The credit crunch has resulted in many people finding their minimum payments increase and interest rates rise which makes it difficult to service the debts on an average wage.

There are a lot of useful articles out there on how to get out of debt by being disciplined in paying back the most expensive debts, and how to stretch your income and reduce your expenditure and I recommend that people read them and try out the suggestions. However in this article I'm going to focus on an additional tactic for getting rid of debt, which is increasing your income to see if you can make lump sum payments to get rid of the debt once and for all.

1. Take in lodgers You can raise quite a bit of money renting a spare room in your house to a lodger. Most people have at least one spare room in their home, which they use to store junk. Clear this out, and advertise the room. Because you will be charging less than the cost of renting an entire flat/apartment, you should find plenty of takers.

2. Get a second job. There are still jobs going doing things such as stacking shelves late on Sunday night at your local supermarket. There is nothing stopping you from showing some enterprise and doing some car cleaning for instance: go to a supermarket in the wealthy part of town and put up a sign in the carpark saying you'll clean their car for $10 while they do their shop. People are still prepared to pay for such a service for the sake of convenience.

3. Take part in medical trials. All drugs have to be tested first on healthy people to make sure they are safe for humans, and drug companies usually pay those who take part in trials very well. If you need to raise money quickly, this is one way to do it.

4. Rent out your garage or driveway. If you have an empty driveway and live the city centre or near office blocks, you could make money renting your drive out to office workers. As long as you make sure you charge less than public parking, you should get plenty of takers.

5. Rent your stuff out. If you have a massive collection of power tools, or own a barbecue or gardening implement or well, all sorts of things, you can earn my renting them out to people who have a temporary need but don't wish to actually buy the item in question.

6. Make money housesitting Many people hire housesitters when they are away on holiday or have been posted abroad for a few weeks, especially if they have pets they can't take with them. You can earn by doing some housesitting for them.

7. Sell your stuff on Ebay. If you have unwanted junk in your house, you can clear it and make a little money by getting rid of it on Ebay.

8. Sell your old books on Amazon. Amazon allow third parties to sell books on through website, and this is a good way of getting rid of books you've been given for Christmas but can never imagine yourself reading.

When you have raised your extra money, don't be tempted to treat it as extra income and spend it. Instead send off a payment immediately to the lenders to pay down the debt. The more money you can raise the quicker your debt will be clear. Use the above tactics in conjunction with the advice on reducing expenditure and the advice to target the most expensive debt first.

Learn more about this author, Lily S.
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