Ways to Raise Cash

1. Ask or borrow from family and friends.

Your family and friends know you well and love you. They may be compelled to help you either by giving you cash, or loan you some money.

2. Ask from the Government.

The Government is handing out lots of money to the public. Do take advantage of this if you qualify. Examples include unemployment benefits, food stamps and social security benefits.

3. Ask your employer.

Ask for a salary advance or borrow from your employer. Some companies have policies regarding salary advances and employee loans. And the interest rates could be lower than commercial banks.

4. Unclaimed money.

You may have money or deposits in old accounts which you have forgotten about and gets wound up with the treasurer of the state. Now it's time to claim them back. Check www.unclaimed.org.

5. Tax refund.

Check with the IRS if you have any tax credit in your tax account. You could have been paying more tax than you should if your tax deduction is higher than your tax charged. It could be as high as thousands of dollars.

6. Auction your items.

Auctioning off items on internet auction sites such as eBay could turn items of no value or use to you into cash. You might want to get an appraisal if you are not familiar with the item you intend to put up for auction to avoid selling antiques at rock bottom price.

7. Garage sales.

Garage sale is still a feasible way to sell off items you don't need. Though you may not get as good a price you might get from online auctions, however, you save on the hassle and costs of packaging and arranging for delivery. You don't need to worry about fraud and charge backs because your buyers pay with cold hard cash.

8. Pawn your items.

Pawnbrokers take in only items of value. If you don't pay the pawnbroker, they will sell your items to recover the costs. The benefits of using the pawnbroker is you could redeem your items later on when you have the cash to pay the pawnbroker. Also, comparing to an auction, you reduce the turn around time because you don't need to wait for a buyer and the transaction to complete to get the money.

9. Borrow from credit unions.

Credit unions are non-profit institutions established to help their members. Members of the credit unions usually pool their savings and lend it to each other for buying houses or cars. It could be easier to borrow from credit unions over banks because they have less stringent requirements.

10. Borrow from banks.

Banks are in the business of lending money. However, they have stringent requirements. Your credit score, collateral and income level play a role in approving or declining your loan application.

11. Arrange for overdraft.

If you have a current account, you might be able to arrange for a temporary credit line and overdraw your account. This could easily be achieved by liaising with the bank manager over the phone.

12. Refinance your real property.

You need not sell your home to tap into your house equity. You could easily tap into your real property equity by refinancing your property. The bank lends you the money. You use your property as collateral. You still retain control of your property.

13. Borrow from your life insurance policy.

If you have bought a life insurance policy that comes with a savings element, then you could borrow against it. The savings element is known as the cash value. However, if the cash value is not fully repaid upon your death, then the financial compensation for the beneficiary will be much less.

14. Borrow from your retirement savings.

In many countries, employers and employees are required to contribute to a retirement savings program. Because you are borrowing from yourself and from something you already own, therefore there is less requirement for approval. The disadvantage here is that you may interrupt the growth of your retirement savings.

15. Borrow from your credit cards.

Almost all credit card issuers allow the credit card holder to withdraw cash advance from the ATM using their credit cards. The amount available will depend on the balance of credit line available on your cards.

This is a very expensive form of borrowing because the interest rates are high. However, in an emergency sometimes you just have no choice but to resort to borrowing from your credit cards.

16. Sell sperm, egg and plasma.

If you are not the faint-hearted, then you could raise cash by donating sperm, egg and plasma.

17. Become a medical subject.

Some universities may pay you for being a medical subject for their research if you fit the profile they are looking for.

18. Become a focus group member.

Marketing research and analysis firms constantly carry out surveys and if you fit into the profile you would be roped into the focus group. Assignments could range from answering simple survey questions to testing sample product and giving feedback.

19. Become a pet care giver.

Fancy walking your neighbor's dog and get paid for it? Or become a pet sitter? Or giving pets a bath.

20. Writing for blogs.

There are some websites that offers payment in return for posting on blogs.