Strapped for Cash?

To be honest, I find myself in this situation only too often, struggling to get extra cash for the heap of bills that have to be paid before their deadlines. What can you do?

I'll start off with what to do when you have this dilemma already, which is especially for those who need just a relatively small amount of money to: (a) make VERY important payments, by that I mean electricity and water, etc and/or (b) make very important payments immediately, which of course crosses out bank loans because it usually means you need a HUGE sum of money and considering the paperwork involved I doubt you'll have time for it. (I could be wrong. It depends what bank, maybe they have a faster process and better installment plans?)  Anyway, let's get to it. Your first option is to try asking your siblings or relatives if they can lend you some money (I know it may be embarrassing, but everyone's been through this) - though I suggest you do this only if you can pay them back immediately or with installments, at least. Alternatively, you can raise the money by pawning items. For those who are not familiar with pawning, this is borrowing money by depositing a valuable which you then of course, reclaim when you've paid them back with interest. (See here for post on pawning) These are my go-to options (for now) cause technically I'm just my mother's employee a manager, who's been with the company for less than a year. No loan benefits yet.

Now, what can WE do to prepare for this situation? Well, I think this should go without saying, but even I have to remind myself constantly, SAVE! Think twice before buying something. (Or at the very least, postpone it.) It helps a lot when I think all the spending I'd have to do at the end of the day. I go, "This book or a Korean lunch with my family?" Obviously the latter wins and I don't regret it. I'd rather see my family happy and full (to the point they where they can barely walk. Haha.)

Second thing you can do, SELL! I'm sure we all have stuff lying around that we don't need, some of us may have trouble parting with items. But think of it this way, other people may have better use of it, take for example a chair that you've only used once since the day you got it (which is around five years ago). Now your neighbor's daughter could be moving to a dorm or flat and needs one for really cheap. Why let go of the opportunity, right? That's extra cash in your pocket. I'm actually planning a garage sale myself, which I hope to start by April cause I need the extra cash and space in my house. We've already sorted out stuff to sell like books, clothes and bags. My only trouble now is getting someone to man the sale cause I'll be at work on weekdays. I could probably get someone to do it for me, but then I'll have to pay them. Maybe I should just do it on weekends? Aside from selling your old or unused things, you could sell other stuff to like homemade pastries (baking expertise would be a big plus!), perfume, wallets, apparel (if you could customize shirt that would be a plus as well.), burn CDs/DVDs of hard-to-find movies. Be creative, I don't know what floats your boat, but you do. So sell something you like or enjoy and have fun while selling. I hope this helps!