Strange Ways to Make Money to Pay Your Bills

In this economy, more and more people are looking outside the box for ways to make money. If you're one of them, these ideas might be right up your alley.

Butt painting - I'm sure most of you have heard of the artist that paints national flags on peoples' backsides then takes photos and sells them. If you can find some people willing to bare their derrieres and let you paint on them, you might be able to get famous and make a lot of money. Flags have been done, so maybe you can try national monuments or celebrity faces.

Pet/wish rocks - Pet rocks aren't as popular as they once were, but "wish" rocks might be a big seller. If you've ever seen The Secret, there was a section mentioning how a man raised money for his child's healthcare by selling river rocks as "gratitude stones". I actually have a lovely flat hematite wishing rock. Try getting some nice natural or rolled stones and sell them for whatever purpose you think people would be interested in.

Make & rent signs - I read an article about a woman who was crafty and made and painted a flat wooden stork to put in her yard to announce the birth of her child. People liked it so much they wanted to rent it. Now she's made a business from it. Try making some interesting and attractive event signs and place them in your yard. Put out flyers or ads letting people know that they can be rented. If possible, make them for common events like birth and marriage, or target at something that's popular in your area like farmer's markets or mud runs.

Party can & bottle collector - I've actually known people who did this, and made decent money from it. Whenever one of your friends or family is having a party, offer yourself as the designated bottle collector. Instead of throwing cans and bottles from soda and liquor in the trash, you collect them. In exchange for keeping the party cleaned up, you get to redeem the bottles for cash. In the states that offer redemption it's typically $0.05 for 8-12 ounce bottles and cans, and $0.15 for large liquor bottles.

Kissing booth - Depending on how attractive you are and what extent of kissing you're willing to offer, you can at least make some pocket money off a kissing booth. Set one up in your yard, or at an event. If you can get the OK from the event organizer, try setting up at ComiCon, DragonCon or some other nerd/geek-oriented event. You'll probably have the best luck if you dress up as a popular character. (By the way, this can work for guys as well as girls.)

Selling hair - It's not something you can do often, but I have heard of hair selling at anywhere from $20-$2000, depending on length and quality. The Hair Trader is apparently a good site for selling your hair. Hair must be at least 10 inches long from the ponytail, and cannot be chemically treated in any way. The longer and healthier your hair is, the more money you can get for it. If you need money and you're willing to lop off your locks, this might be a good way to go.

Selling panties - I actually wrote an article on this: Selling Panties to Make Money. If you don't mind the idea of someone owning your unmentionables, I have seen auctions online ranging anywhere from $15 per pair up to $1000 or more. In order to be worth selling they need to have been worn, and it seems a photo of them being worn adds to the value. You need to be able to seal them for "freshness" after wearing so they will ship properly. This seems to be a ladies only game, I've never heard of men's undies selling for anything. So if you're a woman and you're okay with it, this could become profitable.

Selling virginity - This is not in any way something that I would recommend, but I had to add it as one of the most unusual things I have heard of someone doing. It made news last year that a young woman was auctioning her virginity to pay for college. As of the last account I can find, the bid was at $3.8 million with over 10,000 bidders.