Old topic, but need new ideas

[mom-from-missouri]

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!

Evidently you missed part of my earlier post.

#1. I have a daughter with special medical issues. No childcare facality will take her. If I had someone come into my home to watch my children, I would be paying out $60 a day, according to the going rate.

#2. No one here is hiring. Locally there are no part time or seasonal jobs. This is farm country. I could drive to the city, an hour one way, but would not earn enough to pay for my fuel there and back and the childcare. I could work a hay crew (slinging bales, but no farmer would hire me with 3 small children in tow--safety hazzard.)

[LuxLiving]

Beekeeping & sell the honey? Probably requires permits.

I have a DIL who does manicures & pedicures out of her home and makes great money, but of course one has to be licensed and she isn't rural either. I'm not sure how many farmwives would use a manicure on a regular basis. Even with our small spot of land, it takes me about 10 minutes work about the place to run a good fingerpolishing!

Cleaning houses?

If energy allows advertise to take care of another disabled child/elder for another Mom who needs to work?



Still thinking...

[PrincessPerky]

I bet you are getting annoyed at people who don't read your post about the permit to sell, and need to be at home...sorry.

On ebay...have you tried a stock photo? take a really good photo of something you will be reselling and reselling (craftlike) and use the same one, store it online so you only need to keep the link.

Also do you know anyone with a good connection? you could ask to borrow their link for a couple hours a week or two, trade for those veggies you can't sell.

Look online for a genealogy site (or ten) and post your willingness to help in return for 'gas money'.

cheat.....ok so that sounds terrible, but why on earth the government has to make it so hard on people is beyond me. offer the produce in trade for anything you need that others can provide...even milk, or bread..so what if they bought it, if an inspector comes in tell em they bought too much and didn't want to waste it. Will only work for people you know.

[mom-from-missouri]

This is what I have advertised so far this year on Craigslist, the local papers and the bulliten boards around here. All ads either got no response, or people were not interested when they found out where I lived.

babysitting/childcare including before and after school care
mending
sewing for hire
care for elderly/disabled-i have insulin, b12, tube feeding experience...I can place ng tubes, irrigate tubing, place caths..(used to be an emt)
ironing
sewing on patches (for scouts, firefighters, cops...)
tutoring
farm help
errand running (I go to a fairly large town once a week, and advertised could do errands there such as library, aldi or grocery stops, bread store stops, perscription pick ups, business errands....
mowing/lawn care

I also printed off my resume and sent it to almost all businesses and large farms in a 20 mile radius advertising myself as a "kelly girl'--I can run almost all office machines and phone systems, most farm equipment, can feed most animals. I thought maybe if someone had an employee call in sick, I could be called.

According to the county, there are over 40 licensed babysitters in this town. They just updated the sign going into town--we now have 2988 persons. Thats a lot of people trying to provide childcare for such a small community.

A lot of the older people who live in town still farm--they just drive to the farm everyday, so they basically want to mow their own lawns, as they have the equipment.

Anything that involves cooking, baking, produce requires classes, permits and licenses. We let people fish our pond. If we charged them to, we would be in trouble as fish are food. We would have to have the water tested and all. Besides, there is a free fishing lake just down the road run by the conservation department, so why pay us if they can fish there for free.

We do barter some now with friends. Produce for eggs. A bee guy has bees in the back of our land and we get free honey. Neighbors do most of our hay on shares and exchange for pork....

I checked with our insurance company and the extension office regarding boarding horses and such. We are about maxed out now on the number of head per acre, and the insurance would go up to cover someone elses horses on our land. I am not experienced enough with horses (only been riding a year or so on a regular base) to train or give lessons.

I thought of selling firewood. But, Craigslist is full of ads for free firewood. In fact there is a c-store (ma and pa type of deal-they live upstairs in it) that sells wood, and he gets it free from craigslist and then sells it.

I have given my name and number to the area real estate agents and builders--that I can clean vacant houses (could take my kids to that). Several told me that they would "put me on their list"-indicating they had quite a few already.

I thought of running a farm daycamp for city kids, but the county shot that one down. We really are not laid out for a b&b--also, that would require a commercial kitchen as food would be involved.

I also found out from the county, that if I do have anytype of business that people come here to, I am required to provide a bathroom and tested drinking water.

We thought of a pumpkin patch--again, county health rules....So, for now, I will pick my produce and take it to my parents county and sell when I go to see my parents. We will schedule our visits to them on Wed and Saturdays when their farmers market is open (no restrictions there). Only thing is, its over 2 hours one way, so that won't happen offen. And, I usually drive the little compact car when I go due to the gas prices. The truck would hold more, but would eat up any profit I'd earn.

The nursing home here doesn't hire--the owners live there, and it only has 12 rooms. They have adult children that help them when they need it. The store, gas station and paper are owned by the same man--all family run. His brother runs the bowling alley and car lot. The resturant is going out of business. courthouse only hires full time county employees (so then again I have the childcare issues), but even there they have not hired in several years.

I used to be an emt, but the fire depts around here are all volunteer, so no pay there. And, I would only be able to go on a call if DH were home.

[PrincessPerky]

maybe when you do your errands you could pick the sewing/mending?

2 hours is pretty far, but at least you can sell..and get to see family...not sure how much you would need to sell to break even...but maybe if you offer that sewing/mending while there, and offer to bring it back the following week.

That could be advertised on craigs list all the time and you could schedule two visits a month till it breaks even, then add on?

[zetta]

Given your limitations with the internet, the local economy, and the kids, it sounds like your best bet is to make something at home in large quantities that you can take to a market close to Kansas City once a month. I'm thinking things like crafts, wooden toys, soap, canned tomatoes. This could be a big initial outlay, so it would be a good idea to get to know some people who do this and find out the ins and outs of the business.

How is the cell phone reception in your area? Perhaps you could allow a cell tower to be put on your land?

[Kirbycruiser]

Is it possible for you to cut back on any expenses so that you will not need as much income? Then maybe your weekly trips to family will be enough. Sometimes the best answer is just to be happy with what we have.

[Confetti]

Could you work a part time job when your husband is home so you don't have childcare issues? I have found that the best return on part time hours is food service where you get tips.

[cptacek]

I'm sitting here in a town of ~200 people, 20 miles to the next largest town, 4600 people, an hour to one with ~45,000 people, 2.5 hours to Wichita. I know your pain, but at least I have high speed internet and I don't have a special-needs child! I was going to suggest your husband getting some custom planting, drilling, harvesting work, and then you do it, as farmers will probably hire another farmer to do it, but won't care if you are the one actually in the cab. But, with your daughter, that won't work.

To me, it sounds like the county is squashing every attempt you are making to earn any extra money. If you can't find anything to do to earn money, how about start a petition to have them loosen the grip they have around your economy? Most people in your county probably don't even know that these rules are in place. Start with some elected officials, see if they even know, and if they show any interest, partner with them to get it changed!!! And I'm curious...they don't make the farmers get a permit to sell their wheat/corn/etc, do they? So is there some kind of quantity break? If a big tomato farm wanted to move in, would they have to have a permit? I guess, it would be pennies to them, though. It really doesn't sound right to me.

Can you waitress at the bar? I am assuming you have a bar, as most small towns have one.

Can you work at the grain elevator during harvest? They usually need extra help for a few weeks at least.

Could you rent out a room, or a basement?

Could you offer storage for boats/campers or sell worms for the free fishing lake down the road? Take pop, snacks, water bottles, ice, etc to the lake and set up a stand...maybe the county rules don't apply there, if it is a state lake or a run by some other jurisdiction. Actually, maybe you could sell your produce there, too and tell the county to stick it. (don't know, but maybe an idea).

Can you sell fireworks?

I read about someone who had a candy machine (might have been in a link on one of the threads here), like the one with gumballs and other candy. Those could go in the Co-op, the bank, the grocery store, the bar, in your town and in others, and the guy who does this says it doesn't take much time.

Are you crafty? Can you make things out of barbed-wire, like wall hangings, dream-catchers, picture frames? Picture frames out of old barn wood? Paint on old sickle sections? We have a place called Kansas Originals that sells stuff like that...is there a store like that in Missouri? You may have to go to a larger town to sell these crafty things, but maybe you could do all of this throughout the month and go there for 1 weekend. They aren't perishable, like vegetables are, the materials should be mostly free, and they are unique, so maybe they will sell.

Do you have a good digital camera? You could do senior pictures, so the seniors in your town don't have to drive somewhere to get them done. You have good farm country for backdrops...historic bridges, barns, animals, etc.

Gather wild flower seeds and sell them in packets?

Get more than just the local paper...there are other papers that are paid for entirely by advertising, like High Plains Journal, Plains Trader, etc, that might have other things in them you could do.

If you see a wedding announcement in the paper, contact the bride (or the mother of the bride) and offer to handle some of the arrangements. I've heard of making personalized wrappers for candybars that the bride and groom can put on the tables as decorations. You would buy the candybars at Sam's or something, print out wrappers with the bride and groom's names and wedding date, cut them out and wrap the candybars (tape on the back). You could make barbed-wire decorations for a western-themed wedding, too.

Can you make compost to sell...although that usually takes a year for the compost to be done? But you surely have old bales and piles of poo laying around just waiting to be composted...it just needs to be piled up, watered, and turned (with the tractor of course).

Does your husband need help? If you took over some of his responsibility, would he be able to do something more, or not pay someone to do something? You wouldn't get a paycheck, but you are helping the family income.

[cptacek]

Can you sell loofahs? These are vegetables, but you don't eat them...they become the sponge-like things you use in the shower. Maybe that gets around the zoning?

Check it out here:
Luffa.info - Luffa/Loofa/Loufa/Loofah Sponge Gourd Information
How To Make (and grow) A Luffa! | GroovyGreen.com - Start Today :: Save Tomorrow

[cptacek]

Instead of having a "pick-your-own" stawberry patch or pumpkin patch, charging by the head or the amount they pick, allow people to "cash rent" your garden for the day or the hour.

Here is my reasoning...if you are a land owner and cash rent it to a farmer growing corn, I would hope that the land owner doesn't have to get a permit to allow the farmer to grow corn. That farmer can either do the work himself or hire a custom operator to do the work.

So, you are a land owner. You are renting your acre or two (or less) to someone for a day or a few hours. That person is the "farmer". The farmer didn't plant the produce, they hired you to do it. The farmer didn't fertilize, put on herbicide, mulch, etc, they hired you to do it. The farmer harvests the crop, or hires you to do it. It is just really, really small scale compared to what someone with half a section does, but if you structure it like this, you are not selling produce, you are renting the ground to a farmer.

You might check with the local ASCS office (or whatever they are called now adays) to make sure this is ok...but they would be concerned with State and Federal laws, not County laws, I think.

[LuxLiving]

You said:
"This area has no DSL service, no wireless service, and very poor cell service. "


Therein lies your opportunity - can you do something to provide these services to your community and profit thereby???

[mom-from-missouri]

Could you work a part time job when your husband is home so you don't have childcare issues? I have found that the best return on part time hours is food service where you get tips.

There is no food service here!
I could drive 20 some miles to work food service, but first I'd have to take the food handlers classes that our county requires ($90).

DH works 12 and 14 hour shifts--rotating between days and nights. So, each week I'd have to work different hours, different days. I would not be able to fit into a set schedule. He works 3 days on, 4 days off, then 4 on, 3 off. They also throw mandatory ot at him with about 12 hours notice.

[mom-from-missouri]

You said:
"This area has no DSL service, no wireless service, and very poor cell service. "


Therein lies your opportunity - can you do something to provide these services to your community and profit thereby???

Interesting idea, but what could I do about it??

The town has dsl and cell and wireless, we just don't have it in the country. The telephone company and cell companies would have to put in more wiring or a tower, wouldn't they??

[zetta]

My dad invested in a telecom company in southwestern Missouri that was going to provide broadband internet service over the electric power transmission lines. Maybe you can do some research and get your local electric utility interested in it. It wouldn't make you any immediate money, but might help your DSL situation down the line!

And as I said earlier, I'd be seriously investigating how to get a cell tower put on your land. Income for you, and maybe internet access via your cellphone. My grandfather did this on some land he owned in Missouri.