How Can I Make a Few Thousand Dollars Fast?

I would highly recommend reading a Dave Ramsey book, or combing through his website.
If you're being serious, you're literally working for nothing more than the things you need in order to work. It sounds like high time for a Total Money Makeover.

Well that is the million dollar question!
If you find the answer, let me know!
Anything legal, that is.
LOL

A few thousand dollars by the end of summer? Sign me up!!!

Just a suggestion, if you take food for your lunch and snacks, you can save money each week. I NEVER buy lunch. It's not like I wouldn't love to, but I'm a single mom. I can make a nice sandwich, have some fruit and yogurt, even take some leftovers to microwave, put a salad in some tupperware. It's so much cheaper.

One lady that I've known for years told me the greatest idea. She told me that she had saved just under $900 for Christmas shopping. What she did was, she never paid the exact amount for anything. Like if she went to the store and bought $13.47 worth of things, she paid $14.00 and put the change in a jar. If something was $18.37 and she paid with a 20, she put the change in a jar. At the end of the year, she had jars and buckets of change. She took it to a local casino because they have a massive automatic change counter. They charge a fee for it being counted and sorted, but she walked out with cash, in bills and was glad not to have to count and roll all the change.
That's not going to get you a few thousand by the end of the summer, but I've started doing that. I count and roll my change though and take it to my bank every so often.
Try it and stop spending money on lunches when you can make them at home. If you go to Starbucks for coffee, make your own coffee at home and put the money you would spend each week at Starbuck's in a jar.
There are lots of things you can do to save money if you can't find ways to actually earn more.
A penny saved IS a penny earned.

Best wishes.

I am going to *answer* the question you didn't ask (sorry)

I have been in the mortgage industry for 21 years & I will tell you to really re-consider purchasing a home with a boyfriend and wait till you are married!!!!

Also if you can't afford anything now you sure won't be able to afford a house. Houses are very very costly with all the maintenance & upkeep. You should post a question about the costs of owning a home rather than renting, the upkeep is endless.

I am a big Dave Ramsey fan to the point I think it should be a mandatory class Senior year in H.S. He will tell you to get rid of that car, perhaps get just liability insurance & get a part time job.

But seriously if WE knew how to make a few thousand dollars FAST (legally) nobody would be hurting in this economy. Maybe this is Gods way of telling you that you guys are not ready for this big commitment . Sometimes going *FAST* isn't so good.

If you truly want to buy a house then you need to work for it.

Find an additional source of income. Babysit, mow lawns, pet sit for people taking vacations. Ask your current employer if you can have some additional hours, or offer to cover for colleagues who need to call in sick.

Why do you need purchase food during your break periods? Eat your meals at home or pack a bagged lunch.

Car payment? Put every extra penny you have towards paying off the car and the interest that goes with it.

If you can't manage to save a few hundred $$ (you said haven't contributed anything), how do expect to be able to make mortgage payments and pay for any unexpected repairs or emergencies?

I will skip the unasked question of whether it is wise to buy a house for your situation.

There are two ways to make those extra $$

1) SAVE and DOWNSIZE.
(A) Get rid of your car. If that is not an option, buy a cheap second-hand car.
(B) Do not buy lunch/snacks at work, and do not eat out or keep it to a minimum. Buy bulk and cook at home. (This saves A LOT!)
(C) Get rid of your cable and switch to a more economical phone/internet etc service. Whatever you have.
(D) Shop for car insurance. You may find a better price.
(E) If possible, bike to work or take public transportation. Start/join a carpool.
(F) Sit down and make an accurate list of where your money goes, and see if there is anything else you can cut. Calculate how much that would save you by the end of summer. Decide if you want to cut it. (Such as getting rid of $4 latte per week in 3 months would be more or less $4 x 15 weeks = $60.
(G) Have a garage sale or sell stuff you do not need on Craigslist

2) EXTRA WORK
(A) Any hobbies or talents you can turn into cash (paint pictures, teach yoga, sell crafts on ebay etc)
(B) Tutor kids, babysitting
(C) Participate in medical studies or give blood/serum
(D) A second job (evening/weekend shift). Keep looking!

The thing you need to consider is that if you are just getting by how will you be able to contribute to a home? Owning a home is very pricey. Not just getting the down payment but also the upkeep, etc. And $10,000 isn't much when you are talking about splitting it between down payment and emergency money. You guys probably need to look at housing in your area then look at what you would realistically need for a down payment. We weren't able to put a full 20% down so now we also have to pay PMI (private mortgage insurance) on top of our monthly payment.

And stripping or dealing drugs is the only way you are going to make thousands by the end of summer!

Look long and hard at the bills you DO have. Car payment? What if you sell the car? Put half away and buy a cash car with the other half.

SELL some other stuff maybe?

Deliver pizzas. Amazing what delivery drivers pull down in cash tips each night.

Home ownership is not for the faint of heart. What they "tell" you you can afford per month is not the case--aim for HALF of the payment for which you are approved.

I would also caution you on buying a house with a boyfriend. This is the first step a lot of women make that result in a "loss of power" and downward spiral. (Not saying you specifically.) Get your own place.

There are a lot of situations where renting is really the best thing until all else is in order.

I really, really really recommend Dave Ramsay's Total Money Makeover book & plan. So.....if you can scrape up 20 bucks by the weekend--go get it. It will save you a LOT of financial problems!

I don't know about the fast part, but you could...

Sell your car and carpool
Carpool just to save on gas
Cut back on your spending (no movies or restaraunts, only necessities)
Reduce your bills (cancel cable, turn off the AC, lower grocery costs)

What do you have that you could sell on ebay?

Brown bag your lunch and snacks for work; take leftovers.

Sell your car and use public transit - then you'll save the car payment, gas and insurance.

Look into upgrading your education. It'll pay off in the long run with a higher paying job.

Do you have a research center around you? Some of them have great studies where you stay on weekends only or 3-5 days at a time and go in for a few check ups or to get meds and they pay all kinds of amounts from 500 to 5000 per study. The longer the study the more overnight stays you would need.

I really strongly encourage you to listen to Carrie W about Dave Ramsey- you won't regret following his advice!!

Very best wishes!! =o)

What are you doing with the $3000 he has saved up? Make some investments.

I agree with momof4. I was a realtor. You don't want to be "house poor" It will cause so many fights I don't care how strong your relationship is. Just keep saving.
I think it's a good idea for you to find something where you can make more money to tuck into savings. If you like sales I can help you make some extra money. I own internet franchises and one division of my company is web site sales. where you are just the middle man. You don't have to be technical. You can make up to $2700 on 1 website sale. It's crazy. I have many SAHM's making thousands a week. If you want more info message me.

Part of Dave Ramsey says to sell stuff (ebay, craigslist, garage sales) to get quick money to have for your 'emergency fund'. If you can downsize furniture, jewlery, kitchen items, clothes, etc. you could probably make more than you think. Good luck.

I totally agree with the Dave Ramsey advice.
There are lots of people who do great with MLMs. But it has to be a product and company you really believe in. Let me know if you want to know the one I am in.
My son is home from college and is selling cutlery. We were very skeptical at first, but found out lots of people we know were familiar with the products and really like them. He also gets paid for going to an appointment even if no sale is made. But so far every appointment has lead to a sale.