You can spend much of your life trying to work out your long-term financial plan, but sometimes you have to think about the here and now. Everyone has had times in their life when they need to come up with some cold hard cash as soon as possible. It’s no use making lifestyle changes, drawing up a budget or making a five-year plan. You need money right away, whether it’s to fix your roof or to buy a suit for a job interview. But what can you do to raise that cash, without breaking the law or resorting to dastardly payday loans? Don’t worry, there’s plenty of things you can do.

Sell Stuff

If you have any possessions, you could make money from selling them. Even if you don’t think they’re worth anything, you could still pick up some extra cash. Just be clever about what you sell, and make sure you don’t get rid of anything that’s more useful than the money. For example, don’t sell your laptop if you need it to find a job. As well as selling clothes, electronics and other obvious items, there are some surprising things you can sell too. For example, you might find somewhere to sell medical paraphernalia. Here’s a question you might never have thought to ask yourself: where can I sell diabetic test strips? But you can sell them and other medical items on many markets around the web. Other things you could sell include your hair, and things like corks and cans that crafters use.

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Rent Stuff

If you don’t want to say goodbye to your stuff forever, try renting it out instead of selling it. You’ll get the most money from renting things like your home for holidaymakers, your garage and even your driveway. But there are other things people can borrow from you too, and some of them might surprise you. You could try renting out a wedding dress or tuxedo, a games console, a lawn mower and even a sewing machine. You don’t have to part with your things if you don’t want to. Just get them back at the end of the day.

Offer Your Services

If you have no physical items to offer, give your time instead. There are all sorts of odd jobs you can do for people to earn some quick cash. Some of them might seem a bit juvenile at first, but anything that gets you money is good. Try offering to mow your neighbour’s lawn, walk dogs or babysit. It can take a while to find clients, so the fastest way is to ask friends and family if they want any help.

Return Unused Items

There’s no point in unused clothes and other things sitting in your house. If you have anything you don’t use that’s still in returnable condition, take it back to where you bought it. Check the returns policy first to make sure you can still take it back. Make sure you know the consumer law too, in case you need to fight your position.

It can be very stressful when you need to come up with some money quickly. But if you use your head to get creative, you’ll be able to find the right methods for you.

Starting your own non-profit organization is a great way to give something back to your community – and a lot further beyond. However, there is a lot to think about before you get started. In this simple guide, we will take you through the basics of starting a non-profit, and help point you in the right direction to kickstart your idea in the best possible way. Ready to get started? Let’s take a look at everything you need to know.

Have An Idea

You can start a non-profit organization for almost anything you can think of. Perhaps you want to start a charity helping deprived kids learn music or create a sports club in your area. However, what you decide on should be relevant to you. This will help give you the drive you need to succeed. There are many barriers to starting a successful operation, but having a cause to champion loudly can help you through the rough times.

Research

You will need to undergo a long period of research if you want to start a non-profit. You will need to be an expert in your field if you want to drum up enough interest in what you are doing. A great way to prepare yourself is by trying to get some sort of work experience in the area you want to work in. Let’s say you want to start an association that lays on things to do for the elderly, for example. Doing some volunteer work at a local retirement home could benefit you when it comes to getting funding.

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Get Help

If you are inexperienced with the process of charities and non-profits, you would be wise to look at getting help. You might need an accountant who can help with doing the figures for your business plan, for example. Firms such as Brown Smith Wallace LLC could offer you the expertise that you lack to cement your non-profit into your community. There is so much to think about that getting help from those with the right experience is the only way you will make sense of what needs doing.

Hiring Staff

In many ways, employing people for a non-profit organization is like hiring them for a normal company. But there are differences. For example, you might hire someone to do some marketing, but they end up doing a lot of administration tasks because you can’t afford a full-time administrator. You will also have to offer a benefit to them because non-profits just don’t have the budgets to compete with profit-making companies. Although you might have a nice cause to work for, they will be paid less – so make up for it by giving them a more flexible working pattern, for example.

Hopefully, this guide has given you some food for thought. Starting a non-profit takes a lot of hard work, and there will be certain points where you feel like you are banging your head against a brick wall. However, if you can make it work, they are incredibly fulfilling.

Sometimes a great idea is simply not enough to make yourself noticeable in the competitive business world of today. In fact, you need some serious financing done first, and with the state of the global economy in these times very few are willing to take the risk. But if you do have an amazing idea, and just a little bit of courage, there is a bright side of our current situation that you could take advantage of.

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Most people will have heard a little about fixed-rate mortgages in the past. That is because they are the most popular type of home loan in the entire US. However, there is some confusion about whether or not they offer the best deal. With that in mind, we’ve listed some of the pros and cons in the hope of setting the record straight. If you’re looking to purchase a property in 2015, it’s vital that you perform a lot of research into all the lending options available before making your decision. Nobody wants to find themselves in financial trouble in the near future because they didn’t do the groundwork.

The pros of fixed-rate mortgages

• If interest rates should rise, people with fixed-rate mortgages will not see any difference in their monthly payments. That is because they keep the same rate from the day they sign the contract until it has expired.

• Most fixed-rate mortgage solutions allow you to keep the same rate for at least five years. That will help to give you some breathing space, and it will make it easier to compile your budget.

The cons of fixed-rate mortgages

• If interest rates drop for any reason, homeowners with fixed-rate mortgages won’t take advantage. Their rates will stay the same for a pre-arranged time regardless of what might happen to the economy.

As you can see, there are too good elements and one bad. We hope that has helped you to better understand whether or not fixed-rate mortgages are right for you. To learn more, take a look at the infographic.

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When it comes to struggling financially every single day of your life, you may already have learned a trick or two to minimize your outgoings. Most of us don’t earn enough to cover the cost of living anymore, which means we are all making sacrifices. Living beyond your means isn’t fun. It can cause a great deal of stress and worry. All you’re looking for is a little good news that means you can break even for once, instead of ringing up more debt.

When you are cutting back on necessities like food and heat, you know you are in trouble. There is some good news on this front at the moment though. For oil fired systems like those that Ingoe Oils supply, the costs have now become lower than mains gas. When you live in rural areas, it gets colder than the mains supplied cities, so you are likely to need more heat on. Older properties may not be as well insulated either so any savings that can be made are essential.

You can make some cheap changes in your home to help preserve the heat in your home. Heat will escape through the roof first. If it is not full of thick insulation in your attic, your roof will leak all your heat out in no time. You may be eligible for help to fund and install more insulation. Even if you’re not, this is the best way to save on your heating bill, so well worth the investment. Whether you use oil fired, gas fired or electric heating, insulation will save you money because the heat will stay in your home for longer.

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Find drafts in your home for free. Wet your hand then feel around all the windows and doors. Your hand will be more sensitive to the sensation of cold air moving to help you detect where the problems are. You can buy fuzzy, sticky draft excluder tape to put around those gaps. It is very cheap and can be very effective. Thermal backed curtains when closed prevent you feeling the cold air moving behind them so can help you feel warmer too. They are relatively cheap compared to putting the heating up high!

Not all homes are eligible for solar panel systems, but while they are free, it is worth enquiring. It is possible to power a four bedroom house for under ten pounds per month through the winter! As you come to replace light bulbs, you may find LED bulbs are cheaper to run than regular energy saver bulbs, and are about on par for their outlay cost. If you have a few old rugs, you can use them on hard floors in winter to help feel a little warmer too.

There are many relatively cheap things you can do to cut back on your bills in winter. The idea of cutting back to save money may fill you with horror. However, if you find you can live comfortably even though you are using less, it may be the ideal way for you to reduce your outgoings.

If you find yourself getting deeper and deeper in debt each month, you might wonder what you are doing wrong. You can scrimp and save all you want, but if you have too many outgoings, you will always spend more than you earn. You might be living in denial. Kidding yourself that there is no problem when it comes to your finances. If, by the end of each month, you run out of money, you need to fix the issue fast.

#1 See which outgoings are necessary

The first step is looking at your outgoings. If you have a lot of standing orders, you can check which of them are still relevant. For example, if you are paying a Spotify subscription, when you never use it, it is time to unsubscribe. You might think that these little payments don’t matter. They soon add up, though, and they could cripple your financial situation. You can see your regular outgoings on your bank statement or pop in and ask them to give you a quick break down. Highlight the payments that you no longer need in your life.

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#2 Get rid of outdated payments

Now that you know which payments are unnecessary, you can start dealing with them. You should speak to each company and explain to them that you are cancelling your subscription with them. If you cancel online, they might ask you to fill out a form explaining why you are leaving them. You don’t have to fill out the form – it is just a marketing tactic to try and make you stay. You have to be clear that you no longer want the service. If it is not valuable to you, it is a waste of your money.

#3 Get a loan to bridge the gap

If you have been getting further and further behind with your payments, you could cover them in one go, with a loan. Lenders like American Web Loan allow users to apply online for a short term loan, and so you could start the application process now. If you are sensible, you can use the loan to cover your payments for the month. Next month, when you get your paycheck, you can pay off the loan so that you clear the debt. When you don’t know what to do about your outgoings, getting a loan could help you for a short period.

#4 Boost your monthly income

Of course, if this issue is a recurring problem, you need to find a way to solve it in the long term. If you have no way of cutting back on your outgoings, you need to make more money than you do right now. You might want to consider getting a part time job to fit your current role. Failing that idea, you could start a blog or do online surveys. In fact, there are loads of ways that you can boost your income. For a moment, stop worrying and start thinking about what you can do.

#5 See if you can break standing contracts

If you are in a contract with a company, but you no longer want their services, you can talk to them about breaking the contract. For example, if you are paying too much for your smartphone contract, you might want to cut back on it. Often, the company will make you pay a fee for the pleasure of leaving them, but in the long term it could still save you money.

If you struggle to get by each month, only you can solve the issue. Use these tips and tricks to start freeing yourself from financial restraints today.