Side Hustles For Your Farm Or Homestead

Keep your homestead afloat with these homestead side hustles

Homesteading is SUPPOSED to be simple. Sustainability, and living below your means. But starting a homestead isn’t free. Unless you were given land with barns, equipment and animals, you are going to have to acquire all of those things.

I always saw people farming and thriving. The animals. The crops. Farms are so wonderful and beautiful.

Alright, I am going to do it. Start a farm. Learn to homestead. Easy enough right? Get some animals. Build some barns. Grow a few things.

Well, my parents always told me that everything has a price. What they didn’t tell me was how freaking expensive that price was.

My husband and I were starting out homestead from scratch. We didn’t have prior knowledge to farming and all I had under my belt was about 4 years of a high school Ag program. We were starting with nothing.

Literal. Nothing.

For the past 10 years I have been slowly trying to build this homestead for our family. We were starting from complete scratch. We bought our land with literally nothing but a modular home on it. Over 5 acres and a home for about $52,000.

Working a full time job was only providing enough money to just get us by. So, I had to get creative with making and saving money.

Here are some side hustles that we have, and are still currently using to help build, and provide for our homestead.

Side Hustles For Your Farm Or Homestead

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Homestead Side Hustles

Survey Sites

I have been working survey sites for all of my adult life (I am 28 now). There are TONS of survey sites out there. Finding the ones that are legit, and make enough money for the effort is the most difficult part. Luckily, I have a done all of that work for you.

Check out my list here.

These sites are all sites I use myself. This detailed list will help you decide which ones are best for you.

On average, I bring in an extra $30 a week doing surveys in any free time that I have. Basically, rather than browsing Facebook, I will work a survey instead.

This side hustle may not seem like much, but it pays for the animals feed. All survey money goes to my paypal, which I then transfer right to our bank account. I make sure all money made goes directly back into our homestead.

Homestead Blogging

Homesteading requires allot of knowledge. I mean, your first year of homesteading is going to bring ALLOT of lessons. Trial and error. You will pick up tips and tricks that other people may not know.

Why not share all that knowledge with people? Better yet, why not make money sharing that with people?

Now, you are not going to get paid by just writing the blog and leaving it there. The money comes from adds placed on your blog, and affiliate marketing.

I am working on an instructional to show you step by step how to start a homestead blog. Until then, check out my Homestead Blogging board on Pinterest. You will find help from seasoned bloggers making anywhere from $300 to $5000 a month by blogging!

UPDATE

Its here! I have made two awesome posts to get you started blogging and to make money blogging!

Furniture Flipping

Furniture flipping is a great source of homestead income.

Ever see someone stop by the side of the road to pick up a junky old dresser? I bet you are wondering what someone could possible want with that thing.

Its simple. Free furniture is like gold. With a little sanding, staining, and painting, that old dresser can look brand new, and bring in a little money too!

We live in such a throw away culture. If it is no longer pretty, or has a scratch, we just throw it away.

Cash in on that!

Once it is fixed up, someone WILL buy it. Why? Because it is easier and faster to buy something already ready to place in your house.

I had my husband stop for a set of old chairs a few months back. they needed sanded and restained, and the padding needed redone. I spent about $25 in materials and 3 hours refinishing them. Sold them for $150 on Facebook.

Never pass up that old dresser again!

Use what you have

I am not talking about reusing that butter container as a serving dish. I am talking about tools, equipment. Use those things you spent A FORTUNE on, to make you money.

Got a bush hog? Bush hog peoples properties. Tiller? Till gardens in the spring. Empty barn? Rent it out.

You see what I am getting at? I know these things cost allot of money. Fortunately for you, so do others. Sometimes people don’t have the money, or space to own equipment of their own. Whatever their reason may be, they need people like you!

Advertise on the marketplace or craigslist.

Sell

This one seems like a no brainier. Sure, I will sell some eggs right? Some zucchini and tomatoes at the farmers market.

While you CAN do that. That isn’t going to make you a ton of money.

Sell things you aren’t using. Homesteading is all about minimizing and living simply anyway right?

Let go of things.

Facebook groups and Marketplace are great for this. There is also craigslist, letgo, ebay and even yard sales.

Nothing to sell? What about making things to sell? People are turning back to buying local, homemade products. Learn to knit or crochet. Make and sell soaps, or other bath and beauty items. Grow some loofahs. People be crazy bout those things these days.

Farm Events

Maybe its just a Midwestern thing, but Agribusinesses are all the rage right now. (Rage? are we back in the 90s?)

But really. People are opening their farms and homesteads up to visitors. For a small fee they are offering tours, pumpkin patches, animals visits, and crafts.

Not only are you making a little profit, how cool would it be to share what you love with others? Knowledge of agriculture and farming is what helps keep farming a growing industry. To be quite truthful, the only industry that isn’t going anywhere.

In the fall, you can do pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and wagon rides. Winter time you could do lights, Santa, and cookies. Spring you could do workshops and seed starting lessons. The options are endless!

Learn Another Trade

Before your most recent title of homesteader, what were you doing? Chances are, you can cash in on that.

My husband is a body guy. Okay, maybe in more way then one…but that is besides the point.

He does body work on semis as his full time job off the homestead. Before that, he was always working on show cars. Before those he was a construction worker. So, his side hustles are roofing, barn building, landscaping, and body work.

Now me on the other hand, I am in the tech industry. What in the world do I do with all that? Well, I am learning. I have knowledge of tech that I am building on. Eventually I will help people start blogs, fix computers and all of that jazz.

What trades do you already have, or wish to grow on? Just because you are a homesteader now doesn’t mean you have to leave your other knowledge in the past. Use it to your benefit! My husband makes $1000 or more per side job he does!

Transcribing

Are you a fast typer? Good at listening? Transcribing may be for you.

There are two good paying transcribing companies that allow you to work jobs and come and go as you please.

These are both online. All you need to do it have fast internet, and speakers or headphones.

You listen to a recording, and type what is being said.

While that DOES sound easy, both companies have their own rules that you need to pay close attention to. Like, what to do if you can’t understand what is being said. Or what to do for long pauses.

For me, in a small home with two very loud children, I couldn’t do this accuratley. But if you are someone that has a quiet home and some free time, you can make pretty good money doing this.

The harder the job you take, and the more accurate you are, the better you are paid.

Check out Rev and Scribe to apply.

Teach Or Tutor

BUT. I am not a teacher!

Okay, so maybe you didn’t get a degree in teaching. But what other things do you know that you could teach? Gardening? Welding? Wood working?

These are all things that are becoming lost arts. Most of my friends don’t know the first thing about basic wood working. They want to learn, but don’t want to go to the local community college and pay out the butt for classes.

These are all things that used to be passes down from parents or grandparents. Nowdays, everyone has to work to make ends meet. People haven’t had time to teach the next generation basic skills.

There are grown adults that can’t fix a leaky sink. You can make money from that in one of two ways. Fix the sink, or teach them to fix it.

Offer tutoring in your community. People will understand that your time is valuable, and that you need paid to teach these things. They will also understand how valuable knowledge like this is for themselves!

Photography

Whether you are a professional photographer or not, you can make money taking good pictures.

Snap any good pictures of your homestead, animals, or land recently? Try selling those. But not to just anyone. Check out stock photo websites like shutterstock. They allow you to sell your images to people who need them for things like blogs, websites, or even advertising.

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Now that I have you thinking, what else can you do to make some side money? Look around you. Get creative. It isn’t going to hurt to try. What do you have to loose?

Here is a list of a few other things you can take on to make some side money!

• Animal Boarding
• Animal watching
• Babysitting
• Save and sell seeds
• Sell Plants
• Farm sitting (watch other peoples farms while the are gone)
• Sell Cut Flower Bouquets
• Build Furniture
• Start gardens for people
• Deliver and assemble products
• Take and sell stock photos
• Offer furniture refinishing
• Offer Pick your own produce