When money is tight, you can feel like you’re drowning.
You finally make that late payment on one bill, and the next one shows up in the mail. You turn to credit cards to stay afloat, but those bills pile up, too. And just when you think you’re in the clear and a nice paycheck comes rolling in… the rent is due.
Here are ten resources that can give you some relief when you feel like your wallet is stretched as far as it can go.
1. Let This Company Help You Pay off Your Credit Cards
Once you fall behind, you may find yourself getting crushed by credit card interest rates north of 20%. You’ll never catch up that way. You’re spending so much on interest, you’ll never pay off your balances.
If you’re financially treading water like this, it might be worth consolidating and refinancing your debt.
By refinancing an existing loan, you’re taking out a totally new loan, which comes with new terms and (ideally) a lower interest rate. By consolidating your existing loans, you lump all your debt into one big payment, so you’re only making one payment and dealing with one interest rate per month.
Make sense but don’t know where to start? Credible is an online marketplace that offers consumers personalized loan offers. It’s best for borrowers who have good credit scores (think: around 640 or higher), and it lets you quickly compare rates without visiting a bunch of sites.
Rates start at 5.99%, and you can check yours by entering a loan amount here ($500 to $40,000) and comparing your personalized options in under 90 seconds.
2. Earn 100x More Interest on Your Savings
One of our favorite banking accounts is the Aspiration Account — there are no monthly fees, and you’ll earn up to 100 times the interest rate of other banks.
This online-only account comes with a debit card and free ATMs, so you can easily access your money when you need it.
After you open your Aspiration Account, use it to split your income:
- Automatically deposit a portion of your income into your existing bank account, and use that to cover basic expenses like rent and bills.
- Deposit what’s left into your Aspiration Account to use for building an emergency fund.
Bonus: You’ll get a free $5 just for signing up!
3. Make a Little Extra Money While You Watch TV
Surveys aren’t the quickest way to make money, but they’re a great way to cash in on your downtime and pad your pockets for the next rainy day. Fill them out while you’re watching TV, riding the bus or waiting in line.
One survey site we love is called InboxDollars. It offers several short, daily surveys. You earn cash, so you don’t have to worry about exchanging points. It also offers more ways to earn, such as watching videos, playing scratch-off games and searching the internet.
4. Earn Cash Back When You Take a Picture of Your Receipt
No matter how tight money is right now, you’ll have to buy food at some point. We know it sounds strange, but Ibotta will pay you cash for taking pictures of your grocery store receipts.
Before heading to the store, search for items on your shopping list within the Ibotta app. When you get home, snap a photo of your receipt and scan the items’ barcodes.
Ibotta is free to download. Plus, you’ll get a $10 sign-up bonus after uploading your first receipt.
5. Stop Deleting Your Emails
It turns out deleting your emails could be costing you money. Intrigued?
One of our secret weapons is called Paribus — a tool that gets you money back for your online purchases. It’s free to sign up, and once you do, it will scan your email for any receipts. If it discovers you’ve purchased something from one of its monitored retailers, it will track the item’s price and help you get a refund when there’s a price drop.
Plus, if your guaranteed shipment shows up late, Paribus will help you get compensated.
Disclosure: Paribus compensates us when you sign up using the links we provide.
6. Prioritize Your Bills and Negotiate Them
Decide which bills to pay first and which ones can slide a little bit until you’re back on secure footing.
Pay your rent or mortgage so you don’t get kicked out of your home. Pay for power and water. You need that stuff.
Ask for payment arrangements. You may be able to negotiate lower bills on essentials like utilities or set up an interest-free payment plan to make larger bills more manageable.
For help, download Truebill, an app that’ll negotiate your bills, cancel unwanted subscriptions and refund your bank fees.
On average, Truebill says it helps customers save more than $700 a year by lowering their bills, canceling unnecessary subscriptions and getting refunds.
7. Sell Your Stuff
When you’re short on cash, look to the back of your closet and in the depths of your attic or basement. You’ll almost certainly find a bunch of stuff you don’t use anymore.
A lot of people see this clutter and start plotting a garage sale to earn extra money. The prospect is tempting — but a garage sale might not be worth your time.
Try some alternatives, like selling your stuff online or in town to earn more money with less hassle than hosting a full-blown garage sale. Apps like OfferUp and Decluttr make it super easy to sell your stuff without sitting in the front yard and dealing with strangers all day.
8. Ask for Help
If you’ve exhausted all your options, call a local resource line for help. There’s no shame in it.
Start with 2-1-1, a confidential service offered through United Way that can help you find the resources you need to make rent, pay utilities or find affordable housing.
To use the service, head to 211.org and enter your location. It’ll show you services in your community and give you a number to call.
You can also look into applying for a grant. Take, for example, Modest Needs grants, which are designed for workers just about the poverty line who are ineligible for most other forms of social assistance.
9. Sell Your Blood Plasma
It takes about two hours and, yes, it involves a needle, but selling your plasma could earn you about $25 for your first visit. The process is simple, and you’re free to read or watch TV while a machine draws your blood and separates the plasma.
It’s common for plasma donation centers to pay between $20 and $30 per visit, up to twice a week.
Interested? Search “plasma center + [your city]” for options, and ask your friends for referrals — many centers offer referral sign-up bonuses.
If you prefer just to donate blood, look for a blood drive near you on the American Red Cross’ website.
10. Breathe New Life Into Your Credit
Maybe your credit isn’t the best. Maybe you don’t even have credit. It’s a tough position, but here’s a simple way to remedy the problem: Open a credit card.
Sure, this might sound counterintuitive. However, if you open a credit card and pay it off each month, you’ll likely see your score increase.
Now the only problem is finding a credit card you qualify for.
If you’ve faced rejection after rejection, try applying for the Capital One® Platinum credit card. It’s built for those of us who have average, fair or limited credit. After the first five months, if you’ve made all your payments on time, you’ll gain access to a higher credit line. Another big perk? No annual fee.
Read through customer comments over at Credit Sesame — then start working on your credit.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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