Any ideas how to make money?

[Slippersmum]

It's over 4 months since my dh has been paid and I am getting really worried. I have put loads on eBay and doing car boot sales. Does anyone have any other ideas of how to raise some cash? I wake up thinking about it and have this knot in my stomach all the time. We have eaten so much pasta! It's my dds birthday in a few weeks and we had organised a party before all this happened. Do know how I am going to pay for it let alone buy her a present. Any ideas really appreciated.

Has your DH lost his job or has he not been paid for some other reason? Do you work? If not, could you?

eBay & car boots are great for a few extra £ but not really a substitute for a proper income.

Have you checked that you are claiming everything you are entitled to? e.g. have you informed tax credits of your drop in income? They do go on last year's figures but will make an adjustment if your current situation is significantly worse.

Try signing up with some market research agencies-they often look for people with children to conduct all sorts of research/product tests on!
You can also get some where you simply are set 'tasks' to complete online and the money incentives are pretty good! HTH

Babysitting. If DH is at home at night you can head out to look after other kids when yours are in bed? I used to do this and it worked well.
If you advertise well you can do well with this.

He is self employed and not been paid by the customer. I have a rather unpleasant illness which fingers crossed is heading for remission or I would be out working all the hours gods send. My illness hasnt helped our finances. This was why eBay was good for me but as you say it doesn't really bring in a regular income.

Check to see if you can claim anything, is there a way to recover unpaid money? Has he got work now that he will get paid for? If so, is there anyway of borrowing some cash to tide you over?
Party- how much do you need to raise for this? Can you change it for smaller/cheaper party?

How old is you daughter op? Maybe we could advice on bargain gifts.
Could you do dog walking or ironing or are you not well enough. Or how about delivering pizzas out local dominos is often advertising.

Thanks everyone. She will be 12. No I cannot walk for more than 5 mins at a push and standing still is more tricky so anything physical is out really but your ideas are much appreciated and very open to suggestions. Sometimes when you are in the middle of something it's hard to see things clearly. Thanks again

I have a friend who did some market research work from home on the phone - sorry I have no idea how to get this work.

If I were really honest I would scale down the party to 3 friends for a sleepover with popcorn and a DVD, then ask /beg my family to help by giving presents. I would also talk to your daughter and say things are tight - she will know, I can tell you as I was 11 when my father went bankrupt and although I couldn't have said exactly what was wrong as it was not discussed i knew something was, and became very stressed about it. Ask her for ideas on how to celebrate her birthday cheaply, she may surprise you.

Have a look at the Mumsnet job ads or at Working Mums

I've always understood that taking people to court via the small claims court is relatively simple and that unfortunately most self-employed people have to do it sometimes, i would recommend that your dh look into that to get his money back. My own dh ran his own business for a while, he is the gentlest man you could ever meet but he had one absolute rule - money upfront or no dice. If there is any way of doing this in the future, do consider it.

Following as we are in a similar position DH is a contract/freelance worker & since the beginning of December has only had 6 weeks' work. When he does work, one week can take care of one months' mortgage & a further 1-2 weeks for other bills, but we had to borrow from family last time, then when he got paid this time had to use his wages to pay that back Have just told him we can't do this any more & he may need to look for another job. I can't work with his job being like this as I never know when I'll be able to (childcare including a preschooler with SN). I have just worked out we will be £650 short for the mortgage/direct debits on the 1st, and he doesn't have anything lined up

Anyway, ideas I have come up with so far:

• Sell stuff - clothes/household items on Gumtree, FB local pages, preloved, books on Ziffit/webuybooks/fatbrain, collectibles on Ebay

• Online surveys/product tests - a few good product tests on here (had butter, toothpaste & others); surveys can get Amazon/supermarket vouchers or Nectar points

-Competitions - no guaranteed return but you just might win some money or something you can sell. Can do bits & pieces as & when.

Anyway, good luck to you, I hope it gets better for you soon. It is the most horrible feeling to be counting every penny, desperately hoping that you have some more hidden away somewhere!

A friends mum used to do markets and car boot sales and sell seedlings (fruit and flowers) and home made chutney and jams.

Amazon Mechanical Turk if you have computer time?

Deals on cashback websites - look for no cash offers, or offers that will put you in profit (eg spend £10, get £20 cashback). Daily clicks can add up over time.

Write a blog and use affiliate links (eg reviews for preschooler books with Amazon links, something about your DCs SN with book/equipment recommendations) and google ads. Lots of blogs out there on "how to write a blog".

Can you babysit in the evenings once DH home?

The MSE website has a good forum section on making extra money.