by: Caterina Christakos

Many of us rack our brains for the perfect job or business opportunity to bring in extra cash. We think that we need to come up with some brilliant plan to earn the money for a nice vacation, down payment on a car or some extra cash for our kid’s tuition. Sometimes the perfect money maker is right beneath our very noses. Here are some quick tips to receive extra cash with the least amount of effort:

1. Clean out your closets. Take out every time that you haven’t worn in the last century. Drag out those old comics. Dust off those old records. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, as the saying goes.
   
   • Hold a garage sale

   • Place it on ebay

   • Bring it to a flea market and agree to split the profits with one of the vendors

   • Place ads in local papers and the pennysaver

2. Take ten percent of your income and stick it in a savings account or better yet a high yield cd that you can’t touch for a year. Money market accounts are also a better alternative to standard bank accounts.

3. Promote affiliate programs online. They have already set up the business for you. All you have to do is promote it and earn commissions.

4. Form an investment club. If you don’t have a large enough pool of money to invest right now, many of your friends may be in the same boat. Pool your money together and invest in some of the safer investments right now, like bonds or CDs. You will earn together more than the measly percentage a regular account will provide.

5. If you have recently helped finance a house sale, sell your mortgage note for a lump sum. Instead of having to wait several years to get your money, take the discount and get cash in hand now.