What do you do when you need money in a hurry?
This guy had it easy. A smudge of driveway sealant that resembled the face of Jesus Christ was found on in his garage, and he sold it on eBay for…$1,525.69. Yep, P70,181.74 for a slab of concrete that doesn’t even cry, change expression or something.
(Photos again courtesy of Michelle Morelos.)
One of my weirdest habits is collecting flyers of “quick sources of cash” and taking note of advertisements on walls and posters. Here are some of the most common:
- Personal loans from universal and thrift banks and other financial institutions
- Car loans (where you leave your car with the company as collateral)
- Pawnshops
- Credit card cash advances
Some extreme ideas for finding cash in a flash:
- One man’s junk can be another man’s treasure. Meaning, do a garage sale. And be sure to use catchy ads to drum up interest. Like this! hehe
- OK…or sell something via eBay (I know someone who has already sold stuff and said it really is a breeze).
- Hopefully, you won’t have to sell your pet! (Isn’t Michelle’s wabbit a cutie?)
- Your junk can also be literally turned into cash. I know a very frugal mommy friend who makes an effort to segregate the family’s trash and earns up to P500 a month from newspapers, soda cans, PET bottles, steel odds and ends around the house. She then uses the money to treat the maids and drivers with either e-load or snacks. Her maids have stayed with her for years.
- Tutor, babysit or do some other service for someone in the neighborhood
Money in a hurry always carries high interest rates or pressure to do some extreme ideas. That is why it is important to build up an emergency fund of anywhere from three months of living expenses to six months. I would do this even while paying for insurance policies and saving for education and retirement. Once done, the next step could be getting your own home and investing more aggressively.
Why in this order? As I said in a previous post, liquidity is the twin of opportunity. Investing with no buffer fund makes it difficult to take advantage of market trends. Let’s say, the market’s down and you have decided to ride it out. Suddenly, someone gets sick and you don’t have the buffer fund to pay for the additional expenses. You will have to liquidate your earnings and translate paper loss to real loss. Sayang.
August 13th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
hachiko, Deal or No Deal ako!
August 13th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
reyna elena, yan ang tawag dyan emotional investment hehehe.
August 12th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
[...] Duplito tells you how to find cash in a flash in Money [...]
August 12th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
Cash in a flash: have your pick of Wowowee, Eat Bulaga or Deal/No Deal! hehehe
August 11th, 2007 at 9:07 am
Wow, Salve!
You know what I can share to you and your readers about this “habit” thing?
I collect international paper currencies and it all started by accident. You see, during my college days in Legazpi City, I have classmates from Bangkok that I became friends with. He gave me a Thai Baht. I kept it with me. When I started working for Carlos J. Valdez, I was travelling like crazy all over the country and during trips, I met all sorts of people from all over the world who for no reason would give me their paper currency. That’s when I realized - hmm…. So, when I moved to the US and with my constant travels to Europe, gosh, I have accumulated all of European notes I could open my own Central Bank! I do! I even found my ex-boyfriend on the streets of Philadelphia, that is, after I exhorted a Colombian money from him.
And no, I don’t have any interest in exchanging them in whatever denomination. There’s a lot of crazy stories behind all these paper currency I have.