How to Hustle for Independent Money In A Hurry [How to Get Out Series]

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Tell someone else!

How to Make Money Fast: 

This is the second part of a 6 Part Series Titled: How to Get Out, How to Leave an Abusive Spouse. You can read the 1st entry to the series, Why She Stays, here. 


To leave her abuser, a survivor will need to know how to make money fast. As we discussed in the first entry in this series, a major factor in the decision of why a victim will stay with an abuser is the financial burden.  The difficult part is that she will need to make the money and also, find a way to keep it for herself. Independent money, if you will.


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So how does she do such a thing? 

I need to make a disclaimer here: I by no means, am perpetuating the idea that you should make money on the side and not tell your spouse. This series is meant to help women who are in situations of abuse and possible endangerment. If you are unsure if that applies to you, I highly recommend reading the book Should I Stay or Should I Go? By Lundy Bancroft. It will help you in your quest for answers and may help you realize you can fix your marriage! This list may be used by any woman wanting to make extra money but is geared specifically for the battered woman who wants to get safely out on her own. Thank you for understanding. 

11 Side hustles that will make extra money for you quickly. And ways to save your money.

How to Make Money Fast: 

When it comes to making money fast while in a domestic violent relationship a few things come to mind; how to get it and how to hide it. I have a few creative ways for you to make money quickly, effectively, and also a few secure places to put it once you start. Making money on the side doesn’t always happen quickly. It may take a survivor months to save depending on how closely she is monitored and controlled. It is possible though.

I was once told the story of a woman who had spent two years accumulating items getting ready to leave her abuser. She covered more than the basics, including furniture and even decor. Eventually when it came time for her to leave she was all set monetarily. If you are resourceful and careful you can be too.

How to Make Money Fast

Quick Tips:


1. Sell Something Large

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This will be a quick and simple way to make money fast. Imagine selling your automobile? Could you make $1000? Use it to perhaps, put a deposit on an apartment? What if you could make $5000 by selling? You could put the deposit down, pay the first months rent, and even purchase a different cheaper vehicle?

No car? What about a 4-Wheeler? Jet Ski? Snowmobile? LawnMower? 
What do you own, large enough for a lump sum of money that you can part with? 

2. Borrow Against Something

If you can’t sell it, perhaps you can borrow against it. When I wanted to say adieu to my student loans in a hurry, I borrowed against my vehicle. (I urge getting financial advice before doing this.) If you have decent credit and collateral, many banks or credit unions will allow you to take a loan out. Yes, even if you already own it.

It’s called a collateral loan. If you default the bank gets your collateral. Think of the bank as the buyer of your vehicle. They pay you to put a lien on it, and you pay them back monthly to continue to use it (with interest, unfortunately). It gives you quick cash in hand, for a lower interest rate than the payday cash advances (a tactic you won’t see listed here because it’s a financial death trap.) Before you borrow against something else, like a piece of real estate, you should read this helpful article and consult with an attorney.

3. Sell Smaller Things

Sarah titus, 40 things to sell right now to make money, make money fast

Maybe you don’t have either of the two listed above, or access to their monetary gain anyway. That’s ok, you can always sell smaller things. Lucky for you Sarah Titus, of SarahTitus.Com, created a stellar list of 40+ things you can sell to make money fast.

It includes things like old clothes, old shoes and of that sort of course and other things you may not have thought of. She also lists creative ideas, like services you could do for others at a cost. Grab a mop bucket, a computer, and your hustle and GO.

You can also consider using Poshmark to sell your items. [USE MY REFERRAL CODE: LACYESTELLE426 to Receive a FREE $10 for a Limited Time]. Poshmark is an easy online platform used to sell smaller items and ship them all over the united states. They create the postal label for you, shipping is paid by the buyer and it uses the USPS priority mail boxes, which are free! You can sign up for free, and when you sell something you simply have to package it up and drop it off at your nearest postal office or put it in your mailbox for pick up.

11 Ways to make money on the side quickly and keep it. Ways to make money quickly.

4. Bump Your Credit Card Limits

Again, another tactic to not exactly make money fast, but create access to money. Bumping your credit card limit will cost you in the long run. If you aren’t able to pay it off quickly you will have a higher than average interest on your balance. Although, it is still a way to create money in a hurry to get out of a bad situation.

5. Borrow from Family

You may not want to do this, but sometimes family is all you have. There have been some seriously sticky situations I had in my early 20’s and grandmas rainy day fund was all that saved me. 

Use the opportunity to really confide in your family what is going on in your home. Take caution though, many people, families included, don’t understand domestic violence. They may suggest counseling, prayer, church, AA or a myriad of other things that may feel discouraging. Don’t discourage, in time they may see or they may not. This is your decision not theirs. Family aid in times like this is ideal, if they can’t help you monetarily, perhaps they can house you for a few months? Maybe they can co-sign on a lease for you? It’s at least worth asking. 

6. Ask Your Church

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Remember when I said that many Christ-Following Christians have misconceptions about domestic violence? Well for every one of those, there is Christ Following Christians who DO understand. I’ve heard stories of ministers walking out of pre-marital counseling sessions, refusing to marry couples because they could see the signs of abuse.

Seek the person in your church who has experience with couples and marital counseling. Explain to them that you understand you are experiencing abuse and that you’re ready to leave. The church may have resources for you.

7. Utilize Escape Planning Services, Like the YWCA

While I’m not extremely familiar with all the resources the YWCA uses to help women escape abusive relationships, I have been witness to a few large undertakings. Situations such as needing to put a woman on a plane to get away, among them. So I know if they don’t have resources for you to use, they will help you be resourceful in creating an escape plan. It’s worth reaching out to them, plus they are familiar with domestic violence. They will help you make plans and also stay safe. Complete confidentiality and even alibi’s if your situation is dangerous.

8. Join a Focus Group

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On the Blog Gathering Dreams, Sarah lays out the 15 best Paid Online Focus groups you can join. It’s an extensive list and she walks you through everything you need to know about joining them. She also lists out what you need to know about each focus group agency before committing. It’s a really neat niche to make money fast that not many people know about. 

9. Donate Plasma

While Donating Plasma will be time-consuming, you can still make money fast. If you were to do this once per month, at $20 to $50 a visit, it will add up. Combining it with other efforts it could easily make up to half of $100 saved each month. That’s a ten-month goal to a thousand dollars. If you can’t wait that long, I completely understand. Time is of the essence when you are trying to get out of an abusive relationship.

10. Start a Small Business with Items you Already Own

Over on ClickStartClub there is an excellent article explaining how you can do freelance photography in your own home and sell it to online entrepreneur’s. The course she discusses is called Pretty Focused Course, and it teaches you about Food Photography (a much needed and underutilized photography niche) for online bloggers. If you have a DSLR camera already you could get started.

Likewise, you can also start a blog for a relatively low cost. It does take some time to grow and gain a steady income stream but it’s definitely possible. WordPress.com will allow you to sell with the Amazon affiliate platform. Both of which are free to join and can help you make money fast. Once you are making more money with that you can graduate to a self-hosted platform and then the sky is the limit as far as income streams. I will talk more about blogging and doing it for a living in a later post. Just know it’s completely possible to make a Full-Time Income with blogging. Sarah Titus, when left homeless by her ex-husband, used her good communication skills and the resources she had to start building her blog. She went from homeless to within a year making $10,000 per month and now makes over $75k per month. You can read more about her, her story and her bundle that teaches blogging, here.

11. Sell Gift Cards You Didn’t Use

Websites like CardCash allow you to sell your unused gift cards for cash. You can get up to 92% of what the card is worth, according to their website.

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If you don’t have gift cards, my friend Kristen from Joyfullythriving shared how she accumulates gift cards for free. She does this over a years time, but it’s still a lucrative way to accumulate goods. Doing survey’s among other things to gain these cards might not be a fast track to cash to get out of your abusive situation. But this is a good resource to have once you are out on your own. 

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Creative Ways to Hide Your Fast Money:

Normally, in regular relationship advice I would never advise a woman to hide money from her spouse. Except for maybe in the circumstances of a surprise birthday party. Hiding money, among other things, could be considered Financial Infidelity

Although, women in abusive relationships will need to hide their money for safety reasons. If their abuser finds their money they will likely take it. Also many abusers will react volatile if they think their spouse is leaving them. The fact is, women who are leaving their abusers are more at risk of dangerous encounters from their abusers. If abuse is about control, and the victim is leaving therefore no longer being controlled, abusers may do reckless and dangerous things following. This is why it’s not a matter of IF a woman planning to leave should hide her money but HOW she can hide it to save herself.

1. Give to a Family Member

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Be sure your family member understands the situation you are in. That this could be a matter of life and death if your abuser decides to carry out any threats they may have made during your marriage. Remarks like “IF you ever leave me, I’ll kill you” may have been taken lightly in the context of a marriage. Manipulators will claim to be joking about this but these may very well be threats he tries to act upon once a victim leaves.

Ask your family member to only listen to what you have to say about the abuse and not the soon to be ex. Abusers have a great way of manipulating people surrounding the victim. Sometimes making the victim out to be the one causing all the issues. This paradigm is called Flying Monkeys. It occurs with narcissistic abusers and makes it extremely hard for abuse victims to utilize friends and family. Many of whom have been won over by their abuser. Ask your family member to read Why Does He Do That, By Lundy Bancroft to understand how the abusive spouse operates. Making getting their help easier, because they too will see the manipulative tactics of your abuser if they try them on them.

Read How to tell if he’s a Good or a Bad Guy by the Second Date 

11 Ways to Make money in a hurry when you are trying to get out of a domestic violent situation. 11 creative ways to make side money.

2. Bank It

It’s a common misconception among married couples that once married everything must then be in both marital partners names. This is simply not true. While I don’t advise opening a bank account behind your spouses back without consulting an attorney, you are indeed allowed your own bank account. 

Side Tip: Split your direct deposit

Once you have your own bank account, you can talk to your employer about your direct deposit. Many employers will allow your direct deposit to split. You can opt for $10 to go into your personal bank account, while the rest of your check consistantly still gets direct deposited to your own bank account. This way money can go into your personal account without you ever having to make a withdrawal from your joint account with your spouse. Likewise, this is also a neat way to save for Christmas or just a rainy day fund if you’re not trying to escape an abusive relationship. 

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3.Apply it to PayPal

Like another bank account, PayPal does have the capability of storing your money. While unlike most Banks or Credit Unions, you won’t gain interest, you can pay for things with PayPal using Android or Apple Pay. 

You can also load money to a PayPal debit card, and use it just like a regular debit card. You can also move money from PayPal to your bank and vice versa. It’s an underutilized app and a great way to hold your money if you need to. 

4. Add to your 401k

If you are truly struggling with saving, and your employer offers a 401k or IRA of some sort, you could consider using it. Possibly borrowing from it in the future while adding more to it in the present. Your company may not match all of what you choose to put into it, however, you may contribute more than the percentage they match. Adding to it and borrowing from it, are not things I am particularly knowledgeable about. I know it can be done though, perhaps this link will give you more insight.

So…

I hope if you are a woman in a domestic violence situation this list empowers you to take finances into your own hands. Utilize these tools listed to help you make a decision or in the least a stream of income for yourself. 

Remember that I am cheering you on. I want you to win, and win big. For your family, your future, and yourself.

When you are ready to leave, Watch my video on 5 Simple Tips to CoParent with a Toxic Ex. 

If you aren’t in a domestic violence situation, please share this to your facebook. You never know who might need to read it. 

Click Here to Read Part 3 In this Series, How to Combat Broken Family Guilt When Divorce is Best.

LacyEstelle with Empowered Mom Life and Blogger Lacy estelle naturally combatting ADHD

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