Uh-oh.  You’ve been scraping by financially, and along comes something unexpected for which you need money fast!

You consider charging it, but smartly want to avoid adding more to your debt.  (Or, maybe charging to your credit card is no longer an option if you are already over the limit or if your account has been closed.)

But, how to make the money fast?

Some people turn to the Internet.  You could offer services online, such as writing or design, or put some stuff on an auction site.  If you already have a website with products you sell, you could post a special sale or send a sales message to your list.

But, how quickly will you get the money?  You could use PayPal, but, if you don’t have a PayPal debit card, it could take a couple days for the money to transfer from your PayPal account to your bank, and you may not have enough time!

Look for “real world” opportunities instead.  Rather than trying to auction stuff online, look into the possibility of doing a garage sale (if time permits) or selling it at a pawn shop.  If you have collectibles to sell, you might take them to a memorabilia dealer.  Or, maybe, again if time allows, you could rent a spot at a flea market to sell items.

If you have nothing of significant value to sell, look into offering services.  Can you mow lawns or shovel snow?  How about raking leaves?  Collecting aluminum cans?  Painting?

Perhaps offer cleaning services.  You could see if anyone will pay you to haul junk away—and then sort through the junk for anything you might be able to refurbish and sell or sell as-is.

Think of anything you could do or offer for money.  Look for things for which there is a pressing need, as those would be the easiest to sell people on.  You will do yourself a big favor if you can raise the money to pay for the emergency than to add it to your debt.

The Bottom Line

When faced with a need to come up with money fast, resist the urge to charge it and instead look for ways to earn the cash.  If you can pull it off, you’ll be better off in the long run than adding more debt to your credit card.

Even though it’s been tight, you’ve been managing your budget and getting your debt until control.  But, money is scarce and your bank account is limping along.

And then you run into a situation where you need something, but don’t have the cash.  Maybe it’s an unexpected bill.  Maybe it’s gas money.  Or maybe it’s groceries.

You don’t have a choice.  You have to do what you have to do to make it through.  Your only option is to put it on your credit card.

Stop!

You may feel you have no other choice, but that may not be the case.

At some point, you’re going to hit the same brick wall, except your credit card will be maxed out and you won’t be able to charge it.

What will you do then?

Whatever it is, do it now, rather than add more debt when you’re already struggling.  Remember that debt costs you more money.  So, “temporarily” using your card again “just for this emergency” is going to end up costing you a lot more.

Consider Alternatives

Have you exhausted all of your money reserves?  (If you don’t have an emergency fund, you should start one as soon as possible.)  Do you have any cash you’ve hidden away under the mattress, in the fridge or in an old purse or wallet you haven’t used in years?  Do you have any old savings bonds gathering dust in an old drawer that you could redeem?

Do you have anything you can sell?  Do you have any old, unused or broken jewelry you can sell for the gold or diamonds?  Do you have any items you really don’t use anymore that you sell online or maybe to a pawn shop?

Does anyone owe you money that you might be able to collect on, even if only a partial payment?  Or, can you borrow money from a family member or a friend?  While this may not be the optimal choice—especially if you may already owe them—it may be better than putting more debt on your credit card.

Are there any services you can offer?  Can you babysit a neighbor’s children?  Can you paint their house?  Can you mow their lawn?  Can you write articles for people online?  Design websites?  Create graphics?

What about collecting aluminum cans from around town and turning them in for cash?  Or, in areas with bottle deposits, collecting bottles to turn in?

Consider every alternative before using your credit card.

The Bottom Line

While you sometimes may feel you have no choice but to use your credit card, you should think about what you would do if that were not an option.  The last thing you want to do, especially if you’ve been making good progress on reducing your debt, is to start increasing it again.  Try to find some alternative to adding to your credit card debt.