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The economy sucks. Period. And we all know it isn’t getting any better anytime soon. But that doesn’t mean you stop prepping.
Yes, your food stockpiles might become a necessity sooner rather than later, but the longer you can hold off on digging into the cases of soup and bags of rice, the better. Your grocery bill is up, and it might be hard to find the pennies to pinch to keep growing your stockpile of necessities.
If you’re unable to get a second full-time job, there are other ways you can make some cash on the side. A side hustle is a great way to add a little extra cash to the family coffers. Use the money to purchase one of those big-ticket items you know you’re going to need but can’t quite afford just yet.
Preppers tend to have skills the average Joe doesn’t possess. Preppers and homesteaders live a lifestyle that involves a little more ingenuity and elbow grease. What comes naturally to you may not come so easily to another person. Use that to your advantage.
The following list includes some side hustles that are right up a prepper’s alley.
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Candle Making
Candle-making is a very easy skill to learn. You can make a lot for a little. People love to pay extra for handcrafted items. Making candles with lovely scents or in pretty colors is pretty easy. The startup cost to make candles is very minimal.
If you are a prepper who is already familiar with making candles, this is going to be an easy transition. And your unsold inventory isn’t going to go to waste. It’s just more stuff to add to your stockpile.
Selling your homemade candles at a craft fair or on an online site like Etsy or eBay is a way to generate income. Create a cool name for your side hustle so your customers can come back over and over.
Soap Making
Soap making is in the same vein as candle making. It’s pretty basic. There are plenty of articles and videos to get you started. Get creative. Use fun shapes and try to incorporate natural healing herbs into your product to give yourself another angle. Follow the same tips for selling candles to maximize profits.
Lotion Making
Lotion is another product that is easy to make. People love to buy handcrafted items that leave out all the chemicals and icky stuff in the things you get at the drugstore. If you’ve got goat milk or a way to trade or buy it, goat milk soaps and lotions are pretty popular and very desirable.
Cheese Making
Speaking of goats, which are smaller and easier to keep than cows, use the milk to make cheese. Goat milk cheese is another artisan craft people clamor for. Experiment with herbs and spices and find a hole in the market you can fill.
Sharpen Tools
You can sharpen tools, like axes, garden tools and so on. You’re probably already doing it for your own things. Charging ten or twenty bucks to sharpen someone's tools is quick and easy money.
Rent Stalls
If you’re a prepper with some land, don’t be afraid to rent out a stall or two for someone who needs to board some animals. Always get a contract signed, but you can make a quick couple hundred a month renting out an empty stall or putting some animals on your land that you aren’t using.
Sell Vegetables
Expand your garden and grow extra vegetables to sell at a farmer’s market. Again, fresh, homegrown stuff is very trendy. Capitalize on it. If you don’t sell it all, that’s cool—you’ll use it.
Sell Jams and Jellies
The jams, jellies and salsas you’re making for your own house can be turned around and sold for money. Add some cool little decorations to the jar to make it prettier. The holidays are a boon for these kinds of things. Again, back to the craft fairs, which are prevalent around the holidays.
Sell Crafts
Seriously, whatever crafty thing you make at home for your house or with the kids can be translated into money. Preppers can be frugal folk, which means unique gifts for friends and family members that are made at home.
Collecting pinecones that are pretty and in good shape is a way to make some cash. It’s easy enough for the kids to do. Get fancy and spray on some glitter and charge a little extra.
Sew Products
Anyone that can sew well enough, can sell their products. It’s not hard to set up a small business that allows customers to pick and choose fabrics. Sewing is a skill many preppers have already. This might be something as simple as making rice-filled heat packs that can keep a guy warm on a cold winter day when there are chores to get done outside.
Teach Firearms
If you’re handy with a firearm, you can use that skill to teach others. Becoming a firearms instructor is not as hard as one would think. Preppers that know their way around a gun can pass along the knowledge while making some extra cash.
Teach Preparedness
Teaching classes about the things preppers do, like home food preservation, animal husbandry, and so on is another way to use your knowledge to make money. You’re doing these things every day.
With more people understanding why it’s a good idea to learn how to be a little more self-sustainable, there is always going to be an audience hungry to learn from someone.
Work Part-time on a Farm
Loan yourself out to help out on a farm on your days off. If you can mend fences or muck stalls, you’ve got a skill that will pay. A part-time farm hand is all some outfits can afford. The pay is generally pretty good.
Sell Eggs and Milk
Selling eggs from your flock of chickens helps offset the cost of the feed. If you can swing it, increase your flock by a few and you’ll have plenty of eggs to sell.
If you’re up for it, go for some of the meat birds. They are quick growers and can turn into a nice profit if you’re familiar with harvesting, plucking, and packaging.
This goes for milk from your cow or goat. Just make sure it’s legal where you live. There can be some finicky laws in some areas.
Sell Herbs
Herb gardening is another one of those things preppers do without even thinking about it. Herbs are prolific. You’ll usually have too much. Dry the herbs and sell them.
Make up herb blends to sell in pretty little packages at craft fairs. If you have enough, sell fresh herbs. This is another huge hit at a farmer’s market. What you don’t sell, you’ll dry and store for your own stockpile.
Sell Animals
Goats, chickens, rabbits and so on can be raised on a fairly small amount of land. Having three goats or six goats isn’t a huge difference. If you’ve already got the setup, why not add a few more animals to make some cash?
Write
Turn your knowledge into an exciting article, blog, or book. People are hungry to learn. Use what you know to show others.
Woodworking
If you are a prepper that is familiar with woodworking, you’ve got a revenue option. This might be building a fence for a neighbor or a chicken coop. Not all preppers are super handy, but it doesn’t hurt to learn.
In fact, you should learn because stockpiles are not going to last forever in the event of an emergency. You need to think long-term, which means doing for yourself.
Sell Firewood
Selling firewood is a good moneymaker in some parts of the country. If you are getting wood for yourself, you already have the equipment and the know-how. It’s labor-intensive, but there are a lot of people who just don’t have the time or the desire to go chop their own wood for winter.
Fix Things
Preppers have generators, chainsaws and other equipment that will be used around the house. If you’ve used it enough, you’ve broken a few. Prepping is all about repurposing and fixing things instead of buying new. If you’re mechanically inclined, offer your small engine repair services.
Become a Farrier
If you do have animals like goats or horses, you’ve probably learned a lot about taking care of the little things like their hooves. If you’ve gotten good at doing your own farrier services, sell your services to the neighbors. Being a traveling farrier is a quick and easy way to make money for little work.
Sell Honey
Beekeeping is a lucrative side hustle. You’ll have honey for yourself, which preppers know is extremely versatile and valuable. Sell your honey. Raw honey is another one of those desirable items that people love to buy from a local guy than off a shelf in the store.
Make Quilts
Quilters have a skill that is very marketable. There is just something about a warm, handmade quilt. Don’t be afraid to take special orders and charge a little extra.
Knit Things
Knitting is another skill many people don’t even think about turning into a side hustle. Knitted hats, scarves and even sweaters can be sold online or at a craft fair.
Sell Solar Panels
If you know about solar power and are comfortable selling them, you can become a dealer. If you’re experienced with the panels and battery systems, you can become a solar repairman of sorts.
Become a Handyman
Preppers are often jacks of all trades, or what we often call a handyman. If you can paint a fence, change out lightbulbs and do basic repairs, why not become a handyman? It doesn’t take much to buy the insurance and bond needed to become a handyman. And the pay is amazing.
Collect Scrap Metal
If you have a pickup/trailer and some muscles, picking up scrap metal is one of those things that puts money in your pocket and tidies up the environment. A lot of people just don’t want to deal with the crap in the yard. Offer to pick it up for free and haul it to the recycling center. All it costs you is a little gas and labor.
Make Youtube Videos
Make videos/vlogs for YouTube or other sites. Yes, there are a lot of videos out there, but maybe you’re funnier or you just do it better. Monetizing videos provides a steady stream of income.
The more videos you make, the more money you make. The next time you’re fixing the generator or whipping up a batch of dehydrated vegetables for your stockpile, make a video and post it.
Become a Guide
Can you hunt? Fish? Trap? Sell your services as a guide. This is another area you can make videos of. Teach people the art of harvesting animals. Take it a step further and show them how to properly cut and clean what they catch.
Leatherworking
Got a knack for leatherworking? Find a source of leather and get busy making the things people want and need in their lives. Good leather products are always going to sell.
Knife-Making
Knife-making is a skill few people have. It’s going to be a very valuable skill to have in a post-apocalyptic world. If you don’t know how to make knives, it’s not a bad idea to learn. Once you’ve learned, or maybe you already know how, sell the knives.
Conclusion
If none of the above appeals to you, remember that anything you do around the house is something you’ve learned. Look around and think about what you can offer to the world.
It could be something as simple as teaching English in the middle of the night as an online tutor to people in Asian countries. Use the skills you might not even realize you have and market them.
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