Ideas for Self-Employment

I have very specific ideas on what I do and do not want to do on my homestead. While I wait for the money and land to become available, I am endeavoring to do everything else I can to prepare. One of these preparations is figuring out money. I do not want to work off of my homestead.

I know this isn't a reality for a lot of people, and a lot of people aren't willing to give up their conveniences in order to stop working off the farm. As I progress I intend to reduce (with the goal of eliminating) my dependence on electricity and petroleum products (such as gas and oil). Reducing and eliminating these things as they become unnecessary will further reduce my bills. There is only one bill I can foresee always having to pay: taxes. Whether income, sales, property, or school, I believe at this time that there will be those taxes to pay.

The why is partially a quiet yearning to be under no man's heel or hand and reliant only on God and His provisions through my own hands, and partially because I have come to realize how very lazy and forgetful I have become when everything is easy and available right now.

However, this post is not a dissection of my motives and desires, it's a plain listing of my ideas on what I can do to make the money I will need for those infernal taxes.

     1. Sewing
          Since receiving my heavy duty Singer for my birthday I have already sewn several small items, what I would consider "easy-sells". I also cut and sewed drapes into valances for a co-worker, hemmed a pair of shorts for another co-worker, hemmed a pair of dress pants for my sister's boyfriend, and repaired a seam on my uncle's work pants. I was paid for one of these jobs so far. I do realize that I will have to start charging for my work if I intend to actually make money, but I am loath to do so because I am a people pleaser at heart. I recognize it and must work on it. You will see it as a reoccurring theme in the next entries.

     2. Soapmaking
          I have wanted to learn how to do this for at least the past year when I was told to look at the cute goat pictures on Suzanne's Chickens in the Road, and stuck around long enough to see her making soap! I am not up to mixing lye soap yet. I am currently using melt and pour glycerin base and supplies that were given to me as a birthday gift this past year (noticing a theme here?). When I finally move home (this coming Monday!) to New York and get settled in, I will be trying the hand-milled or French-milled method. I would have tried it much earlier except it needs three weeks to cure and I didn't want to transport soap that was still setting up across six hundred miles in a hot car.

     3. Jams & Jellies
          This is the hardest one on the list. In order to legally sell them they have to be prepared in a licensed commercial kitchen. I have thought about contacting a restaurant in my area and finding out if they would barter/trade time in the kitchen for access to my homemade jams for free, or discussing how much it would cost to rent the kitchen for a couple hours in their off hours. I have also thought about the church kitchen. Sometimes they are exempt from licensing, and sometimes not. I will find out when I get back home.
          Of all the jam I've already made, all but two jars are spoken for and all but one delivered to its recipient. Again, I didn’t charge anything for them: they were gifts.

Those are the main ones I have come up with that would be pretty much immediately doable and available for sale. In the spring and summer I intend to inquire about getting tables at a few of the areas farmer's markets as my garden grows, and look into a booth at the county fair. I may also set up a table at the front of the house when work and school permit. We live on the main route through the area and we are only five minutes outside of town. I'm thinking it'd be a good source of customers.

I am aware there may be licenses or certificates or the like that I may be required to acquire. I intend (also upon returning to New York) to check in with the local Extension agent and find out what I need to do.

That's my immediate plan for saving the money I need to purchase my place, in addition to working at the grocery store in town. Eventually I'd like to sell excess products directly from my homestead as well as those above. Time will tell!