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I've been thinking about easy ways to make money for the holidays, and here are some tips that may work for you starting right now:

5) Post your unwanted items for sale on Craigslist
You probably have a closet full (or maybe even a roomful or houseful) of stuff you don't like, need, or appreciate. Do you have something that you just don't want to have anymore? Consider hosting a garage sale, both online and in person. Organize all the items you don't need, take digital pictures and upload, and post to Craigslist. You can post your items early in the week in preparation for a Saturday sale --- re-post each day with any updates and encourage people to e-mail you, reserve items in advance, or give you a heads up that they intend to come.

4) Have you checked your house for loose change?
The average American household has almost $60 in change tucked behind sofa pillows, on the bureau, near the entryway, in jars, cans, and piggy banks, and near where you keep the pens. Also check your car for nickels, dimes, and quarters from the toll -- look in the ashtray or even under the floormats.

3) Jobs around the house, garden, and garage
Do you have some skills that can be put to use around the house, garden, yard, or garage? Perhaps you are a great organizer --- spread the word to your friends and family that you'll be offering a holiday organizing special to the first 10 lucky people who sign up, and set a package rate that will make it worthwhile for you. Perhaps you're passionate about child care and will put together a Friday night children's holiday party at $10/head to entertain kids in your neighborhood while parents go out. Perhaps you cook well and will offer to prepare and bring over a week's worth of meals that may be frozen and reheated --- for the cost of groceries and your time.

Think about your inventory of skills. Do you type fast? Are you a good listener? Are you a comedienne? Is magic, juggling, or dancing a skill of yours? Can you teach a course? Can you write a small e-pamphlet and sell it online? Whatever you can do, there is sure to be a market of people who want your skill. Brainstorm for these odd jobs and start that side business.

2) Think about the people in your neighborhood.
what services might be helpful for them that you can offer for $10, $12, or $15 an hour? --- You can certainly come up with 5 ideas worth of activities to do that would be incredibly helpful to your neighbors, from homework help to dogwalking to file organizing to housekeeping to snow shoveling. Offer a holiday special where you share your skills with your neighbors, particularly elderly or mothers with young children who can definitely use your help.

1) Ask around your network for people who need part-time help.
Many small businesses and households need extra hands to tidy up and take care of that 10% extra that might not be getting done. Reach out to the people that you know and offer to do some clerical or retail work --- or connect with the merchants, coffeehouses, or temp agencies in your area to see if you can come in for some additional hours over the holidays.

In most new business attempts, the entrepreneur never leaves their day job, or they create a back-up plan, or they have a job lined up in case the new business fails. In these cases, failure IS an option, as the entrepreneur has a safety net to fall back on. In cases where failure is NOT an option, and the entrepreneur depends on the new business to provide food, shelter and clothing, the business has a greater chance of succeeding.

BONUS: Create something and sell it over and over again.
In all of the above, you are trading your time for money. What you want to be focused on is trading your *skill* for money --- by creating a system, process, widget, gadget, or resource once, and then selling that item over and over again. For example, in my web design business, I found that many questions were being asked over and over again, and I decided to write books that answered some of the most commonly-asked questions.

Now those books sell as paperback and in e-format to customers who may not be able to hire us to do web development but who do need our expertise and advice.

You think of something you can sell over and over again, too! Then do it again, and again, and again, and you will find yourself with multiple passive income streams so that you don't need to be scrambling to make money, ever again.

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