Life Done Free
Tag and Bee from Life Done Free
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Side Hustles
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Side Hustles
What are some of everyone’s side hustles that keep the homestead running, or you all have used to get out of the regular day to day jobs?
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81 Replies
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This is a great topic, I will follow it. I do business consulting on the side for an extra income. We sell a little bit of Honey but, mostly keep our produce for our own consumption.
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We had a tomato overage 3 years ago so I told the church guys they could have some for free. No takers. Made me mad so I sold several grocery bags. This year I planted 48 which was way more than we needed. Told the church guys and again…no takers. Bizarre. I sold enough bags to pay for the garden. Nobody and I mean nobody in my neck of the woods was selling home grown. I had the market…all I wanted. A pain in the butt…but it made a lot of people happy and I broke even.
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Here’s another suggestion. Find out the shut-ins of your church and take them some. Most of the ones here are glad just to have someone visit., so plan to stay a few minutes. The wealth of knowledge you can gain from some will more than pay for it.
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This is true and then some. I confess we’re not saints when it comes do doing shut-in duty. Could do more, yes. Thankfully at this time I can’t really speak to any, but like a lot of churches, ours is maturing fast. There will come a time when there will be many. Yep.
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Was not trying to convict you, just trying to give you another area to look at. This is one area I could also improve in. The other area that co.es to my mind is homeless people. Could you find where the homeless hang out in your area? They usually have a certain place. My thinking is that if those that are offered something is not grateful, then I will find someone that will. Just thinking outside the box.
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We cool. I appreciate the suggestions!
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I did that last summer and fed 6 families and a fire station with “take all you want”…& Still had cukes leftover
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I to have had an overage of tomatoes and cucumbers put out front for free no takers. I don’t understand why no one will take them free.
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Ha. Try selling them like I did. Then you will have results. Strange, sad, but true.
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The thing I have found, is that people put value on things. If you give it away, it must be “bad” LOL b/c so many are not givers. Think about the many who donate at Christmas. They clean their cupboards and donate to the boyscouts and give expired food. That same mindset is extended for when they see something for free. “There must be something wrong”
Yet, I take a different approach. God has given one a venue to fill their vat of need, even for a future moment in time. I consider it a blessing when there is no takers now. God is providing for our future needs.
That being said, a friend reached out and asked if I would take her abundance of cherry tomatoes. I had plenty myself, yet I graciously accepted, and made sauce.
~ Laura
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Something I learned many years ago. The same person who won’t bother to take for free, will gladly accept the item as a “gift”.
So, when you have extra, just bag up some as gifts for folks and leave on their doorstep with a note. If there’s a fire station nearby with men on duty, drop off a load there. They usually have a kitchen and cook. Etc. Just my two cents.
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I like the part about the fire station. I hadn’t thought of that. Oh yes, they would be glad to get them.
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We have two food banks in our area that take produce, a quick google search will show you if you have any local. It’s my go-to if I have excess that I’d like to share.
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My neighbor’so vocation is internet marketing. When we both grew an abundance, her husband made a roadside stand and she did some Facebook advertising. The trick was a few days a week. We didn’t charge, but if ppl wanted to donate, she had Venmo, a cash box and Paypal. We inevitably made some money. Most of my garden was started from seed for pennies and volunteer tomatoes. It worked out beautifully
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I sell farm eggs to some of my senior friends I have people asking me if I would make extra preserves and they would buy it. MY son does scrap and estate clean out my husband repairs and rebuilds lawn tractors my son gets, he puts them on line and splits the profits with us, all done in cash only
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I am a garden coach and landscape/garden designer. We are in a rural area but only about 20-30 minutes from city. I do consultations for clients that want to upgrade their landscapes and want to know what is best to plant in their environments, do designs and drawings for clients that need HOA approvals, educate clients on organic gardening principles, distributor for modular raised bed and organic fertilizers and consultations for clients that have purchased property and want to identify native plants and their benefits. Also do speaking engagements/presentations to various groups on gardening topics. Left the corporate world in 2017 as a software consultant.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by SunshineKid-GardenCoach.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by
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After retiring, I did part-time contract consulting for 4-5 years, but Covid shut that down in 2020. My wife has a small garden / landscape consulting company which adds a little side income. We are beekeepers, but up to now used any honey for personal consumption and the bees for pollination. That will change next year. We will be selling honey (and maybe bees) to the public. Also. later this year, we will start a weekend farmstand to sell overages of vegetables from our garden, plants, trees, worms/worm castings, and other homemade items like soaps, candles, dried medicinal herbs, etc.
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I am building a side business cleaning houses and packing/organize for people and if bored and have time Doordash.🙂
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We have started a handmade soap business called Hickory Ridge Handmade Treasures and the end goal is to quit our public jobs and work for ourselves. It can be found at https://twooldcrowshomestead/shop
Our daughters also sell wax melts and handmade jewelry there. We have also started breeding and raising pigs.
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You might want to edit you comment and add “.com” to your link.
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We both are retired. I work part time for a tax company from January until April. I make soaps, creams and sprays as a side business (which right now is not going so well). Next year I am going to propagate some of the plants and flowers I have growing here and hopefully sell them at the farmers market with my soaps and some of my jams. I was going to do that this year, but I fell and fractured my hip and hand, so it was a no go for this season.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by RuesMountainHome-Reta.
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This reply was modified 1 year, 7 months ago by
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Brilliant idea! Love this, however, I have nothing to offer yet…still trying to buy that property to start a homestead. I also love the bartering system…especially in a time such as this. 😉
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Thank you to all, I sure enjoyed reading everyone’s efforts. I love canning and if I had someone giving away tomatoes….I would have been most grateful. If I had extra, my heart would direct me to not only the firefighters in the area, but police and elementary school teachers…both underpaid indeed.❤
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Current side hustles are some part-time handy man work and Door Dash when I’m really bored. But lately I’ve been working on standing up what I want to be my main hustle. I want to use my knowledge and experience in operations and finance to help coach small business owners so that they can run there businesses more effectively, and so they can focus more on the part of their businesses that they love.
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No side hustle here at the moment. I did run a sewing business providing various sewing services, yet when I was dx w/Lyme disease it changed how I could work.
So, for now, recently retired, I will be selling home sewn items along with plans to sell tea and herbal blends. Not sure I want to relist on Etsy as I did not get much traffic.
Fortunately my husband does work a 3-day shift that supports our basic needs. -
I’ve been away from side-hustles for a number of years, but used to have two stores on Etsy. One sold jewelry and beadwork I’d done, and the other was jewelry making components, mostly silver. I did far more in the components than in the finished jewelry. As it stands right now, I haven’t done anything with the materials I’ve got – waiting for our marketplace to open up, then I’m going to start listing all the components I still have, and liquidate my inventory.
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My side hustle is 2 shops on Etsy…. My main shop is graphic designs & my second shop that is finally picking up, is actual products using the designs I make. I sell garden flags, placemats, ornaments, license plates, etc. Here’s the product link if you’d like to check it out: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BayouSha
My hubby lost his oilfield job in 2020 & just recently went back to work at a local college in the maintenance dept., no where near the pay scale that we were use to, but we’re making it. If we could sell our camp house, we would be debt free (which is our goal). We have almost 5 acres and have been working hard to get it setup. We have chickens, gardens & hopefully rabbits in the next couple of weeks. Now if I can just figure out my water catchment setup I’ll feel better or better yet figure out how to tap into the underground spring that runs through our property. We’ll get there, one day at a time 😀
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Your doing it. Congrats
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Just checked out your Etsy store. Do you do custom work as well? For example say I wanted a tag that had the Dive Flag (scuba diving) with monogram in the center or to one side, Etc. Or perhaps a custom garden flag that would match a friends personality?
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Art,
I can do custom…. but I don’t do any inclusive designs. What do you have in mind? 🙂
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