I just wanted to second the tax preparer idea from SunShineGirl. When my father was in Okinawa, there was a great deal of competition for spouse jobs as a large percentage of on-base and base-related employment was reserved for Okinawans. My mother who was a registered respiratory therapist for 15 years was not able to get a job at the hospitals or even at any of the retail places. So, she did something different: she got a job working for H&R Block on-base, completed their course and worked for them for a year. After that, she went into business for herself doing tax preparation, specializing in the tax situations affecting my dad's co-workers: foreign-earned income, rental properties back in the states, hazard pay, housing allowances, and a whole bunch of other military and overseas-contractor stuff I don't understand. She got more business than she could handle and literally had to turn people away, with many of them willing to wait for her to get them (even when it meant late fees) because she was educated, accurate, timely, and far less expensive than H&R Block who charged a mint to prepare these complicated returns. Even after returning to the states, clients would bundle everything up and send it to her at tax time, so her business continued to prosper even after returning home. She just retired this year, much to the disappointment of many a serviceman and woman. Anyway, she loved it, and made enough money in half the year to make her feel fulfilled -- and positively contribute to their net worth -- for the whole year. If you have any interest in it, it can certainly pay off for you.