If you are new to personal finance blogs or just got out on your own, you may not have an emergency fund yet. You would be one of many. What happens when your car needs new brakes or you have an unexpected home expense? Without padding in the bank, you still have options.
Sell Some Stuff
I have made hundreds of dollars on Craigslist over the last couple of months. If you need cash or want to build up an emergency fund right now, look over your stuff. Do you have things that you do not use? Anything? I have successfully sold sets of extra drinking glasses, bread plates we didn’t use, tea pots, nice shoes, old cars, furniture, pet supplies, and a bunch of other miscellaneous stuff. So take a look at your extras and feel free to use these steps to list them on Craigslist.
Roth IRA
Did you ever open a Roth IRA? Anything you deposited can be withdrawn at any time with no penalties. You can’t withdraw the interest you’ve accumulated, but all of the principal is yours to use as you wish. You will want to avoid this if possible since you can redeposit the money you withdraw later, but it is a low interest (no interest) option.
Home Equity
Do you own your home and is it worth more than you owe? If so, you can probably get a cheap home equity loan. There would be interest involved, but prioritize paying back your loan and you should be safe. So depending on your need, this could be a great option!
Credit Cards and Payday Loans
If all else fails and you do not want to borrow money from family or friends, you can look at your higher interest options. Credit cards usually range from 12-35%, so be careful which one you end up using. No reason to pay more interest than you really have to.
And if you do not have credit cards and all else fails, you could take out a payday loan. Places like paydayloan.org.uk would love to lend to you. The interest is usually through the roof, but that may be acceptable depending on what you need the cash for.
What would you do if you needed extra cash quick?
