So I was thinking about ways an unemployed person might earn a little extra money this Christmas...

[mama22qts]

and I thought of this.

How about you offer to babysit for a half-day for families to finish their Christmas shopping? You could charge $10 per kid (for four hours that's a heck of a deal!) and if you did it for a couple of days, you could make a decent amount of money. And you wouldn't have to spend any money to be able to do it.

Just thinking...

[manders13]

i love the idea! thats a great way to make some extra cash!

[mainelycoupons]

I remember being a teenager and we always offered gift wrapping and sitting services. Normally a couple of us would takeover whoever had the biggest house and sit a bunch of kids for a couple hours for a flat fee each or wrap a stack of gifts for a set amount each.

Especially with all the clearance stuff we buy each year you could totally make out on gift wrapping.

Once it starts snowing in some places shoveling can net some quick and easy cash.

[mama22qts]

Here's something you can do just to save a little money and have fun too-- host a giftwrap party. Each brings a roll of their own giftwrap and some bows and ribbon. Then at the party you can use each other's wrap. Easy way to change up your giftwrap and not have everything wrapped the same way.

[Dengineer]

Here's a couple more ideas that I have tossed around--

Offer an assembly service--my mother told me about some college kids she heard about who made money going around on Christmas Eve and right after Christmas assembling playgrounds and large toys.

If you have big basement or other place to store items, you could charge a small fee for storing people's Christmas presents so their kids wouldn't be able to find them. Then charge to deliver them on Christmas Eve.

[shoppinglinda223]

I did a few of these things when I was a teenager for our neighbors to earn some extra spending money.

I would wrap their gifts for $1 an item plus the cost of wrapping paper, or they could supply thier own. I would also store the gifts in our basement and my father would help me deliver them on Christmas Eve for an additional $10 per family. I did this for about 5-7 families each year.

This was back in the late 80's, early 90's. I enjoyed wrapping all those gifts on our dining room table while watching Christmas programs or listening to music. Now I would probably charge $2 per package if I had the time to still do this.

I made about $200 if I remember correctly and would use that money to buy new trendy clothes during the after Christmas sales. I was a hard worker (still am) but not a good saver back them.