When you don’t have a day job, and you’re not working the
night shift, you’ve got plenty of time to be creative – and plenty of chances
to make money from it! Opportunities abound for earning cash by providing
useful goods or services, so put yourself to work doing what you do best.
Everyone has a talent for something! There are lots of things you can do on
your own time to pocket some extra dough while you’re looking for a job:
Sit on it! House-sit,
pet-sit, baby-sit. Comb classified ads and announcement boards at
libraries and grocery stores for people in need of sitters. No matter what
time of year, there is always a need for child care, and such a great need
means that you can usually find a babysitting job with hours that really
complement your job-hunting agenda. Pet-sitting jobs are a tad harder to
find, but are by no means uncommon. And if you happen to be unemployed
during the summer months, you’re in luck – house-sitters are in demand for
vacationing families. If you can’t find a sitting job that suits you, then
advertise your services in every manner you can think of, especially
word-of-mouth.
Have a yard sale. You can get
rid of your junk and make money in a relatively painless manner. What more
could you ask for? For a tiny bit of organizing, the price of a classified
ad, and one sacrificed Saturday, you can potentially make hundreds of
dollars – depending on the type, quality, and quantity of stuff you sell.
Or, if you don’t have enough stuff to warrant a full-blown garage sale,
you can always …
Sell your stuff to a
consignment shop. Surely you have a closet full of unworn clothes and
shoes that are just begging to be loved! Check the yellow pages for stores
under “secondhand,” “resale,” “clothing,” and “consignment.” If you don’t
have clothes to spare, but have a multitude of non-wearable items you want
to get rid of, you can always check out your local pawn shops, or just put
an ad in the paper.