Needing advice on what to do for money.

[TX Honky]

funny dh just came in for lunch and he was talking about this and that he wanted to do around here and I threw in yeah I'd like to put up a dog kennel maybe 4-5 bays so I could board dog here for xtra money. He agreed but that would cost and so thats will have to wait. We are full on horses right now so horse boarding is out. Im strongly thinking about trying to clean houses. I've thought about working at a day care which I could take dd with me. I'll have to check it out, see if their looking for help. I thought that subbing at ds school every now and then would be good but they never call, darn teachers need to take a day off!

 

[miss_thenorth]

What I am considering doing is--cleaning houses, ( I am going to offer green cleaning too--as in no chemicals), being a companion for th elderly/disabled, offering a grocery shopping service, and preparing meals for shut-ins/seniors/single people. We have alot of seniors in my area, so I might be able to take advantage of that. Also animal sitting--if ppl have horses, chickens, rabbits, dogs and cats,, etc--if people need to take a weekend off, I can clean stalls, feed, etc. I won't exercise others horses if no one is there, just in case. But I can exercise dogs.

Also, if I get enough eggs etc to warrant going to a farmers market, I plan on making scented bath salts, rag rugs, bird houses etc to sell. If I get enough premade, I might rent a booth at a craft sale etc. Since I haven't workd in 12+ years, this might be easier for me to do than actually get a real job. Since my kids are older, I can't entertain the idea of babysitting here either, since I don't have any toys anymore.

 

[Beekissed]

Do some market research in your area and see if raising some chickens for egg sales would bring in money. Or even raising a few broilers in chicken tractors, like Joel Salatin does. Fast turn around time for broilers..only 8 wks! Rabbits are a good money maker as well, if you can line up some buyers. All of these things don't take much of an investment, you won't have to leave the farm until you have to deliver the product and you can take your DD with you.

Dog grooming is a pretty lucrative side business here, even out in the country. As for people paying someone to clean...they are out there and you wouldn't believe just how many actually do pay for this and just how much they pay!

Raise some honeybees and sell your honey, beeswax candles, lip balms and salves. Make some homemade soaps and lotions, bath salts and sugar scrubs. These are fun and bring in more than you think!

 

[angie68]

do you think i could actually get people to pay to have thier house cleaned? I mean with the way everyone seems to have less money these days? I wouldnt pay for someone to clean my house even if I could. I would love to be able to work my own sched. I have to drive into town 2x a day to take ds to bus and pick him up, so i would already be in town, the only thing is getting people to hire me, I mean.. me with my baby verses the the hispanic lady whos been cleaning houses forever. and thats not a racial remark! but seriously our town is chuck full of hispanic ladies who clean houses. One of my lady friends from PTA whos is hispanic only cleaned one house. But she went there like 3x a week. Rich people.

The answer is YES!! I make 1150.00 a month cleaning 3 places! I clean a wealthy older couple's house on Thursday. On Friday I clean a local church, and on Saturday I clean a bank.

There is GREAT money in it. The key is to find those business' and people who work jobs that aren't affected by the economy.

I work 6 hours a week. I'd like to build on mine but am waiting for the right places. Be careful what you bid on, time is money!

 

[punkin]

TXHonkey,

Even I would clean for that kind of money.

Good score, Angie68

 

[patandchickens]

cleaning sounds like a good gig. you might want to look into getting bonded/insured.

horse boarding is NOT a great way to make money for most people though... it is quite dangerous to do it without appropriate insurance (your homeowner's policy almost certainly does not cover it and most often forbids it. You don't want a problem to result in getting sued for everything you own, and you also don't want a problem to come to the attention of your insurance company and have them cancel your policy for not conforming to their rules [which can make it difficult or impossible to get anyone else to write you a policy either]). Also, few people manage to make much of any profit (unless they are cutting big corners on insurance and/or horse care) without having a *bunch* of boarded horses and a bunch of added-value facilities/services that allow the board to be more expensive.

You know, though, possibly

Well now if there is something that I want, I cant do that, I have to wait for dh's opinion and sometimes it's "well lets wait til next paycheck" and so by that time I've talked myself out of wanting it so bad.

may be an ADVANTAGE in some ways... LOL

Have fun, good luck,

Pat

 

[me&thegals]

With your degree, you might want to reconsider medical transcription at home. I've done it since my kids were born, went back to work 6 weeks after each of their births (had to) and managed to raise a family while doing it. The trick for me was to get up early in the morning to get a couple hours in and then stay up later at night if naptime wasn't enough to get the rest of my half-time hours in. Very flexible job!

 

[FarmerChick]

actually for me horse boarding made wonderful money. it is not good for a backyard boarder situation.

we had insurance, had to hang equine law signs, conform to certain rules the insurance demanded, etc....but the cost of insurance was pitance compared to our profits.

We bought all feed, shavings, etc. by the ton. you must be able to do that to make money also.

so as a business, great deal. as a sideline business without proper coverage etc...could be definitely a liability.

we have a 14 acre pasture and a 30 acre pasture for our horses and boarded horses. all were outside all the time with run in sheds available...but to feed, each horse was brought into their stall, fed and put back out and any bad weather the horses were put up.....so mostly being outside the work on mucking stalls etc. was minimal...again for good profits..LOL

I thoroughly enjoyed my boarders, but ya know, now that I am done with that time in my life, I doubt I would want more boarders, cause I am getting more and more incline not to deal with people anymore..HA HA

 

[angie68]

Yes, this is true...being bonded and insured is the ONLY way to get the business! I am both, and the insurance is 120.00 every 3 months for a million dollar policy.....there's no way to get a bank unless you are!

 

[miss_thenorth]

So how do you get bonded/insured and are they the same thing?