Unemployment stinks...Here are 3 ways to make cash today... lets all list some ideas

You can sell sperm, Yeah thats what im going to do! and then ill buy one of your chicken.

I do ebay, and if I really get on the ball, and get off ats for several hours or more, I can make some ok $$. I have been in the junk business all my life,,, my mom used to drag me to garage sales and estate sales when I was a kid.

Ebay can seem daunting if you do not know what you are doing. I suggest get a friend that does it to show you how.
Or as suggested before, Craigslist.

Also, you could take things to a consignment shop and get at least 50% of what they sell for. Clothes and furniture do well.

If you are into vintage and older things, get a booth in an antique mall. You have to display it and replenish it , but that is fun and you can make good money that way.

Collect metals, and recycle them. Cans, copper, brass, even old appliances. or learn how to fix minor issues with appliances people throw out , and sell them .
dumpster diving is earth friendly!

reply to post by bluestar.ranch
Costs of Living: Roof over your head, utility bills, transportation,
and food. Look at each category, logically and Realistically, see what can
be done to reduce expenses in each category. These categories are Money Out The Door.
Out of the Four categories listed above, the one that is increasing exponentially is FOOD. Please learn to grow your own. No Excuses.
If you live in an apartment, get free 5 Gallon Buckets (from grocery stores-pre-made icing comes in these buckets). Drill holes in the bottom
and grow tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, etc.)
If you don't know anything about growing food, start learning. You do
not need to buy 'survival' packages if you can do it yourself. Research on the web(currently for free), buy magazines, go to libraries, read books...etc. Get free mulch from your city's tree-chippers that cut down
the branches near power lines. Obviously the best time for all this is fall and winter, when no one else is thinking about growing food.
Once you get your act together, go sell the food you do not need. There
are always places available to sell at corner markets, flea markets, farmer's markets, etc. If you make $50. a day, one day a week, that's
$200./month you didn't have before. And you didn't need to rely on anyone else for that money. Only yourself.
Once you become proficient, and a little more experienced, you can
easily make $300./week-end, every week. If you bake, cook, etc.. and
add these onto your product display, you will gain more customers.
It is to your advantage in the long run, to be as law-abiding as possible
regarding any "rules or regulations' involved in this process.

Theres always the amusing sign option
Like this
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/acbad99de802.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by toolstarr
Please remember anything and everything on the internet can be
monitored. I strongly recommend keeping track of all items sold on e-bay
and adding the total to your state and federal income taxes. No, I am not
an IRS agent.
I sold on e-bay off and on. Some of the stuff was shipped overseas. I kept track of everything I sold and counted it on my taxes. Why?
I didn't have to keep looking over my shoulder or have the haunting
question, 'what if they audit me'? I

If your o.k at woodwork and have the nescessary tools, collect unwanted wooden pallets from industrial estates.Many companies will let you have them for nothing. Where i work in the u.k, we get pallets shipped from from asia which are hardwood! Planed and sanded then oiled it comes up amazing. Make bird houses, feeders, small furniture. Sell it at markets or car boot sales!

reply to post by nixie_nox
Seasonal sales: You readers might not know that about two years ago, Dollar General decided to quit doing inventory. What this meant was
instead of boxing everything up, [employee time; company money], they
just discount the heck out of it to get rid of it.
If you watch, you can buy Brand New clothes for only a buck or two.
One of my best 'deals' was brand new jackets [originally $15.] for $1.70.
If Dollar General is not up-scale enough; my best ever deal of the century
came from Belk's. A $229. 00 suit was marked down to $19.99, with a red
sign above it advertising an additional 50% off the lowest mark down price.
For $10. 70, I got a beautiful, well-made suit. I can't help it it was just my
size and the only one there. I
No, I do not spend all of my time shopping. I really don't like to shop.
I just happened to be walking through a mall, went into Belk's, and voila,
there was a suit just begging me to take it home.
Especially if you have kids, it pays to get to know the seasonal cycles of
stores. Buying ahead (the stores sell off winter items in the spring) for
the next year is a very cost-effective way of clothing your family.



[edit on 5-9-2010 by Freedom of Thought]

reply to post by bargoose
If you are really good at what you do, wood working or whatever,
you can make up a syllabus and go to your local community college.
A lot of "How To......" classes can be offered to the community through
various departments the college has (like continuing education], and
you can get paid for your knowledge and/or skills.

reply to post by sourdiesel


If one is good at houseplants, start taking cuttings and make new plants.
If you have a lot of iris, crinium powells', hosta, liriope, the same idea applies. You can use 1 gallon milk jugs for pots (cut the top off, but save
the handle for easier transport). Poke holes in the bottom for drainage,
and put your extra liriope(monkey grass), hosta's, etc. in these. If you
started now, you would be able to have several hundred by next spring
for spring sales.
Altho not recommended, it has been done: pilfering re-cycling centers
for the milk jugs if you don't have enough. More recommended is asking
all of your friends and family to save their empty containers for you.

Originally posted by Gloster
You can sell sperm, Yeah thats what im going to do! and then ill buy one of your chicken.

Sorry, they are not for sell at anyprice... even your sperm. I feel the chickens would be much more valuable anyway....

reply to post by Hefficide

"The Traditional Monkey"

It all started with a cage containing five monkeys. Inside the cage, a banana was hung on a string and a set of stairs was placed under it. Before long, a monkey went to the stairs and started to climb towards the banana. As soon as he touched the stairs, all of the other monkeys were sprayed with cold water. After a while, another monkey made an attempt with the same result - all the other monkeys were sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon, anytime another monkey tried to climb the stairs, the other monkeys tried to prevent it.

After a couple of days, the cold water was removed. One monkey was removed from the cage and replaced with a new one. The new monkey saw the banana and wanted to climb the stairs. To his surprise and horror, all of the other monkeys attacked him. After another attempt and attack, he knew that if he tried to climb the stairs, he would be assaulted.

Next, another of the original five monkeys was removed and replaced it with a new one. The newcomer went to the stairs and was attacked. The previous newcomer took part in the punishment with enthusiasm! Likewise, a third original monkey was replaced with a new one, then a fourth, then the fifth.

Every time the newest monkey took to the stairs, he was attacked. Most of the monkeys that were beating him had no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs or why they were participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

After replacing all the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys had ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, no monkey ever again approached the stairs to try for the banana.
Why not?

Because as far as they know, that's the way it's always been done around here.
And that, is how most of our rituals and customs began.

[edit on 5-9-2010 by saltheart foamfollower]

A great way is scrap metal. For years, my dad an I always take in broken computers, water heaters, ect. Basically anything that can be scrapped. We rebuild computers, and sell scrap we find. If you did this 8 hrs a day, 7 days a week, you could make 5 thousand plus weekly if conditions are right.

Great, easy money. Travel with storage is required.

Who says you have to sell them in dozens, ect? Sell em RTE to people at lunch. Better than Taco (B)(H)ell.

Also, growing your own fruit an vegetables and selling them is great. I sell started exotic fruits (Pomegranetes, starfruit, ect), because I have a green thumb.

Also, hand made wood stuff, even made of scrap is good to sell at a farmers market ect. Make and sell wooden spoons and whatnot. They are easy, you can make em from mostly scarp, an $15 worth of tools. (I got 3 excellent Craftsman wood chisels at Sears for this price.) Other hand made goods work well, because people like 1-of-a-kind things.

One way to save money is to glean fields after the farmers have harvested. Just ask permission first the best finds are at the edges of the fields where the mechanical harvesters don't cover completely.

You can get plenty of good produce for just a few hours work; a few more hours work putting it up and you'll have veggies all winter.

If you do this don't neglect the wheat or corn fields. People will pay top dollar for corn and wheat stocks for crafts and decorating.

Hi folks...I realize many don't have access to much land or even a plot. But here goes anyway...

firewood...if you live in a rural area...folks burn wood. Folks here in N.Central NC sell a pickup load for about $50-60... in 3 hours, I can cut, bust, laod and be on the way to your house

gather broken pallets, fix and repair... sell back to shipping companies

sell your own veggies, fruits, plants... at a local flea market, road side corner

goats... if you have the land...even crappy overgrown land...brush goats/pygmy goats are great... require little care....parasite and disease resistant... clear brush...sell. I sold 3 yesterday for $100. When they kidd( have their young) they usually have 2-3 kidds. They kidd every 5 months...doesn't take long to double your numbers.

Lot/land clearing...using the above said goats

Gleaning fields...already mentioned, but can't overstate the value... here in NC after the sweet potato harvests, you can go out and literally gather imperfect sweet potatoes by the truck load... ask permission first.

Find abandoned old homeplaces, vineyards, orchards..pick and sell the fruit. One of my kids is a whitewater guide down in SC...we visted him and got a free ride...but while there, we saw acres of abandoned apple orchards... nobody maintains them...owned from a distance...we picked bushels of apples. Also, found an old abandoned homestead...running over with wild and use to be domestic grape vines...picked by the bag full...

Get old and new shipping crates and pallets.... new FED EX and UPS rules mean nice pieces of OSB board and 2x4s...8-10-12 feet long....tear apart, clean up...resale lumber at a discount price. Recently tore apart some crates shipping plastic cages... salvaged over $100 of lumber.

If you have a pick up, promote as a "helping hand"...doing clean up, hauling, moving... always somebody needs a pickup.

Get a simple push mower, a rake, a weed eater...BAM...with the above pickup...now in the lawn care business. Fall is coming....rake your yard, mam?

Get a job?

There may not be jobs out there currently that you would like or you feel fit in your qualification, but that doesn't mean you can't find one. If you claim you can't, you are lying.

But, those alternatives are all fine and great, but instead of just trying to sell oranges and flap-jacks on the street corner or selling your possessions on ebay, you can get back out into the workforce and find a job to provide a steady stream of money.

reply to post by bluestar.ranch


You forgot to mention you haven't reported your income to unemployment which would make you ineligible. Now once you do that good luck living on your $120 profit once a week, assuming people keep coming back for your tamales.

Originally posted by bluestar.ranch

Originally posted by Gloster
You can sell sperm, Yeah thats what im going to do! and then ill buy one of your chicken.

Sorry, they are not for sell at anyprice... even your sperm. I feel the chickens would be much more valuable anyway....

Either way, it's FOWL.... *boom boom*

sorry..

Thanks everyone for the great ideas!

My daughter makes jewelry and used to sell on ebay but found a site called etsey(or maybe etsy) that is mainly for artists and handmade items of any kind. Even the men can sell their wooden creations there. It covers any type of art. The site also has a section for "vintage" used items and collectibles. It's not an auction but each vendor sets up his own webpage "store". I have never asked her what percentage the site takes but she likes it better than ebay. She says the site is really taking off. Sorry, I don't have a link but I'm sure it can be googled.


And my son-in-law makes extra money at Christmas by putting up (and taking down - package deal) Christmas lights for the elderly and singles who don't want to or can not get up on a ladder. There's a lot of retired people in the rural area we live in. Many also hire him to clean out their gutters fall and spring.

Also, a neighbor goes out into into woods and gets wood (and burls) left from cutting areas and makes rustic tables, chairs, clocks, rustic statues for the tourists. He doesn't work at anything else and makes big bucks doing this. Even if you don't live in the mountains but are only a few hours away from some this could be lucrative.

Collecting items from woods such as moss, pine cones, etc. could also be made into a business by selling to craft stores and crafters. You can get permits from the Forest Service but just make sure you are not on private land.

I have tried a number of ways to stay out of mainstream employment so I could stay home with my daughter.

I wrote an article a few months back to help other stay at home parents.

Working from home for Stay At Home Parents