Money Matters » $100 Hour

A $100 Hour – Cleaning Out Your Space

debtfree — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 20:56:21 +0000

Do you have a hobby? If so, chances are that you have accumulated lots of stuff related to your hobby over the years. How much stuff do you have? If you’re like me, maybe quite a lot. How much of it do you think you don’t need? If you’re like me, maybe you think you still need all of it. I’m a pack rat, and I hate getting rid of stuff I’ve accumulated. However, if you go through your hobby stuff, you may just find that you can in fact find some stuff you’d be willing to part with after all. As it turns out, parting with this stuff can bring in a good amount of cash – $100 or more is easy, depending on your hobby.

For example, one of my hobbies is model railroading. I tend to only buy things I like, so I only get rid of things if I can convince myself I’m never going to use them. Last week I found a brass locomotive part – we’re talking a small piece of cast brass about 1/2 x 3 inches – and managed to sell it on EBay for $71. I’ll admit I was shocked by how much it went for went for. A few other train items I sold the same week easily put me over $100 even after paying the EBay and Paypal fees.

I suppose it could be argued that this isn’t really income, because it doesn’t take into account what I spent on the stuff originally. I disagree. The money spent is money that is long gone, forgotten about, income from an earlier period in my life. The $100 or so in my bank account sure looks like extra income for the month.

What are your hobbies and interests? Look around and see what you have. You just might be surprised at how much stuff you can get rid of, and how much money it might bring in. I’m not talking about monetizing your hobby – that will be a topic for another post – just getting rid of hobby items you no longer have a use for.

Cheers,

Ken

A $100 Hour – Cleaning up on REO Properties

debtfree — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:01:36 +0000

I was driving around this weekend looking for a house, and I was surprised by the number of bank owned (REO) properties I was seeing. Well, I live in Nevada, and we currently have the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, but what surprised me was that it was an older neighborhood, one where you’d think most of the people had bought before the start of the bubble. Anyway…

Even in good times, a house needs to look good in order to sell, and most of the REO properties I saw looked like crap. Dead lawns, dead trees and shrubs, tall weeds all over the yards. Damaged fences. Dirty carpet, water stains on floors, shoddy looking paint. Lots and lots of junk left behind by the former owners. I’m thinking this could be an income opportunity.

Most of these houses would sell quicker and for a better price if they were just cleaned up a little and had some minimal landscaping done. Most banks probably wouldn’t be interested in spending money on their REO properties, but the Realtor who is handling the listing just might be. After all, if the house doesn’t sell they don’t get their commission. Why not call Realtors listing bank owned properties and offer to clean them up for a fee? You may get turned down a lot, but it’s a numbers game and with the huge number of REO properties, you’re bound to get some cleanup gigs.

Cheers,

Ken

A $100 Hour – Sell Vegetables at a Farmer’s Market

debtfree — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:24:47 +0000

Yesterday I was talking with a friend who likes to garden. He grows a lot more than he can use himself, so he gives some away and sells the rest at the local Farmer’s Market. I’d always known about this, but I never realized how much money he makes. It turns out he net a substantial amount each year – over $2000 in fact. Since he would be gardening anyway, this is essentially free money.

Of course, it’s a little late to get started this year since the growing season is just about over, but it’s a great time to start planning for next year. According to my friend, the best selling items are cherry and “heirloom” tomatoes, garlic, blackberries, and various herbs (he puts the herbs in little arrangements in small vases). My friend has a huge garden each year, but just about anyone has room to grow cherry tomatoes or herbs. I’m planning on growing some in containers on my patio. I think it’s a good combination – fresh organic vegetables and some extra spending money as well.

Cheers,

Ken

A $100 Hour – Recycle Aluminum Cans

debtfree — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 18:45:14 +0000

Isn’t that what homeless people do? Isn’t it a waste of time? Isn’t the money you can get from recycling cans minuscule? No, I haven’t lost my mind. Recycling aluminum cans is, in fact, a viable way to make $100 or more in a relatively short period of time. How do I know this? When my in-laws lived with us, they recycled cans, and I took then to the recycling center for them. The last time I went, they had 231 lbs of cans, which netted them $115.50. Of course, it can take a long time to collect this many cans if you get them by walking down a lonely stretch of highway picking up peoples’ throw aways. Fortunately, there are better (and safer) alternatives.
My in-laws collected most of their cans on “recycling days.” Every other week, the local disposal company collects aluminum cans and other recyclables that are put in special containers and left curb side. On these days, they walked the neighborhood collecting the cans (They had had previously asked permission from the home owners to do this, which is probably a good idea. Most people don’t like strangers poking around in their trash early in the morning).
Another place they picked up quite a few cans was at a local park. During the summer, many people use the park for wedding receptions, company picnics, etc. After these events, the trash cans would have many aluminum cans (along with the trash of course). After getting permission from park personnel, they would collect these cans – making sure not to make a mess while sorting out the cans.
Other possibilities could include putting a can collection basket in a break area at work, asking friends and relatives to save cans for you, and even wandering a stretch of highway.
How much can you make (and how soon)? I turned in cans for my in-laws every other month (8 weeks). While $115.50 was the most they made in an 8 week period, the average was about $90, and they never made less than $70 – not bad for a few hours of work each week.

Cheers,
Ken