Last weeks Vicky Challenge was reasonable. I counted painting $300, savings on bulk purchases $116 and lunches $100. I wrote $516 in my savings book.
Then I remembered I did not add savings on my hairdressing in October and went back and added that in!
Sometime soon I am going to add up each month so far and be ready to add up the whole year at the end of December!
Then the question will be will I do this again next year and try to beat it as Vicky does? I think I might as writing down my week and my savings is second nature now and it would be hard not to do it! And it keeps me very aware of my savings as the week goes along. It makes me WATCH for extra ways to save which is good!
The photos in this post are all from Rachel. This is a meat pie!
She does all her cooking without electricity!
Thank you Rachel for all your beautiful photos!
Last week we were talking about dealing with really big bills. Thank you for so many wonderful comments and ideas. There are a number of ladies who comment here regularly who are facing astronomical health insurance bills and many others who can just relate due to their own big bills or rising costs generally.
The ideas came in for days and it is worth reading through the comments as they are full of advice about saving money on prescriptions, utilities and some very creative suggestions.
Whenever there is talk about saving money and cutting costs there are always a heap of things that come to mind. Most to the ladies we are thinking about right now have already put into place all the usual things and live very frugally and creatively also bring in extra income. So we need over and above the usual ways to save.
Today we are going to brainstorm some ideas that might be less commonly thought of. Some things are new and available now due to the internet which makes the world a much smaller place!
First I am thinking about tackling a regular large payment by dividing it up. My friend was saying her problem is finding an extra $400 a month. So I will use that amount as my example. I think of that as $100 per week. Then it can be broken down further as you come up with ideas. It could be $50 a week of savings need to be found plus $50 of extra earnings. Or further broken down into more categories as you think is manageable... like earning an extra $5 a day and saving another $5 a day. Whatever makes it work better for you!
This is a Ricotta tart that Rachel makes. To top it off first she makes her own Ricotta.
This is going to be in an upcoming post with the method and recipe.
Possibilities for earning extra money depend a lot on your location and the amount of room you have and everything these days needs to be checked into well for the legal and insurance aspects.
In the city space is a commodity. People rent out their driveways, sheds, spare room, even back yard for the parking of boats, caravans and such things. There is a surprising amount of money in renting space. If you are close to a big city this also might be a possibility. If you leave near the beach someone is going to want to park a boat in your shed!
If you have land it might be possible to grow a crop as something that is currently popular. I have had success selling home grown Parsley, Bay Leaves and other herbs to a local organic cafe.
Someone else was doing very well selling potted succulents out the front of this cafe.
But markets are also a great way to see all kinds of homemade produce and hand made items. A market stall could be a once a month thing or shared with someone else to reduce the costs.
A lot of families in the country areas here just have a sign out the front that says "fresh eggs for sale" etc.
Growing flowers could be a possibility too.
You may be able to allow someone to camp on your property or park a caravan.
A friend in my old town grew tomatoes from seeds in her greenhouse and sold them as individual plants as soon as Spring started. I always got tomatoes from her! They were so healthy and ready to plant. She made a lot each year from this!
Raising animals is another if you have space. It might be chickens or rabbits, a breed of birds or anything at all but I know quite a few people who have made money from their backyard business this way. Andy's friend earns a good living raising quail as quail are a big menu item and so are quail eggs. They do it all in an average backyard!
I can see I will have access to hundreds of figs in summer. They sell for around $1 each here! I have a possibility I could sell these to a local cafe or restaurant or even at a market.
If you have animals I know that the big trend in gorgeous children photography means these photographers pay for photo sessions with lambs, bunnies, chickens, puppies etc. You would possibly be able to strike a deal and if you are in attendance you are in charge of the welfare of your animals. Another would be to allow visits to your farm to see baby animals. People will pay for this!
Explore your talents. There are designers who pay for at home knitters and crocheters, embroiderers etc.
Team up with someone i.e. like Mum does the knitting and I add the grub roses... and start an Etsy shop.
Explore baby wear stores, gift stores etc in your area. Most times you will see there are a team of people supplying that store with handmade items. Locally this seems to include hand made quilts, knitwear and embroidered rugs. For some time I embroidered this way for a beautiful store. The store owner had asked my aunt where did she get the rug that was covering her Granddaughter.... and the rug was from me! They would basically take anything I embroidered and that kept me with orders for a couple of years.
Pumpkin Damper.
Selling things via Ebay, your local paper, local online sellers, Face book groups etc. This can apply to anything you have to sell from handmade items to junk in the shed!
Teach a skill. A lady in the town I used to live in made great money from having embroidery classes. This is where I really got started in embroidery. It then became social and we all went along weekly for the fun, chat and actual sewing! She also sold silk ribbons and various things that we all needed. It was wonderful! This could apply to patchwork, teddy bear making or anything you can think of really.
Andy taught students the drums for many years as an extra income. We still have that as a back up income available to us.
Take in ironing or mending. No one seems to want to do these things themselves!
I had a friend who decorated wedding cakes. She was wonderful at it and this is worth a lot of money now. She also made and decorated Christmas cakes which she sold each year.
Another lady I know made the most divine Gingerbread Houses every Christmas. She had them complete with little lights that came on inside the house! Each one was a work of art! My Mum purchased one and it became the centrepiece on the table before it was all eaten.
Mulberry Jam from Rachel's Dads tree!
Vicky's husband is a man who can fix just about anything! He fixes things up and sells them and people bring all kinds of things to him to be repaired. He makes a living out of it and people save money as their mowers etc are fixed and they don't need to buy a new one!
Another lady Mum knows knits and sews all year and has a room in her house that is full of gorgeous things she makes. It is all available for sale. The locals all go to her for their baby gifts etc. These days of course that could be run as an Etsy shop, a market stall, a Facebook shop etc.
It is also worth looking into bartering. This can be with goods or skills. Is there something you regularly pay for that could be bartered for? That is an interesting area to explore!
I hope I have got the ball rolling. Finding a market or need and filling it is the key. A man Andy knows could see that Pomegranates were coming into fashion and he planted his spare land with Pomegranates. He makes very good money from this insight!
Kale seems to be a big thing here. Rows of that would sell well I am sure!
Simply asking local shops what is it that they are looking for? What do they have trouble getting? This can tip you off and tell you there is a gap in the market.
Over to you! What ideas do you have? If you know someone making money from hand made items or catering to a niche market what is it? How do they do it? One of these ideas might be just the right thing for someone searching for an answer.
I think that multiple income streams are a very good idea.
How did you save last week? I hope everyone has a good new week. It will be a big one that is for sure with the US elections. I am praying about that as it affects us all and it greatly impacts many of my dear friends. xxx
