If you’ve got the skills for it, poker can be a nice way to make some extra money, even a lot of it. And if you do it right, it’s also a lot of fun. Still, financing your next big poker game can sometimes be difficult. Fortunately, there are a few things you can do that can help you pull the money together in time.
Save Your Money
The most obvious way to do it is, of course, to save your money. Putting aside something extra out of your paycheck for a few months could do the job. However, if your budget’s tight, you will need to see if there’s anything you can temporarily cut out of your budget to free up something for saving. If you eat out a lot, for example, eat in for awhile and save the difference.
Buy cheap, generic versions of things instead of name brands. Anything you can do will help, and it can be surprising how fast a lot of little savings add up. There are even apps you can get to help you save, and online courses on how to make a good, frugal budget.
Sell Something That You Aren’t Using Anymore
If saving isn’t your thing, or as a supplement to saving, you can always try selling something you aren’t using anymore. Go through your attic and closets. There may be all kinds of things you have in storage that you don’t really need anymore, if you ever did. Kitchen appliances, tools, dishes, sports equipment, you can sell anything that other people could find useful. If you went through a phase as an artist or crafter of some sort, sell your old kits and supplies. There’s bound to be someone else with the same passion who wants a cheap way to get started quickly.
EBay is one way you can sell these items. It’s easy to sign up and get started, if you don’t already have an account. You’ll just need a camera that’s decent enough to take a good picture of the items for sale. You’ll also need to know how to set a good price. Try looking for similar items on the site first, so you can see what they tend to go for.
You can also look around your neighborhood and see if there’s anything like a regular neighborhood flea market, if you don’t want to deal with the whole online thing. A good old fashioned garage sale can work too. The advantage of an in-person sale is that you can widen the range of things you sell. At a garage sale or flea market, somebody can much more easily impulse buy old wall art you don’t want anymore, for example, where it could be impossible to sell something like that online.
Borrow Money
Borrowing money is another possibility. You can try asking friends and family, if you think there’s any point in that, but you can do much better than that. You can often get an online loan, even if you have bad credit. That’s because while online lenders may be financial institutions, they aren’t banks, and don’t make decisions in the same way banks do.
Online lenders take factors other than your credit score into account, while banks typically give little weight to such factors. An online lender is going to look at how long you’ve been employed with the same employer to get an idea of how reliable you are. It will also compare your income to the size of the loan repayments plus your other bills to gauge whether you are likely to be able to make the loan repayments.
If the lender likes what it sees, it may offer you a loan regardless of a bad credit score. Online lenders are fast, too. You can often get word on your application on the day you make the application, and maybe even the money, too.
Use a Credit Card
Of course, if you have a credit card, you can always just put it on your card. It certainly can be the fastest way to raise the money you need, but you will need to start paying it off in the near future.
The Takeaway
If you’re a little resourceful, it shouldn’t be too difficult to finance your next big poker game. You can always save your money or sell your stuff. Even if you have nothing to sell, you can still raise money fast with an online loan, even if you have bad credit. There’s always something you can try.
