How to come up with cash in a hurry

The 2001 Tilda Swinton film The Deep End features a scene that has stuck with me for nearly 25 years, even though I’ve forgotten almost everything else about the movie. Swinton’s character is being blackmailed for $50,000 and is given 24 hours to come up with the cash. Although her character is shown to live a comfortable, upper-middle-class life, she spends a stressful day on the phone trying to find the money—and she misses the deadline.

As a budding money nerd, I wondered what I would do in her situation. I had some go-to sources of cash for smaller financial emergencies, but there was a limit to how much I could gather quickly.

The thing is, everyone has a limit to the cash they can access—even those financial experts who wag their fingers at anyone whose limit seems “too low.” But wherever your financial limit is, a need for more cash than you can access feels insurmountable. It doesn’t have to be.

Here are some ways to find money in an emergency that you may not have thought of.

How soon is quickly?

In the film, Tilda Swinton’s character has 24 hours to come up with a substantial amount of money. If she’d had a month, or even a week, she probably could have found that money with a minimum of fuss—but it takes more than one day to take out a home equity loan, liquidate investments, or sell anything worth tens of thousands of dollars.

While few emergencies have a 24-hour turnaround time (unless you’re being blackmailed by Goran Višnjić), they do generally come with looming deadlines. That’s why all the options on this list should take no more than two to three days.

Additionally, the best options for quick cash won’t hurt your future finances, your credit score, or your relationships. The options below are as low-impact as possible, but remember to always do your due diligence and understand the potential drawbacks.

Up to $500

Downgrade your credit card

If you have a credit card with annual fees, you could potentially recoup some of the fee you’ve already paid. Eric Roberge, CFP® and founder of Beyond Your Hammock, offers this suggestion:

“Call the credit card company to downgrade the card to one with no annual fee. Most credit card companies will refund you the prorated amount of the annual fee.”

Doing this will help you avoid the credit-score-hurting move of closing the card, while still helping you recoup the fee. How much you receive depends on the fee and when you cancel.

“If you paid an annual fee of $100 in August and call to downgrade your card to the no-fee version in March, the credit card company will provide you a statement credit of ~$50,” Roberge says.

This may not hold true for every credit card, and the found cash is a statement credit—but this option can help if you’re in a situation where every penny counts.

Sell stuff on Facebook Marketplace

Selling something is usually the easiest way to drum up a couple of Benjamins. Financial coach Justin Brown-Woods recommends using Facebook Marketplace to quickly sell unwanted items. “I’ve sold over $16,000 of items on Facebook and I love using it as a quick spurt for my financial coaching clients,” Brown-Woods says.

Brandon Lovingier, a Chartered Financial Consultant based in Maryland, seconds this option. “I did this the other day. I sold an old standing desk and monitor I had laying around for $50 each,” Lovingier explains. “Took a few minutes to take pictures and about an hour total of meeting people.”

Sell your plasma

Plasma donation has a stigma, but it can be a good way to generate cash quickly. According to Jim Wang, founder of Wallet Hacks, “plasma donation is not a fun process, which is why it pays so much, but does offer a high hourly payout.”

How much of a payout? “You can get up to $100 a visit,” Wang says. “It takes a few hours the first time but becomes faster as you don’t have paperwork and are more familiar with the process.” Additionally, many plasma donation centers run promotions, where you can get bonuses for frequent donation.

$500 to $2000

Leverage your car

Your ride may be a source of ready cash, according to Lovingier. “You can make $500 in a week by listing your car on Turo and bumming rides from friends for the week,” he says. Turo is the app-based peer-to-peer car rental company that allows travelers to rent cars from local vehicle owners. Just note that Turo requires cars that are younger than 12 years old with less than 130,000 miles on the odometer.

Another alternative Lovingier recommends is driving for Uber, Lyft, or DoorDash for a few days. “I’ve heard of people earning a lot of money by driving during peak hours for a weekend,” he says. “These can be really lucrative during peak times.”

Rent out your home

This option depends on your location and timing, but putting your house up on AirBnb could potentially net you big bucks for a short stint. For example, I live in Milwaukee, which hosted the Republican National Convention last summer. Some Milwaukee residents were able to get as much as $2,400 per night by renting out their homes to visitors.

Use your skills

Like Liam Neeson, you have a very particular set of skills that can equal quick cash. For example, freelance writer Paulette Perhach has photography experience and a great camera, which she used to generate cash in a hurry several years ago. It was nearly Mother’s Day, so she took her camera and business cards to a local park and offered to take photos of the moms and kids for $20 per portrait.

Similarly, my husband is an automotive engineer and lifelong grease monkey. He could easily make some money by offering to vet used cars for potential buyers. He has the knowledge and technical skills to know what to look for in a good used car and what issues may present a problem down the road—and that kind of expertise is worth money.

Whatever you know well is something someone else needs and is willing to pay for.

$2,000 to $10,000

Sell a car

If you are in a two-car household and you either finance or own at least one vehicle, selling that car could help you get cash within a day. Lovingier explains that this would be his go-to method.

“If I absolutely had to get my hands on $5,000 today, we could sell the nicer vehicle we have and buy a cheaper car,” he says. “This could potentially be enough to get you into the $10,000 to $25,000 plus range, too.”

As an added bonus, selling a car means you can cancel insurance on that vehicle. If you paid ahead for your insurance, your insurer will give you a prorated refund on what you’ve already paid. Even if you’re not paid ahead, cancelling your insurance will free up the monthly premium moving forward.

Check for unclaimed funds

There may be money with your name on it just sitting around unclaimed. As of 2023, states held $70 billion in unclaimed funds, and it’s estimated that one out of every seven Americans is owed unclaimed property. What’s more, the average amount of unclaimed money is more than $2,000.

To discover if your state owes you money, you can search your state’s unclaimed property office. Make sure you check any other states you have lived in, as well.

But it’s not just state governments that may owe you money. You can also check to see if you’re owed unpaid wages from a former employer, money from someone who has declared bankruptcy, or even unclaimed insurance funds, among other sources of unclaimed funds.

$10,000 to $25,000

Tap your home equity

A home equity loan or line of credit are common options for generating cash quickly, but the application and approval process typically takes at least 30 days. These kinds of loans are also hard to qualify for if you have a low credit score.

However, there is another way to exchange your equity for cash: a home equity sharing agreement. With this process, a company or investor pays you a lump sum of money in exchange for a share of the home’s future appreciation or for partial ownership of the home. You repay the investor when you either sell the home or after an agreed-upon period of time, typically 10 or 30 years.

There are several online companies that offer home equity sharing agreements. Typically, you will need to prequalify before filling out the full application, but the process for this option tends to work quickly.

Borrow against your investments

If you have money invested, you may be able to leverage it for a loan, according to Jim Wang. “Most people don’t consider getting a loan against their investment portfolio,” Wang says. But similar to home equity, your portfolio can work as the basis for a loan of $25,000 or more.

“You can take out a loan against your portfolio or take a portfolio line of credit,” Wang suggests. “Talk to your brokerage and see if this is something they offer.”

Get your money on time

If you find yourself facing a serious financial crisis, don’t stress—strategize. No matter how you define a “large amount of money,” there are a number of methods you can implement to generate big bucks in a couple of days.