Who could use $1000? I know I could!
And according to a recent CNBC article**, many Americans could use the money too.
It stated that 56% of Americans can not cover $1000 of emergency expenses with savings. With little money in their bank accounts, these Americans could be devastated by unfortunate expenses that happen without notice.
Saving $1000 is no easy task, especially when we’re just trying to pay our monthly bills and pay off debts. Add on the current inflation and the financial challenges it has caused for many, and finding $1000 doesn’t seem doable.
And that’s where this challenge comes in…
Many years ago, I hosted the 31 Days to Find $1000 challenge on the blog. It was a successful series, so I dusted it off, added some new ideas, and republished it here on this page.
The challenge is for everyone, whether you have savings or not; I’m sure everyone could use some moola! I find challenges to be a fun way to help me focus on hitting big goals. Enlist some friends and family to join you in the fun as your accountability partners.
The goal of this challenge is to be creative about finding the extra money. No one wants to feel like a miser and make their family miserable. My motto has always been to live well on less.
Interested in joining the challenge? You can start it at any time, just make the commitment to find as close to $1000 by the end the 31 days. And if you don’t find it all in 31 days, there’s no “challenge” police, so keep going until you find the money. My goal is for all of my readers to have an extra $1000 sitting nicely in their bank accounts.
Are you ready? Let’s get this party started!
Decide WHY you want to find $1000.
What will you do with the money? Would you start your emergency fund? If you don’t have emergency savings, imagine how nice it will feel to have $1000 for when the unexpected happens.
Would you put it towards debt? Or save for summer vacation? Or maybe put it towards Christmas? Be clear with yourself as to why you want to take the challenge.
Try to keep your found money separated from your checking account so it doesn’t get used for other things. If you don’t have one, open a free savings account specifically for the reason why you want to find $1000.
Track your wins.
I offer a free printable copy of the 31 Days to Find $1000 Tally Sheet to email subscribers. Post your tally sheet in a prominent location, such as your bedroom closet door, master bath mirror, or refrigerator. Hopefully, the tally sheet will help you stay motivated toward your goal.
Subscribe to my email newsletter here. By becoming an email subscriber, you will also receive access to many other free printables and spreadsheets all designed to help you and your family save money.
Let’s Find $1000!
The following list of ideas is broken into two larger categories: ways to earn extra money and ways to reduce your spending. Finding ways to earn money will get you to $1000 more quickly than shaving spending. In 2021 I tried something completely new to me and earned $1000 in less than 3 months by donating plasma–see the details in #1. However, don’t ignore the second part of the list, there are certainly ways to reduce some spending to find that money.
Bring in Extra Money:
1. Donate Plasma – I started donating plasma in January 2021 and earned over $1000 in the first 3 months of the year. It’s not for the faint of heart, but if you can tolerate blood and needles, then it might be an easy way for you to earn extra cash too.
Related Reading: My Honest Review: I donated plasma to earn money!
2. Teach your skills.
If you play piano or are crafty, teach it. If are fluent in Spanish or were a math major in college, start tutoring. My husband has an extensive background in aquatics and offers private swim coaching and lessons on weekends. What is your skillset? Teach it! And add that money to your tally sheet!
3. Sell Your Skills and Hobbies.
I have a friend who sells cookies and candy during the Christmas and Easter holidays. She promotes her goodies to her friends and family on social media and always sells out. Another friend sells her homemade artisan bread and another friend sells hand-sewn dolls at craft fairs. What is your craft? Sell it! And put the money on your tally sheet!
4. Earn Cash Back with Shopping Apps.
With Ibotta, it is super easy to earn cashback on grocery products that you were going to buy anyway. And I don’t order anything online without first checking Rakuten to see if I can earn cashback on my purchase. They pay you quarterly and it’s like leaving money on the table if you’re not ordering through a cashback portal.
Related reading:
- Rakuten Review: How to Earn Cash Back on Online Purchases
- Ibotta Review: How I Earn Cash Back on Groceries
- Upromise Review: One Way we are Saving for College
5. Have a yard sale.
Yard sales take some work, but you can declutter your house and make some cash in the same weekend. I’ve been hosting yard sales for over 20 years and have made quite a bit of money in the process. Yard sales are great for smaller items, like clothing, household and lawn items, and kids/baby stuff.
Related Reading: 7 Tips for a Successful Yard Sale
6. Sell the big stuff online.
If you have some bigger items, you will likely make more money selling them on Craigslist or your local Facebook sale page than at a yard sale. Recently, my husband sold an unused armoire/bookshelf set for $300, a sectional for $400, a twin headboard and matching dresser for $150, an unused table saw for $100, and unused video games for about $80 by posting them on Facebook Marketplace.
A lovely sectional that we no longer used and sold for $400
7 – Sell your unused gold jewelry.
Many years ago, I gathered up all of my unused and broken 14k jewelry and sold it to a jeweler. It was a great way to clean out my jewelry box and make some extra bucks in the process.
Related Reading: Sell Your Gold Jewelry for Cash
8 – Mow lawns in the summer months, and shovel snow in the colder months.
The neighbor kids are doing quite well on my street. If you have a lawnmower and/or shovel or snowblower and have some extra time on the weekends, offer your services to the neighbors.
9 – Offer house and/or pet sitting services.
During the vacation season, offer to water plants, pick up mail, open and close the blinds, take care of pets, for a fee…of course. Put the money on your tally sheet.
10 – Flip your thrifty finds.
If you have an eye for antiques and unique collectibles, scour yard sales and thrift stores and flip your finds on websites like Craigslist and eBay.
11. Find a part-time job.
If you need to save a lot of money and you have pinched every last penny, then consider finding a part-time job in order to find some extra cash. Consider what your hobbies and interests are and look for work in those fields. For example, if you love crafts, see if Michael’s is hiring, or if you love to garden, see if your favorite local nursery is hiring. If you need to work a second job, it might as well be interesting to you.
12. Become an Instacart shopper.
Prior to COVID, I was shopping in ALDI and I ran into a friend who was shopping for someone else through Instacart. She loved that she could make extra money and fit it into her schedule. According to the website, Instacart is an app that connects you to customers who need groceries. You use the app to sign on, find orders, then shop and deliver those items to your customers. When you get paid, you can cash out instantly and you can earn even more with tips for great service.
Also, look into food delivery services, such as GrubHub, Uber Eats, and Door Dash. Do some research on your own to see if this is the right fit for you, and make sure you follow all safety precautions.
13. Become a Mystery Shopper.
I have never personally done this, but Tai & Talaat from His and Her Money made $400 in two months from mystery shopping. They share their experience in this video.
Cut your spending, BUT still live well:
No one wants to read, “cut your spending“, because what they hear is live like a miser. Instead, be creative with your current resources, so that you don’t feel the sacrifice. This group of ideas is about cutting back–but still living well–AND putting that money towards your $1000.
14. Declare a “Needs Only” month.
How much can you save just by cutting out non-essential spending? Take one month and declare it a Needs Only month. Challenge yourself to question your purchases and spending throughout the month and see how much you can save. Ask yourself, “Is this a need or a want?” If it’s NOT a true need, ax it (for now) and trust me, YOU WILL SURVIVE!
15. Reduce your grocery spending without sacrificing quality.
Do you know how much you spend on groceries each month? If you do not know the answer, then there is a good chance you have room to cut back. Groceries is the easiest budget category to overspend. It’s also very easy to reduce your grocery spending just by planning your meals. It sounds dreadful, but it is possible to reduce your grocery bill without making everyone in your family miserable.
Related Reading: How to Save Money on Groceries
16. Reduce your monthly utility bills.
Are you paying too much for home/auto insurance, cable, internet, cell? Collect your bills and start shopping around for new vendors. A great way to start is to ask your Facebook friends for recommendations and then start calling around based on what you find.
17. Skip the AM drive-thru and eat breakfast at home.
If you find yourself hitting the drive-thru on your way to work, start making your breakfast and brewing your coffee at home. Add up how much you are spending in the morning and you’ll see how much you will save towards your goal, and maybe that will give you the inspiration to skip the AM drive-thru.
For ideas, read: 5 Make-Ahead Breakfast Ideas
18. Brown bag your lunch.
There was a time (pre-pandemic) when I ate lunch out with friends almost every day during the workweek. It was an escape from the office, but it was eating up my budget…see what I did there! An easy lunch idea in one word: leftovers! Put the money saved onto your tally sheet. And those friends you eat with, ask them to join you in the challenge. They might need $1000 too!
19. Eat dinner at home.
Dinner time can be stressful for everyone. Who wants to cook after a long day! We feel it at our house too and this is definitely an area I need to improve. As my kids have grown, I have expanded my work hours at our office and by the end of the week, I’m too cooked to cook, so take out it is!
However, there are ways to put a good meal on the table without relying on restaurants for saving your sanity. Challenge yourself to avoid take-out and put any extra money on your tally sheet.
Related Reading:
- Make meal planning a priority.
- Try freezer cooking. This time-saving technique will save you money and your sanity. Here are my freezer cooking tips and recipes.
- Keep your pantry stocked with your go-to meals. When we’re crazy busy and the family is demanding that they be fed, I always have the ingredients for spaghetti on hand.
20. Cancel unused subscriptions
Make a list of ALL your recurring subscriptions, everything from Amazon to Fab Fit Fun to Netflix, and everything in between. Review your statements, because there might be subscriptions that you forgot about. Add it up to get a total.
Are you surprised by the amount? Now go through the list and really ask yourself if you use or need all of it.
We did this and realized that we have Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Disney +, and Sling TV—and my kids want HBO Max. We gave up cable many years ago, but realize now we simply traded one cable bill into TOO many subscriptions. This is an area that I also need to review.
21. Barter your gym membership!
Do you have a gym membership? If you’re not using it, cancel it today and redirect that monthly money towards your goal.
However, if you do use it, ask your gym if they swap volunteer hours for a free membership. Years ago, my husband received a free family membership by working at the front desk of the gym from 6 – 9 am two Saturdays a month. We were paying $67 a month for our membership prior to his barter and he loved working there, so it was a win-win.
22. Collect your change.
At the end of every day, empty the change from your wallet and pockets into a jar. Another idea would be to stop spending your $1 or $5 dollar bills and collect them. You’ll be surprised how much you accumulate and don’t forget to put the money towards your goal.
23. Rethink your gift spending and create a budget for the year.
Plan your gift-giving for the year using my FREE Gift Spending excel spreadsheet that I offer to email subscribers. Challenge yourself to give a thoughtful gift without spending a lot of money. There are many gift ideas that don’t cost a dime.
Related Reading: 30 FREE, but Thoughtful Gift Ideas and see how creative you can be.
24. Find free entertainment.
Yep, you don’t need to spend a dime to entertain your family. You just need some imagination and a nose for free family fun. Put the money towards your goals instead. Check my Frugal Family Activities list for ideas.
25. Do It Yourself.
If you have a big financial goal, think about how much you pay someone to do something that you are capable of doing yourself. What luxury service can you give up…just until you reach your goals. Remember, these sacrifices aren’t forever.
- Are you paying someone to mow your lawn?
- Do you take your car to a car wash?
- Can you fix a repair yourself? Our 12+-year-old dryer stopped working. We found a YouTube video that showed us specifically how to fix it. I paid $40 for a part and didn’t have to call a repairman. Several years later, it’s still working fine.
- Pretty nails and toes? I love a pedicure too, but if you’re trying to save money, maybe paint your piggies yourself.
26. Return unused purchases.
Have you ever bought a pair of shoes that looked really cute in the store, but ended up sitting in your closet? Did you buy the materials to make that cute craft that you found on Pinterest but the bag is still sitting in your dining room…3 months later? Instead of letting stuff languish unused and eventually given away, return it!
I’m always amazed by the store tags I see on clothing and household item at thrift stores. Research the store’s return policy for unused purchases without a receipt if you don’t have it. You will likely have to accept store credit for the current price if you don’t have a receipt, but that’s better than nothing. If you get cashback, put it towards your goals.
How will you find $1000?
There are so many ways to find money from reducing your spending, selling your unused stuff, or starting a side hustle with your talents. Get your creative juices flowing on how and where you can find your $1000! Good luck!