Crash Saving -- illusory hope of the panicky?

[PauletteGoddard]

Are selling books and CDs and other items around the house, and limiting food consumption to what's in the pantry and bread, milk and eggs pretty much the two most effective ways to wrangle up extra cash in thirty days?

I'm a FT working mom with a FT working husband and a preschool age son, so time-intensive tricks and getting the kid to work at a casual, instantaneous job aren't options for us. We're just in a temporary unappealing cashflow situation that'll right itself in October/November.

[LuxLiving]

Yours are good ideas including...

Lock up the cash - watch the gasoline consumption/unneccessary trips. Look for any unredeemed deposits (landlord, gas/electric company, etc.) Check all the coat pockets, dig up all the change in the house...anything new that you can return. That plasma thing - icky to me, I don't like needles, but doable in a crunch.

Just off the top of my head, surely someone else will come along w/some others!

[Marcymox]

do all of those things- sell things you didn't think you could- video games, computer games, books, kids clothes, toys. that fisher price stuff sells very well on e-bay.

I sold some scrapbook supplies one time- I had- can you believe this- 16 pairs of decorative scissors. who needs that many? a paper cutter is just fine for scrapbooking.
check your craft and hobby areas- do you REALLY need all those goodies? Likely not.

the standard advice always applies- nothing new and I'm sure you've heard these- turn off cable, or cut down some services, same with phone, newspaper, ect. It's less painful getting rid of those things when you are in a temporary crunch - something about knowing you can have those things back in a couple months makes it tolerable. You might find you don't even miss the paper every day, the daily starbucks, or the bazillion channels of nothing to watch.

on another board I frequent, some people like to post thier bills, and then other people will reply and offer suggestions on how to reduce spending and save. - in a friendly way. If you feel comfy doing that I'm sure lots of people will have loads of suggestions of where to find more money in your budget.

edited for spelling.

[greedy4chips]

Are you talking 1 time quick cash saving ways or are you looking for something you can do every month to save money?

1 month saving ideas to me are eating dirt cheap food items that would never make it on your menu if you had the funds. I won't suggest any because some others may like the el cheapo yucky meals I suggest. If I had to, I think I could feed my family of 5 on $200 or less in a month, nutriciously too!

Carpool is a good way if you can hack your fellow rider's personality that long.

Don't eat out this month period. No coffee stops, vending machines, no fast food, no take-out or delivery period!

Rummage sale. Usually can be done once a year.

Sell 1 item you rarely use or never use anymore for a few extra bucks.

PLASMA, don't knock it...the cash is worth the slight poking ouch. So is the free time to read a book!

Mow lawns for $5 or $10...or whatever you can get. I am amazed at how many people pay $50 per month to have their lawn mowed around here.

I think there are 100's of ways to save/make a few extra dollars ($50) in just a month.

[Ima saver]

Marcy, could you tell us the name of the other board? I would suggest having a garage sale and selling all you can!

[Marcymox]

oh sure- is it okay to post links to other boards on here?? if not- sorry.

I like the no more debt forum on delphi- beware- they follow Dave Ramseys TMMO closely and any advice they give you will involve complete eradication of credit cards. Nice folks, and I believe in TMMO so I love it there.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/nomoredebt/messages

[Ima saver]

I have listened to Dave and have his books. I do have credit cards, but I pay them off each month and actually make money on them.

[PauletteGoddard]

some people like to post thier bills, and then other people will reply and offer suggestions on how to resuce spending and save. - in a friendly way

I don't feel comfortable posting my bills, because this is a temporary cash crunch, not an overall spending pattern issue. My coffee is free, no cable, no newspaper, dirt cheap long distance. Maybe the voice mail could go, to be replaced by a setup with an answering machine. Seven whole dollars added to the budget.

I did sell some stamps at a yard sale this weekend.

This is the topic of my post:

I am looking for ways to pay something off in thirty days when I cannot be certain that some money due to us (enough to pay off what I owe) will arrive before the amount owing is due.

Are you talking 1 time quick cash saving ways or are you looking for something you can do every month to save money?

I am talking 1 time quick cash saving ways. After I get this liability removed I'll have freed up $200+/month in my budget, which is always a work in progress. I'm looking for the quick cash because it's less work (hahaha) than trying to be kind to myself for not having paid it off in a year, or liquidating the entirety of our savings.

I am already cutting my expenses down by at least $50/month by lifestyle moves: more meatless meals, no "feelgood but expensive" long distance plan, switched to a cheaper daycare we can walk to, reducing the need of an automobile.

I did carpool to work, but I found that taking my scooter not only cost less ($1.00/13 miles for carpool, $0.60/13 miles via scooter), but got me to work in less time because I could use the HOV lane.

Already participated in a yard sale just this weekend: only $57 came my way. Am looking to participate in a larger yard sale next week.

Sadly, I gave blood two weeks ago, so giving plasma at least in the next two weeks wouldn't be healthy/safe for me, but most likelily in the second week of September my "reserves" will have replenished. But I agree about the perk of having a good book to read, and a delicious free cookie to eat! I read a fun Daniel Pinkwater book and laughed aloud while in the "blood bus."

On my journal I mentioned possibly selling my superbly made beechwood crib and my designer Alfred Sung wedding dress. The sooner the better I suppose. I'll be taking some books to a bookseller for selling.

The only "obvious" things I can think of is to sell stuff on craigslist and on eBay, and to eat out of the pantry.

[LuxLiving]

Long hair? Can you sell your locks??? I dunno if this is even possible.

Since you said the cash crunch would be alleviated soon, do you have some valuables that you could pawn? I don't know much about this either as I've never done it...but if you've the money to retrieve it shortly then I'd think it would work in a crunch.

Old metal stuff around the house that you could take to the metal recycler?

I'm trying to think outside my normal 'female' box.

[PauletteGoddard]

Originally Posted by LuxLiving

Long hair? Can you sell your locks??? I dunno if this is even possible.

Since you said the cash crunch would be alleviated soon, do you have some valuables that you could pawn? I don't know much about this either as I've never done it...but if you've the money to retrieve it shortly then I'd think it would work in a crunch.

Old metal stuff around the house that you could take to the metal recycler?

I'm trying to think outside my normal 'female' box.

Good ideas! There are things that cost 'per month' (DSL) but really, stopping them and starting them sometimes is frequently more expensive than just letting them go, and frankly, saving money from October onward won't be much help to me right now unless I borrow.

I come to this abundant trove of lesser-known saving tips (you are all wonderful) when I've exhausted my own cache of ideas of eating from the pantry and -- selling plasma and offering babysitting are good options, perhaps I'll look into pawning if the rates are reasonable.

The easy immediate things are already not applicable: No cable, no mobile phone.

DSL exists because it's a luxury bordering on necessity -- when hubby telecommutes from home DSL WILL be a necessity, and we have to consider a firewalled DSL connection from the company, or if we want to keep paying for our EZ-Kwik access to online entertainment. DSL'll be 20% of what he pays in gas to get to work now.

When we get a phone jack some place large enough to park a telephone set with an answering machine, the voice mail can go.

[henrybemis]

Go on a "material fast", a phrase coined by Charles Long. For a identified period of time only spend money on the bare bones and save the rest. Food, rent, etc., Do with out "entertainment and extra items". You'll soon see how quickly you can amass a good little bit of money using this method. Besides just being frugal I use this often.

[getforfree]

We were doing that, spending money on bare bones, for a year to save for a house down payment. We saved 17K in about 14 month. We were saving like 60% of our income. I budgeted $0 for intertainment, $100/ month for food/grocery for 3 people, but we still had to buy clothes for DS because he was growing, and DH for work. I was not that good with coupons and freebies that time, like now, what I mean, you don't have to be an expert in coupons and sales to cut intertainment off.

[greedy4chips]

You say your cash flow will right itself in Oct/Nov. Will you have extra money then or will the budget just balance itself?

How much are you short? You could always borrow the money if you can pay it back when your cashflow rights itself.

[PauletteGoddard]

You say your cash flow will right itself in Oct/Nov. Will you have extra money then or will the budget just balance itself?

Both. I'm paying down a vehicle debt with an APR of 2.9%. The APR expires September 28, when it becomes 12.99%. When I get the vehicle paid off, I will have no consumer debt, and thus more money. So I am antsy to get this paid off.

How much are you short? You could always borrow the money if you can pay it back when your cashflow rights itself

.

At the time I posted the thread, I was short $2200, and waiting on $4430 which might not have come to my rescue on time. Now, the IRS has just blessed me with a $2192.59 tax refund, hours after I posted. No, I didn't see it coming. Yes, ten years after doing taxes, apparently I am too nitwitted or distracted to handle 13 pieces of paperwork for 13 hours without a calculator. I'm usually the one counselling against giving the government an interest-free loan, and personally I detest the glib MSM articles that profile a family in debt, and then suddenly out of the sky the family gets an inheritance or someone's stock options become due for execution, so I feel very sheepish.

My best option would have been to borrow from the credit union at 6.9%, but only up to a third of my credit card limit ($1660). I have other credit lines but they have higher APRs.

[getforfree]

if you need the exra money just for a couple of months, get a 0% cc. I am not sure which card has it now, but maybe someone else here knows. That way you can borrw money for free, if you will pay it off before the promotion wil expire.