September has been an odd month for me. After spending five months traveling around Europe on a motorcycle with my boyfriend, I finally stopped and came back “home” to Paris. I call it home because I don’t have any other place right now, but in reality, I’m staying with my mom for a few weeks. After that, my grandparents have kindly lent me an unused apartment they own.
Coming back from such a long trip, I found myself with little money and two unpleasant surprises. Firstly, I had sold my flat in June, but dealing with a lot of paperwork took more time than expected, and the sale was finalized in August. I was supposed to receive the money for the flat next week, but the buyer backed out, which is legal in France within the week following the sale.
The second surprise wasn’t entirely unexpected—taxes. Like death, taxes are inevitable, but I didn’t anticipate having to pay such a large amount by the end of this month.
To complicate things further, back in July, when I had $5000 in my account, I decided to overpay on a 7% loan. Although I don’t regret this decision, I could have waited until the sale was finalized to avoid being so tight on cash right now.
Overall, my financial situation is stable; things are just moving slower than I anticipated. I found another buyer for the flat and expect to receive the money in a couple of months. In the meantime, I looked for small ways to generate some extra cash to ease my budget.
Here’s how I found some extra cash in September:
I started by visiting a cashback site, which got me about $50, mostly from hotel stays during the summer. I also tracked down some money I had never claimed, like a $100 heating refund and an additional $20 from the cashback site that didn’t track properly. With minimal effort—just a few emails—I got that money on its way to me. I often delay sending in documents for insurance claims or doctor bills to the social security and miss out on refunds. There’s probably a lot of unclaimed insurance money out there because people find it too much of a hassle to claim.
I sold two old bicycles that had been sitting in my mom’s storage for years and made $140. I also reviewed my various savings accounts. Some had small amounts like $35 or $40, so I withdrew that money, leaving only the minimum balance in each account. I felt relief from paying off my 7% debt, even though it left my 2% savings account nearly empty.
I babysat my niece. Although I would never charge for that, I did get free food. Additionally, I fixed up my other bicycle, which saved me around $80 in transportation costs for the month.
Usually, “snowflaking” involves using extra money to pay off debt. In this case, I looked for extra savings to help cover living expenses.
Do you have any other ideas for finding unclaimed money, cashing in on unused items, or getting freebies?