Do not introduce yourself as BJ. [rimshot!] Seriously, folks... anyone from out of town...? No, but really... do a couple of "free ones" first, and get your name out there. It's actually word-of-mouth that gets me "gigs." If anything, practice doing your own sites first, then sites for others. There are cheap hosting companies that can let you host OTHER sites and you manage everything. I use 1 and 1 (if you want to sign up, I can send you my referral #) for hosting, and they also do your domain names. MoBalls, we should start our own business doing mess'can companies . Paging xcharged as well.
Sing with Austin Lyric Opera (not sure how well a percussionist would do with this) and direct a church choir. You might want to seriously look at that second option. Church gigs can be spiritually fulfilling, lucrative, not too time intensive, and a lot of fun (with the right group of people).
Instead of making more money, have you thought about cutting back in other places? Are you paying interest on a credit card? Do a balance transfer and get 0% for 12 months. That could easily save you $50+ per month. Here's a link: http://www.creditcardmonitor.org/balancetransfers.php You can always do other little things too. Refinance your car? Turn up your AC a bit? Adjust your water heater (but nothing below 120 degrees)? One way I've begun to save quite a bit of money is to stock up when items are on sale. Every Black Friday I now buy 2 pair of New Balance shoes to last me through the next year. With the Black Friday discount, I'm pretty much getting 2 for 1. Look for sales at places like CVS and Walgreens. They always have deals going where you pay for an item and get all of it back through store credit. CVS recently had a deal for deodorant where you got $3 back. Well the deodorant cost $3.19, but I got $3 back, so that was a great deal. Do you go to the movies? Right now Walgreens has a deal, if you buy 4 Axe deodorant or shower gels you get 2 free movie tickets, up to a $12 value. If you buy the travel size you'll pay $8.62 for 4 of them and get 2 free movie tickets. Look out for these types of deals and stock up while you can. You don't always have to raise your income to have extra money. Good Luck! Pugs
Oh, I’ve had several church gigs in the past. They are a great way to 1) get my butt in church every Sunday and 2) make a nice supplemental income with a minimal time requirement. This time last year, I was making $150 per Sunday for playing 1rehearsal (2 hours before the service) and 1 service. But the new music director got tired of paying musicians and forced us all out so he could hire a bunch of high school kids who would do it for free. Any suggestions on finding a new similar gig? And for everyone suggesting I spend less, I am already a notorious TIGHTWAD. Just ask my wife.
These are all great tips, especially the stocking up idea. I bought a vacuum sealer and I get the Wednesday and Sunday papers every week now because those are the ones that have sales on grocery and supercenter type stores. Buy a ton of meat, especially in bulk or family packs, then divide it up, seal it, then freeze. I usually have to visit the grocery store once a month now for meats and maybe 3 times a month for everything else.
Open mike tip jar Selling my powerpoint skills locally Old photo retouching (as an aspiring photographer I sure wish I could start selling some of my photos like our man Jeff...what a great retirement gig!)
Websites on the side... I'm looking into using my make up skills to do make up for weddings, shoots and anything else.
Hmm....being a Rockets season ticket holder, I don't know if I'd completely fit that definition, but I do watch what I spend and am always trying to save a dollar or two. Pugs
street performer! although in houston you'd probably have to perform on the highway during rush hour.
The easy answer is to invest a vast fortune in the stock market and generate extra money from the dividends.
