Making money during extended vacation

RatLabGuy

RatLabGuy

You look like a monkey and smell like one too
Joined
May 18, 2005
Location
Churchville, MD
Kind of like another thread @Ron started awhile ago, but different angle.

Lets pretend you are in an occupation where you get a good amount of accrued paid time off that you never use, say 3-4 weeks a year (b/c you get enough breaks in other ways), and if wanted could stack that against a bank of another say 2 weeks in the new year. So that you could take, lets say 5 weeks off of work straight while getting paid.
And you do that every, say, 3 years.

OK so you want to use this time not for vacation but to rake in a bunch of extra dough.
What would you do?

Hitch - this is over the month of Dec and first chunk of Jan. And at the end you HAVE to go back to your main job.
 
Vacation time is for rest, recovery, and de-stressing. If you pile in more work, you just die early.


That said, I am thinking of doing somewhat similar, but just looking to work a few weeks or a couple of months a year for playing around money. Haven't found or figured it out yet, but I have kind of figured that unless I net at least $30 an hour, I'm going fishing instead.
 
I have never found myself in that situation, but a friend of mine does this every year. Instead of getting overtime pay he earns vacation hours that are equivalent to what he would be paid per OT rates. He uses the time to do contract work in his field.
 
Do you have the equipment to plow/scrape lots from snow?
Do you have enough snow in Churchville during that time to make it worth it?

Colleague of mine does exactly that; he advertises well in advance of first snowfall of his services/availability, gets appointments set and plows snow from industrial/commercial parking lots.
 
Swap gears out for people.
 
Piddly little woodworking projects? I made my wife a jewelry rack that hangs like a picture. Simple frame with a small shelf at the bottom. Hooks below the shelf. Landscape mesh in the frame to hang earrings. I have 4 more going right now for others. About $50 each. Key is to go with a "rustic" look so you don't have to go furniture quality. Miter saw, table saw, finish nailer, and crown stapler is all I need. I have maybe $10 in materials. If I spent a whole day, I could crank out about 10.
 
I used to drive around Hickory in my CJ and use my winch to pull people back on the road that had slid off when it was snowing. I never asked for $ but always was handed $20-$100. It's easy to make $300+ a day. Now that I'm older and wiser, the liability may not be worth it.


If you had a small 25-35hp tractor, you could easily make a few $ plowing driveways or parking lots.

You could find a property and fix it up for rental property or resale. A 5 week schedule should be easy as long as the work isn't too involved. Doing a lot of the work yourself can save a ton of $ and let the pros do the difficult or technical items.
 
Christmas tree sales and fireworks sales.

You can buy bulk trees for around 10/ stump....sell for 40.
Fireworks have HUGE margins. perfect time.

Could probably American 10k in those 5 weeks
 
You're gonna stand there, ownin' a fireworks stand, and tell me you don't have no whistlin' bungholes, no spleen splitters, whisker biscuits, honkey lighters, hoosker doos, hoosker don'ts, cherry bombs, nipsy daisers, with or without the scooter stick, or one single whistlin' kitty chaser?
 
Sounds like Ebay might be for you.I know I'm gonna catch hell from the haters but really why not.Yeah theres a certain amount to bs you have to deal with and pay the fees but you don't have to deal w the public (in person anyway) and you can do it on your schedule.Find something you know about and have access to and try your hand at it.

kaiser715 said:
Vacation time is for rest, recovery, and de-stressing. If you pile in more work, you just die early.
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Non sence.I purposely plan my trips around whats available there at the time.I guess that could go in the "Just found something else that's gonna kill me" thread???
 
1-tonmudder said:
Non sence.I purposely plan my trips around whats available there at the time.I guess that could go in the "Just found something else that's gonna kill me" thread???
Click to expand...

Bungee jumping, parachuting, prostituting on vacation are all dangerous...but more heart-healthy than the same old daily grind behind a desk.
 
kaiser715 said:
Bungee jumping, parachuting, prostituting on vacation are all dangerous...but more heart-healthy than the same old daily grind behind a desk.
Click to expand...
Yeah I'm more out in the weeds beatin the bushes kinda work not so much behind a desk.
 
Doesn't really fit your parameters...but I know tons of CPA's that work in manufacturing that will take 2-3 weeks off after W2's come out, and then another 2-3 weeks before April 15th. I've known people to make $20-30k extra. There's a lady in my FIL's finance department that takes Feb-Apr 15 off every year and says she makes more in that 10 weeks than the rest of the year (and she's in the $60-70k bracket). I did it a couple years right out of school, took a week off after W2's came out, made a quick $5k...but I hate doing taxes.
 
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Use the vacation to do something you enjoy.

I took about 2-3 weeks off last fall and built my boy a really nice addition on his play set/swing set, and also did some landscaping around the house. This year I am taking about 2-3 weeks off and building a storage building/shed (just started last Friday). I have a long list of things like that I want/need to do around the house. I plan to use 2-3 weeks of leftover ETO at the end of every year to get them done.
 
I see a lot of picnic tables and adirondack chairs, etc. for sale in the spring.

You could use that time to make a bunch of those items and resell. It's not instant cash and takes some investment up front but you could spend that time building inventory until you can make more. They are super easy to build and pretty affordable.
 
Be a male escort for all the single ladies at the Christmas and New Years parties!
 
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