Old topic, but need new ideas

**scrava** · 06-22-2007, 01:46 PM

Can you find someone who needs a babysitter and will let you bring your kids? (for quality daycare here I would allow it... it's about $12/hour/kid here... if I oculd let you bring your kids and pay you less I'd be fine w/ it).

**mom-from-missouri** · 06-22-2007, 01:49 PM

i advertised for that too. Ran the ad for a month (thats 4 issues of the county paper and the city one). Didn't get a single call. Seems most people around here let their kids run all summer. Town only has 2700 people in it, and most are over 50. Few kids.

**disneysteve** · 06-22-2007, 07:32 PM

Do you have anywhere to buy stuff to sell on ebay? Yard sales, flea markets, thrift shops, outlet stores, auctions? $300/month on ebay isn't tough if you have a steady supply of merchandise.

**cschin4** · 06-23-2007, 04:49 AM

Are you setting aside some income during the school year where you are receiving a regular income? I would do that and then you could continue to "pay yourself" a monthly paycheck.
I would suggest house cleaning. That seems like an in demand thing around here. Post some ads at your local grocery store bulletin board and in your local paper. But, you have to be willing to drive.
The same with sitting, etc you have to be willing to go to the client.
If you have alot of stuff and know alot of neighbors you could set up a "perpetual yard sale" each weekend. If you could find people who have stuff to sell, you could pick it up and pay them a flat fee, a percentage of the sales or however you want to do it. Since you live out of town, you would want to have a decent size yard sale each weekend to get word of mouth out and people to come back. You could even sell lemonade, etc. Some families have yard sales going all summer. But, it depends on where you live. You may have to pay for a permit or that may actually be prohibited.

**lieweheksie** · 06-23-2007, 06:56 AM

could you ebay for other people
are there lots of crafters on your area- maybe you ebay some of their handiwork- handmade quality items are allways in demand
good luck

**mom-from-missouri** · 06-23-2007, 09:07 AM

We are zoned. The county limits us to 2 garage or yard sales a year. All that we sell we have to collect sales tax on. We have to get a permit also, its $25.
There is one gal around here who does house cleaning. She doesn't get enough to keep busy. This is a very very rural area. Most homes have a stay at home farm wife--so they don't need a sitter or house cleaner.
During the school year i only earned $250 a month. Not enough to save any back (I worked 2 hrs a day at the school doing aftercare). I also do some sub teaching, but I am not now as it is summer. I will not be doing the aftercare next year, as we are not going to that school anylonger.
The last few things I put on ebay didn't sell as well as I hoped. Also, I find it hard to upload photos to ebay. Right now my computer speed is reading 9 kpbs out. So, it literly takes all night for a photo to upload to ebay-providing the connection doesn't drop. (the phone company can't get it any better due to where we live).
The library does not allow "foreign" cds or disc to be brought in, so I can't add pictures to my ads there. (they sell blank ones for people to download to) None of our family lives here to use a computer of theirs.
To give you an idea of how rural I am, the closest town has a population of 34. 11 miles population of less than 2000. 18 miles on population of 13,000. 34 miles population of 30,000 then another 20 miles to kansas city.
Having moved here less than a year ago, I really don't know people. They don't have scouts or stuff here to meet parents. My kids are in 4H once a month, but parents tend to drop the kids off and leave.
This fall we will be joining a home school coop (22 miles away) and I will be meeting some there, but then again, school will be open and I will be sub teaching some then also.
In checking the local paper, the only help wanted ad was a lady wanting a kid to come feed her cat 2 times a day and change its litter box while she is out of town. She will pay $4 a day. That is the first help wanted ad that has run in 4 or 5 months. (Our paper comes out every 2 weeks)

**Joan.of.the.Arch** · 06-23-2007, 10:01 AM

I can't think of anything that is totally reliable, but if you are willing to string toether several things here are some ideas.

Will you be able to sell produce from your garden? Or eggs, if you have chickens. A friend of mine had hens producing more than they could eat, but it never occurred to her to sell them until someone called asking to buy.

If you have a place of worship, can you let people know that you are in need of work?

If that town has a lot of people over 50, maybe their are folks who would like to pay someone else to mow. A few mowing jobs per weekend could add up.

In the future, could you plant a pick-your own fruit, berry or vegetable garden? Advertise it even in Kansas city?

Do you have wild areas that could be openned to "wildcrafting" harvest? There are people who would harvest things like queen anne's lace for bouquets, lambs quarters (goosefoot) and poke salat for edible greens, elderberries for jams, dock for lipbalms, lotus seeds for dried arrangements, dandelion for salads. Or you could take in samples of wild flowers, foliage, and seed heads to an in town florist. You might get a regular customer. My mother actually sold dried corn tassels from out of her backyard garden! people loved them! Can you imagine?!

Call any caterers you know of and tell them you can work special events. They can keep your name on hand and give you a call for those one-time only events when they need extra help.

Does a college have a tutoring program in union with your elementary, middle, or high schools? Our community college runs such a program year round. They are always in need of tutors and you don't need to be a certified teacher to be hired. It is parttime and they will accomodate people who can only work for a short period---like over the summer.

Are you near a fishing lake and can clean fish? Advertise that you will clean and freeze the first days' catch while the fisher people are out working on their second days'. I have no idea what you might charge for a service like that, but I do know there are some people who fish who are reluctant to clean their own catch.

**Staceyy** · 06-23-2007, 10:06 AM

For ideas, go to Barbara Sher's Official Website and click on the Bulletin Boards, and then Jobs and Income Streams. The $100 hour thread is especially interesting for someone seeking to find additional income. If you don't find what you're looking for in the numerous threads, you can post for help. Good luck!

**cschin4** · 06-23-2007, 11:34 AM

Are you a farmer? Where does you spouse work?
I know everybody says "E-bay" as if that is instant money. But, there are millions of things for sale on Ebay. To me, it seems like mostly hit and miss and probably more "miss". But, I don't E-bay so I can't say. But, it now has become the standard advice, kind of like telling people who are in debt to turn off their cable. However, I think it is a good idea if you have things to sell.
Seems like you will need a series of small things to earn some income. If you have a farm, can you open it up, offer hayrides, pumpkins in the fall, berry picking in the summer, etc? Can you sell produce, etc? The fact is, that you may need to drive somewhere and meet people where they are at. If you really want to earn money sometimes you need to do what needs to be done.

**mom-from-missouri** · 06-23-2007, 04:16 PM

We do farm, but due to county zoning and health dept regs, I have to first take classes, and pay various fees totaling close to $500.
My ebay problem is I can't get pictures to load in a decent timeframe because of the slow internet speed from living so far out in the country. It takes anywhere from 2 hrs to all night to load one. I have been trying to load one for a couple hours on by blog and its just soooo slow.

My big hobby is genelogy. I love going thru cemeteries. Someone once told me I could advertise on the net to go and take pictures of graves for other genelogy buffs, but I have no idea on how to market that idea on the net. My customers would not be local people (or they would do it themselves), but I would/could go to my county and nearby ones and do it for a fee. But how do I let someone on the otherside of the country know I can do it?

**lieweheksie** · 06-23-2007, 11:54 PM

just an idea- do you have the space for a B&B( bed and breakfast)
some of us city folks would pay you money to spend a weekend on a working farm

**LuxLiving** · 06-24-2007, 04:23 AM

Don't have time to read the rest of the responses this morning so this might be a repeat.

Truck garden and sell the extras or advertise and let the nearby city locals (11 miles plus) come out and pick them.

Make decorated birthday cakes - sell for dollars.

Be the farm that the kids can bike over to and buy an ice-cream from your freezer.

If you are a seamstress - my niece sewed wallets $10, welding hats $8, personalized handtowels $12 (applique a band of material to the towel) and purses $35+ - out of custom fabric to meet people's interests - sports moms, dog people, cat people, etc. She would make a bunch and then arrange to make visits to office buildings in the surrounding towns during the lunch hour. She ended up developing quite a following and many many of her clients made multiple purchases at a time and often thru the years.

On the genealogy - let the genealogical socities in the towns/counties you are willing to work know of your intent. Send them a flyer that they can hang on to.

I'll keep thinking...

**cschin4** · 06-24-2007, 12:30 PM

The simplest way to earn money. Go out and get a part-time or seasonal job. Very simple. But, everyone wants some easy answer such as Ebay, etc. The fact of life is that we can't just stay home and wait for checks to arrive! If you figure that one out, fill me in!

**disneysteve** · 06-24-2007, 01:04 PM

Originally posted by cschin4 View Post

everyone wants some easy answer such as Ebay

I suspect you don't sell on ebay. If you did, you'd know it is most certainly not an "easy answer" to making money. You need to find, buy, clean up, research, photograph and list your items. You need to respond to questions during your auctions. After items sell, you need to pack, weigh and ship the items. It is very time consuming.

The reason that ebay gets mentioned so often is it is something virtually anyone with a digital camera, a computer and internet access can start doing immediately. No other special skills or equipment is required. Plus, you can work at your own pace, from home, 24/7. If you are a SAHM (or SAHD), you can do ebay work while the kids are napping or in school or doing their homework. Or you can ebay after the kids are in bed at night. And you can ebay as much or as little as you wish. You are your own boss and set your own hours. The potential is there to make as much as you want if you are willing to put in the effort. The hardest part for most people is finding merchandise, but just about anything can be sold on ebay if you can find it at the right price.

Old topic, but need new ideas