OK, so I know it sounds extreme, but there was an ad in the classifieds asking for plasma donors. It said, "Make up to $125 this week." We did the math. There are two of us. We can buy a lot of groceries or electricity for $250 we can make this week. So we looked into it.
It turns out that it's not as extreme as you'd think. There is a local donation center that operates year-round, and the process is fairly simple. I always thought that it was painful, or medically difficult, but the truth is that it's neither. It's basically just like giving blood, except that it takes quite a bit longer. Potential donors have to submit to a routine physical, including a blood test. After you've passed this step, you just make an appointment to donate, go in, get hooked up, and sit quietly for a bit while your blood is drawn and processed. Once the blood is removed, the plasma will be separated and set aside, and a sterile saline solution will be used to replace it. When that's done, the blood will simply be put back. That's right, put back. (I've actually had a similar procedure before, surprisingly, so my blood has already been removed and put back--I figured that one more time wouldn't hurt it.)
Our conclusion was that donating plasma is easy and basically painless, and not only that, it's actually a great way to help others. Plus, of course, they pay you. So we agreed to make appointments and go together, probably "next week."
And then the tax refund arrived. And we all breathed a great sigh of relief and abandoned Money-Making Scheme #2--at least for now.
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