How to Make Money in a Crunch

The global credit crunch has finally arrived -- a worldwide pay-back for the over-reaching and over-spending of many in the Western world. Spending has dropped, and mortgage and interest rates are looking set to rise. Coupled with increasing food and fuel prices, things look bleak for many, but is it really as bad as all that? Possibly not.

How to make it through the crunch

We are not in a recession at the moment; nor are we in a depression. Money may be tight, but it won't stay that way indefinitely. Nonetheless, this is not a good time to build up large debts, which would be susceptible to high rates of interest. Borrowing money to see you through this period could well end up making things worse, for yourself and the economy as a whole (unpaid debts are what caused all this, after all). We don't know what is coming next economically, so a prudent strategy would be for each person to live within their means.

More easily said than done, of course, but there are a number of strategies to help. Please select an option from the list to find out more.

Can you spare any time to do a bit of work from home? Some part-time jobs use very little of your time once they're up-and-running, and the difference to your finances could be the difference between being in the black and being in the red.

EBay

If you have anything lying about the house that you are not using any more, then check eBay listings to see if it's worth anything. You'll need to sign up for an eBay account to do this (it's free), and then perform a search and tick the Completed Listings box, which is usually on the left of the screen (if not, try the Advance Search tab to find it). Now have a look at what similar items went for, and what sort of condition they were in. Also look at postage costs, and how much Feedback the seller has (sellers with higher Feedback ratings tend to earn more from each sale than lower-rated members).

If you've never used eBay before then it's a good idea to do a bit of reading up on it -- try looking in eBay's own Help pages -- so as to get your listings right first time and to avoid any scams. A PayPal account is also pretty much essential, and free to set up.

Mail-order business

This takes a bit more work, but is a renewable source of income and might even earn you enough that you can give up your main job. You can either sell on eBay or a private website, or both. If you sell on a website then you will need to pay web hosting fees, but these can work out cheaper in the long-run than eBay seller fees. You will also need to do a bit of research on site security so that your customers don't get their details hacked, and you will need to learn a bit of web design. If that sounds too hard then you can pay somebody else to do it; mainstream companies often charge a lot for their services, but if you look around in forums you might find people offering their services at a much lower rate (GetAFreelancer.com is a good place to start).

The other things that you'll need if you want to run a mail-order business are a reliable wholesaler and a niche to work in. It's hard to compete in an already overcrowded marketplace, but have a look around on eBay and the internet for products related to any hobbies you have. Is there an opening there that nobody is already exploiting? If so then contact the companies who manufacture these products and ask them if you can buy wholesale from them. Chances are that they won't want to deal directly with you, but if you persevere they may point you in the direction of somebody who will.

Other Ideas

• Become and Avon representative
• Fill in online surveys
• Become a mystery shopper
• Find out if anyone living locally needs a bit of help around the house or garden
• Grow and sell your own vegetables and flowers.

The list stretches as far as your imagination. Spend a bit of time reading up on ways to earn money on the internet -- there are plenty of sites dedicated to this sort of thing. Then make a list of as many ideas as you can and cross out any that are impossible or genuinely impractical. Whatever is left on your list is potential extra money, and before you screw up the list you need to ask yourself why you can't do any of the things left on it. Do you really not have the time, or does it all just sound like too big a leap? If you're happy in the position you're in now then you do not need to make that leap, but if you're struggling financially then this could be a way out of your troubles