I Need $500 Now

First, is 500 dollars enough?

Being Responsible With Your Loan

A loan can be a great thing when you need money to handle an emergency, but you need to use caution. If you can not pay back the debt, you may be better off not accepting the loan in the first place. Luckily, there are a number of ways to pay off your new loan. Take a look.

1) Earn $500 From Plasma Donation

Donating plasma is a good thing to do because it is used in a number of life saving treatments, but did you also know that it is highly profitable? If you need money to pay back your 500 dollar loan, it might be just the thing.

Unlike blood donation centers, most plasma donation centers are run by “for profit” companies. They need your plasma so that they can make those life saving treatments and then sell them for a profit. That means that they are more than willing to pay you.

But how much can you make? Because you can donate twice a week every week and because first time donors usually earn bonuses, you can make as much as 1000 dollars in your first month. It is some of the easiest money that you can make.

2) Skip $500 In Monthly Payments

Defer them that is.

If you can reduce your monthly bills, you can divert that money and use it to pay off your 500 dollar loan. This is easier done than you might think, especially if you have a car payment.

Auto finance companies are more than willing to allow you to skip a payment although it is not really skipped. What they do is simply move it to the end of your loan term and this effectively increases the length of your loan by a month. You will also still be accruing interest on the loan, but this can free up a good deal of money in an emergency.

If you do not have a car payment, you may be able to convince other creditors to allow you to skip a payment or perhaps make an interest only payment. Creditors these days are more likely than ever to work with you because they would rater you skip a payment than default on an obligation entirely.

3) Recycle Your Way To $500

Metal recycling can be highly profitable, if you know what you are doing. Scrap metal such as copper can fetch as much as 2 dollars a pound, which means that you can pay off your debt with as little as 250 pounds of metal.

While this might seem like a lot of metal, consider how much scrap metal weighs. A used water heater alone can weigh over 50 pounds. You just need to know where to find the scrap and have a vehicle or trailer that can pick it up.

Most recyclers find their scrap just laying on the curb. You will find them roaming neighborhoods on trash collection day and scooping up the scrap metal. As long as they are courteous and neat, most homeowners do not mind you taking what was on the way to the dump anyway.

4) Borrow $500 From Family

Do you have a family member who may be able to lend you the 500 dollars that you need? If so, it might be worth asking them for the money, because it is hard to beat an interest free loan. Just be careful and smart about how you go about things.

The best advice for someone taking out a loan with family is to get everything in writing. Memories get fuzzy over time and your family member might accidentally think that you borrowed more money or they may forget that you paid back a portion of the loan. Get the loan amount in writing and record any payments you make.

Also, instead of cash work with checks or electronic payments. in this way, you will always have a paper trail that you can reference.

5) Make $500 Over The Weekend

If there is an American way of making a little extra cash, it is the garage sale. By spending just a few hours in your driveway on a Saturday and Sunday morning, you could earn more than enough money to pay off the 500 dollars that you owe. But there are some tricks to running a successful garage sale.

First, be sure to check with both your HOA and the city where you live. Some HOAs do not allow garage sales and many cities will require a permit to have one. The last thing you want to do is earn money only to be fined.

The next trick is to have enough signage. People need to know where to find you, so make up plenty of cheap signs. Be sure that you direct people from main roads all the way to your garage by placing a sign at each turn along the way.

Finally, go ahead and wrap up around noon. Garage sale hunters know that this is an early game, so business will dry up after lunch.

6) Ask Your Boss For $500

Not as a loan, but as an advance. Assuming that you have a steady job, you likely have already earned 500 dollars or more towards your next paycheck. Simply ask your boss if they would be willing to advance you the money and take it out of your next check.

Many employers will be more than willing to occasionally advance you money on a check. It is just a little bit of paperwork and no money out of their pockets. Try not to go to this well too often however because that might reveal too much about your finances to your employer.

7) Get A Side Gig That Will Pay You $500

That loan of yours is probably due in a week or two, which may be enough time to get a side job to help you pay it off. Many jobs in the retail and fast food industry, for example, pay on a  weekly basis. Some jobs even allow you to accept cash tips, giving you fast access to money that can allow you to pay off your 500 dollars in debt.

The best thing about taking on a side job is that it will allow you to get the money that you need now and you can continue earning in order to build an emergency savings. That will allow you to stabilize your finances and never get into this sort of situation again.