How to Stockpile cash quickly, or 2nd jobs, or sleep schmeep

[Shazzer]

How to Stockpile cash quickly, or 2nd jobs

All right, I have a delightful new home, achieved with larger than expected closing costs, () and have now taken a temporary dive into the uncomfortable hole of debt with all kinds of "frivolous" and "crazy" purchases like food and toilet paper and a vacuum cleaner and utensils etc. Really "wacky" stuff like that. If you knew me, you’d know I hate being in debt (who am I kidding, who loves debt? Not I, not you either). I’m a saver, a thrifty person, yada yada.

So, since this newfound debt is driving me crazy, I’ve been thinking of ho’ing myself. Okay, not really, but I have been thinking about getting a temporary 2nd job, and outside of prostitution and pole dancing, I think the only thing I can think of that would pay anything decent and worth my black, sunken eyes would be waitressing. Okay, that’s not really worth it either, but…you know.

Question to the FORT: Have you ever had a 2nd job on top of a full time job? Was it unbearable? Was it a bad idea? Tell us more about it. What do you think the best 2nd jobs would be? Is this just a silly, silly, really bad idea? How many of you out there have held down two, 3, or more jobs at the same time? Share your stories with the FORT...

[John]

Can I count the FORT as my second job?

Other than that, I've never really held 2 jobs at once. One is one too many.

[sher]

i have held down 2 jobs at once. i work as a paralegal (still do) full time and worked at barnes & noble for 16 hours a week. i loved b&n (more than any other job ever, i have to say) but it's hard to pad your income much when you're only making 7 bucks an hour - especially when you're used to closer to 27 bucks an hour. however, 400 extra bucks a month helped. paid for all my drinks and parking since i was also going out 5 nights a week while i was holding down 2 jobs.

the only reason i didn't wait tables, which i know would have been a LOT more money, was because i've done that already and i just can't ever make myself do it again. hardest job ever imho.

[MollyRose]

Since I wanted to stay home with my kids until they were in school, I got very creative at finding 2nd, 3rd and 4th jobs. Some examples of stuff I did to earn extra cash include selling Avon (most of my profit went into buying new lipstick colors), sewing for people, baking cakes and catering parties, being a "secret shopper" for various businesses (fun!), babysitting, modeling for ads and photos which accompany magazine articles and being a "simulated patient" at the local medical school (I still do this one).

The print modeling is certainly the most lucrative (usually made around $125/hr) and you don't have to be thin and beautiful to get work (I'm certainly proof of that). For ads or magazine articles, they usually want "average" looking people not supermodels. Let me know if you want more info.

I enjoyed doing most of these things, but I will tell you that it's pretty stressful running back and forth between various jobs. I definitely understand the need for extra cash, but don't spread yourself so thin that your quality of life suffers.

[joeguy]

I worked my steady job and then did stocking for a drugstore, what cracked me up was the attitude I got sometimes from the workers there, like they forgot I have already done 8 hours for busting my butt for someone. then we got a new manager and he had a real attitude with me for some reason.

I asked for halloween off cause of vandelism in my neighborhood, not to mention my mailbox, and he said "it wasn't his concern" so I came in the next day and dropped my uniform off and the assistant manager asked me "your just going to quit with no notice" I replied "to quote the new manger...It's not my concern. he can stuff this job" and not been back since. I'm too old to be treated like a kid, I really wanted to beat the sh** out of him and show him he needs to show some respect for older workers, but i held my tongue and left with my head held high.

[dagwood]

I worked two full time jobs before I had my baby. Being a single mom, two jobs wouldn't work. It was tough, but I got myself into debt and had to get out.

[Bumpkin]

Question to the FORT: Have you ever had a 2nd job on top of a full time job? Was it unbearable? Was it a bad idea? Tell us more about it. What do you think the best 2nd jobs would be? Is this just a silly, silly, really bad idea? How many of you out there have held down two, 3, or more jobs at the same time? Share your stories with the FORT...

Shaz ... debt stinks. But along the lines of what Sher said, it pretty much also stinks to make roughly 1/3 of what your regular salary is by waiting tables or working retail.

It really depends on whether or not you have children at home. If not, then I'd say work yourself crazy (for a short period, say six months to a year) to get out of the hole.

If you do - you might also think about ways you could freelance your skills. Or better yet, have a yard sale via eBay.

[firegirl]

Also since the Christmas season is closing in you might consider taking temp work in retail at some store you really like or one that pays commission. Or how about in the package wrapping dept??

[nausicaa]

Congrats on your new home, Shazz! It sounds wonderful! I bet you'll have a helluva time with the decorating.

Uh...no advice to offer on the 2nd job thang. But I do have a friend who works as a part-time waitress, a part-time receptionist, AND a part-time student, and she swears up and down that the money earned is not worth all the stress and exhaustion.

But, since it sounds like you *are* in somewhat dire straits (no food?! Poor thing... :eat ), I say you could give it a try. Waitressing *does* pay well, but almost everyone agrees that it can be a hellish job. Retail is much better (one of my friends used to work at bebe, and she got discounts! ), but IMO even better would be to work at an ice-cream store (), but they would only pay around the $7-$9 range. Reception work is good, but finding it may be a hassle, and you might have to contend with awkward work hours. I guess you could always try telemarketing/fundraising/door-to-door soliciting...? Really good earning potential, but well...they're obviously not savoury options.

Does anyone know of a temp job that pays well AND wouldn't be Chinese water-torture? :rolleyes

Edited to add: Just saw Mollyrose's suggestions. Wow, the secret-shopper and the print-model gigs sound awesome! But I have an even better idea, Shazz - start working on that screenplay of yours right away and pitch it to MGM by year's end. Chop chop! Before you know it, you'll have a hot little commodity on your hands whose every page is worth thousands. You'll be out of debt in no time. Trust me.

[Amanda]

With the winter holidays coming up, retail commission jobs can be a lifesaver. When I was in college, I worked at one of those little b.s. jewelry kiosks in the middle of the mall. It was sickening how much money I was able to earn in a really short time there. Especially because we pierced ears, and each ear got you a buck. Scoff if you will, but those ears added up. There were weeks I made more off of the ears than I did off of my base salary.

Good luck to you!