watch their sales, as you may be able to get things like shampoo, toothpaste, etc for free or next to nothing.

Lora

 

[Florezian]

I'd buy some soap

There is also an online shop where I got packets of seeds for 35 cents. The amount of seed varies, but overall I spent less than a cent for each seed.
Nursery pots can normally be found for free/cheap (at least in my area) on craigslist. You've already got compost, but you can always find horse manure for free. (CL)

Selling herbs is always great, but you could start veggies too
Your son could even fill the pots for you.... You'd just have to add the seeds and water. Put them under a plastic tarp (or in a tray..even a bin works to hold the water) until they sprout and you'll have to water much less for the first 2 weeks or so.

{$1.50 /(potted plant price) -$0.20(water,seed,ect)} * 20 plants = $26

I don't know how bad your situation is, but that certainly seems feasible. You could charge more, sell more, ect. for more money.

 

[ChaneyLakegirl]

I thought of a couple more ideas......

If there is a place to donate plasma near by, you could possibly make some extra $$ there. You would have to verify the reporting if you get over $600, as I am not sure if they send out 1099s. I don't think they do around here.

I have not used it in a while, but I used to make some extra $$ using Amazon Mechanical Turk. I think the most I ever made in a month was about $160 when my hours were cut at work and I had some free time and needed some money.

Still wishing you the best and if anything else comes to mind, I'll post back.