Making Money with a Side Hustle

It seems like everybody these days has a side hustle. Makeup or oils, cookies or cleaning products. Most people have something that they do to make money on the side.

My first side hustle was in 7th grade. I went to school one day with some Little Debbie Nutty Bars in my lunch. Somebody offered me a dollar for one of them (sucker!). I took that dollar, bought another box of Nutty Bars, and sold all six packs for a dollar each. My awesome little 12-year-old self had netted a $6 profit in one day, and the entrepreneur in me was born. Over the next several months, I amassed an empire the likes of which Connolly Junior High had never seen. Soda, candy, Little Debbies, and treats were provided by yours truly. I shopped sales, established a clientele, and eventually had to carry two bags to school: one for my school supplies, and one for my store.

My Secret for Finishing Compost

Like any other grownup, I have many chores that I do on a regular basis. Dishes, laundry, yard work, bills, etc. The cyclical list goes on and on. As a parent, I often do these things automatically without thinking about having my kids help.


This past weekend, when I had to rotate my compost and chip it up, it was not automatic that I asked my kids to help out. In fact, it was only on a whim that I asked when my wife was heading out with my middle daughter. And I was somewhat surprised that both my oldest daughter and my son enthusiastically agreed to help out.

Tips for Building Projects with Kids

Recently, while going through old pictures, I came across this video. I was building an arbor for a grapevine, and my two girls, about 3 1/2 and 1 1/2 years old, were helping. After watching this five times and getting over my uncontrollable weeping, I started reminiscing about the days of working on projects with them when they were cute and extremely unhelpful. Oh for the days when a two hour project would merely take four hours...

As I watched the video, I had several great reminders for tackling projects with kids in tow.

1. Let the kids "help" - You will notice that Little A, who was around 2, didn't care that she wasn't actually doing anything. She wanted to be with daddy, "working" just like I was. A plastic drill and letting her smash away on the lumber while I'm working makes her happy and includes her in the project.

1.1. Let the kids actually "help" if they can - Find something that they can do. At 4, Big E was great at fetching screws, and she enjoyed contributing. As the kids get older, give them more and more responsibility. If my 10-year-old is still doing nothing more than fetching screws, then I haven't let her grow in her responsibility and we're both missing out.

2. Let them experience real tools - Obviously I'm not going to let my four-year-old loose with a circular saw. But letting her become comfortable with and around tools will help both of us in the future. She will want to help me with more and more projects, and I will get free labor quality time with my daughter.

3. Give them the extra help when needed - Big E got to drive a screw with my screwdriver, but there is no way she could have done it on her own. As my kids get older, they need less help from me. But in the learning years, the "training wheels" come in the form of daddy's hand on the back of the screwdriver keeping it going straight.

4. People are more important than things - This is the one thing that I need regular reminders of. At the end of the video Big E drives a screw so deep that the wood splits. "Uh oh... That's okay" was probably forced at the time. Actually, I was so sleep deprived a the time from having two little ones that I was probably in a vegetative state. But remembering that kids are more important than that piece of lumber or that tool will help keep the focus on the important things.

5. Know that we all make mistakes - I don't always have the most patient attitude towards my kids, especially when I'm in the middle of a project. But remembering that these are the memories that they are building helps. I want them to have fond memories of doing projects with me. When I mess that up (read about one such instance here), I need to fix it.

Now that I've spent the past several minutes reminiscing, I think it's time for a current project to work on with my kids. Any suggestions?

Interior Doors: A Small Change with a Big Impact

It's funny how small things sometimes tend to bother us for a long time. For the past 19 years, my wife and I have lived in 6 different homes (two of them were very short term), and with the exception

Inexpensive DIY Appliance Repair: Cheaper Than the Alternative

In the past three months we have had four major appliances break. Our refrigerator ice maker, then dishwasher, followed by our microwave, followed by our dryer. I have never considered myself any kind of appliance repair guy. I also tend to have little faith that appliances last very long these days. So with each breakage, my inclination was that it was time to replace each one. However, with a little internet searching, some connecting with great how-to videos, and some inexpensive parts, I was able to save quite a bit of time.

By no means is this meant to be an instructional tutorial. I have already found those for my particular models of appliances. Instead, this is meant to be encouragement that if you have an appliance that breaks down, instead of jumping to the conclusion that I initially made, you might want to troubleshoot a little bit.

Frigidaire Refrigerator Ice Maker

Problem - when our ice maker is turned on, the ice bin fills with water and we get a solid lump of ice.