My daughter has always been good at earning money. She has put in hours on the curb selling lemonade, and sat for weekends worth of craft fairs hawking her homemade buttons. She is a saver and does understand the value of hard work and patience.
But, she is in middle school now, and her steady bank balance has seen better days. There are movies to go to with her friends, and treats to buy. She is paying for gifts for the people close to her, as well as “bonus” items I would consider outside of the realm of “need to have”
She wants money.
Not one to just willingly hand over cash, Hubby and I have been working with her to try and find a solution. I don’t feel that regular chores should be compensated and are a part of being in our family. Too young still to babysit, and with the market not running she was stumped.
Until we reminded her of the one resource she does have at her finger tips.
Our farm stand.
We have 37 chickens, all laying like crazy, and weekends on the island are getting busier with tourists and guests. When our stand has eggs in it, they get sold.
We offered that our girl take over the farm stand for a bit.
Well, the farm stand and all the farm stand responsibilities.
Last week was a bit rough since there was only the potential of return on her investment, but after a high volume of eggs sales over the weekend she is fully committed.
So, what does she have to do to earn her egg money?
It means waking up 30 minutes earlier each morning so she can let the hens out and replenish their food and water. It means collecting, and cleaning if needed, the eggs and ensuring the farm stand is stocked and ready. It means rounding up wandering hens and tucking everyone to bed at night.
Every day.
It also means spending a few hours every weekend mucking out the coop, and caring for the birds. This weekend should be fun seeing as the hens all need a dust for mites. . . and that is a messy job!
But it is worth it.
On average our little farmer brings in $20-$40 a week. Come spring, with the influx of product for the stand and buyers for our fresh produce and eggs, this can go up. We have given her the opportunity to plant food for sale, as long as (just like with the hens) she maintains it.
It may seem like a lot of work, or perhaps a lot of reward (depending on who you are) but we wanted to empower her to see opportunity around her. We wanted her to understand that there is ALWAYS a way to create revenue through hard work and commitment. By providing her with a “start up” fund of eggs, she is able to see the potential and opportunity for growth.
She had ideas of “having spending money” but now, knowing that the income may be more that she expected, she has goals for saving and ideas of larger purchases she would like to make.
She is inspired, and feels the freedom to earn and save and spend, and I think in the end, that is exactly what we were looking for.