Your checking account is spitting up dust and the gas tank is almost dry – you’re broke and need money!
What do you do?
1) Well, first of all – you don’t rob a bank!
That will bring you more trouble than you’d ever imagined, but there are ways to make it through this crunch until payday.
2) Take stock of what the priority need for money is just before payday.
- Is it gas to get to work and back this week?
- Is it food to feed the family this week?
- Is it money to keep the electricity turned on this week?
Once you decide what the priority is, you need to figure out how much money you’ll need until payday.
Will $20 for gas get you back and forth until payday? Will $10 buy a sack of flour, a loaf of bread and a jar of peanut butter for the week?
3) If you have appointments (dentist, doctor, hairdresser, etc.) scheduled that will use gas and/or money – reschedule them – unless they are a matter of health emergency.
If you have payments due during the week you’re broke, don’t take the chance of racking up more fees by writing checks that will bounce – call the creditors or businesses you owe money to and talk to them.
Explain when your next payday is and see what you can work out with them.
If someone at work asks you to chip in for a gift, tell them no.
Explain that you just don’t have the money at the time – you don’t have to go into the gory details. Just be honest.
4) To gather up a little extra cash look around to see what you could take to a pawn shop or sell to a friend.
5) Go for a walk and gather up aluminum cans.
It won’t take long to gather up a trash bag full of aluminum cans – and while one bag won’t bring in much money, it’ll be a little extra that can help in a tough spot.
6) Collect your change.
It’ll add up.
Dig around your house and see how much stray change you can find – you might be really surprised at how much you find.
Don’t forget to check under and down in the seats of the car. Three or four dollars worth of change is better than nothing.
7) If you have family members that you can ask, see if they would loan you $10-20 just until payday.
Make sure you pay them back as soon as you get paid.
8) If you’re in need of food for the week, check with charities and food pantries in your area.
Now is not the time to be embarrassed by asking for help – your family is more important than your pride.
Contact The Salvation Army, a local ministerial alliance, or local churches. Many churches have food pantries and/or benevolence programs to help people in your situation.
9) Accept help when it’s offered.
We all find ourselves in a tough spot at one time or another, and with a melting economy, it’s more common than you realize.
Times are tough all over – and it’s the best time to help each other out.
When you get back on your feet, remember this incident and plan for it not to happen again.
If it does, don’t fret – just keep plugging away.
When you find yourself in a better financial situation, make sure you remember what it’s like to have hard times and help someone else out when they hit a rough spot.