Making Extra Money with Very Little Cost
How Can You Make Good Green?
Whether you live in a sprawling suburban community or more of an urban area, take a look around. How many of your neighbors are stuck cutting into precious weekend personal time to cut their lawns? How many resort to hiring a local company to cut their lawns and manicure the bushes? Either way, time is money and hiring a professional company is certainly not a cheap alternative.
Show Me The Money!
At one time I could be counted as a corporate professional with little time to spend cutting my own lawn. The weekly cost of having a lawn service was $35.00 per week for a yard of modest size. While I am back to having sufficient free time and not as much disposable income, I have taken note of at least ten neighborhood homeowners using a professional lawn service on a weekly basis. Lets do the math here. Leaving the ego at the “garage” door, let’s assume I approach each of the ten neighbors (residing within an easy three block distance). Then we give them a nominal incentive to let me do their lawns and the associated stuff to give the same curb appeal as the lawn service crews (keeping the bushed trimmed and weed whacking the necessary areas and cleaning up the clippings). With a friendly approach and an offer to do the same work for $25.00 per lawn, I score six customers per week. This totals out at a respectable $150.00 per week or a very respectable $600.00 per month. Minus the cost of gas for the mower and keeping the machine properly oiled, the net is likely around $135.00 per week or a tidy $540.00 per month! Surely there is also time involved to do your own yard not to mention those of six neighbors – but we are talking some nice extra cash for the much needed vacation, the extra summer bills or making a dent in the debt on the plasma TV you could have done without.
The Long And The Short Of It
Clearly it takes some initiative to leave the cozy confines of one’s home to ask neighbors to let you do their lawns. For some, doing so is beneath their stature as a homeowner. The long of it? Anyone from a college student on summer break or an out-of-work professional seeking cash can do this. The short of it? Neighbors like to keep their lawns looking good – that’s why they are willing to pay others to do the work! The bottom line? The extra $500.00 a month over the course of a few months grows into some nice green.
