The Oily Rag Job Summit

 Read more Oily Rag articles by Frank and Muriel Newman 

While hundreds of people descended upon Wellington last week to attend the New Zealand Job Summit and come up with some “big ideas”, oily raggers have been coming up with their own ideas of how to put more money into their pockets.

Big Oily Rag Idea #1:

Make better use of “down time”. According to Statistics NZ every person watches about 14 hours of television a week. That’s equivalent to about 2 days working, or $175 a week for the person on a minimum wage. How about using that down-time for casual work, or on money saving activities like growing your own vegetables and selling or swapping the surplus! Multiply the benefits by two in a two-person household.

Big Oily Rag Idea #2:

Clean out the garage – and cupboards and the spare room! Although the amount of money tied up in household items may not appear very great, most families accumulate various “bits and pieces” that are no longer of use. It needs to be admitted that oily raggers are known to be hoarders, so they usually have lots of stuff like sports gear, crockery, books, clothing, old furniture, and so on that can easily be turned into cash. Some surplus assets aren’t that small either like a second car or a boat or caravan. When sold, all these items can add up to serious money that can be used to knock a dent in a family mortgage, or be converted into something else that could bring pleasure to the family.

Big Oily Rag Idea #3:

Never go past something that’s free. Everything is worth something to someone. One oily ragger was offered a piece of old machinery that was cluttering up shed space. He jumped at the chance. He sold the workable parts through an online auction site and the recyclable material – including a copper radiator – to a scrap dealer. The oily rag motto is: Cheap is good, free is better!

Those three Big Ideas are just the tip of the proverbial ice-block when it comes to money making ideas. Here are a few others from the creative oily rag community:

• Lots of businesses now have internet based office systems, which means admin’ work can be done from anywhere, including your home. Ideal for home-based parents with office skills wanting to earn a few extra dollars.

• If you have spare space in the garage (because you implemented Big Idea #2!), rent it out as storage. Offer the space – for a small fee! – to friends or family heading off on their big OE.

• For those with spare land, grow Christmas trees! (Otherwise known as pinus christmasitis!) The cash crop will be ready at exactly the time when you are likely to need a little extra.

• Become a courier. If you routinely travel long distances, offer to be a document or parcel courier to businesses in your area. The business gets personal service and a super-cheap rate, and you get someone else to pay for your petrol money. What a super idea.

The Oily Rag Job Summit was such a resounding success that we have decided to make it an ongoing 24/7 event via the oily rag website www.oilyrag.co.nz – so just log on and send in your tips and ideas for making a few extra dollars.

* Frank and Muriel Newman are the authors of Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag in NZ. Readers can submit their oily rag tips on-line at www.oilyrag.co.nz. The book is available from bookstores and online at www.oilyrag.co.nz.