im in college full time working on a bachelor's degree and also spending 8+hours caring for an elderly family member who would otherwise have to be in a nursing home and thats not an option. I got laid off my job a few months ago. my savings is down to 3,500 plus stocks i can sell if need be to hold me over. My job was unique in the sense i could make lots of tips and was paid really well for only 4 hrs a day (2-3K a month) but now since they've closed ive been unable to make anything happen. I dont want to go get a taco bell job or something like that because the pay wont be enough to cover my expenses plus i have no free time/sleep time as it is already. im looking for a good niche or alternative ways of not going broke. so far ive considered getting some glass pieces and selling them at flea markets (seems like a decent business in my area) plus ive have 10's of thousands of ppl walking by my booth (large flea market in my area. several square miles). I considered bongs, pipes, rolling papers, lighters, etc. a basic smoke shop style booth. Thats my best idea ive had other (all involving selling things for profit either through flea markets, ebay, etc) what would you do?
the taco bell job isnt real. its an example. jobs are really crap here. ive been applying left and right since i found out i was gonna be out of work. thats why im asking about alternative means. im not looking to get rich but something that can pay roughly w/ some consistency. thats what led me to the flea market idea because folks go to the flea markets every weekend at massive volumes. seemed like anything that could be sold there would make sense. outside of that im not sure what to look for. ive cut back all my expenses to the minimum at this point. if start up money is involved im still in. id sell of stocks if the idea made sense.
Maybe get your bartending cert? I dont think the classes are long like two weeks and you can get a part time job making awesome money in tips.
OP, you had mentioned you care for an elderly person. Is there a reason you are not getting an income from that? I'm NOT trying to imply that you should be greedy here, but it sounds like you HAVE a full-time job already, and therefore you should perhaps look at that responsibility for some income. And it doesn't mean you're taking someones last pennies by making them split their social security check with you. There are other ways to perhaps pursue. Look into a reverse mortgage if the home still has value. Perhaps there is at least a way you could apply for a grant as some sort of elderly caregiver. If this elderly person is related to you, petition the rest of your family to have them start shelling out some money for the responsibility that YOU have taken on. No one should be expected to do that job for free, and there can EASILY be a happy medium found between "free" and nursing home rates. Perhaps apply pressure by offering up that responsibility to other family members. You may quickly find that people will PAY to not do certain jobs. Good luck with it.
Few will argue the overall profitability with this suggestion, but this is hardly an environment without problems.
ive pursed this avenue. I tried getting in contact w/ the state because they have a program that provides for services like this but they turned me down because this elderly person is related to me and supposedly they don't like shelling out money for that because they believe its people trying to scam the system by getting elderly family members to lie for you so you can get a monthly check. its b.s. too because they pay almost 12 and hr. the issue is we're related. i cant really ask for the cash from the elderly family member or other family members as most of my family is broke and i wouldn't feel right bleeding them for $. i'd feel guilty to be honest. most of my free time is from friday night until monday morning and i go get a solid 5 hrs free time per day at night (from 5-6pm till i go to sleep) i was hoping to find something i could do in my spare time (nights and weekends). as you can see thats why i thought of the flea market because they are packed w/ about 80,000-100,000 visitors per week. my only issue would be finding something of value thats possible to flip a profit on. for some reason this sounds like a lot of trial and error. i thought of the bongs/waterpipes/pipes/rolling papers/ etc. because i obviously love mj and it would be great to make some extra cash helping other stoners get stoned. some have suggested i offer a service but to be quite honest theres not really any services i could think to provide that would be in demand (obviously the potential for profit is higher since selling services are generally very profitable) not so easy. first im in no position to grow bud for profit and buying it in bulk and reselling is no where near as profitable i know because i use to buy in bulk and sell it off in high school (if thats what you meant by "drugs" since i noticed you say "Drugs" instead of Drugs.) if you do mean real drugs....thats not a risk im willing to take. i finally got my life straight by going to college idw risk that for drug money.
id like to say thank you to those who have taken it serious and attempted to help i highly appreciate it thank you. im just REALLY stressed because if i run out of cash i'll have to put my education on hold and im trying to avoid that as much as possible. I still owe the school an additional 8-10K. this solution really requires some "out of the box" thinking due to time constraints.
start going to the blood bank every month, they pay decent. eat your meals at pantrys on the weekends, walk dont ride the bus or use your car everywhere you go. what you're doing for your family member is integrity at its finest. you are doing a great thing for your life and theirs. good luck in the future!
What about opening some kind of food stand at the flee market instead? I've read about lots of people making big profits off of hot dog stands and whatnot, however I guess you'd have to see if you're able to do that in your area.
thats another good idea id have to look into it. I have the start up cash if need be. I wonder if it requires a license since im handling food for sale. I know someone who is a fabulous cook but will probably not want a piece of it because they hate the concept of cooking all day. lol.` at least someone else in the thread said flea market. it seems like the most logical option considering my free time will mostly be on the nights and weekends. I figure i can attempt to find something worth selling (buying @ wholesale of course) and attempt to do it. im gonna scope out the flea markets in my area check out what kind of merchandise people sell. whats popular and probably try to determine something else that could be popular based on what i see. i figure thats the safest way since joining the crowd and selling the most popular items might backfire due to excess competition. just an idea. i really like your idea though. offering more of a service as well as a product. a service only booth could be amazing too. i read one flea market in my area has actual massage booths! not that i personally would wanna give the massages...i mean maybe i could but i was thinking more from a business perspective
yes, buying in bulk isn't anywhere near as profitable as growing and selling, but there is still profit to be made by buying in bulk and selling. You said you are looking to make 2-3 grand per month. You could buy a 1/2 pound or a pound, and make that much, or at least close, in a month. You can make 1-2 grand a month easy. Also... you said you don't want to ask your family members to help you out/pay you to watch your elderly relative. You said you don't want to "bleed" them. But that's exactly what they are doing to you. You said you spend 8+ hours being a caretaker a day. That's not fair to you, it's preventing you from having a normal job, so in fact your family is bleeding YOU. Sure they might not be able to pay you for helping your elderly relative, but they could at least volunteer some of their time so you weren't the only one spending 8+ hours a day watching some one. Some other tips to make money - If you have a car, consider selling scrap metal. You can spend a few hours a week and make some what decent money doing it, and since you're on your own schedule you can do it whenever you have time. I know people who scrap as a side job, and make pretty decent extra cash doing it. You can mow lawns, you can tutor, the list goes on and on. And like some one else mentioned, have you considered becoming a bartender? One of my best friends bartends just on the weekends, friday and saturday nights, and every weekend he makes about 500 bucks in tips.
It may seem a harsh alternative; At this point in your life I believe it is time for you to be selfish... Cut ties that are going to bring you down and prevent you from moving forward in the world. I understand how pivotal family is, but there is no way that you can keep supporting an adult-child, stay in school full-time, and be without a job to hold you over. Something has got to give, it's on you to figure out what you are willing to remove. As for ways to hold you over for now... quit smoking and donate blood/plasma/sperm. Classic college-kid move. Good luck bro, hope everything turns out well.
I like the idea of a little headshop try it and see we're it takes you hell maybe 10 years later your rich as fuck.
Well, if there is a legitimate program, then there should be several ways to get approved for it. I find no reason why you could not get some form of documentation from the doctor stating quite clearly that this person is in need of assisted care 24 hours a day. You could also get statements from your other family members documenting why they do not trust anyone other than a family member or YOU to do that job. That would hopefully be enough proof to petition the state to get around the related status issue and pay you for this. For $12/hour, I'd say it's worth a shot. I do hear you on this one, and commend you for your respect. However, it might not be a bad idea to at least mention to the other family members. Not saying your situation is any less important than theirs, but the income could come from several family members at once, to perhaps not put the burden on any one person. Again, if they don't want to pay YOU, then offer THEM the job. And that is NOT about guilt at that point, it is merely pointing out the fact that no one should be expected to do that job for free, which is basically what they are asking you to do.
scrap metal huh? ive heard of ppl scrapping copper but not just any metals. which are most valuable? i know you take them to a recycling center and whatnot but i have no experience w/ it. care to break it down for me? i may just do it on the side no matter what i do if it proves 2 be decently profitable (factoring the gas costs of traveling to and from metal pickups and trips to the recycling center) being a bartender sounds interesting. im wondering if theres any work in it for a n00bie who has no formal experience? i know they have short 2 week courses. maybe it'll be worth it. idk. im not quitting bud. im just growing w/ a 150w and keeping my harvests for myself. so i wont have to quit but i dont have the place to grow for profit. just enough for myself. donating blood may be my emergency back up plan if i find myself hard up for $$$ hello. im working my way through college right now. how am i not growing up? you act like im saying "i didnt graduate high school, im not in college and i sit all day on my ass" ....smh. you mean try to get hired at a headshop or open my own? as far as headshops go other than gorillaglass what are other legit wholesalers of smoking devices and headshop items? gorilla glass does have some sweet deals (ie. a 50 pack of disposable lighters that come out to a cost of 0.16 each = sell for $1 = good profit margin) and some of their pipes are priced well but im looking for another wholesaler too.