Work At Home, Income, and Self -Help Ideas

[Tango]

Gaia's post in the infamous SHTF thread about the information that had been accumulated in that thread got me to think that perhaps while it is fresh, we can save it to another thread without having to revisit that one or depend on it.

What are your ideas for generating cash flow?

So far my ideas have been toward helping myself not have to buy. This year I grew my own garden. First time I depended on my own garden for food. I grew sunflower seeds for protein. I'm raising gilts for breeding to sell piglets. I raise chickens for eggs and to feed my pigs (when they start laying). I have guineas for insect control, along with the chickens. I've a Jersey due to freshen with her second calf soon and am raising two calves for income.

I purchased a second property for future investment and have a history of buying land instead of stock or keeping a hefty savings account. Land has always been a good investment for me. I enjoy looking at it more than looking at numbers.

I am a writer primarily and sell articles to magazines. Yes, I'm working on that great novel as well and have published poetry for about 20 years. Mainly I have cut way back on my lifestyle to not spend money though spending will always be necessary. Getting down to the nitty gritty basics without getting into deprivation.

[katlupe]

I went through some bad times myself. Dh was in a accident and couldn't go back to his job. At the time, we were trying to promote his music cd, but his right arm was crushed pretty bad. So he could not play the guitar, and in the music business, you have to play to market it. So it was on to other things. I have, since that time, 2002, developed that website into a online store and for awhile also, had the ebay store. But now it's just the website, which is doing pretty good, after all this time.

I grow as much food as I can. Next year, I plan on putting in more raised beds. I try to buy in bulk as much as possible. I also just recently, have cut our meat consumption way down. I can make better use of that money for other things I need to add, such as solar panels, a wind turbine, finish insulating our house, or other projects on our house and barn.

Hopefully, next year, I will be able to add chickens and a milking goat to our homestead. That would save us a ton of $.

Mostly, what I have been doing is trying to get rid of all of our clutter and extra items that we do not use or want anymore. So I list it on Cheapcycle and make a few bucks. I have our bill structure down pretty low, that we just could not afford to live anywhere else cheaper. My only luxury is our horses, which I will never get rid of. It's still tight around here, but we are able to get by.

katlupe

[Tango]

Originally Posted by katlupe

Hopefully, next year, I will be able to add chickens and a milking goat to our homestead. That would save us a ton of $.

katlupe

Where you at Katlupe? I have 10 or 11 pullets and can share

[Peacock]

Tango, you'd make a lot more by writing for businesses. I used to write for magazines too, but got tired of being a starving artist.

[kesoaps]

Turning whatever you've got into cash. For me, it's the sheep. I sell the lambs, spin the wool, and milk them for soap (next year, cheese!) It's not a fortune, but it's income. I've noticed a dramatic change in the garden when using their fertilizer, too, which means more food grown and less purchased.

I've begun purchasing sweaters at second hand stores, then felting desings onto them and reselling for 4 or 5 times the cost. I had them at the last two farmer's markets, sold two items at each market and had a profit of $75.

Okay, here's something that's not for everyone: a pooper scooper. I hear tell there's pretty big money to be made going from yard to yard cleaning up after Fido. I think it's one of those jobs that a person could fit into a schedule...I'd thought about doing it for the couple of hours DD spends in class twice a week. Not sure anyone would want to be around me afterwards, though, lol!

Painting holiday windows is something I ought to try again this year...haven't had time the past few, but it generated Christmas money.

Selling excess eggs can pay for your chicken's feed, meaning your eggs are free. Great source of protien for those who can't afford a lot of meat.

Housekeepers are always in demand. In this area, if you work on your own, you can earn $20 hr easily. Hire someone to work with you (subcontract them, really) for $10 hr and you're making even more.

[magnolia2017]

Hmmm . . .DH fixes up lawn equipment and sells or trades. He has a mountain of excess parts which I'm not wild about, but now that people know what he has, they often stop here to see if he has a used part they may need.

In the past I have sold on ebay and done pretty good. The key is to do some research before you list your items. If an item regularly sells for $2, it's foolish to list the same item for $10 or more. I stick with used items instead of new because it keeps the overhead down. My best seller has been china, kitchenware and CDs. The downside is that creating listings takes time and you want your description to be as detailed as possible. Also you pay an insertion fee and a percentage of the final value when the item sells.

When we had excess eggs, we would sell and the money they brought in more than paid for the feed.

Maggie

[MelissaW]

Hi Tango! I'm working away from home again, but I still have a couple of home ventures going. The newest is dessert catering. I fell into it by accident. When my husbands secretary retired, I sent a giant tray of cookies to work. I guess a lot of people liked them, because they asked if I would consider catering cookie and pastry trays for corporate functions, and several people asked if they could buy them when the holidays roll around. Profits certainly aren't high enough for a person to live off of, but it's fun and brings in a little spending money! I still sell eggs, which barely covers the cost of feed, but, again, it's fun and supports my poultry hobby. Tayloring is a nice little home business as well. I'm not a good enough seamstress for it, but my mother makes period costumes for people who do Renaissance fairs.

[Alex]

Nearly anything you can do can be done as a home business. Contract yourself out.

• write
• weld
• cut hay
• hammer nails
• paint pictures and houses
• bake
• cook
• sell beans
• drafting with AUTOCAD
• engineering
• typing
• spreadsheet work
• telephone work
• all either in the home or away
• YOuRSELF INC or .com, or ??
• your own acconting and books firm
• taxes -- sure pay them -- maybe fill out those nasty forms for others
• baskets
• chairs
• birdhouses
• sell on the net or market by ads or phone book -- or be a marketing person for others
• have lots of money and get more somehow
• help people buy/sell land
• ETC.

Very personal, keep thinking.

Of course you want to figure out what you like, or worse, how much money you want etc.

Good Luck, we all need it,

Alex

[Ross]

Well our money comes from a boarding kennel, farming/farmers' market, and now I've got my training and license for furnace repair/instalation. I like the troubleshoot mechanical things. The kennel pays the bills, and if you want to make some cash board cats./ Low cost high return, and the wounds heal fast. Dog boarding is an insurance nightmare.

[Tango]

Originally Posted by edayna

Tango, you'd make a lot more by writing for businesses. I used to write for magazines too, but got tired of being a starving artist.

Thanks for the tip Edayna. I've a very low maintenance lifestyle so starving artist income goes a long way here

[Tango]

Originally Posted by Ross

The kennel pays the bills, and if you want to make some cash board cats./ Low cost high return, and the wounds heal fast. Dog boarding is an insurance nightmare.

I've always wondered about the boarding business and thought it would be a liability. Too bad I am allergic to everybody's cats except my own... no cat scratch fever?

[kesoaps]

Cats are a great idea. DD and I care for the neighbor's cattery while they're gone and think we're raking up when they give us $20 a day, especially since it's less than an hour including travel time. But to do it at your home, heck, that'd be sweet!

[silvergirl]

DH and I run a homecleaning service in WNC and it keeps us afloat - it's a great business and easy to run from your own home! I prefer to be self-employed - if I don't like a client, I don't have to work for them and I like that freedom.

I also sell our chicken's eggs at the tailgate market and that pays for most of the feed for my animals - it's amazing, really! and I sell chevre and yogurt, and just bartered eggs, milk and cheese for a chiropractic treatment! I've had requests to do baking for people, too - they want the homemade bread but don't want to do it themselves...

We also grew a garden last year and are working with cold frames for the first time this fall, to extend our growing season... but I pretty much live off the dairy products from Sadie (my goat) and the chickens, with the salad and garden greens thrown in... simplicity is the key... when DH and I have our earth ship home built and a little bit more land, we'll primarily be living off the grid, and with more room for livestock, it will be even easier to be supporting ourselves from our animals and our land... Meanwhile, I am intent on making the best/most use out of what we have - which is only three quarters of an acre... we are clearing the natural mountain underbrush for the first time, and planting clover as ground cover - it should grow through the winter... and we are currently looking at planting apple trees and fruit trees on the steeper mountainside which we should be able to harvest next season... it really isn't so much how much you have as how well you use what you do have... and that goes for land and produce as much as for talents and abilities!

BTW, I'm also a writer - and am currently looking for a publisher for my book... I've had a bit of success with publishing an article or two here and there and a few poems, but I would love to make a living off my writing! One of our cleaning clients has a business teaching people how to make a living writing copy for businesses - which he has made mega-bucks doing very successfully for years - I just got one of his instructional manuals from his wife and am looking it over...
Silvergirl

[Thinkinaboutit]

Originally Posted by kesoaps

I've begun purchasing sweaters at second hand stores, then felting desings onto them and reselling for 4 or 5 times the cost. I had them at the last two farmer's markets, sold two items at each market and had a profit of $75.

Kesoaps, would you please follow me to the crafts forum and explain how you do this or point me in the right direction? It sounds like a fabulous project! Sure would appreciate your help.


www.WhatIsTheTrueGospel.com

[Gaia]

1. Babysit Don't offer just child care but elderly care as well.

2. Pet Sitting - (Dogs and Cats are most well known, but what about offering for birds/reptiles/fish/rodents as well?)

3. Aluminum/Metal recycling - Contact friends, churches, service organizations, businesses in area. Search Free sites such as Freecycle for items being given away such as lawnmowers or grills.

Items that can be recycled -
Catalytic converters
Computer Scraps - circuit boards/motherboards/backplanes/CPU, IC, memory, eproms, video & sound cards, servers, cables, connectors, networking, test & manufacturing equipment.
Copper Wire
Electric Motors
Pumps
Scrap Metals - Aluminum, Beryllium, Brass, Bronze, Copper, Germanium, Gold, Hastelloy, Incoloy, Inconel, Indium, Iridium, Monel, Osmium, Palladium, Platinum, Rhenium, Rhodium, Ruthenium, Stainless Steel, Stellite, Tantalum, Titanium, Silver, Waspaloy. Astroloy, Duranickel Alloy, Haynes, Invar, Multimet, Nickel, Nicklel powder, Nickle oxide, Nimonic, Nitronic, Permanickel Alloy, Rene, Bismuth, Cobalt, Cobalt powder, Cobalt oxide, Molybdenum, Molybdenum oxide, Molybdenum powder.
Tubing - Scrap heat exchanger tubing, Scrap condenser tubing, Scrap copper tubing, Scrap Incoloy Tubing/pipe, Scrap hastelloy tubing/pipe, Scrap monel tubing/pipe, Scrap stainless tubing/pipe.
X-ray Film

4. Find local consignment shops in area. Be sure these are the type that pay for your time/services and are not "donation" only. Find out what is in demand at the store, then take some dimes/quarters and go garage-saling. Buy good quality clothing in good condition, especially childrens clothing. Refrain from spending more then 25 cents per item. Buy only one type of clothing. Once you have enough for a load, take items to consignment shop for re-sale.

5. Garage Sale Shop Keep an eye out for good books for a quarter or less. If you have a used book dealer in area see if you can sell books there. In addition you can start listing them on ebay (costs money) or with Amazon and other online auction sites.

Work on gaining knowledge of antiques, guns, tools, collectibles etc. Then keep an eye out for these items which can be purchased cheap and resold at profit. Do not attempt this until you know your stuff or you will lose money on bad purchases.

6.) Housecleaning

7.) Manual Labor - go to neighbors and around town and offer to clean roofs/siding/gutters/rake leaves/weed gardens/fix fences/mow lawn and weedeat for a reasonable price. Don't short change yourself, but keep your cost down to get return business and a good reputation.

8.) Helping hand jobs. Run errands for elderly/invalids such as shopping.

[Gaia]

Places to place your resume online.

General Employment Sites
www.careerbuilder.com
www.monster.com
www.jobster.come
www.jobbankusa.com

Government Jobs
http://jobsearch.usajobs.opm.gov/
http://www.govtjobs.com/
http://www.governmentjobs.com/

Local Newspapers
http://www.newspaperlinks.com/voyager.cfm

(Pick up "Free" papers at local supermarkets/stores as well. Often these have a employment section. Often it isn't big companies but smaller mom/pop shops seeking help, but a paycheck is a paycheck.)

Employment Agencies & Temp Jobs
http://www.cvtc.edu/Employment/Agencies.htm

(Check your local phonebook and surrounding cities for additonal ones in your area.)

Trade Jobs
http://www.tradejobsonline.com/
http://technical.thingamajob.com/Bro.../All/All/All/0

(Often trades are designed to be "earn while you learn". You don't earn much in these setups, but you get some money coming in and are learning a valuable trade at the same time. When you have shown your ability to learn the new trade, you are almost guaranteed work when finished as there is a shortage of tradespeople lately.)

Computer/IT Jobs
http://www.nationjob.com/computers/
http://www.computerwork.com/
http://www.itjobs.net/
http://www.tech-centric.net/

[Gaia]

I take no credit for my posts, they were the combined thoughts,ideas and efforts of the people of this forum in the SHTF thread. I just wished to not see the valuable information lost.

[Ravenlost]

Some things I have done when I was a single mom:

1. Was a licensed home daycare provider;
2. Made grapevine wreaths with my mom for extra Christmas cash;
3. Cleaned houses;
4. Tutoring;
5. Typed term papers, etc. for college students.

That's all I can think of at the moment. I know there's more!

[Tango]

Very good ideas! Thanks Gaia for all the links. The recent articles in Countryside about running a home business had great ideas in terms of exectation and scheduling. To paraphrase the main point : having a home business is still a business. You have to give time to it. It takes self discipline to find clients and keep clients. You have to schedule work - it doesn't mean lounging around in your p.j.s. It means sometimes getting to work at home in your p.j.s - big difference.

There is also a difference in expectation methinks. I've cousins who run an accounting business from their home. They work like beasts of burden for half the year and work like regular folks the remaining half. They make a very good income but have very little life to enjoy it. Now they're cutting back, moving across the road from me and settling down to enjoy life as they approach their 70's. The way I saw it, that workhorse mentality wouldn't do for me. I cut my expenses way back... way back... in order to enjoy my life. I have investments but not a huge savings account- so little disposable cash and little cash assets. As that saying goes, I "work to live not live to work." Like any worthwhile endeavor it takes some thinking, researching, and time and understanding what one is comfortable with. My method may not be the right one for many people. I only care that it is the right one for me.

I forgot to mention that I design websites on a barter basis. I barter for pleasure, like animals , as well as for necessities like staple foods, canned foods, honey, etc. Web design isn't rocket science and many can learn to do it easily and design for folks who don't have the time to design or maintain their web.

[Wendy]

I make homemade soap & lotion & also soy candles. I just yesterday sold a counted cross stitch I had done for $200! I have another almost finished that I will sell. I sell eggs & whatever else off the farm that I can. I am feeding out 50 broilers. I'll keep half & sell the others. I am also feeding out 2 pigs. We will kep one & sell the other one basically getting ours for free. I have had requests for picture frames made form old barn siding, so I will do that soon. My mind is always turning trying to come up with more ideas to bring in money. I have strawberries, blackberries , raspberries, & grapes I will sell when I have surplus. Produce form the garden when I have extra though I usually end up giving it away to those in need.