Have you been giving up on the little indulgences you yearned for just because you haven't been able to save up enough? Is the smart phone wait too long to resist? The lack of a vacation burning you out with mundane chores? Giving up on the foreign university education as you are falling short of resources?
It's time to stop sulking and put the extravagances of life back on the radar. No, we aren't recommending ways to toil and save up. Instead here are ways to soak in the luxuries without breaking the bank.
Put your car to use
Riding alone on a frequented route? Use car sharing platforms such blablacar.in, poolmycar.in, ORahi to earn additional income for the fuel spent. Corporates and start-ups are also looking for ways to build their brand at a cheaper cost. So, if you ride 15-20 kilometers to work each day manoeuvring busy street traffic, then you can easily ask for 5-digit figures for strutting a logo of the company on your car. The best place to check for options is your own company's marketing team.
Barter deals
Thirty seven-year-old Nidhi Purohit, a housewife, recently used a novel way to fund a trip to Dubai she had been planning for years. She helped a travel agent hunt for the mandatory 36 people for the group travel and instead of a referral fee, asked the agent to fly her family for free. There are many other such barters you can strike such as seeking content for a website you wish to set up in exchange of consultation and the likes.
P2P lending
Gone are the days when you had to fill up long forms and await your chance to meet the bank manager asking him for funds. Today there are platforms such as www.i-lend.in, I2Ifunding.com that hitch small borrowers with individual lenders by charging a processing fee for loans at the rate of 15-21% per annum.
They aren't looking for the same parameters as banks are and use advanced data analytics to cherry pick borrowers. "We check for political connections of the borrower through social media, check on the posts and the language used on social media platforms and other ways to examine the intention and capability of the borrower before registering them on our platform," says Raghavendra Pratap Singh, co-founder of I2Ifunding.com, which has helped finance weddings, holidays among other unsecured loans.
Crowdfunding
Be it a seaplane ride or the gadget you have been longing for, there are ways to let your friends and family know about your wishes and solicit support a dime at a time. Websites and apps such as Shareyourjoy.com help you fulfill your dreams without sounding desperate. A great after-effect is that you wouldn't have to struggle to stuff your wardrobe with unwanted birthday and anniversary gifts.
Crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter, trevolta.com, Indiegogo, Catapoolt, BitGiving, wishberry.in, fundmytravel.com too can offer expert assistance and a platform to fill your dream fund pool. One needs to get the creative juices flowing, offer wacky pitches requesting for funds.
A 21-year old cyclist, Deborah Herold, raised Rs 7 lakh through crowdfunding for a customised cycle for an international tournament. By offering a flat fee and later a set percentage of the amount raised, you can head for that much-yearned vacation or head for the ring purchase.
Sponsors
This is one way where your talent can help you fund your gadget, vacation or even designer dresses. So, if you can video blog, tag the couture you have adorned. Offer pictures and maps of untrodden paths to search engines and travel websites or offering help for study projects can help you earn a sponsor for your trip.
Reviewing gadgets regularly on your own platform or through an existing channel would be able to fetch you the review piece, often before it hits the market.