Frugal Friday (Guest Post): Becoming a Lady of Industry

On Frugal Fridays Kari has been sharing tips on how to bless our families by saving money and giving more. Today, we are shifting gears a little and focusing on how to bless your family by making money. Now, who doesn’t like the sound of that? 🙂

It seems to me that I often face a dichotomy in life. My education taught me to make money in a career, and yet I choose the life of a stay-at-home mom. Two values are at play: making money, and family. The two seem mutually exclusive.

However, I’ve recently begun to believe that the two are not necessarily mutually exclusive. In fact, it may be part of my duty as a wife and mother to join with my husband in supporting our family when the need arises, without giving up my other God-given priorities. I find a biblical example of this in Proverbs 31.

I’m not going to turn this into a Bible study, but I do want to point out a few verses that helped me as I wrestled with this subject. I suggest reading the passage in full on your own, since we are only going too look at a few key phrases. In looking at this passage I keep the following questions in mind:

What is my role in our household?
What are my responsibilities as a mother?

The following are words to a king of Israel, spoken to him by his mother. So, we know a woman came up with these characteristics, not a male with an over-eager imagination. 🙂

First, this passage describes an excellent wife. In other translations she is called a “noble woman,” or a “virtuous wife.” She does a lot of things—A LOT. Here are just some of the ways she helps to support her family (keep in mind these were done in ancient Israel).

She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands (v. 13)
She considers a field and buys it; with the fruit of her hands she plants a vineyard. (v. 16)
She perceives that her merchandise is profitable. (v. 18)
She makes linen garments and sells them; she delivers sashes to the merchant. (v. 24)

These, among the ways she provides food and clothing to her whole household make her quite a woman. The passage says she “laughs at the time to come (v. 25).” I assume this is because she is doing everything she can to help her family. Beyond that, she trusts their provision to God.

I’m not here to say moms have to make money. What I’m here to do is talk about how to make money for your family from home if you need to, and if you want to.

I consider the Proverbs 31 woman a Lady of Industry. She is industrious, diligent, and hard working. She evaluates what she has, acquires what she needs, and uses these to turn a profit. Because of this, her family is well fed, well clothed and her husband is respected. I want to be like her!

So, how can you become a Lady of Industry? I’d like to share some tips from my own experience to share simple, affordable and doable ways to use what you have to bless your family financially.

::Use What You Have

I started a business sewing boutique clothing and accessories for children because I love to sew and am obsessed with fabric. I suggest finding something you love and developing it into a profitable skill. Some questions to ask yourself are:

What activities do I love?
Do I have a skill that is out of vogue or unusual these days?
Am I ever asked to teach or share my particular talent?

These could be writing, sewing, cooking, cake decorating, painting, other artistic talents such as graphic design, or even public speaking. Think outside the box. In school, I was trained to write and I often take on freelance writing jobs to help support my family. However, the sewing came to me after I was a wife and mother, and I’m still surprised that it makes us money.

::Keep it Simple and Affordable

The key to a profitable business is keeping it simple and within budget. You can only make money if you sell your item or skill for more than it costs you to provide it. If you’re selling a piece of merchandise, this means you need to make it for cheap. If you’re selling your time, you must charge what you’re worth and what time away from your other priorities is worth to you.

Do as our Proverbs 31 woman did: consider your field before you buy it. Can you turn it around for a profit? Use it to grow something that will continue to provide?

Keeping it simple means establishing do-able goals. You don’t have to take the entire hand-made industry by storm the first year. Start with one or two products and go from there. As you learn and increase your profits, you can expand your inventory. Establish goals such as:

How much you want to make the first year
How much time you can invest
How much money you can invest (go minimal!)

::Some Ideas

If you’re at a total loss and can’t think of a single skill you can use to make money, allow me to suggest some ideas. You can also browse Etsy or attend local craft fairs to see what others are doing. Of course, some of the ideas below aren’t sold at craft fairs…

• Make handmade goods, such as clothing, baby items, accessories, holiday items, cards.
• Sell homemade cakes or pies during the holidays
• Sell Pampered Chef, or other products that give you a commission
• Become a freelance writer or graphic designer
• Display and sell your art

For example, one of my friends used to make really neat accordion cards and sold them at the Swap Meet the month before Christmas. She made $500 in one day and used it to buy Christmas presents that year.

::Guidelines

First, make sure your husband is on board with what you aim to do.  More than on board, he should be excited. He should also be made aware of the time you’ll be investing and anything it will require on his part (such as finances, filing taxes, watching the kids, etc).

Don’t over-commit yourself. If you are involved with school, church, or other activities outside the home, take those into account when planning your business venture.

I also suggest giving 10% of your profits to a worthy organization. If you attend a church regularly, you may want to tithe your money to your church. Or, you might consider choosing an organization connected to what you sell or provide. For example, if you sell women’s accessories, you can donate to an organization for battered women. If you decorate cakes, consider giving to an organization that provides food to families in financial difficulty. I give to an organization that helps women and children who have been rescued from sexual trafficking. By giving in this way, I think of them as I sew. “Where your money is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21)

::Tips

Don’t worry, this post is coming to an end! Before I go, I want to leave you with a few tips.

Finding a marketplace for your goods can seem daunting. To do this you need a little bit of, how should I say it? Gumption. Get-up-and-go. (There are other, less appropriate ways of saying this). 🙂  I highly suggest Etsy as a marketplace for handmade goods. Be sure to read through all the information for sellers before you jump in. Their weekly newsletters are also very helpful.

If you are selling a skill (such as writing or graphic design) it might help to join an online organization for freelancers. The best advice I can give here is to just jump in and go for it. Start with even the smallest job. Everything builds your portfolio.

Stay within the law. If your state requires you to register your business name and apply for a sellers permit, do so. Never neglect to honor God by paying your taxes. Be aware that, depending on your state, taxes may take a large percent of your profits. Plan accordingly.

Keep good financial records. I suggest opening a separate account to use for your business, under your name and your husband’s. Keep the business finances as separate from family finances as possible. Of course, you will want to pay yourself from what you make, but guard against taking money from the family to pay for the business (unless it’s a specific amount you have chosen to invest).

Becoming a Lady of Industry is as simple as being willing to work hard to help your family. From experience I can tell you that my lamp does not go out at night (Prov 31:18) and I sometimes rise while it is yet night (Prov. 31: 15), but it is worth it. I enjoy what I’m doing, reap the benefits of a hobby, and have confidence in helping provide for my family. Heck, it’s fun!

Now, go and be a Lady of Industry!

(I will be sharing more about this topic in the future at www.cailamade.com.)