Make Money by Becoming a Lifestyle Manager

At first, I was going to file this under the "you've got to be kidding me" label, but after thinking about it, I'm putting it into my "making money" category. After all, we're working towards that extra $10k in income and if someone wants to pay us a bundle to do their chores, we're up for it, right?

Here are the details. There's this new "profession" of people called lifestyle managers. For a fee, they'll run your errands or do whatever else you're too busy to do. Like what, you ask? Here's a brief list from the Washington Post:

Lifestyle managers have searched for a reliable used car for a client's 16-year-old or taken over their scrapbooking project. One wrote an online dating profile for a client. Others have negotiated overseas adoptions or bailed their clients out of jail. Another was handed a brown paper bag full of insurance documents from a client's recent surgery with the command to sort it out. 

So, how much can someone make doing this? Pretty good money:

These hired hands...charge a monthly membership fee or up to $100 an hour.

And here's an excerpt I just couldn't leave out:

One of Glass's employees flew a dog to Colorado so it could spend a summer with his family in Aspen, Colo. Other helpers changed the TV channel daily at one client's house; her beagle liked the Animal Planet network, but the client didn't want the dog watching its more troubling animal-rescue shows.

This made me laugh as well:

She has gone so far as to complete homey projects like scrapbooks for clients too stressed out to do the hobbies that once calmed them.

Ok, a few thoughts here:

1. Has the world gone crazy or is it just me?

2. Ok, back on topic. From a buyer's standpoint, having one of these lifestyle managers isn't probably a good financial move unless you have both parents (or a single parent) making substantial incomes. Otherwise, by the time you pay all the expenses associated with working such as commuting, taxes, clothing, child care, and now a lifestyle manager, it's probably not worth the second spouse working unless he/she also has a decent salary.

3. From a money making standpoint, it looks rather easy. Even at "only" $50 an hour, it could be a good way to pick up some extra change. It's certainly not that far removed from other "unique" money making ideas like becoming a clown, a college advisor, or doing something no one else wants to do.

Comments

[Katy Raymond]

My hubby went to a Chamber of Commerce meeting recently and came home with the business card of a local "personal concierge." I blogged about it, tongue-in-cheek. I've got an ongoing list of REALLY disgusting jobs around the house, which--if I could pay someone to do them--I'd love to be relieved of. Then I could do the nice neat job of completing scrapbooks without interruption! :) Or picking up my own dry cleaning. Please.

[Robert]

At least the clown gig doesn't have the connotation of "you're too lazy to do what?!?" Most of the other stuff seems more like people who have too much money and little idea how to spend it. OTOH, if you are just made of money but your time is too short, maybe it's not such a bad deal.

[Becky]

It makes me a little sad that someone's life could be *that* busy. My goal is always to work less and have more time to "do life".

[catfood]

The specific mention of organizing a bag of insurance forms and medical bills tickled me. I do that every now and then for my girlfriend but foolishly haven't gotten paid for it.

In one case, I called the hospital to set up a payment plan for the $1,500 portion of her surgery that was not covered by insurance and they simply wrote it off on the spot without my even asking. So such a service can have excellent value.

Also, I've heard of services that will audit your medical bills for redundant or overcharged items in return for a portion of the money reclaimed. A thrifty person with just a little knowledge of medical business issues can do well at this.

[Katy Raymond]

I do think the handling of someone else's insurance "stuff" is a wonderful and valuable service. When my girlfriend's husband sustained a traumatic brain injury and was totally disabled until he died three years later, she needed tons of help. She was NOT able to handle the reams of paperwork regarding his claims, and it was something I could do for her. I can see patients and their families being more than happy to pay the big bucks to have this burden taken from them!

[Ryuko]

You know, this is simply a personal servant under a new name. The idea has been around for thousands of years, but slavery is illegal now and people demand higher pay. It's a lot like being a nanny. Still not a bad idea if the employer isn't an ass!

[Ciji]

It's not a matter of laziness or being too busy in a bad way. Some people, primarily self-employed people, make more money when they are working, not whien they are scrubbing toilets. I would love to do little projects around my house, like organizing pictures my pics into a scrapbook or mounting them in cute frames, but quite frankly, I suck at organizing anything and it would take me 10 times as long to get it done. In the time it takes to clean my house, do laundry, cook dinner, etc., I could be meeting with clients, which I LOVE to do. If one can afford to hire a "lifestyle coach" (I prefer the term "personal assistant"), then why not have one? Nevermind that such an expense would be a write-off for me. I'd pay a minimal cost to keep my life in order. And in my free time (which is, thankfully, plentiful), I'm not worrying about running errands or paying my bills: I can actually enjoy my time off.