Yahoo Finance 7 Top Ways To Become Rich by Only Working in the Winter
If you grew up in a winter climate, you might have grabbed the snow shovel from the garage and carried it around the neighborhood, offering to clear off driveways and walkways. The $5 the neighbor paid you was great spending money for a kid, especially if you were able to multiply it by repeating the task at several homes per storm.
It turns out that even in your adult years, winter offers plenty of opportunities for a full-time job or side hustle that could result in some big money, if you’ve got the time, skills or necessary equipment. In fact, the money you make in the winter could carry you well into the spring if your business takes off.
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A great way to find customers for your small winter business is to join the Facebook group for your community and advertise your service or product. Also, read through the posts to find people seeking recommendations for just what you’re providing. You could find a perfect fit.
Learn more about seven side jobs that can help you earn surprisingly big money this winter. Before taking on any of these tasks, you should figure out if you need any additional insurance to protect both yourself and a client’s property.
Snow Blowing
Through the years, you probably traded dad’s shovel for a gas-powered snow blower. If you’ve got a pickup truck or another way to transport it, offer your snow blowing services throughout the community.
HomeGuide estimates that property owners can expect to spend between $40 and $75 per visit for snow blowing, with the final cost depending on the square footage of the area to be cleared and just how deep the snow is.
Gift Wrapping
With each birthday, baby or holiday gift you give, you might hear raves – “it’s too pretty to open” – from the recipient or party guests about how beautifully the gift is wrapped. Top-notch gift wrapping is an art, and a lot of people are all thumbs when it comes to folding and creasing the paper and applying the tape. Forget about bows and ribbons!
If you’ve reached expert-level, people will hire you to wrap their gifts, especially at the holiday season when they feel overwhelmed by a glut of presents and commitments. The website Be The Budget estimates you can charge anywhere from $5 to $25 per gift, or $25 to $100 per hour. If you provide the paper, ribbon and tags, don’t forget to charge enough to cover your supplies. And, if you offer to pick up the unwrapped gifts and deliver them back fully wrapped, you definitely can charge a premium.
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Holiday Decorating
Just as wrapping takes a special skill, so does decorating a home’s exterior with lights, wreaths, garlands and such. If you are skilled in hanging lights or climbing on the ladder to install wreaths on second-story windows, people will hire you. And pay plenty for it.
Some customers might already own lights, extension cords and other supplies that they want you to use. Or, if you are serious about this side hustle, you can invest in your own stock of lights, etc., and charge customers a rental fee for the season.
HomeGuide estimates that you can earn from $250-$460 to hang lights on a 1,500-square-foot, single-story home, or $500-$800 for a 2,000-square-foot, two-story house. That includes your labor, your lights and other necessities.
Repairing Window Screens
Experts recommend that window screens be removed in the winter months, in part because more light – and warmth – will beam through the window and into a home. And once the screens are off, homeowners can inspect them for rips or other damage – and get them repaired.
Replacing the screen material on the frame isn’t very difficult, and maybe you’ve done your own with great success. The screen fabric is not a huge investment, allowing you to make a big profit. Home Depot, in a post on its website, recommends changing the fabric on all windows at the same time and estimates the cost at $20 to $30 per standard-sized window. You also can charge extra for offering to remove and reinstall the repaired screens.
Maintaining Properties
In regions where the winter isn’t too harsh, it’s a great time to clean up outside the house. Painting the peeling pillars by the front door, raking fall’s leftover leaves and cleaning the gutters are just the start of projects that can be accomplished in the winter.
HomeGuide estimates that property owners will pay between $150 and $350 to clean up the leaves on an average lawn. Cleaning gutters could earn you between $100 and $250.
Pet Sitting
People who travel to visit friends and family for the holidays, or those who jet off for a ski vacation, probably won’t be able to take their pets along with them. How about offering pet sitting to members of your local community? It could be as simple as popping in to feed the cat and change the litter box or feeding the birds and fish. You could invite a dog to stay in your home, too, for 24-hour care.
Per HomeGuide, pet sitters charge an average of $25 for a half-hour visit or as much as $75 per night, a fee that can go up if there is more than one pet to care for.
Making Charcuterie Boards
About 550,000 people each month look to buy charcuterie boards to feed attendees at meetings and parties in a much more elegant manner than with chips and dip, the International Charcuterie Association reports. While the term “charcuterie” dates to 15th-century France, those who prepare and sell charcuterie boards can create a very lucrative modern-day business.
If beautifully arranging meats, cheeses, fruits and vegetables is your talent, create some sample boards to start advertising to your neighbors and community. Depending on the size and selections of the charcuterie board, box or table a customer orders, you can sell your work for anywhere from $20 to $2,500, per the association. The organization estimates that the profit margin per each one is 40%.
Before starting a charcuterie business, it would be wise to inquire at your town hall to ask if any food-handling licenses or permits are required.
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