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 Post subject: SoCalPam has me thinking...
PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 9:27 pm 
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Her idea about the organization/clutter-buster service is a fantastic one!

Can you think of any other ideas for a creative or unusual way to earn extra income?

I saw a car advertising a really cool service. It's "Homebound Haircuts" for shut-ins. The cosmetologist comes to the house to provide a haircut. Of course, you have to be licensed for that. :0)

Any ideas that you've seen around?

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 Post subject: Re: SoCalPam has me thinking...
PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 9:36 pm 
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We have a mobile pet grooming business around here. I've never used it but I'm thinking of it.
Who wants to have their dog go to the groomer for 6 hours when this person comes to your home. They park their van in your driveway and groom the dog right there in the van.


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 Post subject: Re: SoCalPam has me thinking...
PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 9:41 pm 
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I have to add about the haircut idea. When I was huge with twins and homebound, our dear hairdressing friend came to my home and cut my hair for me. It was wonderful to have that done and then she didn't charge me for it. That was a blessing I'll never forget. (She is a twin so she was thrilled to help.) :)


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 Post subject: Re: SoCalPam has me thinking...
PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 10:02 pm 
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Well, when we were trying clean out our Mom's house, we simply didn't have time to get a good price for the stuff. Everyone suggested ebay, craigslist, etc, but the fact is as a family we were losing job income every day that we were working on the house, and we couldn't afford to spend any more time on it. The time to list the stuff, take pictures, write descriptions, store the stuff, wait for a sale, package & ship the stuff - it's a lot of time-taking work. We asked people if they would be willing to do it for us for a 40% cut, but had no takers. So, we gave stuff away by the truckload (I don't regret that, I felt good about knowing it would go to help people in need).

Someone who can provide such a service (perhaps including pickup & storage services, as well as shipping) could probably make a substantial side-income.

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 Post subject: Re: SoCalPam has me thinking...
PostPosted: Sun Jul 15, 2012 11:09 pm 
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Martha R. wrote:
Her idea about the organization/clutter-buster service is a fantastic one!

Can you think of any other ideas for a creative or unusual way to earn extra income?

I saw a car advertising a really cool service. It's "Homebound Haircuts" for shut-ins. The cosmetologist comes to the house to provide a haircut. Of course, you have to be licensed for that. :0)

Any ideas that you've seen around?


One idea I have always "tossed around" was to open a "taxi service"...pick up kids from school and drop them off at their dance, karate, etc., lesson while mom and dad are still at work. This saves mom and dad from getting off early or trying to race around town. Or pick them up from their home(s) and drop them off, wherever they need to go while mom and dad are still at work.

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 Post subject: Re: SoCalPam has me thinking...
PostPosted: Mon Jul 16, 2012 11:00 am 
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I make bread according the the Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day recipe. On their website, they told a story of a boy of 12 who started a bread delivery service (like a paper route, sort of). He bakes the bread (about 40cents a loaf) and delivers it (I would expect to sell for about $4 a loaf) - and keeps the profits. Not a bad way if you need a *little* extra money (but I can't imagine running a household on the money)

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 Post subject: Re: SoCalPam has me thinking...
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 12:06 am 
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I like Anna's idea about sifting through things on a house you need to sell.
Another idea, if you are good at organizing is offering to be a liason for the families of the elderly. I had a REALLY hard time sorting through all my parent's paperwork. It needed to be done, nonetheless, and I found checks totaling THOUSANDS of dollars. I wound up hiring college kids, that I knew were trustworthy and reliable to help me with the sorting, as dh and I simply didn't have enough time to do it all. There is a woman up here who has a business like this, and I always wished she worked in Phx, so she could help me with my parent's things.


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 Post subject: Re: SoCalPam has me thinking...
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:19 am 
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Location: The O.C. -- 7 miles from D'land, 7 miles from the beach
I also do "family helping" and am trying to figure out how to charge for that. It started with an autistic teen from our scout troop. I went over at 5:15 a.m. every day to sit with him in the morning after his parents had left for work, took him to school at 7:30, then picked him up again at 3:00. They lived 2.5 miles from me, the school was in between our homes, and it was great while homeschooling (although getting up that early STUNK). They paid a shocking amount of money that totally made it worth my while. I did that for two years until his younger sister got her driver's license and put me out of business :o/

I made friends with their neighbors, who had a mom with MS. She had gotten to the point of needing companion care, so I began working for her in the afternoons. I charged $15/hour to go over from 1-5 (or so) every day. I did their laundry and dishes, changed the sheets on their bed (mom wet it a lot), and kept her company. We watched cooking shows, which she loved, but she couldn't cook anymore as she'd lost a lot of the use in her hands. I got her some Pampered Chef products that worked for her (chopper and crinkle cutter), and we began cooking together almost every day. We also did crafts and things that kept her fingers going and mind going. She needed real care-taking help at the end, but they kept me on every day for a few hours in the afternoon because we got along so well. She ended up passing away.

I still work for the MS mom's family. I go over twice a week and tidy, walk the dog, do any dishes, make dad's bed, etc. They have a housekeeper who comes once a week, so there's no heavy cleaning. I spritz around the base of the toilets :o) I also bring their laundry home to my house and charge them 1/2 my hourly wage to do the laundry here. I just got paid today from them for two weeks, which totaled about $125/week (there was a bit more laundry than usual).

What else do I do... for that family I have pinned dad's pants and taken them to the tailor to be hemmed, dead-headed their roses, and cleaned out their cupboards. I have a new client in my neighborhood who was looking for help for $10/hour. Pretty cheap, but I don't have to drive, and I can work for her when I have spare time. That's valuable to me! I took home some of her flatware and polished it while watching a DVD with my boys. I got paid to watch TV! It took me an hour to clean her silver, so I made $10.

I also get work from www.NARMS.com. It stands for the National Association of Retail Merchandisers. These are the folks who do demos at Costco and Sam's, stock shelves, etc. I specialize in putting up promotional materials. The jobs pay about $10-$12/hour, and you can pick and choose. My next job is through a company called SRS (Strategic Retail Solutions) and I'll be putting up vacuum signs in two Costco's near me. I'll get $10/store + $5 travel time to drive up to the second store, which is about 10 miles away. Each store will take me about 20 minutes.

I found out about NARMS when I was working for Nutro Pet Foods as a demonstrator. I went on the site and found out there was a LOT of terminology I didn't understand, so I checked with the clerks at the stores where I worked (PetCo and PetSmart) and asked them to explain things to me (which they did). Sometimes I'd see people at the grocery store scanning products and they clearly didn't work at the store, so I'd ask them what they were doing. I learned.

Almost everything I've done through NARMS has been easy; you just have to be super reliable and be able to think for yourself. My first job was putting up POP (point of purchase) items at Ralph's grocery stores for a NASCAR promotion. I had to put window clings on the frozen food windows, erect cardboard signs to stand at the doors, put up big end-cap headers (that was fun, NOT), and audit specific food items around the store to make sure the store personnel had changed all the pricing to the promotional pricing. It was a big job!

I chose a quiet store in a more industrial area as my first stop. I called ahead to the manager to see if I could put everything up the night before instead of during the day when there would be more people, and he was happy to comply. It took me about 2.5 hours to figure everything out, but I did it!

The next store went much faster. In fact, I did so well that when I called in they gave me two MORE stores + a bonus for taking on extra work. I ended up with 5 stores for my first job.

I recommend going on NARMS and looking around. There may be merchandising companies seeking people they can call on in the future: for those you go on their website and fill out the application and just wait to be called. Others have more direct needs. I'm happy to give you a heads-up if you have questions: email me at socalpam 1 @ gmail.com. No spam, please!

DON'T USE WONDER MARKETING. I had a huge two-week job at Sam's Club with them and they tried to stiff me! I had to threaten a law suit to get paid. Too late, I checked online for recommendations and there was almost universal scorn for this company going back a couple of years. Shame on me, but I got my money (about $250).

When I do little hourly jobs for $10 it sometimes doesn't seem like that much. However, I had lunch today with a friend, which cost me $11. I polished silver for Tisha and got to go to lunch with Laurey :)

So... this was really long. Sorry. I guess I do a lot! My point is that there are jobs out there if you're creative. I like all the ideas the rest of you have posted -- I may have to try a few myself!

I tried posting on Craigslist as a "family helper" but got too many housekeeper and babysitting offers. Not my thing. My friend just turned me onto www.care.com. If you're interested in babysitting, elder care, or housekeeping, that would be a place to advertise yourself.

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 Post subject: Re: SoCalPam has me thinking...
PostPosted: Fri Jul 20, 2012 1:25 am 
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Joined: Sun Jul 01, 2012 11:28 pm
Posts: 46
Location: The O.C. -- 7 miles from D'land, 7 miles from the beach
Oh, one more thing. If you want a demonstrator job, they sometimes require you to have your own toaster oven! They may even want you to have your own microwave to tote around, so be aware. One job that keeps popping up here is a jewelry merchandiser for Target. My friend's husband has one of those jobs. They send him a box of jewelry every week and he has four days to get it to Target and on the shelves. He can pick his own time within that time frame, and it pays $9/hour.

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I am a retired homeschooler with brilliant beautiful Godly boys who please and surprise me every day. I live with my sweet hubby of 22 years. Life changes all the time, but God has blessed us with the ability to keep our eyes on His prize.


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