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Christmas is a month away and panic mode has set in…you need some easy ways to make money for Christmas fast! But wait…didn’t school just start? Wasn’t our trip to the beach like yesterday? Believe me, I feel your pain. In the words of Ferris Bueller, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” But hey, let’s not dwell on our budget-making skills being less than stellar, we can cover that in another post. Instead, let’s see how we can kick ass and make some quick Christmas money!
DO: Make a Quick and Easy Christmas Budget
I know I said we wouldn’t dwell on a budget in this post, but you need one to know how much money you need to make by Christmas. Years ago I started listening to Dave Ramsey’s radio show and decided to practice what he preaches. If you don’t know who Dave Ramsey is, he is a personal money management expert who discusses personal finance topics on his popular syndicated radio show.
Mr. Ramsey helps others get out of debt, instructs folks not to use credit for anything and if you can’t pay cash for it, you shouldn’t buy it. What qualifies him to teach these principles? He rose to the top financially at a young age, and then crashed and burned and was forced to file bankruptcy. He rose from the ashes to build an empire based on what he learned in his journey and passed this information on to all who wanted to follow his philosophy and live a prosperous life. I highly recommend his Total Money Makeover book if you’ve never read it. By following the principles in this book, we paid off $48,000 in debt and are debt-free.
Your 10-Minute Budget
Since listening to Dave Ramsey, we started keeping a budget and shopping with a debit card. We use his Every Dollar budgeting tool. There’s a free version and a paid version. The paid version connects with your bank and is just faster to track expenses but the free version is fine. There’s also an Every Dollar app so there are no excuses. You can do a simple budget in about 10 minutes. Let’s face it, folks, when we know where our money is going, we spend it more deliberately.
Suggestions for Christmas expenses to add to your budget:
- Family gifts (immediate & extended family)
- Food for parties
- Holiday cards & postage
- Teacher gifts
- Entertainment
- Christmas tree, lights, and other outside decorations
- Wrapping paper, gift tags, bows & other gift decor
- Other gifts to possibly consider:
- Babysitter
- Pet sitter
- Hairdresser
- Bus driver
- Newspaper delivery person
- Sanitation workers
- Other
DON’T: Use Credit Cards to Purchase Christmas Gifts
This is a hard one, I know! You’ll want to use a credit card with rewards to shop for gifts but don’t do it. Like Dave Ramsey says, “No one ever got rich from shopping with reward credit cards!” Shopping with a debit card is still not as good as using cash, but it’s better than using a credit card. Studies have shown people spend more using credit cards, up to 100% more according to an MIT study that Forbes cites in their article, “Does Using a Credit Card Make You Spend More Money?”
Easy Ways to Make Money for Christmas Fast
Now that we have a Christmas budget set up, and are going to use cash or a debit card for Christmas gift purchases, we can set out to make extra money! Below are my easy ways to make Christmas money fast. These extra ways to make money for Christmas include easy ways to make money for Christmas online as well as offline. I’ve done almost all of these things to earn quick money so I know they work!
1. Sell your clothes and accessories at Plato’s Closet: Not many consignment stores offer same-day cash for your clothes and accessories but Plato’s Closet does! They have franchises all over the U.S. and some in Canada.
At Plato’s Closet, you can take your gently used teen and young adult-style clothing and accessories that are name brands, cool, hip, trendy, clean, and in good condition. You exchange them for cash or credit to shop in the store.
I once took three pairs of jeans and an older pair of gently used Uggs to sell. The store was crowded, so I dropped off my things, ran some errands and returned within the hour to see how much they were willing to offer me. They offered me $48 so I accepted it. Maybe I could have made more selling those items on eBay, but I don’t know for sure. Plus, there was very little hassle involved and I had the cash in my pocket the same day.
How Much Money Can You Make?
How much Plato’s Closet will offer you for your items will depend on whether your items are in demand, the style, the condition they are in, and the store’s current stock level. If you don’t have one of these consignment shops in your area, you may have another consignment shop local to you that does pay cash on the spot.
Don’t have a Plato’s Closet near you or have women’s & kid’s clothes & accessories that Plato’s won’t take? Try ThredUP, the largest online marketplace to sell women’s and kids’ secondhand clothes.
2. Sign up with Rover and become a pet sitter: Rover is an awesome service offering pet sitting services to those looking for help with their furry kids. The great thing about Rover is that you can offer multiple services which include watching dogs in your home; just stick to walking dogs or offering “drop-in” services. Many people are looking for pet sitters over the holidays while they travel. This is the perfect opportunity to make money for Christmas fast and easy! Check out all the ways to make quick Christmas money at Rover.
3. Sell items on Craigslist: I have had great success with Craigslist when selling items, but you do have to be careful of scams–especially at this time of year. If you do find a buyer, see if you can make the exchange at either yours or their place of employment, or at a public location (not in a parking lot). I have done a couple of transactions at my house but these were for children’s items that I sold to local moms, and the items weren’t worth hundreds of dollars. Check out my post, “How to Make Money at a Retail Store Without Working There” for more information on where to find items to sell on Craigslist.
4. Refer people to a cashback website: The absolute best cashback website to refer your friends to is Rakuten! Their refer-a-friend program is pretty much a no-brainer. You’re telling people to start their online shopping experience through Rakuten so they can earn money back on their purchase(s). Duh! Who wouldn’t want to do this?! If your friends and family sign up through your link and spend at least $30, you get a $30 referral bonus and they get $30. You can refer as many people as you want and as long as they are new to Rakuten and use your referral link, you’ll get your $30 referral bonus. There are SO many stores to earn cash back! So not only is this an easy Christmas money-making idea online, but it’s a great way to SAVE money on your Christmas gifts too!
Let’s get this party started…if you haven’t signed up for Rakuten yet, sign up through my referral link HERE, make your first $30+ purchase and you’ll receive $30 and I’ll receive $30. Now it’s your turn…share your new referral link with your friends and family and start earning some cashback of your own!
5. Sell crafts at craft fairs-even if you’re not crafty! November and early December is the perfect time if you’re crafty (or not-see below) to sign up for selling your wares at craft fairs. If you can sew, paint, bake, build, or do anything else that people will buy you can earn some extra cash for Christmas.
Own a Cricut machine? Check out my posts, “Cricut Projects to Sell: Cricut Explore Air Business Ideas to Make Extra Money,” and “5 Very Easy Cricut Vinyl Projects to Sell.”
What if you can’t make enough inventory in time for an upcoming fair? Contact a friend or two who are crafty, sign up together, and share a table. Between two or three people, you will have enough stuff to sell. I’ve done craft fairs in the past and sold hand-painted items. I was able to make $100 or more on a weekend afternoon. Check out my article on selling hand-painted items even if you can’t paint!
If you aren’t crafty but know someone who is who might not want to personally set up at a craft fair, suggest that you sell their handmade goods for them for a percentage of the sales. What if you approach several people about this– you automatically become a mobile consignment shop earning commissions from several different crafters. That’s cash in your pocket and extra money for Christmas!
6. Sell used books on Amazon: I’ve done this for years. You can list a book on Amazon in the morning and have it sell within the hour. You can start selling used books right from your bookcase, then hit the Goodwill, thrift stores, and library sales for additional inventory. Check out my post, “Sell Used Books on Amazon For Money-Great Home Business!” for more information.
You don’t have to stop at just selling books on Amazon…you can sell many other things! I’ve sold toys, electronics, kitchen items, and more. You can learn my methods in my post, “The Practice of Arbitrage to Earn Extra Cash From Home.”
7. Be a full-service shopper or in-store shopper with Instacart: Instacart is an on-demand grocery delivery service. Customers order groceries from their favorite stores and Shoppers handpick the items and deliver the order. You can choose to be an in-store Shopper who receives orders through an app on your smartphone. You then shop and bag the orders in-store before moving on to the next order. Or, choose to be a full-time shopper who shops AND delivers the orders. Get the full scoop at Instacart.com.
8. Offer a gift-wrapping service to neighbors: Are you a great gift wrapper? Have a way with ribbons and bows? You could put together a flyer by the end of the day, put it in your busy neighbors’ mailboxes, and be in business tomorrow! Who are great clients? Busy moms! You can advertise in pediatricians’ offices, preschools, and gymnastics and dance centers. Offer to wrap gifts in your client’s home, or have them dropped off at your house. A fair price to charge would be $20 per hour.
9: Take and submit photos of help-wanted signs: Download the JobSpotter (JobSpotter has shut down. Try Fieldagent.net as an alternative!) app from Indeed and take photos of help-wanted signs. It’s that easy! Every approved submission adds money to your Wallet’s balance. Redeem your balance for an Amazon gift card at any time! This is my favorite extra money idea because it’s so easy! Depending on where you live, you may have lots of help-seeking signs around. Next to the end of summer when college kids go back to school, this time of year has the most help-wanted signs.
Large popular retail stores and franchises pay less than smaller, local stores. For instance, I took a photo of a help wanted sign outside Sears and it was approved for 5 points (translation…$.05). However, a local pizza shop was worth $.75. I’ve had photos be approved for over a dollar as well! Trust me, it adds up and the points are easy to redeem.
10. Sell items on eBay: This is an oldie but goody! Especially with the eBay app which makes it so easy to list items for sale. There’s no better time than now to sell used toys, children’s Christmas outfits, and winter clothes that are in good shape. We are getting ready to sell a big lot of Monster High Dolls that are just sitting in the basement…selling them is next on my to-do list!
Need some ideas on what to sell on eBay? Check out my post, “What to Sell on eBay? Easy to Find Items That Put cash in Your Pocket!” If eBay isn’t your thing then check out the Buy, Sell, Trade, or Virtual Yard Sale Facebook Groups in your local town.
Planning for Next Christmas
So this year may have been a total last-minute panic in finding the money for Christmas, but next year can be another story.
Years ago, we decided how much money to set aside per month for gift purchases. I set up a separate savings account with our bank just for “gifts” which includes birthday and special occasion gift money in addition to Christmas gift money.
I have a set dollar amount automatically transferred from our main account to this separate account every week. For me, it’s easier if a small amount of money comes out every week, instead of a lump sum once a month. In addition, gift buying may occur at different times during the month. To know I always have money in that account keeps us from robbing the main account. It also doesn’t allow us to overspend in our gift buying.
“Wrapping Up”
Remember to set up a separate account for your Christmas savings and have a fixed amount transferred weekly to avoid overspending. By doing so, you’ll have a dedicated fund for gift buying and prevent any temptation to dip into your main account. Stay on track with your Christmas budget and make this holiday season a financial success. For more ideas on how to earn additional income, check out , “37 Awesome Things to Sell and Do to Make Extra Money Now!“
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