Christmas shopping is getting more and more expensive each year. With over 70% of Americans reported to be living paycheck to paycheck, where does the money come from for Christmas shopping? Here are 5 tips to getting some extra money for holiday shopping: 1 Sell items on Ebay Everyone is buying right now. Why not have them buy what you have for sale? All different types of items sell on ebay the clothes your kids never even wore that still have the tags on them, DVDs, collectible items sitting around just collecting, and any other hot items you may have lying around. 2 Garage Sale Do a little Winter Cleaning and make room for those Christmas decorations and presents. A Saturday morning garage sale can make you $50-$500, or more. One person's junk is another's treasure! 3 Collect your Unclaimed Money There is an estimated $25 billion dollars of unclaimed money in the U.S. On the Oprah Winfrey TV Show it was announced 8 out of 9 Americans have unclaimed money.This money comes from many places. For example it could be an old checking or savings account your forgot about, an inheritance, savings bonds, uncashed checks or money orders, the list goes on and on. This money is yours and just sitting there waiting for you to claim it. A simple search in a quality database that includes all states and federal unclaimed money could mean a check in your mailbox! A simple search in a quality database that includes all states and federal unclaimed money could mean a check in your mailbox! www.cashunclaimed.com is the largest unclaimed money site and is a great place to conduct your unclaimed money search. 4 Holiday Job or Overtime Companies are hiring for the Christmas shopping rush. Usually they are simple retail positions that dont require specialized training or experience. A couple nights or days a week could be $1000 by Christmas! If you are paid hourly at your job, and have enough work and flexibility with your schedule, you can put in some extra hours. Workers who have restaurant jobs can pick up extra shifts. Special Note: Many people claim 0 exemptions on their W4. If you have children, own a home, etc. increase your exemptions to the correct number. Your employer can assist you in filling out a new W4. This can mean an extra $50-$400 per paycheck! 5 Reduce Expenses You can reduce simple monthly expenses to keep more of the money you already have. Here are a couple money saving ideas: *Eat in instead of dinning out A family of 4 that eats out twice a week spends about $100 per week. *Pay minimum payments this month on credit cards Dont make this a habit, but for December it will give you a little extra rather than racking up more credit card debt *Leave your ATM card at home, carry a little cash for what you need *Make coffee at home and skip your morning latte (youll live, really you will) Now that you have the extra money Merry Christmas Shopping! |
