Money Making Hobbies

[Car-Guy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 38Chevy454 He did not say how much it cost him to make that $300K

I gamble (a lot) and I have a number of friends that also gamble, some are really good at certain games. Matter of fact, the reason I joined ER.org was because a good friend of mine kept talking about this forum on our trips to the casinos. (after years of lurking around here, I finally joined) He also got me interested in sports betting, which is good (so far) since it's about the only thing I'm ahead on in the past year. However, I don't know anyone "personally" that is "way ahead" after decades of playing. I'm sure they are out there since I read and/or hear about them but........


Okay, I know, maybe I'm just running around with the wrong bunch of folks.

[daylatedollarshort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbugdave Beekeeping. It takes a couple years for the bees to build up enough to get honey to sell. They say you need ten hives to turn a profit. I am aiming at 15 to 20 hives this summer, and getting more bee boxes as we speak. We shall see. It has sure been fun so far.

Did you see the Netflix documentary on Burt's Bees? He is a kind of a minimalist guy. He said something in the film (not an exact quote - I'm doing this from memory) along the lines of "I've got my land, my dog, my pony, a canoe and my beekeeping skills. What more would I need?" He felt as long as he had his bee keeping skills he could earn a living.

Though I think he does in reality want more, since he does promotional work for Burt's Bees these days. He sold out early on while his ex-partner made millions.

[MRG]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC LOL! Nah, he got her the chicken coop a few years ago!

Wow if I did that I'd get to experience one of DW's non money making hobbies, target practice.

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[Sarah in SC]

I loved that Burt documentary. I felt bad for that poor guy who was in charge of keeping track of him, though. My takeaway was that Burt is doing just what he wants to do, as I'm not sure what he's so with more money.

MRG, that's what would happen to my DH as well!!


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[Redbugdave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC A friend told me last night that he is buying a hive for his wife as a birthday present. Very cool hobby.

Sarah...I know a couple of the people in the Charleston Bee Club! Here's the website to their club. Your friend's wife would enjoy going to the bee club's meetings. She may also want to think about taking a beekeeping class.
https://sites.google.com/site/charle...eekeepers/home

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever How do you plan to sell the honey?

I have an extractor as well as the other tools, and can do my own bottling. Believe it or not, selling is mostly all by word of mouth. All my beekeeping friends cannot keep up with demand. Some even have a waiting list of orders to fill in the upcoming season. There's a few more ER folks here that have bees and hopefully can chime in, too...

Enjoy...

[Sarah in SC]

Thanks for the tips, RBD! I sent him the link just now.
Because, as every husband knows, the bees will be "her bees" when they are buzzing around happily producing honey, but they'll be "his bees" if anything involving cleaning or getting stung is required.

[gcgang]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 38Chevy454 He did not say how much it cost him to make that $300K

Yeah, that's the ticket. Uh, I made uh, whatever, but it cost lots more. Yeah, that's the ticket.

Since it costs a lot to win, and even more to lose...Deal, Grateful Dead.


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[Fermion]

We are both engineers and will likely continue to build stuff on a smaller scale when retired (certainly can't build things like the RV camper and amusement park ride we have in the past on our retirement budget). Perhaps we will monetize one of these inventions, but if so it will be on a small scale as I am not willing to gamble our retirement on patents and starting a business.

I am into prospecting as a hobby, but I could see building and selling recovery equipment in small volume being fun. Mine the miners so to speak. Maybe gold will spike up again when we ER.

[Bestwifeever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbugdave ...I have an extractor as well as the other tools, and can do my own bottling. Believe it or not, selling is mostly all by word of mouth. All my beekeeping friends cannot keep up with demand. Some even have a waiting list of orders to fill in the upcoming season. There's a few more ER folks here that have bees and hopefully can chime in, too... ...L]

Thanks! I buy a little honey every year but not much at all, and often just from the grocery store, and wondered about the honey from individual hive owners--if it went to a collective to be repackaged, directly to consumers at farmer's markets, to nonfood applications like Burts Bees, or what. I'm sure your customers are looking forward to the new honey!

[Redbugdave]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bestwifeever Thanks! I buy a little honey every year but not much at all, and often just from the grocery store, and wondered about the honey from individual hive owners--if it went to a collective to be repackaged, directly to consumers at farmer's markets, to nonfood applications like Burts Bees, or what. I'm sure your customers are looking forward to the new honey!

Did you know that most store bought honey may not really be the real thing? A couple articles...
Honey laundering: The sour side of nature's golden sweetener - The Globe and Mail

Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey | Food Safety News

[davemartin88]

Others seem to have much more lucrative hobbies than I do. I do a bit of woodworking and sometimes sell an item or two along with some alpaca yarn if we have too much. I can't say it's a money making hobby but it might generate some income.

Given I already have all the investments made for my woodworking equipment, barns, animals, etc. I guess if we needed to generate some income, we could focus on this and bring in a few bucks but if we ran it like a business and actually tracked our expenses against our income, we'd be a big loser. I guess in that way it's a hedge but it wouldn't be fun anymore so no plans to do this. As a pure financial hedge, I think we'd be way ahead if we stopped spending money on hobbies (not going to happen) and invested the money we would have spent.

[Bestwifeever]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Redbugdave Did you know that most store bought honey may not really be the real thing? A couple articles... Honey laundering: The sour side of nature's golden sweetener - The Globe and Mail Tests Show Most Store Honey Isn't Honey | Food Safety News

Thanks. I now know more about honey than I didn't know I didn't know. I think my current stash is the real thing:

[aja8888]

Selling/buying local honey is a big thing around here. It's supposed to be a health benefit and make you immune to certain ailments.

[Philliefan33]

Interesting info regarding honey. The honey I have in my pantry is on the list of honey with no pollen, so I suspect it is nasty honey from China. The next jar of honey I buy will come from the roadside stand at a farm I pass on the way to our mountain house.

I've read that eating local honey can help reduce one's hay-fever symptoms. That would be a nice side effect for me.


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[Walt34]

Quote:

Originally Posted by aja8888 It's supposed to be a health benefit and make you immune to certain ailments.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Philliefan33 I've read that eating local honey can help reduce one's hay-fever symptoms. That would be a nice side effect for me.

We keep some honey on hand as well - I put it in tea instead of sugar. I put it in the category of "Can't hurt, might help".

[braumeister]

Honey is largely sugar, of course, with about the same fructose/glucose proportions as table sugar. But it's all those other goodies that makes honey a "health food" if you will. I certainly agree that if you can get it from local producers you're way ahead of the game.

Generally speaking, I think darker honey (like buckwheat) is better for you, containing more antioxidants.

As for flavor, we're all different, but I once made a buckwheat honey mead that I considered incredibly good.

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by davemartin88 Others seem to have much more lucrative hobbies than I do. I do a bit of woodworking and sometimes sell an item or two along with some alpaca yarn if we have too much. I can't say it's a money making hobby but it might generate some income. Given I already have all the investments made for my woodworking equipment, barns, animals, etc. I guess if we needed to generate some income, we could focus on this and bring in a few bucks but if we ran it like a business and actually tracked our expenses against our income, we'd be a big loser. I guess in that way it's a hedge but it wouldn't be fun anymore so no plans to do this. As a pure financial hedge, I think we'd be way ahead if we stopped spending money on hobbies (not going to happen) and invested the money we would have spent.

I'm pretty sure I could generate a lot more money selling all my woodworking gear than I could selling my woodworking.

[daylatedollarshort]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fermion I am into prospecting as a hobby, but I could see building and selling recovery equipment in small volume being fun. Mine the miners so to speak. Maybe gold will spike up again when we ER.

We've gone river panning for gold a few times for fun and belonged to a club at one time. We'd probably go more often if it was closer. We've always spent way more in gas than we've found in gold. The last time we went there were regulars who said they made $400 a day, without a claim and just on a public river, though I think they at least had their own sluice box. Maybe will upgrade to a sluice box this year and try it again. It is kind of a good Zen activity.

[Ronstar]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley I'm pretty sure I could generate a lot more money selling all my woodworking gear than I could selling my woodworking.

Same thing here - not even close

[jguild2120]

>Yeah, that's why I wouldn't really do it. In order to be able to make something like carving work, you'd have to find a way to "mass" produce them. The same thing over and over wouldn't be fun. And then there's the selling part. .<

Hi all, I'm just getting caught up reading this thread since I last posted. I've been away several days. The above note caught my eye.

Here is my take on it, everything written in the quote above is true. But, there is another approach. If you're working a craft or art as a hobby with the expectation of making money, forget it. There is far too much 'art fair' type of competition. Instead, work your craft or art because you love doing it. Make it a passion, explore this passion, do it to the very best of your ability, find out what others are doing and do it better. This approach, over time, will bring great personal satisfaction, it will take you to a new natural high, it will add urgency to your life. After a while, if your work is truly extraordinary then others will notice. From that point you may begin to sell work and perhaps build a client base. And, if that never happens, you still have your body of work that has brought you joy and challenged you; work that can be passed to and treasured by your family and friends after you have passed.

Some of the finest artists began purely for the love of it, with little expectation of making money. Some of these have ended up making money. Many have not but still carry on because of the value that the creative process has brought to their lives.

Working your craft is a quest of personal exploration; it is well worth the journey. Relax about the 'making money' part; it will come if it was meant to be.

(I realize this is a MMH thread so my opinion might not be helpful.)