Looking For Ways To Ethically Make Immediate Cash

August 24, 2018 4:05 PM

I would like to find a way to make immediate cash over the next 2 weeks. I live in Los Angeles. Donating blood is not an option and I do not have a vehicle to drive for Uber or Lyft. Many thanks in advance.
posted by goalyeehah to Grab Bag (10 answers total)

The approval process is variable in terms of wait time, but you might try signing up for rev.com -- it's freelance captioning and transcription work, and all you need is a functioning internet connection. They don't pay much, but they do pay weekly (only via PayPal, if that works for you, but at least it's fast and regular). If you do it semi-regularly, you can work up to a better pay rate. It's helped friends get through tight spots before, so I feel like I can vouch for it.
posted by halation at 4:10 PM on August 24, 2018 [4 favorites]

-selling items on your local Facebook group's marketplace page
-psych studies at a local university (esp. MRI studies)
posted by typify at 4:13 PM on August 24, 2018

Do you have anything you don't need and could sell on Craigslist? Do you have a room or apartment you could rent out on Airbnb while staying with a friend? Craigslist's gigs section has studies (marketing for companies, etc) that pay small amounts (though sometimes just in Amazon giftcards). If you sign up for Nextdoor, you can offer services to your neighbors- housesitting, cleaning, etc.
posted by pinochiette at 4:13 PM on August 24, 2018

You could try Figure Eight or Amazon Mechanical Turk. The signup should be relatively fast, although a cursory look suggests that setting up direct deposit into a bank account can delay things by a few days.
posted by vogon_poet at 4:20 PM on August 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

Try TaskRabbit?
posted by number9dream at 4:27 PM on August 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

I would second TaskRabbit if you look (and are) trustworthy. In my city a while back, I tried to see what kind of individuals were Tasking, and the selection was slim and few of those I saw seemed like they would be a good match, for something simple. Maybe it has improved though.
posted by Baeria at 5:52 PM on August 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: If you're on nextdoor.com, you can post to nearby neighborhoods looking for small jobs. On ours, mowing, weeding, handyman stuff is the most common. You could also offer dog walking, pet care or baby sitting if you're okay with it.
posted by stray thoughts at 6:03 PM on August 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

Rover for dogsitting. Makes good money in cities.
posted by cacao at 8:55 PM on August 24, 2018 [1 favorite]

If there are some primaries or special elections coming up soon you could sign up to be a pollworker. In my state you’re paid a few hundred for the two days of training which happen in September and then more for working the actual elections.
posted by Waiting for Pierce Inverarity at 11:51 PM on August 24, 2018

Seconding Rover.com for dog sitting/walking. We pay our Rover sitter $35/night and she often has 2+ dogs. We take our dog to her, but would pay more if she came to our house. For dog walks we pay $20/30min (1 dog at a time, does not include your time to travel to my house to collect the dog).
posted by samthemander at 7:10 AM on August 25, 2018