So I'm a 27 year old dude with a medical issue that prevents me from being able to work properly. I like to think I do my job well (retail) but so far this year I've had to take nine sick days due to hospital visits, clinic visits, and just feeling awful. My managers have told me if I take one more sick day between now and January of 2018, they're opening an HR investigation, which they don't want to do but company policy dictates they have to. They also said HR would likely terminate my position because there was a minor investigation on several of our employees last year and they're trying to crack down on attendance. Currently my take home pay is somewhere between $1200-1300 per month. I get no vacations or benefits, I get two randomly selected days off every week, and due to this schedule I haven't seen my family since I graduated from college four years ago.
One of my girlfriend's friends recently told us she makes $250/week, minimum, selling craft items at craft fairs. About ten years ago I had a pretty successful Etsy shop ($5-7k/year) and now I make beer money on Redbubble ($25-30/month) so I'm no stranger to the DIY industry. I haven't had time to make art in the past few years due to working nine hours a day and being exhausted on my days off.
My girlfriend and I have been reading some articles on how to do this and it looks like most people who make their living at craft fairs can pull in anywhere between $600 and $1200 per week. I know that's gross and not take home because of taxes, but seeing as right now I make $320ish with no room for advancement, even at the low end crafting looks really good.
Since we talked, my girlfriend has been begging me to at least look into it and it looks like a really, really good idea. When I was unemployed and making art for family and friends they'd usually offer around $150 per piece as I have a unique style and medium that people don't see every day. It'd probably be less if I were selling full time. To me, nothing sounds better than traveling all over the region 2-3 times a week, setting up shop, meeting all kinds of interesting people, and bringing home 2-3x what I make now.
I'm assuming there's a catch because there always is when you find something this cool, and I think if it were really that easy to bring home $600+ a week, everyone would be doing it. I'm wondering if anyone here has lived this kind of life and if you'd recommend it.
Submitted August 05, 2017 at 09:11AM by xxyborg http://ift.tt/2vs9LPr
