Have you ever been so desperate for money that you had to resort to some of the weirdest ways of making it? Like entering a sleep study where you’ll have to sleep with electrodes attached to your head, participating in market research for a new beer (with the samples tasting like the devil’s underpants), or even… working in life insurance? If you've ever been in this situation, then you’ll find the answers from this AskReddit thread extremely relatable. And if you’ve never been near this kind of rock bottom, then treat these tales of the things people did when they were desperate for money as proof of human ingenuity and willpower. Without any further ado, here’s what the Reddit community had to share when they were asked about the ways to make money when you’re truly desperate.
This desperate for money Reddit thread is a real treasure trove of unbelievable stories, so much so that we never thought there were so many original ways to make money. Including, but not limited to, pawning someone’s trash, holding a sign at an intersection, working as a human ‘lab rat,’ or planting tulip bulbs in Holland (absolutely not as romantic as one might’ve thought). And no, most of these jobs, or rather lengths that people went to when they were in need of money, are not necessarily degrading, more so very unusual, not mainstream, and sometimes involving strenuous physical work. Either way, the stories are truly something!
So, ready to check out the tales that people in this Reddit thread shared about the times they were desperate for more money? If so, just scroll on down below. Rank these stories if you’d like by giving them your vote since now they are in no particular order (however, they’re all equally interesting).
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"Was homeless for a while when I younger and lived in Massachusetts. Summer, was easy but late fall to like the middle of spring it was FAR too cold to not to have a bed, so we’d stay at a local motel, cancel the stay during the day so we didn’t have to pay then rebook for the night time, we’d also take steal money from the tip jar, some little old lady always worked the front, she knew the situation and was perfectly fine with us taking the tips and only booking the nights. She even told us where they would put the buffet food no one ate, which they would store in a chilled room for the workers to eat but they never did. Eventually, the manager of the motel found us out and almost kicked us to the curb, but thankfully he was a nice guy and my dad talked him into letting us stay/letting my dad and mom work there as well as all 4 of us (me, my dad, my mom, and my sister) stay in the suite which had 3 beds instead of the 1 bed and a large couch which all the other rooms had. Thanks to that man (god bless his soul, he died in 2020 from Covid) we were able to eventually move into project development, and then sometime after into our own apartment. I’m now 16 almost 17, this was 5 years ago. I now live in a pretty decent-sized house that my parents own) in one of the many southern states (not disclosing for my privacy). Just as a reminder to everyone going through hard times no matter what the situation is, it will get better, just give it time and continue working for what you want."
"I was newly broke as a joke and had a date in hours. She wanted to go to Red Lobster.
I went through my car, my parents’ cars, sisters’ cars, couches, everything - looking for coins. I had a partially used gift card somewhere as well. I took it all to the grocery store, cashed in the change, and sold the gift card for practically nothing.
I had just enough to cover myself. If she expected me to get the bill, I was finished. I’d have to own up to having like $31.25 to my name. Luckily, she didn’t. She piped up and split the bill. So now we’re married."
"About ten years ago when I was homeless, a kind old homeless lady that I used to buy water and snacks for was crying because she was twenty dollars short of getting a hotel room for the night and she wanted to shower so bad.
So I had a friend drive me to Walmart and I walked around the parking lot looking for receipts until I found one with something decent that wasn't food. It had a $40 case of diapers on it. So I went inside, matched the barcode on the receipt to a box of diapers on the shelf, and went up to customer service and said my mom wanted me to return them.
Got $40 cash, gave half to the lady for her hotel, and spent that rest on food and drinks. She was so happy she started crying again and hugged me. I still think about that day a lot."
"I was offered a signed copy of Albert Camus's "L'étranger" in my early 20s. It's my favorite book and my then-girlfriend spent a hefty amount of money to buy this for me.
Years later I went through rough times and really needed money to pay my rent. And having no other practical solution, I ended up selling my beloved signed book to an acquaintance of mine.
The funny thing is 17 years later he still had the book and accepted to sell it back to me for the same amount he bought it from me. Cheapest loan ever, I guess."
"I was poor growing up. Really poor. One time (around age 8 or 9) I collected a bunch of buttons (wherever I could find them around the house) and then hit the street, door to door, trying to sell them for a buck a piece. It took me three hours to make 5 bucks. I was so excited that I finally had enough money to buy a sugary cereal (lucky charms). I went to 7-11, bought a box and got home to eat it, but we didn’t have milk so I started to cry. I ended up using water instead. It was very very pitiful. Fast forward 40 years and now I can buy MILK and cereal anytime I want. It’s great. I never take it for granted."
"I used to pose naked for art classes while I was an undergrad. The pay was pretty good, about 5 times the minimum wage. One grad student who was a good artist but kind of odd asked if I would do a private session of a few hours. I agreed as I was desperate for money. I figured that I had just been hired for sex. I was a bit conflicted but then just figured why not? I showed up cleaned and prepped and dressed to look good and it turned out that the artist really did want me to pose. During the whole thing, they were polite but very specific on poses and it was actually a bit challenging. They were so intense. While not particularly good looking the talent and effort was kind of a turn-on. By the end, I was half hoping it would turn into sex and they would keep telling me how to pose, what to do, etc. We went over the time but the artist was nice and grateful and paid extra. So I guess that I learned I would be willing to have sex for money in some situations."
"Got out of jail searched for 3 months before getting hired on at taco bell for 8 bucks an hour. Worked for 5 years there before I could start my own mowing business. After 10 years I am making roughly 50k a year. All the while I've been rebuilding my credit. Going into investment property next and currently studying programming (Java and C++)."
"I participated in some market research for a new beer. Sounded great at the time, ‘I get paid to drink beer?’
Anyway, it was a bunch of different beers in small plastic cups all of which started out tasting like the strainings of the devil’s underpants and progressively got worse. They kept bringing more out until one guy cracked, swiped all his beers off the table, and stormed out yelling ‘I wouldn’t even give this to my dog!’
I still don’t know if it was market research or some bizarre psychological experiment."
‘The straining of the Devil’s underpants’ LMAO I’m stealing this
"I have lots of memories of "dumpster diving " for presents during the holiday season.
At work recently, in an effort to make remote work more bearable, my team asked a question about what is holiday memory that is most distinct in your mind.
So many people had these wonderful memories of playing in the snow or cooking something with their family or going on vacation to this place or that place. So many people had these descriptions of middle-class life because I'm in a white collar profession that is dominated almost exclusively by middle class white women.
I didn't feel comfortable sharing my experience of digging through dumpsters for toys - for my siblings my parents as a holiday memory. I couldn't share that the most memorable thing that comes to my mind when I think of the holidays is when my family procured a Costco size package of breath mints. And we ate those non-stop for 4 weeks until I got an unbearable stomach ache. And what I remember most about that is that I can't eat breath mints any more because the smell of them makes me sick.
But that is not the type of memory one can share with their coworkers, if they middle class white women, and expect to walk out of that transaction the same person. So I don't share that part of me with people that I spend a good amount of my day."
"I took out a payday loan to pay some bills, but I took out just a little extra. Went next door to the casino, played a poker tournament, and won. Went back to the loan shop, and since it was less than 24 hours they can not charge interest where I am at. Paid off the loan and walked away with the amount I originally borrowed. I do not recommend this financial strategy."
"Once when unemployed, I bought a bunch of king-size candy at Costco and went door to door selling it saying it was a fundraiser for a church youth group. Made a good profit and was able to pay rent that month."
"I wanted to pay for my kid's high school graduation ring - he worked so hard and was going to graduate against all odds. To pay for the ring and get it made and delivered in time for me to give it to him on graduation day, I sold my complete Sub Pop Singles Club collection. That included Nirvana's first 45 "Love Buzz" and extremely rare pressings from the White Stripes, Smashing Pumpkins, Iron and Wine, Death Cab for Cutie, and Sunny Day Real Estate. The ring arrived the day before Graduation Day."
"I slept with my 64-year-old landlady. In my defense, it was either that or sleep on the streets."
"I lost my leg in January so a full year ago and am still waiting on assistance. I worked very hard my whole life and lost everything due to a medical misdiagnosis. I have gotten so hungry when I go out to intersections with a sign begging for money. It is one of the most degrading and humiliating things ever. Most people ignore me but when I got to the point that my hair was starting to fall out from lack of eating I had to do something. I am probably going to have to do that tomorrow actually because I am out of everything again. So yay me I guess."
"I joined a medical study that was researching the effects of severe weight gain and weight loss on bone marrow. Involved 10 days of eating 6000 calories a day and then 10 days of not eating anything. You had to stay in a hospital room the entire time. Every day they took a bone marrow sample which was decidedly not fun. $7000 at the end of the 20 days!"
"Drive around nice apartment complexes and dig through their garbage like a raccoon for stuff I could pawn."
"Medical study in college. I was told I would receive a free dental checkup as part of the study, as well as $75 (25 years ago).
First, they gave me a questionnaire about going to the dentist and if I had any fears related to it. I didn’t. Going to the dentist sometimes involves discomfort but it’s always worth it.
Next, they hooked a bunch of probes to my face, which stayed on for the entire study. They then had me watch a slide show of random images- a field of flowers, a toaster, a Rottweiler with teeth bared, a smiling woman, a dentist drill, a book, a gun pointed at the camera, an airplane, a dentist’s chair, etc.
Then the dentist came in for a quick checkup. No cavities. He then tells me “I’m now going to use a Florida probe, which will measure the distance between your tooth and gum.” He then sticks the probe between the tooth and gum of my back molar and I nearly jump out of the chair in pain- that hit the nerve and it hurt. He then applied the Florida probe to every one of my teeth, to the point I was doing a quick, panicky inhale every time he went in. When he was finished all of my teeth felt like they were vibrating.
They then had me watch the slideshow again. Remember the questionnaire, the probes, and the images? Oh, I get it. They’re trying to detect a new fear response when dentist-related images appear. I seriously considered spending my $75 on a baseball bat and going back to tell them what I thought of their study."
That's a psych experiment. I'm surprised they were allowed to inflict pain. That's not right.
"Just before I graduated high school, I had an interview for a summer job. I lived in a suburb, but the interview was in downtown Milwaukee. My mom dropped me off, but didn't care if I had any money to get home, nor would she come to get me. Oh, and she'd taken my phone from me too... On my way back, I went through Grand Avenue mall (it's made up of a bunch of buildings downtown) since it was raining. I lucked out HARD when a woman asked if I'd be interested in giving my opinion on some products, and they'd pay me $20. It was a godsend, and I almost cried when they gave me the cash after."
"Now that DNA is all out there, donating a total of 25 eggs to get through college hits a lot differently. Please don’t find me?!"
"Consumed a full bottle of Tabasco sauce for $300. The guests thought I couldn’t do it but that was the easiest $300 of my life."
"Participated in a sleep study where they had us wired up to electrodes to monitor our responses at periodic intervals across 3 days without sleep. It was brutal. I learned I cannot go without sleep for 2 days in a row."
Sleep deprivation is a well known torture technique. I am very susceptible to psychosis if I go without sleep because of my bipolar disorder. It really messes me up. I have to take Ambien to make sure that I sleep; nothing else works.
"I met a complete stranger from the internet to sell him some used underwear.
If it were a send it in the mail thing, it wouldn't have been a big deal. But part of it was that he wanted me to meet him to give them to him. And then he would pay me in cash.
It was a pretty good amount so, i went for it. We talked for a while beforehand and he was really nice. I didn't get the vibe that I was gonna get killed, and I needed the money. It was a quick meet in a walmart parking lot. Nothing really bad happened."
Imagine if it was an undercover undies cop and they arrested them like it was a drug deal LOL my brain sometimes
"Spent three weeks on my knees planting tulip bulbs in a field in Holland in October. My bulbs were covered in formaldehyde and a layer of skin fell off my hands. Slept in a semi-derelict caravan and lived off raw carrots. Fortunately, there was also some good hash and you could buy beer for two quid a crateful to take the edge off."
"I went on "a date" with a public defender so that he would complete my emancipated minor case for free. I was 17 and abandoned by my family."
"Searched every square inch of our house and yard to gather every penny we could find to buy food with my dad and brother. We ended up with around 7-8 bucks and bought some pinto beans and tortillas. It tasted amazing after not eating for a couple of days."
Been there, we got enough to buy a bag of cheap pasta as we didn't find much. The only thing left in our fridge was butter so we ate pasta with butter and black pepper for a few days until payday.
"Found an empty bottle of Mirinda on the streets of Hamburg and walked a mile to the university canteen where I knew the deposit was slightly higher. I had no money whatsoever so those extra fifty cents were welcomed (This was back when a bottle of Astra was one Euro)."
"Worked a soul-crushing job for... (checks watch)... 25 years."
"Webcamming. Still doing it, unfortunately. I have a real job but 3 kids suck all my money away."
"Waited in an alley to rob the first person to walk by. Came to my senses and went home left before that could happen.
I'd lost my job through no fault of my own, my partner left me as a direct result, I was homeless, and I hadn't eaten in two days. Again. I just couldn't take it anymore."
"A travel agency in my hometown that booked Disney vacations and cruises started offering party hosts dressed as Disney characters, I was young at the time but all it took was a little bit of makeup to make me look like Jack Sparrow.
I made 100 dollars an hour to act like a drunken ass in front of the kids and tie a balloon or paint a face here and there, and the worst of the moms would pay to see Jack in private. I think word spread cause PoTC become a huge request and I knew some angry dads I didn't know about were gonna come knocking one day so I quit."
"In 7th grade, I did a horrible attempt at the worm at a school dance for $1."
"Let these rich hunt me in a forest with paintball guns and I had to be in just my underwear. I learned quickly that it wasn’t so much about the hunt they just wanted to humiliate me. Completely regret it but I was a few hundred short on rent."
"Back in 1993, I went on a road trip around the US for the summer with friends (in a VW camper van, of course). I ran out of money somewhere along the Gulf coast. One of my friends had a tin full of embroidery thread, so I started doing hair wraps at beach tourist traps. I ended up making about $100 a day, and as my friends ran out of money they joined in. By the time we’d worked our way up the East Coast, we had multiple organizers full of embroidery thread and beads. It covered our campgrounds, food, and fuel. Once we ran out of beach towns, we headed back home."
"Not a terrible thing, but I sold everything of value that I owned (jewelry, my piano, collectibles, etc) to pay my bird's vet bills. I'd do it again in a heartbeat, though."
"I made $50 when I was randomly approached in a bar to be on a foot fetish site. There was no nudity or actual sexiness involved. Just a lot of pictures of women's feet on my face, chest, etc... It was way more uncomfortable than it should have been."
"I pawned some handmade jewelry that was passed to me from someone very special. When I got paid less than 2 weeks later, my items were "missing" from the pawn shop. I have never gotten over that and it makes me sad I never even got to wear her jewelry to something special."
"I was two feet away from getting a payday loan before I came to my senses."
"Those dumb surveys. Wasn't worth the time I wasted, only got like ten bucks total before I gave up."
"I scrounged every inch of my car, trunk, under the carpet, pulled out seats, to find enough change not to bounce a check. I needed less than $1 and had about an hour to find the money and deposit it. The banker lady knew what was up when I made the deposit.
30-some years later and I still haven’t bounced a check."
"As a kid with a single parent, I was aware of the financial struggles from the start. I wanted to help my mum somehow.
When I was 6 or 7, just before Christmas, I handmade Christmas cards (I loved drawing and coloring in - I'm not saying it was any good but I was enthusiastic and creative) and went door-to-door selling them to people on our street. I remember selling some and my mum accusing me of stealing money because she didn't believe anyone would buy them.
3 years later, my mum occasionally helped out at the flower nursery and would bring me with her. I noticed they would discard some flowers because they weren't in perfect shape, I asked if I can take some with me. They let me have them and I plucked bad petals/leaves and used wire to keep some of the wilted ones upright. I made 2 bunches from the cast-offs and sat next to the local bus stop around the time people were coming back from work. Sold them within 20 minutes and immediately went to buy my nerdy self a kids' puzzle magazine (that was the only thing I'd ask my mum for every month)"
"While I never sold blood to buy alcohol, there was a time when I'd donate blood every Friday night in order to require less alcohol."
"Retail Security. I had to put up with actual violence, threats of violence, being shouted at, having hypodermic needles waved in my face, having excrement thrown at me, 15-minute breaks (two of them per 14-hour shift), and being the blame for anything going wrong in the store.
The shop staff was the worst. In their eyes, I was the lowest of the low and 'Should know my place'. One or two were OK, but the rest got a kick out of dropping me in it. Say hello to someone when you come in to work. Got reported. Didn't say hello to the next day to the same person, I got reported for it. The staff thought that they could talk down to me, and treated me badly and I had to stand there and take it. Dear help me if I said anything in return - they could threaten me with violence, but if I snapped back, I got reported to my company and the store employee was given counseling. And all I did was tell someone to f*** off after they said that they would, given half a chance, stab me. That was completely out of the blue: the employee was in an aisle that I was patrolling down and came out with it, they were deadly serious. But telling someone threatening to stab you to f*** off is apparently the worst criminals out there, according to that particular store.
You couldn't pay me to go back."
"Started scamming meal delivery companies to be able to eat- I’d break open the ice pack and claim all the food was damaged, then I’d get comped for the meals and get a whole new box delivered for free. Felt very shameful but hunger is real."
You can also call fast food restaurants and claim that they game you/your kid/your companion food that triggered an allergic reaction (cheeseburger to a lactose intolerant kid for example) after you told them not to, they’ll sometimes send you vouchers if you do it right.
"Asked friends and family for help. My lowest point in life was when I had to ask them for money. I paid them back immediately but it's still my worst memory. I felt so defeated for some reason."
"You know you have reached rock bottom when you start working in Life Insurance. On my last leg I got my insurance liscense and then learned the job was purely commission and you make more money if you are a "manager". Only to find out that as a manager you have operational costs. So you actually end up spending more money just to get through the month. Then you find out it's a pyramid scheme. This is not an insurance company it is a hiring company that had a revolving door that never stopped spinning."
"Sang in the NYC subway while panhandling anyone that made eye contact.
Got the $50 I needed to take a bus south out of the city."
"I sold nudes. I’m not proud of it and I didn’t make much at all but it put some food on the table and I got gas to put in my car."
"Gave up on my dreams, went to school, and found full-time employment."
"I participated in a food study where I couldn’t eat for a day before, arrived at the lab crazy early in the morning, had a tube put down my throat, and lay there for six hours as they pumped liquids into and out of my stomach. After the first two hours I begged them to at least turn on the TV, but they would only let me watch PBS so I couldn’t accidentally see any commercials about food. It wasn’t fun but the pay was decent and they served me a steak dinner afterward."
"Sold my unused blood glucose test strips to a woman in a Sonic parking lot. I’d do it again just for the rush."
"I participated in an experiment where a company put various natural skin lotions on my arm and took a record of how my body reacted to it most lotions felt great, some gritty, and 1 even left a burn on my arm. That was the best $300 I made in a day."
"I sold my original Charizard for 10 pounds when I was 6."
"I put up political signs in the middle of the night. It was very sketchy, but I was in college and had a short break in employment and needed cash."
"I participate in clinical studies! Just ones that let me go home lol. Just finished my second one, kinda weird to get laid for free health info and to take stuff that can potentially help or harm me. But overall have had a positive experience and hopefully this leads to helping more people!"
"Held a sign for people to see at an intersection. Normally this isn't bad. However, it is a local thing to bully those that do by throwing food items like milkshakes and slushies at them. Which is why I was hesitant to do so."
"Selling condoms in a male restroom at a bar. Needed cash for a train ticket back home to the neighboring town. Was just standing in a corner offering rubber for some coins."
"Dug under a Chinese Restaurant without shoring or permits to get to a clogged grease trap.
Pulled and replaced hundreds of fluorescent ballasts (old school ones loaded with PCB’s) without safety gear."
"A few years after high school, one of my HS crushes messaged me on Facebook. I was in between jobs and still living at home. She said she was coming back into town and wanted to hang out. I didn't have any money for a "date"... I took some rifles that were handed down to me by family to a pawn shop to sell. They offered me a ridiculously low amount. I felt embarrassed and put on the spot. I wanted the "date" to happen. Sold the rifles. Next day we got to talking and she apologized and told me we would not be hanging out and that she was going on a date with one of her crushes from high school."
"Sold my pokemon card collection for cheap to pay rent. Mostly xy and black and white series stuff. Probably worth 5 times more now."
"Worked nearly 20 years in a place that I knew was toxic, was full of toxic people, and put me regularly in direct contact with some of the worst examples humanity had to offer."
"Online surveys. Most of them only pay 5 or 10 cents and can take 30 minutes. I would make 70-100 dollars a week doing them basically full time."
"I once picked up a bunch of quarters off the floor of a frat living room."
"Started to play online poker from zero, never played before. While homeless.
Once I met a guy who was sitting and playing poker, I talked with him for an hour while he was playing and that gave me the idea that this is my chance. My goal was to make $10 every night playing in a computer club. It worked and became sustainable for me. After I fixed my life a bit, got a roof and my own pc, I tried to make poker my life-long thing but I couldn't. When my life wasn't depend on the poker income the game starter bore me. I couldn't focus on playing and lost interest completely.
I don't think I ever played poker after."
"Long ago I was on a low-budget reality tv show and got paid 700 for 1 day of filming. In hindsight, it was pretty cringe."
"I searched for subscriber specials on YouTube from small YouTubers, where they gave away amazon gift cards by subscribing/liking their video. I don't know how many times I did that, but I won 10€ once."
"Waited at a Carl’s Jr. for a repo job, tow guy never showed up, the owner came by a half hour later gave me $100 bucks and told me to show up same time tomorrow. I did it for 3 days night shift and nopped outta there, good money but not worth it and that was with me riding along with someone."
"Sold my grandad’s hunting rifle he passed down to me in order to keep the power on at home. The 2008 recession was hard."
"I once pretended to play bongo drums behind a troupe of samba dancers on live television."
"I ate a live Cicada for $20 so I could get Whataburger after a wild party. 4/10 tasted like grass."
"Drove around in the middle of the night in my small town with bolt cutters. I opened up every single newspaper stand I could find and probably made a good $300 that night in quarters."
I was living in a tent in my grandmother's backyard with my kids, because I had recently left their abusive father. My 30 yr old cousin, (imagine Cartman in real life) who had lived in her house rent free his entire life, said he'd give me $100 for each grasshopper I ate. I knew he was trying to humiliate me, but didn't really care. I made $400, which I used to buy a rusty old hatchback from the nextdoor neighbor who just wanted it gone.
When I moved out my parents would never help me out calling it tough live. Found a place that sold discount food and would buy bologna because it was the cheapest. Can't even stand the thought of eating bologna again and that's been 40 yrs. I'm on limited budget now so I have down loaded an app where I play games and earn gift cards. I've gotten like $400 in amazon cards and $50 in starbucks cards over the last 3 yrs. Also I volunteer at faires and festivals so I can enjoy them for free plus they give me food vouchers So I get to still do fun things on a shoestring budget.
I was living in a tent in my grandmother's backyard with my kids, because I had recently left their abusive father. My 30 yr old cousin, (imagine Cartman in real life) who had lived in her house rent free his entire life, said he'd give me $100 for each grasshopper I ate. I knew he was trying to humiliate me, but didn't really care. I made $400, which I used to buy a rusty old hatchback from the nextdoor neighbor who just wanted it gone.
When I moved out my parents would never help me out calling it tough live. Found a place that sold discount food and would buy bologna because it was the cheapest. Can't even stand the thought of eating bologna again and that's been 40 yrs. I'm on limited budget now so I have down loaded an app where I play games and earn gift cards. I've gotten like $400 in amazon cards and $50 in starbucks cards over the last 3 yrs. Also I volunteer at faires and festivals so I can enjoy them for free plus they give me food vouchers So I get to still do fun things on a shoestring budget.
