College Chronicles: 5 Paths to Quick Cash for the Holiday Season

It's a simple fact, holidays are stressful. And with the average American spending upwards of $900 each year on gift purchases, times are pretty tough.

So let's cut to the chase here—college student or not, we all need to pocket a few extra bills for the holidays. Article after article will recite the same central ideas to you—sell your possessions, donate plasma, drop off your unwanted articles of clothing at the nearest Plato's or consignment shop, auction off a kidney, yada yada yada.

Well, here are a few money-making methods that genuinely work, and as a huge plus, you probably won't even have to leave the comfort of your internet connection for the majority of them!

Happy profiting!

1) Surveys!

While yes, survey websites can be plenty frustrating and time consuming, they are not always the worst option you have to make a quick couple of bucks (or with insane dedication, a couple hundred or more).

Personally, survey websites are my main source of income year-round whilst I'm away at University—and they surely do not disappoint.

Initially, I started off with the infamous website Swagbucks that I'm sure we have all come across one way or another.

Starting off on this site can be plenty prosperous, and it also does a great job at showing you the surveying ropes if you're new to the Survey Scene!

However, after a good couple of months I have found that dry spells ensue, which isn't all bad if you're only looking to cash out some quick cash for the holidays!

As far as cashing out goes, there are TONS of gift cards available for you to redeem, as well as PayPal cash-outs ($25 minimum) which, once delivered to your PayPal balance, can easily be transferred to your connected bank account.

Now, my newest survey endeavor (as well as my new favorite!), has to be InstaGC. Surfing through Reddit, I stumbled across this absolute gem and I can't say I've ever been more pleased with my earnings! Minimum cash-outs are way lower for InstaGC, which is quite pleasant, and you also have some pretty cool options for cash-out such as direct deposit, eCheck, Visa, and even certain Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin if that happens to be your thing!

Gift cards are available on InstaGC as well, hence the "G(ift)C(ards)" in the name.

Task-wise, I have also found InstaGC to be much easier than any other survey site as they have an insane amount of surveys and Offer-Walls available at your every convenience. There's something for everyone, so go try it out and pinch some pennies!

(Keep a look out for my extended article specifically tackling both Swagbucks and InstaGC coming soon, with tips and tricks of the trade for the most efficient earnings possible! In the mean time, feel free to check out these subreddits: Swagbucks Reddit, InstaGC Reddit as they have tons of useful information themselves!)

Pro Tip: Don't be afraid to ask questions! Online forums such as Reddit are put in place with the sole purpose of being a resource, so use them! I've learned everything I know about surveying from the subreddits that I mentioned above!

2) Texting!

While this method isn't necessarily going to set you up for a plentiful cash flow, it will put a few extra bucks to your name that you didn't have before. FreeEats is a pretty awesome service that connects with your phone number and pays you $1.00 to sign up as well as an additional $0.25+ per text "Ad" that you allow them to send you. Sometimes, they will also send you a message asking you to download and try out an app for an incentive, check out a link, etc...

Again, this method isn't going to rack up a whole lot of dough, but at the very least, it'll leave you with more than you started with!

Pro Tip: Make sure the phone number that you use to sign up for FreeEats is the same phone number that is associated with your PayPal account so that they are able to pay you without any problems or delays!

3) Utilize your social following!

If you have a decent following on social media, specifically on Instagram, this one is for you!

Become an Ambassador for Heartbeat! Register and connect your Instagram to unlock campaigns from a huge selection of expanding companies looking to get word of their products and services out into the world. By completing campaigns, you will receive cash incentives as well as free products (sometimes) depending on the specificities of the brand deal. The bigger the following that you have, the more you get paid per campaign. It's as simple as that!

Pro Tip: If sponsorships seem to be your cup of tea, it helps to include a business email directly on your Instagram for brands to contact you with outside of Heartbeat (you can edit this in your profile settings).

4) Yada Yada Yada... Okay, it works!

Yeah, okay—so you've heard it a million times before, and I know that I called other articles out for mentioning it at the beginning of this very piece, but really, it works—this is the one that they get right!

Sell items or clothing that you no longer use or wear—everyone is in the market for a good deal, especially at this time of year, so give the consumers what they want!

Personally, the Depop app is my top pick for all buy-and-sell purposes. The interface is super easy to use, the members are very active, and I've made a whopping couple hundreds of dollars or so in my on-and-off usage of the app in the last approximate year! Sign-up is simple and then, once you take a couple photos, add a description, a few tags, and a price—you're all set and ready to sell!

Other similar apps that I've personally had a pleasant experience with are as follows: Poshmark, Mercari, and LetGo (if you're feeling ballsy, there's always Craigslist and eBay as well).

Pro Tip: When starting out on any of these apps, be sure to get very descriptive and include a decent amount of thorough tags for your items so that they have a much better chance at being noticed! Good lighting and angles for photos of your items will also help on that note. Also, it doesn't hurt to take a look around and like a couple of items in other shops to show that your account is up and active and to bring some attention to your own shop, just don't get too carried away and go spending all of the money that you're earning!!!

5) Write!

Last, but certainly not least, use your creative talents and compose!

You're already reading an article here on Vocal, so why not sign up and write a couple articles for yourself?! Get creative, share your articles with friends and family, and earn some quick cash for your written words!

The best part? (Almost) Anything goes! Write about your undying passion for disc golf, knitting dog sweaters, flower-pressing, bee-keeping, you name it!

The options are endless, so go on, get started, and get paid!

Kudos for making it all the way to THE END! Go apply your newfound knowledge and get to earning!

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