Are you late on rent? Are you finding difficult to decide whether filling up your car with gas to get to work or paying for groceries? In today’s economic crisis, it is common for many people to suddenly find themselves short on money. Available funds and traditional sources of credit are more difficult to find than ever. So here are 3 ways to raise cash in a few days.

Worried about money?

1. Taking in a “roommate”
You got into real estate when the economy was still going strong. But now that the world is drowning into the economic crisis, your chances to get that salary raise you were hoping to get to help you pay you mortgage are as possible as you winning the lottery. You have that extra room you use as an office space (that you used once… when you put together the office table) or that extra room you are now using as storage space. Sharing living expenses can be a good way to help you earn a little bit more income every month and will add more cash in your pocket. However, make sure that when you ask someone to move into your spare room, you draw up a lease agreement, even if the prospective tenant or boarder is someone you know.
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2. Renting your luxury accessories
While the economy was blooming and money was “growing on trees”, you decided to indulge yourself and got yourself a few high end accessories. The “Louis Vutton”, “Gucci” and “Prada” are sitting at the back of your closet. However, with today’s economic recession, you find that the occasions to take them out of their protective bag is happening less and less often. Although the economic slowdown is touching everyone, not everybody is willing to get over their taste for luxury. Some creative people have found a new way to making money: renting out luxury accessories. Instead of committing themselves to buying one expensive item that they will need to keep for the rest of their life, and digging deep into their budget, some people now prefer to rent luxury accessories. Hence, those people will rent an otherwise too expensive bag or dress for a special occasion such as a wedding, a prom or or business cocktail

3. Becoming a clinical trial volunteer
You probably heard about them on TV, on the radio or read about them in the paper. However, when money was “growing on trees”, they never caught you attention. As a matter of facts, clinical research trials were once mostly popular among the student population. In today’s economic turndown, clinical research trials are now more and more popular as a way to make quick and easy money for everybody. Before you enroll in a clinical research trial, the staff conducting the studies will determine if you are suitable for the study (inclusion and exclusion criteria). After you enrollment, you will undergo several procedures and may test a new medication or therapy. How much they pay will depend on the clinical trial you decide to enroll in, and on the drug development phase. Although they may pay well, you have to remember that there may be side effects from the new medication or therapy. However, the clinical trial staff will let you know about all the possible side effects of the new drugs, and your health is always their priority. Finally, as a subject, you have the right to leave the study at any time.

This list is not exhaustive, and there are many other ways to generate extra income. Keep your eyes and ears open and look for opportunities.

Make money fast

The pharmaceutical and health-care industry have historically been relatively immune to economic turndowns, because illness doesn’t take a vacation. Yet, with the ongoing recession, financial support will be reduced. Therefore, like in other industries, it is expected that the most affected by the reduced availability in funding will be the early stage biotech and pharmaceutical companies who need funding. But is there more to come?

There are a few possible speculations.

1. There is a possibility that things will get worst due to the fact that the market will be so uncertain that no financial investors will be willing to back up any company with a risky profile, notably in regards to the early or short term investments. In the event of this scenario, all industries will be affected. Companies with little cash will go one by one, until the economy heals.

2. Investors are often reluctant to put their money into biotech and pharmaceutical companies because of other very attractive industries such as buyouts and investments in resources (mines, oil). As the economic crisis goes on, the opportunities for capital will decline further. Because of the known and well recorded risk profile of the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, investors are going to stay away and put their assets in sectors with none to low risks. However, exit routes also play an important role. Unless there is a fast return, there is only one way for a biotech/pharma company to be profitable: through acquisition by a larger biotech or pharmaceutical company. Because of the way biotech and pharmaceutical companies usually grow, this is highly likely to happen. In this scenario, smaller companies, unable to sustain their finance could potentially ask bigger biotech/pharma company to bankroll them, allowing the industry to survive and even grow.

As a matter of fact, that second hypothesis has already started to take place. With today’s economic turndowns, big drug companies are on a shopping spree. With the stock market prices tumbling, acquisitions are becoming cheaper. Also, struggling to find loans and capital, smaller companies are now more enticed to turn to the bigger ones to survive. Many big pharma companies, such as Bristol-Myers, GlaxoSmithKline or Wyeth, have been staring down billions worth of drug-patent expirations and many of them have few up-and-coming drugs to fill the blank. This economic crisis has given them exceptional opportunities to find bargains amongst the unfortunate small to medium companies in need for funding.

Nonetheless, it is important to remember that although the recession has yield great merges and acquisitions by the bigger biotech/pharma companies, the biotech and pharmaceutical industry is also very affected by the economic slowdown, and many of them are cutting jobs and closing factories. The belief of pharmaceutical and the health-care industry immunity to economic turndown is now on hold, and so is the hope for new medicine breakthrough.

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Finding money is becoming more and more challenging. However, some people hare using hidden resources to generate income.

Once mainly popular amongst students as an “easy and fast” way to make money, clinical trials are now becoming part of many everyday people’s lifestyle. Clinical research involves volunteers to testing new drugs. By doing so, they allow the gathering of data important to determine the safety and efficacy of the new drug, and its potential release on the market.

Some of the most reckless volunteers can bring up to $25,000 a year by participating in several clinical trials. After signing a consent form and passing the inclusion criteria, volunteers have to go to a clinical research center and undergo several tests such as checking vital signs, electrocardiograms, breathing tests, exercise tests, before and after receiving treatment. The treatment consist of a new investigational drug or can also be a placebo. Participants may have to give blood up to 5 times on a visit day at the clinical research center. Hence, volunteers who join many clinical trials may give blood up to 300-500 times throughout the year and may have tested about a dozen of new treatments or placebo.

The number of visits and hours allocated, as well as the pay per visit varies considerably between different trials and depend largely on the stage of the product development and the type of trial the volunteers are enrolled in. Therefore, participant may be paid between 50$ to 500$ for each session and each trial can last a few days to several months.  Each trial may include several consecutive visit days at the center and volunteers can also be asked to keep a diary between the visits, to assess any improvements or side effects due to the new medication. Volunteers are expected to be compliant to allow accuracy of the data, especially about safety and efficacy.  These data are particularly important to decide what are the next steps to be taken regarding the investigational drug, and if the product can safely be used on sick or younger patients.

This said, there is always safety concerns, especially at early stage of drug development, meaning side effects or drug reactions. However, possible side effects and the well-being of every subject are always a high priority for the pharmaceutical companies as well as for the investigators and staff conducting the trials. A participant may has the right to withdraw their consent at any given time, and this without any reasons.

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In conclusion, in these times of economic turndown, creative and new ways of generating money can be a big relief at the end of the month. Some people are now making their living of clinical trials and to those “lab rats”, in spite of the possible side effects, getting involved in trials is their new way to make sufficient income to pay the bills.