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What’s a striving- to- have- more- money- 20- something to do? I brainstormed – in my desperate need to scrounge up some extra cash – ways in which you can get creative, have some fun and throw somethin’ extra into that piggy bank.

Turn your hobby into some cash. Do you enjoy making scrapbooks, knitting, creating playlists or setting up peoples’ iPods for them with the latest tunes? If so, take your hobby and make it into something profitable. Put out flyers in your neighborhood, an ad in the local paper, send out a mass email or even create a standard template website and let people know you’re open for business!

Sell some old clothes. Those prom dresses have sat in your closet since high school and, let’s face it, you’re not going to be wearing them anytime soon. Go to a consignment shop, take out an ad in the paper or swing by a local beauty pageant (I swear they’re around and the ladies will bite for those gowns). With, say, 50 bucks a dress, you could walk out of there with a couple hundred dollars!

Use those skills. Did you know that you only need 2 years of college to substitute teach? Not only that, but summer schools are desperate for teachers AND you can make around $100 a day (and for summer school, that’s like $20 an hour = not bad!). Or, do some tutoring. You can make up to $60 an hour tutoring, depending on your education level and experience. And most of that money is straight cash, baby!

Change it up. What do you do with your spare change? Get an empty water cooler bottle and leave it by your front door. Every day when you come in, dump the spare change from your pockets, car, purse, etc. At the end of every month, count it up; you’d be surprised at how much you accumulate. My boyfriend and I counted his lose change this weekend and guess how much we got? $270!!!!

Purge your stuff. Have a tag sale. Get rid of some of those old clothes, books, etc., that are sitting in your room collecting dust. One woman’s trash, is another woman’s treasure!

Yard Work. Are you immune to poison ivy and your neighbors are not? Offer to do some weeding and gardening for them for a bargain price! Not only will they appreciate the help, but they’ll be so stoked about not getting the itchiesthat they may even through in some bonus cash (or at least some ice cold lemonade)!

Babysit. Parents have the hardest time finding care for their kids during the summer months. If you’re kid friendly, offer to be a nanny a few days a week – or even one or two nights, so the parentals can get some romantical time.

Move your cash. Whatever money you do have lying around needs to have a home. Is your bank account getting the best interest rate? If not, move banks and, most times, you can get some bonus money (some banks will give you up to $200 for moving to them!) when you sign up. Cha ching!

Ebay-it. If you don’t feel like garage sale-ing it, take some pics of your stuff and throw it on eBay. Who knows how much you could make on such a heavy shopped site.

Have any more tips on how to make some dough? Spill it CC-ers – we oughta know!

(Photo courtesy of CCWS Medical)

Instead of freaking out and starting to dumpster dive, my anxiety mobilized me to act. I started by cleaning out my closet. I isolated the items that sat in there and gathered dust (which was nearly everything) and spent a day listing them on eBay. A week later, I had made three hundred bucks off of old clothes and handbags (and, tear tear, brand – new discount Ralph Lauren Oxford shirts). I took the stuff that didn’t sell on the net to a resale shop in my neighborhood and scored another $20.

The best part was that most of the things I sold I hadn’t bought in the first place (thanks mom!), so I accrued a maximum profit. I’m the farthest thing from a business major, but I know that’s pretty sweet.

So if you’re short on cash, ditch your material sentimentality and purge your closet. You’ll end up with more than just monetary rewards: ebaying my life ended up being more therapeutic than the discount shopping. After I had shipped away my things, I felt the weight of hundred pounds lifted from my shoulders. Out with the old and in with the money! Next stop: MBA.