Diversify Your Job Skills With Trades
In the past, blue collar workers were mechanics, plumbers, and construction workers. They made less than their white collar counterparts who sat in offices and made bigger salaries for being “knowledge workers” and not manual laborers. While both blue and white collar workers are suffering job losses, the fact is that if you have a manual skill, you may be out of a job, but you’re hardly if every out of work. You can use those skills to pick up temporary gigs, save you money on your own expenses, and network your way into better jobs. If you have time and money to diversify your skill set, take a look at some of these manual skills to help you both make and save money when times are tough.
Automotive Work
Everyone needs a car to get to work, and even your own car will cost you money to fix if it breaks down. Why not take a few courses on how to fix and maintain your vehicles? If you find you like it, you can go for your certificates to start getting ready to make some side money at garages. The work is dirty, but it also pays very well, and there will be no shortage of people with car problems as the years go on. They will have to fund the repairs somehow either with a cash advance lender or loans through families and friends. At the very least, you can save money by fixing and maintaining your own cars, instead of paying someone else to do it for you.
Vegetable Gardening
This is something anyone can do, whether they’ve got a backyard or not. In apartments, you can learn to grow fruits and vegetables on balconies, including tomatoes, lettuce, bell peppers, and even strawberries. If you have a back yard, it’s even better. You can grow plants that require lots of space like squash, cucumbers, and okra. Whatever you grow, you can use to help supplement your diet and reduce your grocery costs. Some people get so good at this they even help others to start their own gardens, for a fee, or they sell their produce at local farmer’s markets.
Artistic Work
If you like being creative, you can now learn to sell your wares online on places like Ebay.com and Etsy.com. Being an artist these days provides multiple opportunities for making friends and sales online through social networking sites. You will need to buy a digital camera to take pictures, and be okay about shipping things, but it can be not only a profitable way to make a side income, but also a highly rewarding way to do so. Once you start networking with other artists online, you will find that it’s not as hard as it seems to get your stuff noticed, and it can be fun too. You can combine your artistic skills with functional items, like making hand painted pots, custom greeting cards, and any household item that others might be interested in buying. You can even use your skills to decorate your own home too, saving you money on decorative ware.
This entry was posted on Friday, November 20th, 2009 at 5:11 pm and is filed under Jobs & Employment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
