When is a Bucket Worth $1300?

This article is taken from Five Gallon Ideas, which features over 100 uses for 5 gallon buckets with more being added all the time.

Can a single bucket earn as much for you as $1300 in stocks or bonds? I’ll give you my argument that it can, and you decide whether or not to believe me.

Jacob Lund Fisker from early retirement extreme has calculated the value for each one of his sub irrigated planters at $300. That’s because each bucket produces the same amount of passive income for him as $300 in stocks and bonds. He thinks of his buckets as little employees that work tirelessly for him, saving him a tiny bit of money every day.

From his write-up at Early Retirement Extreme, edited by me for clarity:

One bucket harvest is worth $2.00 on average. At 4-5 cycles per year, each bucket produces $8-10 worth of produce annually.

Therefor each bucket is like owning $300 worth of stocks and bonds and buying the produce with the interest and dividends.

Having 19 pots equals a production of $152-190/year. It is similar to starting a investing in the sense that you acquire an asset, take care of it, and see it begin to produce an income.

In terms of effort/outlay this investment is
far better than anything you’ll find in the stock market!

Anyone wanna pay $300 for one of my buckets? I guarantee it’s far easier to water a bucket than it is to follow a stock.

But what other ways can we earn money with a bucket? What if you’ve made for yourself  my favorite idea on this site – the bucket wishing well?

Let’s suppose that your fancy little wishing well collects just a dollar a week for you. By Jacob’s interest calculations, a wishing well making just a dollar a week is just like owning $1300 in high-quality investments.

( ($1 x 52) x 25 ) = $1300

You can read more about this sort of calculation at Early Retirement Extreme.

It’s a calculation that can be done for anything that pays a regular dividend. How many ways can you think up to earn money with your buckets?

For many more ways to use 5 gallon buckets for self sufficiency, visit Five Gallon Ideas. When citing this article, please link to