Practice Real Profits

A friend of the family has just moved to the city where I live and is staying with me while she searches for a more permanent place of residence. While she does that, I get to vicariously experience what it is like to go through interview after interview with potential roommates. It’s a tricky process because people are all looking for basically the same things in a roommate but they make judgments about little things that may not matter all that much when it really comes down to living with someone.

Ultimately, people just want a roommate who is respectful and reasonable, someone who will pay bills on time and deal with conflicts in the household in a way that matches that of the other people living there. But since everyone is basically looking for that, the decision about who to live with comes down to the little things.

The friend who is doing the searching ruled out a home recently because she noticed that the aromatherapy jar candles in the bathroom and kitchen were natural soy wax candles. In her mind, soy jar candles means that the home will be a little too "hippie" or "organic" or "natural" for her. That may or may not be true but it was enough to rule out the home for her.

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Chances are, you have the opportunity for more profits right in front of your nose, and you don’t even realize it.  Hobbies can offer major sources of additional income or even small business opportunities.  You enjoy these things, and are therefore most likely pretty good at them — and chances are, these skills, though often overlooked, could bring you at the very least some extra cash.

Here’s one example.  Both my mom and I enjoy collecting early hard plastic dolls from the 1950s era.  During the height of our collecting, we also were reselling dolls, both for a profit and to get our money back on large lots of dolls that we’d bought just for one or a few items.  In addition, this hobby prompted me to learn how to restring these dolls, and I later wrote and self-published a downloadable e-booklet, "How to Restring a Strung Doll," that still sells quite well.

My biggest hobby right now — well, realistically it’s a major part of my life, and not just a hobby – is my horse.  I’ve also managed to monetize that hobby by working at the barn where I board my horse.  It’s not much money, but it does take care of most of the cost of keeping a horse — which suits me just fine.

Other kinds of hobbies can be monetized too.  For instance, say you really enjoy golf.  Obviously your chances of achieving a professional golf career probably aren’t very high, but that doesn’t mean you can’t use your interest in golf to turn a profit.  For instance, you could teach golf, write books on golf or golf-related travel, moonlight as a caddie, etc.  There are many golf academies that offer classes or even full degree programs to help you with your goal.

Just because you enjoy something and do it in your "free" time doesn’t mean it can’t make you a little money here and there.  You might as well benefit financially as well as physically and mentally from your hobby!

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