You guys. LOOK at this!! A wall of flowers! And a happy old dog, just because he’s wonderful. Also he loves to photobomb.
Senior Management on the job
So I spent $12 on a 1/4 lb of seeds. We planted this bed, and another narrow strip next to PhotoGuy’s studio, and a small patch out near the road. We used about half of the seeds so far. This allows gorgeous backgrounds for plenty of gratuitous dog photos, some privacy from the neighbor, a full season supply of table flowers and hostess gifts.
And just for fun… dividends:
Side hustle flower stand, a.k.a “dividends”
Any dollars that make their way into that honor system box will find their way into my Vanguard account. More growth!
TODAY! Is Glorious! Birds are singing. The air is warming for the day ahead. Its not quite spring bloom yet, but the promise is in the air. Goodbye New England winter! We have defeated your cold, bleak greys and browns again!
It is time to get serious about garden season. What is it about getting your hands in the dirt? Why is it so damn therapeutic? I’ll probably never have the answers. Maybe it is enough just to know it’s true.
Let’s talk about seeds today. So much anticipation, so much promise of bounty and goodness! And so much satisfaction for small monetary investment.
BOOM. There it is. The finance angle. And really, what better analogy for financial investing than actual seeds?
Wildflower Mix from American Meadows
Recently I ordered 1/4 pound of wildflower seed mix from American Meadows. So for about $12, I can cover about 500 square feet. (The website says 250-500 square feet, depending on how densely you distribute the seeds.) I discovered last year that if you overpopulate the soil with seeds, there’s too much competition and that’s no good. My test areas did much better where I mixed the seeds and spread them a bit thinner.
Financial Takeaway: Diversify.
Best way = Indexing.
Look up the Simple Path to Wealth by JH Collins. You can find all you need about index investing on his blog, and there are also some really good podcast interviews around, too. His deep rumbly voice alone will make you feel richer just for listening.
Back to the garden… Remember that post I wrote about building your own soil with yard debris? Well I’ve got a good batch ready to go and I can’t wait to get started! I’ve been planning on extending one of the garden beds, and a fat swath of wildflowers is the perfect thing to fill it.
Total cost of materials: amending the soil will cost $0 out of pocket, and seeds are $12. And come on… $12 for 500 square feet… are you fucking kidding me? If this was inside a house, that equates to 2.4 cents per square foot. Cost of time + labor is a wildly different story, since I’m easy distracted and poorly supervised, as you can see here:
The Management
So what’s the ROI for these $12 seeds? I don’t actually have a hard number on that. But there’s a crapload of other rewards. First off, it’s beautiful, casual and interesting to look at. Also, easy to maintain. So what if a weed springs up? Who’s really going to notice? Secondly, wildflowers attract pollinators & wildlife in ways that cultivated plants just can’t. This creates a network of stronger plants that extends much farther than your own property. Want fresh flowers on the table at dinner? Walk outside and cut some. Need a hostess gift? Same, add a pretty ribbon. Want some cash? Throw a roadside stand out there and you’re hustling those flowers. Seriously, people love that shit.
My Flower Stand Side Hustle
So get out there and plant some seeds! Actual or financial, spring is the time for new growth!
A colleague at work recently discovered how to stack grocery coupons and store sales together!! Holy Shit. Obviously this blew his mind. Fast forward several months down the road, tired of another detailed review of his most recent haul and savings, I casually asked…
“So, what are you doing with all this money you’re saving?”
Blinking. Stammering. Crickets.
Huh. Weird. Now this guy is an engineer. I was sort of expecting him to whip out a rev’d level drawing of some obscure plan that would make normal people go blind and drop dead. Nope. His entire plan is to buy stuff / save in a measurable way / gloat about it.
Sorry bud, not good enough. If I’m going through all that effort to do the saving, you bet your ass it’s going to pay me back in a bigger way.
Some of the cash rewards programs utilize PayPal. I have PayPal linked to a small account with my bank that I keep specifically for side hustle. It acts as a holding pen for transfers into Vanguard, or sometimes the stock market if I just can’t help myself. Ibotta is one example that offers cash via PayPal (and Venmo). There are a few others apps I use, but they are really just add-ons, for another time.
So what do you do with your cash rewards? I know you people are next level out there. Tell me your elaborate schemes!
