Real Life Retirement

Best Retiree Job

(If you are looking for a more substantial income after retirement, we have very different advice for you on our Best Retiree Job page.)

9.  Garden Sale.  Instead of a garage sale or yard sale to raise some cash by selling off your stuff, hold a "garden sale".  Susan, our passionate gardener friend, did just that.  She planted cuttings from special plants in her own garden in plastic pots and started seeds in small pots -- just like the ones at a local garden center.  After the seedlings sprouted and the cuttings rooted, she  held a big sale on her driveway one Saturday morning.  It was so successful that she did it again a couple of months later and this time she invited several of her gardening friends to sell their extra potted plants. 

We also spoke with a man at the local farmer's market selling Plumeria trees in large pots.  (Plumeria is a small, incredibly fragrant tropical tree that grows in Hawaii and other warm climates.  Its flowers are used in leis).  It turns out that this man had trimmed his Plumeria, put the trimmed branches in big plastic pots and 5 months later--when he was certain the plants had taken root--sold  them from his front yard based on an ad on Craigs list.  The pots he brought to the market were the last dozen or so he had left.    Once they were sold he was done --at least until his Plumeria needs trimming again.  And he had earned a couple of thousand dollars.

We have also seen two retired couples who sell succulents and cacti in small, colorful pots in several local open air markets.   Succulents and cacti are quite popular with apartment and condo dwellers because they usually do not outgrow their pots and can be neglected for weeks on end.

And one more idea to turn a hobby into extra retirement cash.

NOTE:  All names on this site have been changed to protect individual privacy.  The stories are real, the names are not.