General Question

Ume's avatar

What are quick and easy ways to make a couple thousand dollars within a few months time?

Asked by Ume (59points) April 12th, 2010

I want to go to Japan this November and I’m having trouble raising enough money to go. I would like to attend a very special spiritual event and altogether its going to cost in the range of two thousand dollars. So I’m really trying to find ways to scrape together the cash.
I’m currently waiting on my 15th birthday to pass so that I can get a job at a local fast food chain. However I’m not sure that I will get a job there so I’m trying to think of ideas that can help me raise the money. So really any suggestions(except for car washes and other typical things like that) would be welcome. :)

Observing members: 0 Composing members: 0

42 Answers

trailsillustrated's avatar

be a pet carer- dog walker, poo scooper for people that are busy. hit it hard by posting flyers in evey supermarket and everywhere you can think of. Charge 40$ per half day. work every hour you can

lilikoi's avatar

Get a job. $8 / hr x 20 hr / wk x 4 wk / mo x 6 mo = $3840. Easy.

Ume's avatar

@trailsillustrated I live in the country so that wouldn’t really work. Thanks for the suggestion anyways. :)

@lilikoi Thats a good formula but it all depends on if I can get hired. I’m a little bit young if you haven’t noticed.

trailsillustrated's avatar

well it’s hard and alot of work but you could have a big ebay auction- gather up everything around that you could sell, clean it up, photograph it and print up labels. Get someone to help you so that your not alone doing it all. Failing that the best you can do now is work like @lilikoi said- dairy queen, sonic, like that

Ume's avatar

@trailsillustrated I think thats a wonderful idea. Why didn’t I think of that?
Thank you so much for this suggestion it has really helped my creative juices flow. I just hope this will work. :) So Thanks again( and to you too @lilikoi. I appreciate it).

nimarka1's avatar

The best thing i did at that age was babysit! Its so easy, and you get paid much more than a minimum wage job (in california its $8 an hour. but if you take away taxes?) you can charge anywhere from $10—$15. Maybe if you are good at a particular subject you can tutor someone. I had some younger friends that last year (they were 17) would tutor for $30 an hour! and they would just tutor friends or people younger than them who needed help. you can make bank like that! a lot of people would do it because real tutors who do that for a living are much more expensive ( i remember having a tutor in middle school who charged $75 for every 1 hour session) i didnt think much of it at the time but thats a lot. Both these things get you paid more than any min wage jobs.

Response moderated
ChocolateReigns's avatar

@dutchbrossis uh…they said their 15th birthday is coming up soon and they want the money by November. That’s not an option.

bobloblaw's avatar

What do you have that is of value?

Response moderated (Unhelpful)
dutchbrossis's avatar

I was saying if they ever end up in same situation at 18. lol

Kismet's avatar

Baby sitting is also another option, and it doesn’t matter if you live in the city or not for that, I don’t think.

Whatever you do, I wish you good luck on getting there!

squidcake's avatar

Babysitting, petsitting, housesitting always brings in a lot of dough.
But, of course, it is dependent on availability of people who trust you and are in need of you. Start putting the idea in the heads of people you know.

That’s funny because a group of friends and I tried to raise money a few years ago to go to Japan (we ended up settling for going to Savannah, Georgia because of time constraints, but don’t let that discourage you).

What we did was save all of our recyclables and ask our friends and neighbors to save theirs for us to collect. Then we’d haul them all down to the recycling center every weekend and get the refund for them. We made a lot of money.

Response moderated (Unhelpful)
PacificToast's avatar

If you’re good at art, you can do commissions for some cash.

anartist's avatar

Be an artist’s model at the university or art school or even for drawing groups
pays $25 – $50 an hour

lilikoi's avatar

@Ume I got a job at your age hostessing for a restaurant and probably made about $8/hr when you account for tips, and that was when minimum wage was $5/hr. I accounted for your age in my “formula” by using $8/hr which is about minimum wage nowadays and 20 hrs/wk which is a manageable part time load that one can do while attending high school. There are jobs for teenagers out there. You just have to talk to people.

Response moderated (Unhelpful)
phoebusg's avatar

Freelance with something you’re really competent on. Something with high demand.
Web design and graphics works for me, along with the occasional IT side-consulting job.

Ume's avatar

@bobloblaw I have some porcelain dolls that are worth some money. I looked at the price tag for one of them and it was $295. So I’m thinking that I should sell them( I have 4) and maybe I can profit at around a thousand dollars. Seeing as they’re in good condition and they’re almost 20 years old and part of a special collectible set, I think they might be worth a lot now. However I’m not entirely sure about how I’m going to do that. I was thinking eBay but they’re prices are way too low, so I’m kind of at a crossroads. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. :)

ParaParaYukiko's avatar

@anartist That would be good, but I think you have to be over a certain age (18, probably) to pose for drawing groups. Plus, it’s actually quite difficult! You have to stay still for a long time in sometimes unusual poses… not the most comfortable thing to do.

I’d say eBay is probably going to be your best bet. As for your porcelain dolls, you might want to get an appraise. If they cost over $200 twenty years ago, they could be worth quite a bit now. I’m sure the appraiser might cost money, though. I think asking your parents about it would be a good place to start.

I’d say utilize some of your talents to get some cash, in addition to the already mentioned babysitting, petsitting, ect. If you’re crafty, make some neat little doodads to sell. If you’re a musician, try performing on the street (although you may have to buy a license to do so; in my town they’re about $50). Think of things you’re good at—whatever your talent, there’s probably a way of making money from it.

Good luck raising money! May I ask what event you want to attend in Japan?

netgrrl's avatar

I don’t know what your skill set is, but take a look at Fiverr link —it’s a site where people post (legal) things they are willing to do for $5 (to your paypal acct.)

The list of possibilities is endless, so browse some of the categories and see what types of quick services you can offer. Some of them are as simple as “set up your Twitter account for $5” to design a simple logo or flyer, or write a review. Worth a look. If you’re computer-savvy at all, I’m sure there must be something.

jerv's avatar

Sadly, the only way to make money quickly in this country any more is to have more money than you need. At that point, everybody gives you money so that you don’t even need to spend your own.

mattbrowne's avatar

The concept of easy money is a slippery slope.

bea2345's avatar

Excuse me, but I am a little old fashioned: why is this not a family project, sending you to Japan? You are not yet of age, so earning this kind of money in the short time you have is going to be difficult (and you may not be able to do it legally or even ethically). I don’t want to discourage you but can you answer some questions? Are you traveling alone, or with family/friends? Do your estimates include everything – air fares, transfers, hotel stays, insurance, visas, travel documents, etc. etc. etc.?

Ume's avatar

@bea2345 Well this is a spiritual journey and not really meant for my whole family. This is a special spiritual event that only happens every ten years for youth members. So, because I’m a youth group member and for other important reasons as well, I would like to attend. The only problem ,however, is that I do not have the funds at the moment to be able to go. I would ask my family for them, but they’re in no situation to lend me a couple thousand dollars.
Anyways, now that you have some more background information, what the money would go towards is airfare and what I would do in Japan. My spiritual organization has special tours for people like me who only go to Japan on very special occasions like these. So therefore everything is already arranged for me, so all I need to do is raise the money. And I am not traveling alone, I am going with another youth group member. So thats all worked out. However, as I said before, the only thing in my way of going to Japan, physically at least, is money.
Right now my options are slim as to how to raise the money, but I think I’m off to a good start though. I’ve just now realized that I have a few expensive collectible dolls hanging around my place, and since I don’t really need them, I thought I’d sell them. Of course knowing who to sell to is another story entirely.
So the reason why I’m on here, is to found out how to raise the amount I would need, after I sell my dolls, and also how I can sell my dolls for the highest price. So if anyone reads this and can help me, your help would be greatly appreciated. :)
@bea2345 I hope I answered all your questions effectively.

john65pennington's avatar

Grass cutter. 5 yards a day at $50 a yard is $250 dollars times 6 days is $1,500 dollars. it adds up quick and you have a whole summer to cut grass. you might just be a millionaire by the end of the summer.

MissA's avatar

Write letters/email for senior citizens.

Response moderated (Unhelpful)
Response moderated (Off-Topic)
Response moderated (Off-Topic)
SeventhSense's avatar

There are many ways as mentioned but the simplest are those which you have immediate accesss to and equipment at hand etc. But this question illustrates something else:
The real number one way to make money is to profit off others desire to make quick money.
I do not suggest that you do this. It’s only to illustrate a point and it’s bad karma for these folks to rip people off.
The best way to make money is to work intelligently, effectively and tirelessly at something you enjoy. In other work hard but work smart. There’s no free lunch.

Response moderated (Off-Topic)
Response moderated (Off-Topic)
Response moderated (Personal Attack)
nicholascage's avatar

I don’t think it is possible to be wealthy in a short time and very easy, maybe lottery but most of us lack of this kind of luck.

weeveeship's avatar

Daytrade. It’s risky but the payoffs could be huge.

Nullo's avatar

Work. I earn about $800—$1000 per month in retail.

thekoukoureport's avatar

I would suggested Sponsorship. Talk to family friends neighbors about what you are trying to achieve. Put together a brochure, Facebook page, a certifcate along with a photo of your journey. make it a nice package that will help them be a part of such a wonderful event. Good luck. PS if you can tie it to a church it should be tax deductable.
have fun

Response moderated (Writing Standards)
stansworks's avatar

sell something that people will consume and provide a health benefit at the same time…. I’ve done it by selling coffee…...
www.javitacoffeestore.com, all natural coffee infused with herbs from the orient…. there you have it…. buy it and sell it…. for a steady income just go here….

Answer this question

Login

or

Join

to answer.

This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.

Your answer will be saved while you login or join.

Have a question? Ask Fluther!

What do you know more about?
or
Knowledge Networking @ Fluther