Hobby Income

[GrammieD]

These are all awesome ideas. Thank you everybody.

Here is the list that I have so far: Photographing, blogging, paint pictures, build and/or paint birdhouses, crochet and teach crochet, quilt, work on cars, grow and harvest veggies and/or fruits, internet research for local media, tax prep, concierge, dog sitting, plant watering, elance, check out ebay Craigslist, and etsy.com., play poker?

Maybe I should also consider taking polls.

That's quite a list, but let's keep going if possible. More?

 

[bruce1]

I garden, raise a few chickens for the freezer but find that specialized decorative chickens are profitable. I have an incubator and people are always wanting me to hatch their eggs on shares. I have to go on ebay again to get rid of some excess stuff I have accumulated as well. I have bought and sold collections people are no longer interested in. Spoons coins and other small stuff.

Bruce

 

[GrammieD]

Quite few years back, my daughter and I made a homemade incubator for a science project. We put 8 fertile eggs in it and hatched 5 of them. One died shortly after hatching but the other 4 were kept by us until we found them a nice home on a farm. It was a lot of fun and would be something I might like to do for profit. With a real incubator this time. I live far enough away from the city that I would be able to do something like that. Thanks for another wonderful idea.

 

[audreyh1]

I love poker and have started playing "live" at a casino as my city has 5 poker rooms. I average around $10 an hour so far but have only put in about 60 hours (in 1 year) so far which is about 2000 hands. I believe $20 an hour is very achievable and many make a "living" doing this. My goals is for it to provide me about $250 every month. I played online for a few years - mainly clearing bonuses when available at over 50 sites and made a little over $10,000 doing that. Online is a much tougher game and to make it worth ones while you should play 6+ tables at a time which is too tedious for me. Playing at an actual room one gets alot of interesting characters and the time flies by for me.

Accountingsucks (but poker doesn't?) - I have just gotta say, that is the most creative "hobby" for income post I have ever seen. I am really impressed. You've tested it and know what you can do. Amazing!

Audrey

 

[M Paquette]

Accountingsucks (but poker doesn't?) - I have just gotta say, that is the most creative "hobby" for income post I have ever seen. I am really impressed. You've tested it and know what you can do. Amazing!

Audrey

Heh. It reminded me of my favorite WC Fields quote.

Sucker: Is this a game of chance?
WC: Not the way I play it, no.

 

[haha]

I have known a lot of peple who made some money from hobbies. Three intersting and lucrative ones were hydroponic mj, contracts to collect rattle snakes on private hunting reserves in So Carolina and Georgia, and poker in public card rooms. The snake hunter could also sell the venom.

Poker is the only one of these that I ever thought had any appeal.

Another good one for women is baby sitting.

Ha

 

[Dawg52]

The closest thing to hobby income for me is my group's daily bets on the golf course. Of course the max one can win or lose is a whopping $2. I think I netted $1 on the positive side last week.

 

[Moemg]

What amount makes a hobby lucrative ?

 

[youbet]

It's not really a hobby..... And I don't actually get paid.... But I find that maintaining our home including some fairly significant repairs on top of the normal lawn mowing, gardening, painting and decorating, etc., keeps us from spending money. That's almost like earning money, no?

 

[davemartin88]

I like woodworking and woodturning. I bought a sawmill while I was still working in order to mill logs for my own use as well as friends- this was a small manual mill. When I retired, I bought a bigger, more automated mill and I usually cut wood for someone a couple of days per week on average- good money, great exercise and a great way to spend some time outdoors. The mill was expensive but they hold their value well so I figure I'll be money well ahead when I tire of this and sell it down the road. I also pick up a lot of scrap wood for my woodturning club from the waste.

 

[GrammieD]

Hi guys. It it always nice to enjoy a little levity as we progress through the maze of life. Thanks for your thoughtful and humorous posts. I truly welcome and enjoy them all.

That sounds like a hobby my husband would enjoy, Dave. He is a retired logger and really enjoys working with wood. He has designed and special built bookcases, cupboards, and even the table in our house. He also likes to make clocks and coffee tables out of burl and stumps. AND he still gives guitar lessons. He can play his guitars, electric and acoustic, with any and all, as well as teach music theory, chord structure, and how to write music. Beginning and advanced as well as all stages in between. I pretty much figure him for a genius in his areas of expertise.

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Hi guys. It it always nice to enjoy a little levity as we progress through the maze of life. Thanks for your thoughtful and humorous posts. I truly welcome and enjoy them all.

That sounds like a hobby my husband would enjoy, Dave. He is a retired logger and really enjoys working with wood. He has designed and special built bookcases, cupboards, and even the table in our house. He also likes to make clocks and coffee tables out of burl and stumps. AND he still gives guitar lessons. He can play his guitars, electric and acoustic, with any and all, as well as teach music theory, chord structure, and how to write music. Beginning and advanced as well as all stages in between. I pretty much figure him for a genius in his areas of expertise.

GrammieD there is some good money to be made with custom wood working. Maybe not so much in this economy. I have an old friend who used to make a decent living by making tables and such.

 

[GrammieD]

What amount makes a hobby lucrative ?

I would say a hobby is lucrative if it brings money in to pay bills. Even just a few bills. Every penny counts and a penny saved is a penny earned.

 

[GrammieD]

GrammieD there is some good money to be made with custom wood working. Maybe not so much in this economy. I have an old friend who used to make a decent living by making tables and such.

Thanks Notmuchlonger. My husband does on occasion still make and sell custom made wood items. I'm trying to get him to make birdhouses so I can paint and sell them. So far its a no go. I may just have to learn how to use his tools and make them myself. Hmmmmm, I wonder. If I tried that would he perhaps be compelled to show me the correct way to do it.? hehehe

 

[Notmuchlonger]

Thanks Notmuchlonger. My husband does on occasion still make and sell custom made wood items. I'm trying to get him to make birdhouses so I can paint and sell them. So far its a no go. I may just have to learn how to use his tools and make them myself. Hmmmmm, I wonder. If I tried that would he perhaps be compelled to show me the correct way to do it.? hehehe

Lots of do it yourself books at the library. If you are retired and looking for a hobby. People pay good money for custom made woodworking. Granted it takes time to learn and do it right.

 

[Sparky]

My husband does on occasion still make and sell custom made wood items. I'm trying to get him to make birdhouses so I can paint and sell them. So far its a no go. I may just have to learn how to use his tools and make them myself.

AC Moore sells lots of wooden items like that that are ready to paint, like birdhouses, boxes, trays, picture frames and lots of other things. They may sell that stuff from their website as well, I don't know.

This is an interesting thread - I've been thinking about just these ideas. I started painting again, after a 20 year absence, and have been thinking about trying to go to art fairs and sell them.

I'm also interested in trying to sell baked goods and stuff like that. I've been looking around and it seems really complicated, that is, getting involved with state licensing and permits and having to have a commercial kitchen. I saw some frozen ravioli in a local store with no nutritional info on it. I don't know how some food manufacturers must have that nutritional info on it and some don't.

 

[GrammieD]

AC Moore sells lots of wooden items like that that are ready to paint, like birdhouses, boxes, trays, picture frames and lots of other things. They may sell that stuff from their website as well, I don't know.

This is an interesting thread - I've been thinking about just these ideas. I started painting again, after a 20 year absence, and have been thinking about trying to go to art fairs and sell them.

I'm also interested in trying to sell baked goods and stuff like that. I've been looking around and it seems really complicated, that is, getting involved with state licensing and permits and having to have a commercial kitchen. I saw some frozen ravioli in a local store with no nutritional info on it. I don't know how some food manufacturers must have that nutritional info on it and some don't.

Thanks Sparky. I'll check into that. It never occurred to me that I might be able to find some wood products like that online. I suppose even someone in my area might be wanting to make a little extra making wood items that I could paint and sell.

I'm not sure how a hobby business works as far as selling baked goods. At the Saturday market where I live people do set up tables to sell their cakes, cookies, etc. Maybe I can ask some people that have those tables what requirements they have to meet to sell baked goods. That is a good idea, even if Saturday market is in the somewhat limited time of spring to fall. (At least where I live.) I'll let you know if I find out anything.

I wish you success in selling your artwork, if you decide to give it a try. We have a small shop in town that displays and sells work from local artists. Maybe there's one close to where you live too.

 

[Sparky]

Thanks Sparky. I'll check into that. It never occurred to me that I might be able to find some wood products like that online. I suppose even someone in my area might be wanting to make a little extra making wood items that I could paint and sell.

I'm not sure how a hobby business works as far as selling baked goods. At the Saturday market where I live people do set up tables to sell their cakes, cookies, etc. Maybe I can ask some people that have those tables what requirements they have to meet to sell baked goods. That is a good idea, even if Saturday market is in the somewhat limited time of spring to fall. (At least where I live.) I'll let you know if I find out anything.

I wish you success in selling your artwork, if you decide to give it a try. We have a small shop in town that displays and sells work from local artists. Maybe there's one close to where you live too.

Thank you very much. I've been feeling a bit alone in the wilderness trying to figure this stuff out. I'm trying to convince DH to work on his photography and just sell stuff, but, honestly, I'm really not sure how. I lost all my bank dividends and am trying to figure out how to replace that. I've lowered my expenses by a lot, and could use more income.

 

[GrammieD]

Well, I'm finally back. I've been pretty sick. I ended up in the hospital with a fever of 103.5 from a bad infection.

Sparky, I checked into selling homemade food to at Saturday markets. Unfortunately, there are a lot of regulations involved. You can't sell them unless you have your kitchen certified by the state. At least that's the way it is in Oregon.

It did get me thinking though. If you buy baked goods at Costco, you could maybe sell packaged goods, like crackers etc. as snacks.

 

[Sparky]

Grammie, aw, I hope you are feeling better. I'm in Connecticut and the regulations for selling baked goods are very stringent. Thanks for your research. I'm not sure what we are going to do... maybe we'll be okay. It's too early to tell...

 

[freebird5825]

...I'm in Connecticut and the regulations for selling baked goods are very stringent...

Sparky, I checked into selling homemade food to at Saturday markets. Unfortunately, there are a lot of regulations involved. You can't sell them unless you have your kitchen certified by the state. At least that's the way it is in Oregon.

Once upon a time, I had a small home business selling raw popcorn (not microwave) in mason jars and spice blends in small glass jars. I was essentially repackaging bulk food items that had already been inspected and carried the stamp.
I had to register with the NYS Dept of Agriculture and Markets and submit to a mandatory home inspection. I had to demonstrate that I knew and used proper sanitizing techniques and kept ingredients stored properly, gloves, hairnets, no rodents, etc. I passed with flying colors.
I was not handling dairy, eggs, meat or fresh produce, which all are prohibited for home food production. Residence of ANY animals in the house is an automatic failure. My fish tank was barely OK in the inspector's eyes.

 

[Martha]

I've found that crafts and handmade items generally don't fetch very good prices on eBay or CraigsList. These just don't seem to be the right avenue for selling craft items. However, you might want to consider etsy (www.etsy.com). I have a small etsy shop and sell an occasional handmade item or excess craft supplies. Sales are fairly slow for me, but at least items will go for fair prices.

I have thought about starting up an etsy shop for my jewelry, but from talking to others it sounds like sales are very slow and they do better selling locally, like through consignment or word of mouth. So many people make craft items that it is tough. But given that etsy isn't exactly an expensive way to advertise your stuff, I may very well do it anyway.

 

[Moemg]

I never heard of etsy but now that I have it bookmarked it's going to be a favorite source of gifts .

 

[Martha]

I'm also interested in trying to sell baked goods and stuff like that. I've been looking around and it seems really complicated, that is, getting involved with state licensing and permits and having to have a commercial kitchen. I saw some frozen ravioli in a local store with no nutritional info on it. I don't know how some food manufacturers must have that nutritional info on it and some don't.

Yeah, there are a lot of rules.

At work, one of the staff's mother made bread and it was fine bread. She would make money by taking orders in our office. She is still doing it last I heard. No one cared about whether she dotted the i's and crossed the t's.

 

[GrammieD]

Hi Everybody,

Just in case any of you are interested in growing veggies for yourselves or to sell, but don't have an area for a garden, here is a website you might want to check out.

Container Gardening Guide

Martha, I like the idea from the staff member's mother about baking bread to sell to the staff at work. I might look into doing that too.