Side Hustle
This week I am doing a more journal type post rather than a linear memoir. I will mix these in with memoirs like the ones I’ve posted before. I am trying to mix it up to keep it interesting.
This week I will talk about “side hustles”, or “side gigs”. I am hearing that more and more folks are finding these necessary for their economic security. Even people with good-paying jobs no longer feel as secure as their parents did. Of course, poor folks have always had these gigs, even when I was a kid. They were called second jobs. My best friend's Dad who was a police officer did security. Police officers were not always as well paid as they are now. Some folks turned to Amway and other pyramid schemes and ended up on the short end. Thanks, Betsy DeVos. Some sold Avon and added to the cookie jar money. These have always been around, but usually the domain of the housewife or the lower wage earners.
It seems like in an ever more unstable country and world that we shouldn’t continue to count on the things we were led to believe would always be there for us. Folks that work for, for-profit companies can be at risk of loss of, or reductions in their retirement benefits. I hear PG&E, a power company in No. California declared bankruptcy. They neglected infrastructure to pad shareholders pockets resulting in a wildfire causing massive loss of property and life, incurring many billions in lawsuits. Where will that leave future PG&E retirees.
The government may not be reliable either, if the idiot in the White House is re-elected. He has made noises about coming after Social Security as well as other benefits if re-elected.
Because of these possible realities, I am feeling particularly vulnerable. Having existed on a fixed income for decades I have no nest egg or savings, only my monthly check. The one saving grace is the mobile home my Grandmother gave to me after she died. I left behind section 8 housing in Washington when I came to Southern California to be her caregiver. Two other relatives had failed by then. I left a beautiful apartment on the Bellingham Bay in an old refurbished, 1930’s hospital. I’ll do a “Bellingham Daze”, post in the future. Anyway, coming down here to Southern California to care for her would have left me to seek housing in a very expensive market when she passed. I would have likely become homeless, and not for the first time either. So the mobile home deal was essential to my future survival even if some family members didn't like it. The wait for Section 8 housing in California would have been greater than my life expectancy.
My Grandmother only lasted a little over three years before she passed in 2007 at the age of ninety-three and a half. She left me what is now an even more secure future than that Section 8 housing in N.W. Washington would have held for me. I also have reduced space rental rates. Not rent control, a complicated tax break thing the landowner gets for providing low-cost housing solutions to low-income seniors and the disabled. I am more fortunate than many but still vulnerable.
I am sure by now you can see why I have some concern even though some things have worked out well for me. My income is still very small and I have learned how to make ends meet over the past twenty-five years. I would like to improve my prospects though and there are several house upkeep issues that are desperately in need of attention. I will not innumerate them as I do not want to get red-flagged. Haha, I think? Also the very cool, albeit old 2000 Lexus RX 300 my Mom left me is not running and a couple thousand would get her back on the road. It really is in nice condition, low mileage and such a pleasure to drive. Alas, two-thousand bucks might as well be two million right now, as things stand.
For all these reasons I’m thinking a couple side hustles may get me to where I need and want to be financially. I’ve actually thought about doing side hustles in the past. A Facebook friend posted a good article on the subject today that really got me thinking about it more seriously. It caused me to choose this subject today over my planned ”Autumn Memories”, about new school years and marching bands and autumn in Southern California stuff. Maybe next week.
I did do a side hustle for a while in the mid-eighties when I worked as a retail jewelry salesperson before I finally pushed my way into store management. The manager I worked for had hired me years before at one of those credit jewelers where he was the manager. I kept following him and he liked me, so he gave me a stable schedule. Not usually the case when you work retail sales and I was able to start what was a pretty good lawn care business. It lasted for a while and then I broke into management which basically meant, no extra time off, ever, at least back then. Boy did they abuse and overwork managers back then. Reforms on that issue are only a recent development.
So, I know how to do lawn-care. My being sixty-five, one might question my physical abilities, but a lot of working out has got me to the best shape I’ve been in, in years. My maternal Grandma mowed the weeds every spring in her back half-acre well into her eighties before she and I became roommates.
Other ideas that would have start-up costs would be selling things online. I sold a bunch of sports memorabilia for one of my brothers on eBay, some years ago. So, I could probably do that as well if I can find the right product. I like scented candles and scented soaps. The essential oil kind. I’ve always wanted to make them from scratch. Some startup costs would be involved, so it would be a bit of a gamble.
“Picking” would be fun. Going around to thrift stores, swap meets, yard sales and the like, seeking out treasures that might bring a profit. That choice would have a lower start-up cost, I would think. I like the hunt and enjoy the necessary research, as well.
I would love to do books, but you really need to know what to buy. Books could be very tricky. A brick and mortar bookstore with a coffee shop is a life long dream, but no, not possible anymore.
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| Village Books in the village of Fairhaven, near where I lived in Bellingham, Wa. My favorite place to be when I lived there. |
Writing was suggested in the article, I read. I don’t think I’m there. A memoir as a vanity project and self-published on Amazon would not likely create a very strong stream of income, if any. I don’t have a lot of understanding about other writing opportunities that could generate income.
So, over the next couple of months, I will think about the lawn care idea. I have one hundred and forty neighbors here in my little senior park. More than half have grass yards and the others need weeding. The weeds do grow in those decorative desert rock landscapes. The lawns are small and one of the guys that is also a resident, that has been filling the need is retiring. You can't get much because the residents are retired and pretty tight, but volume and a half hour per yard could make it a worthwhile prospect.
I’m also considering the “Picking” idea very seriously. Both ideas would best be started in early spring. The lawn care needs are waning with the onset of winter and folks won’t be doing much in yard sales. The thrift stores are available, but frankly, they’ve mostly gotten very smart and seldom offer a good prospect at a low price. The big ones, Goodwill and Salvation Army have gone psycho on their prices. We do have some small independents though, like the Leisure League that might have some good prospects.
There is much research to be done, but I really do feel more hopeful than I have in the past. I was even thinking of applying at Costco for one of those “sample person” positions, but with a twenty-five-year gap in my employment record, I think my other ideas are probably more reasonable.
Other considerations since I live in a senior park might include house cleaning and dog walking. Transportation to appointments and grocery shopping would not be possible until I have better transportation. They also seem less appealing and profitable though and very time-consuming.
I am so grateful that at sixty-five I still feel well and strong enough to consider these options.
Definitely something I’ve been giving some thought to again recently, too. While our circumstances are different, there’s only seven years between us, and we both know from a quick look in the rearview that seven years speeds by.
ReplyDeleteIn my case it’s part of my looking ahead over the next nine years as I contemplate retirement by 67, sooner if I’m fortunate enough to get enough things lined up well. It’s going to be a tricky matter, but it seems workable. Trying to get something lined up that I enjoy doing that will provide a little supplemental income would be a nice piece of that puzzle. It’s also potentially part of trying to build an enjoyable life. As I’ve noted to several people in recent months, my aim’s not to do NOTHING, but to transition to an active life where most of what I’m doing are things I enjoy doing. After most of a lifetime driven by professional obligations I want to see if I can finally decide what a Happy Day would be for me.
In the late ‘90s and through to about 2010 I had several stretches where I sold things on ebay. Those were instances of me selling extras I had from a couple of collectible hobbies. I would like to get into selling something I’d make, ideally being able to trade in something that was also a creative outlet. Ebay still has a huge reach, but I’ll want to take it carefully as their operation has kept changing over the years, becoming both more restrictive and less profitable for the seller, or at least that’s been my impression.
Did you have any particular “picker” category in mind – something that’s been a hobby or interest – or just keeping it broad, looking for things that are just unappreciated where they are? Maybe go the Garbo tour route, taking pics with your phone when you're at a thrift shop. Then you can do some online searches later in the day, and decide whether or not to go back for it. (Younger, and more tech-adept people can do it on the spot, with their phones, but I don't have that comfort level with it yet.) Certainly, the more you find out the better prepared you’ll be to spot opportunities.
That you have some experience at operating on ebay is a big plus, as you’re going to be in a better position to know to do searches for items that actually sold, and so get some sense of what is and isn’t selling at the moment. Too many ebay neophytes seem to have a problem understanding that just because some people are ASKING for $200 for something doesn’t mean anyone’s willing to PAY anything like that for it; knowing to only pay attention to completed sales, where someone actually sold the item, is a simple but vital distinction.
The lawn care idea sounds like a good one to think about, between you being familiar and comfortable with the work, having so many small patches to potentially work there in your neighborhood, and knowing that the person who’s been doing it is going to be retiring. Good luck with that – and the rest of it.
Let us know which things you end up trying, and how each goes.