Depending on how much time you have to spare, here are some innovative ways to boost your bank balance and save more money:
Start a part-time business
Work in the evenings and on weekends. Consider any of the following: catering, dress design, hairdressing, beauty therapy, massage, landscaping, coaching, or bookkeeping. Once the demand for your services increases and your confidence is ready for the real thing, you can start doing it on a more full-time basis. Ensure you get lots of rest to prevent burnout. You will need to raise collateral if you intend to go into business full-time.
Image: iStock
How much can you make? It depends on the business and the hours you put into it, but average hourly rates range between R220 and R400. Landscaping, catering and dress design aren’t based on hourly rates and can earn you a substantial profit. Landscaping could deliver between R300 and R500 a day and, for catering, work on doubling costs.
Rent a room or a cottage
Use your spare room or granny cottage for regular or holiday accommodation. You can offer plain board or bed & breakfast. If you yourself rent, check your lease or get permission from your landlord. Out of season, you could take a boarder in on a monthly basis, or you could rent out a granny cottage as a studio, office, consultant or therapist’s room. The obvious drawback is sharing your home with a stranger. Contact local schools, hospitals and businesses to find people who have moved jobs, but are in the process of relocating fully or have short-term contracts.
How much can you make? Depending on size and location, between R250 and R500 per day for a room, and R350 to R750 per day for a cottage for holiday accommodation. Monthly rates range between R1 500 per room and R3 500 per cottage. Research similar area rentals on the Internet. Advertise free on www.craigslist.org or www.gumtree.co.za
Image: iStock
Profit from your creativity
Do you bake a great bread or love to knit in the evenings? Or maybe your delicious Thai curry or paella is worth selling. It could become your main money-spinner. Consider growing herbs, flowers, or vegetables; sewing aprons, tablecloths and dresses; painting sunsets, plates, or picture frames. Any of the above can be sold at weekly farmers’ and organic markets. You’ll lose some of your spare time, and weekends will become shorter – but the extra cash will make up for it. Ensure you get plenty of rest to prevent burnout.
How much can you make? Food is more profitable than crafts – depending on the season and product you can earn about R1 000 per week. Check out www.mothercityliving.co.za and http://www.urbansprout.co.zato find markets in your area. Most markets operate on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and some at night.
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Organise workshops and seminars
Growing interest in the training of every kind has created a demand for organisers to put together seminars for local and international speakers and course facilitators. This has great earning potential for mothers wanting half-day or Flexi hours. You need no special skills aside from being well organised and able to network. A large part of the job will be spent finding and booking venues, organising caterers, advertising the event, booking delegates and speakers, as well as their flights and accommodation, and finally seeing to it that payments are received on time. You may need capital for initial deposits on venue bookings and advertising.
Image: iStock
How much can you make? Earnings can be erratic. Up to 30% of the speaker’s profits. Browse magazines and newspapers for details of trainers and courses, then approach them with a proposal. Advertise at conference venues. Check out www.saconference.co.za
Make money from your photos
Is your computer full of holiday pics from around the world? If you’ve got a superb shot of a soaring Manhattan skyline then why not make it work for you? Sites like iStockphoto and Fotolia offer potentially significant sums for your pics on a per-download basis in exchange for other royalty payment rights. Hundreds of companies log in daily, searching for appealing images to use in marketing or advertising, so anything from a photo of your children playing to a stunning sunset may sell. Good quality is required. You need an awareness of copyrighting issues, and if you’re planning on submitting any images featuring people, they’ll need to sign a model release giving permission for you to do so, and children will need their guardian to do so on their behalf.
How much can you make? Payments depend on the number, quality and popularity of the images you submit but, as a guide, images sell from around R220 to R1 025 each. Visit http://www.fotolia.comor www.istockphoto.com for details.
