Do you need some extra money for Christmas? It is actually easier to make than you might think. You don't have to have special skills, or be brilliantly smart, all you really need is the willingness to do things that people need done to get ready for Christmas. In other words, be a HOLIDAY HELPER!
Updated for 2018
A Holiday Helper is someone that hires themself out to do holiday tasks that other people don't have the time to do or that they don't want to do. I have made a list of the items you can advertise that you are willing to do to help others prepare for the holidays. How much you charge is up to you. You can make a list beforehand with a set price for each service,
or you can negotiate the price with each client separately.
1. Bake Holiday Treats - please be an good baker before offering to do this. Offer to shop for the ingredients and bake pies, cookies, cupcakes, or whatever your client wants. Make sure to get the containers from them so you will have something to put the treats in after they are done.
2. Go Food Shopping - this includes going to the bakery, meat shop or any other place the client wants you to pick up. For an extra fee you can offer to use coupons to reduce the bill. You can find all kinds of coupons on the internet for whatever you need to buy.
3. Make a Family Site in the Cloud - add family photos, letters, or whatever your client wants. You can also offer to send out e mail notices to family members of the site so they can go check it out. Make a new e mail address on hot mail for each customer to send out the notices. Find free cloud sites here.
4. Stand in line at a store sale - like the sales to get something for a really cheap price or to get a toy that will sell out quickly.
5. Send Christmas Cards - please have nice handwriting or know how to print the envelopes.
6. Hang Exterior Holiday Lights - you should supply your own ladder, but the client needs to supply all the extention cords. If you don't want to hang exterior lights, then you can offer to hang Christmas lights inside around the perimeter of their windows, or put up lighted decoration in their windows on the inside.
7. Put up Christmas decorations inside the house - including things like Christmas trees, garland on the mantle or banister, hanging wreaths or other interior decorations.
8. Clean up the yard - pick up sticks, rake leaves, pull up dead flowers, basically do anything the client wants to clean up their yard to prepare for holiday guests.
9. Driving Services - such as taking people to appointments, or take them Christmas shopping. Or offer to go pick things up, such as decorated cakes or pies from the bakery, clothing from the dry cleaners, or party platters from the grocery store. If you can qualify, you may want to consider becoming an Uber or Lyft driver. Lots of people don't want to drive in snowy weather and you make make some regular clients.
10. House Cleaning Services - anything from light cleaning, dusting and vacuuming to deep cleaning to prepare a home for holiday dinners and friends dropping by.
11. Appliance Cleaning Services - ovens and stoves, microwaves, refrigerators, dishwashers, washers and dryers. Inside and out or just out. This is a service you can usually charge quite a bit for because no one wants to do them.
12. Baby sitting or pet sitting - for an afternoon, evening, or overnight. People that are giving or attending a holiday party would love to have someone watch their child overnight. That way they can stay out late and have some privacy when they get home. People that go away for a family get together for a few days need someone to watch their pet while they are gone, either in their house or in yours. You can also offer a side gig of taking holiday pictures of the pets you sit. Just buy a Santa hat or elf hat and snap away with your camera phone. Email the pics to your client for an extra $5 when pet sitting.
2. Go Food Shopping - this includes going to the bakery, meat shop or any other place the client wants you to pick up. For an extra fee you can offer to use coupons to reduce the bill. You can find all kinds of coupons on the internet for whatever you need to buy.
3. Make a Family Site in the Cloud - add family photos, letters, or whatever your client wants. You can also offer to send out e mail notices to family members of the site so they can go check it out. Make a new e mail address on hot mail for each customer to send out the notices. Find free cloud sites here.
4. Stand in line at a store sale - like the sales to get something for a really cheap price or to get a toy that will sell out quickly.
5. Send Christmas Cards - please have nice handwriting or know how to print the envelopes.
6. Hang Exterior Holiday Lights - you should supply your own ladder, but the client needs to supply all the extention cords. If you don't want to hang exterior lights, then you can offer to hang Christmas lights inside around the perimeter of their windows, or put up lighted decoration in their windows on the inside.
7. Put up Christmas decorations inside the house - including things like Christmas trees, garland on the mantle or banister, hanging wreaths or other interior decorations.
8. Clean up the yard - pick up sticks, rake leaves, pull up dead flowers, basically do anything the client wants to clean up their yard to prepare for holiday guests.
9. Driving Services - such as taking people to appointments, or take them Christmas shopping. Or offer to go pick things up, such as decorated cakes or pies from the bakery, clothing from the dry cleaners, or party platters from the grocery store. If you can qualify, you may want to consider becoming an Uber or Lyft driver. Lots of people don't want to drive in snowy weather and you make make some regular clients.
10. House Cleaning Services - anything from light cleaning, dusting and vacuuming to deep cleaning to prepare a home for holiday dinners and friends dropping by.
11. Appliance Cleaning Services - ovens and stoves, microwaves, refrigerators, dishwashers, washers and dryers. Inside and out or just out. This is a service you can usually charge quite a bit for because no one wants to do them.
12. Baby sitting or pet sitting - for an afternoon, evening, or overnight. People that are giving or attending a holiday party would love to have someone watch their child overnight. That way they can stay out late and have some privacy when they get home. People that go away for a family get together for a few days need someone to watch their pet while they are gone, either in their house or in yours. You can also offer a side gig of taking holiday pictures of the pets you sit. Just buy a Santa hat or elf hat and snap away with your camera phone. Email the pics to your client for an extra $5 when pet sitting.
These are only a few ways you can make money by being a Holiday Helper. If you have specialized skills you can do lots of other things, like clothing alteration, hanging drapes, or painting and wallpapering. People are always so busy around the holidays, you would be surprised at just how busy you maybe, once people find out about the services you are offering. Finding customers is fairly easy, try these suggestions:
- Send an e mail out of all your friends and family offering your services. Include a list of what you are willing to do, and a rough idea of the cost. It is important to put some kind of cost or someone will be sure to think you are offering to do this for free!
- Take out an ad in your church newsletter, or the newsletter of any other organization you belong to.
- Post it on local online garage sale Facebook groups or other local Facebook groups. Don't forget to put it on your own Facebook wall!
- Put up signs in local grocery stores, hardware stores and pet supply stores
- Put an ad on Craig's List
Make sure if you plan to go to the house of someone that you don't know, that you make sure you have proper security in place like having the person's full name, address and drivers license number and making sure that someone knows where you are going. Or better yet, take a friend with you.
So, if you find yourself with more time than money this holiday season, think about becoming a Holiday Helper. You might even make some new friends, or better yet, if you do a great job someone may want to hire you regularly to help them out.
Happy Holidays!
Jade :)
So, if you find yourself with more time than money this holiday season, think about becoming a Holiday Helper. You might even make some new friends, or better yet, if you do a great job someone may want to hire you regularly to help them out.
Happy Holidays!
Jade :)
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