The month of February I'll be offering a money-making tip every weekday. Here's the one for today:
Make money by getting a part-time job.
Ha! You all LOVE this idea, don't you? ;-)
Seriously, if things are really tight, a part-time job, even one that's held for a few months or so, can really help to lessen the financial pressure. And luckily for us, Yahoo has a list of ten great part-time jobs that also include benefits. They are:
- Package handler. Median wage: $11 to $12 per hour.
- Barista. Median wage: $8.45 per hour.
- Test prep tutor. Median wage: $12.22 per hour.
- Customer service representative. Median wage: $11.16 per hour.
- Computer software test/quality assurance analyst. Median wage: $18.84 per hour.
- Sales clerk/cashier. Median wage: $8.16 per hour.
- Bus driver. Median wage: $12.80 per hour.
- Medical assistant. Median wage: $11.26 per hour.
- Domestic worker. Median wage: $13 to $17 per hour.
- Temporary office assistant. Median wage: $10.50 per hour.
Ok, so you're probably not going to get rich doing any of these and you probably won't like working a total of 60 hours a week (your regular job plus a part-time one) for very long, but for those of you looking for some additional income for a short period of time, many of these look like solid ideas.
I worked as a package handler for a while. It helped pay my way through college.
Package handlers at FedEx Ground and UPS, at least, do NOT make that kind of money.
Starting is usually around $8.00 + a $.50 raise after 90 days. If you learn the sort (zip codes) you get an extra $1/hr. So $9.50 is pretty much your tops for the first year, and raises are laughable. These wages were all for the DC AND Baltimore metro areas.
I don't know about USPS or DHL package handler wages.
It's hard work, I really am glad I did it, though.
Posted by: My Life ROI | February 27, 2009 at 11:54 AM
UPS likes to be deceiving. I think that data is for all package handlers... which means a lot of the guys who have been there 10+ years are skewing the numbers.
And they gave a range. So I wouldn't put it past UPS to take a number like $11.01 and then decide to give it as a range of $11-12.
Sorry for the additional comment!
Posted by: My Life ROI | February 27, 2009 at 12:05 PM
Those package handler jobs can be very hard labor. I've worked in a UPS hub and the amount of work those guys did definitely deserved more than $11-12 an hour in my book. You have to be in good shape with good stamina. At UPS at least they treat that job as a stepping stone to driver so they work you hard for little pay and the people who hang in can eventually work up to the good driver job.
If you're just looking for part time work for a few bucks then most people are better to look elsewhere first.
Jim
Posted by: Jim | February 27, 2009 at 12:25 PM
Definitely worth it. My husband makes at least a couple of hundred bucks a night waiting tables at events in a country club, and more than that bartending. I've made $500 and up bartending or waiting tables on "special" nights like new years eve.
My day job takes me 60 hrs a week, so another job isn't much of an option for me - I couldn't commit to getting anywhere to start my shift, so would get fired pretty quickly :)
Posted by: Emma | February 27, 2009 at 08:39 PM
The key part of this list is that these are full-time jobs WITH BENEFITS.
My husband used to work for FedEx (Express) back in college as a package handler. It's hard work, but a good workout, AND their benefits are pretty good. I remember him telling me that he worked with a lot of guys who owned their own businesses but put in the extra 15-20 hours slinging boxes for FedEx so they could get good, low-cost health insurance for their families.
Posted by: Anitra | February 28, 2009 at 08:16 AM
Oh, and my husband was making more than $11/hr at FedEx when he finished college - of course, he was willing to work odd shifts, overtime, and take on extra responsibilities.
Posted by: Anitra | February 28, 2009 at 08:18 AM
Interesting note in the NY Times article today about laid-off professionals taking survival jobs:
"In just one illustration of the demand for low-wage work, a spokesman for U.P.S. said the company saw the number of applicants this last holiday season for jobs sorting and delivering packages almost triple to 1.4 million from the 500,000 it normally receives"
So it may not be so easy to pick up those package handling jobs etc, depending where you live.
Posted by: Emma | February 28, 2009 at 08:48 PM
I looked into getting a part-time second job.
It doesn't pay.
Even at a mere $9/hr for 30 hrs/week I'd have to pay soooooo much more in taxes it would push me and my wife into the next tax bracket (and that was before Obama's new budget) it just doesn't pay!
:-(
Posted by: MasterPo | March 01, 2009 at 12:26 AM
How much to spin condo sale signs?
Posted by: thomas | March 01, 2009 at 02:30 AM
Another option might be to get a work at home job doing call center work. There are a few call centers that offer flexibility and if you don't mind working odd hours and have a quiet place. It might give me that 1-2k a month that you need
Posted by: Frugal Stay at home mom | March 01, 2009 at 12:01 PM
You just TRY getting a part-time job in this economy. Newspaper job ads are down to less than two columns, including the newspaper's own fluff they insert to make the listings look larger.
I ran into a friend Friday; she told me she posted a "household services" ad on Craigslist. So I went to look it up - and found 236 ads posted on Friday in that category.
Seems people who can't find a job are advertising their services on Craigslist in the forlorn hope of finding an odd job or two.
Oh, and the convenience store where I work has cut back its hours.
Posted by: Terry Pratt | March 05, 2009 at 01:56 AM