Does anyone just work odd jobs?

[VisionaryMom]

I've been freelancing the last 6 years. I do corporate writing, and I'm getting so.tired.of.it. I can't tell you how much I dread sitting down to work. I really wanted to get out of it and had a wonderful job opportunity come available. I took the job, and then 6 weeks later, it fell apart. (Long story, but the owner hadn't cleared the work she'd done on the building with the local building office, ended up being a fiasco that she couldn't afford to fix...)

So...I have no job and am facing corporate writing again. Not only am I facing it, but DH and I really need to tackle some debt. We do not use credit, but we have been slowly paying down debt for a while. We really need to get serious about it. We'd like to send DC to a private school here beginning when DS is in 2nd grade, which is in 2 years, and we have to get some debt paid off by then.

Anyway, I'm wondering if anyone works mostly or exclusively odd jobs. I have friends who make some extra cash hosting house parties for bands passing through, so I'm considering that option. There's a place that rents retail space for $120 a month (100 sq ft), and I've thought of opening a spot there. There are other similar things I could do - teach a writing class for homeschoolers (I have both writing and teaching experience), writing and selling niche booklets (I've done this, and I usually make about $500/booklet). Is this even reasonable to consider? I don't think I can stomach 2 more years of just corporate writing. I seriously want to cry when I sit down to work everyday.

[doubledutch]

Originally Posted by VisionaryMom

(1) I have friends who make some extra cash hosting house parties for bands passing through, so I'm considering that option.

(2)There's a place that rents retail space for $120 a month (100 sq ft), and I've thought of opening a spot there.

(3)There are other similar things I could do - teach a writing class for homeschoolers (I have both writing and teaching experience),

(4)writing and selling niche booklets (I've done this, and I usually make about $500/booklet).

Is this even reasonable to consider? I don't think I can stomach 2 more years of just corporate writing. I seriously want to cry when I sit down to work everyday.

i'm assuming you could get work doing corporate writing if other things are slow. that door wouldn't close, right? if so, then i think it's reasonable to say that you have less availability but may be able to work on smaller projects (to keep those connections in place).

i have some thoughts about the other jobs you are considering.

(1) . . . at your home? i say this as a musician who used to (pre-kids) occasionally host touring bands, both as an after-party and as a place to crash overnight. there is no way in hell i'd do this in my home, with my kids. i never had a bad experience or anything, but it just doesn't seem remotely reasonable. maybe there is some other venue you're thinking of?

(2) 100 sq ft is 10x10 . . . like a cubicle. so i'm thinking you rent your spot to display your stuff, but you don't staff it, sort of like an antique store? is that right? what would you sell there? can you talk to other people who rent retail space there to find out whether they're happy with the management and the amount of traffic? if you don't have to be there, and won't have much up-front inventory costs, it could be good.

(3) is there a market for that? i can see homeschoolers paying for outside instruction in athletics, a musical instrument, maybe a foreign language, but writing is harder for me to imagine. what about teaching a community ed writing class, offering editing service to college students, or tutoring?

(4) that sounds great!

[Stayseeliz]

As a homeschooler I know several people who pay for writing classes for their kids. I know there would be a market for that!

[VisionaryMom]

Originally Posted by doubledutch

i'm assuming you could get work doing corporate writing if other things are slow. that door wouldn't close, right? if so, then i think it's reasonable to say that you have less availability but may be able to work on smaller projects (to keep those connections in place).

That's kind of what I'm envisioning...phasing out corporate writing when the other jobs start bringing in more money.

Originally Posted by doubledutch

(1) . . . at your home? i say this as a musician who used to (pre-kids) occasionally host touring bands, both as an after-party and as a place to crash overnight. there is no way in hell i'd do this in my home, with my kids. i never had a bad experience or anything, but it just doesn't seem remotely reasonable. maybe there is some other venue you're thinking of?

Hmm...we have 400 sq ft unused in our home that we've discussed turning into a guest room. My thought is that's where people could stay, but you're right, the friends we have who do it don't have kids.

I have done lots of volunteer organizing and am pretty successful at it, I must say. I'd love to do organizing all the time. (See below for arts classes discussion.) The place we live is a bit short on venues for performance events, but I could look around for some place to rent out by the night or weekend that would work.

Originally Posted by doubledutch

(2) 100 sq ft is 10x10 . . . like a cubicle. so i'm thinking you rent your spot to display your stuff, but you don't staff it, sort of like an antique store? is that right? what would you sell there? can you talk to other people who rent retail space there to find out whether they're happy with the management and the amount of traffic? if you don't have to be there, and won't have much up-front inventory costs, it could be good.

No, you don't have to staff it. You pay the $120 a month rental fee plus 2%. The company gives you a check monthly for whatever you make. People have all kinds of thing from someone who sells only guitars to someone who has toiletries for $1. Turnover seems to vary, so I think it's a matter of finding the right thing to sell. We've shopped there from time to time. Some spots have been the same since we moved here (in 2005). Others last only a few months.

I'm still toying with what I would sell and how to make the inventory costs reasonable, especially at the beginning.

Originally Posted by doubledutch

(3) is there a market for that? i can see homeschoolers paying for outside instruction in athletics, a musical instrument, maybe a foreign language, but writing is harder for me to imagine. what about teaching a community ed writing class, offering editing service to college students, or tutoring?

The job I took that disappeared was community arts organizing. I was planning to have classes on a number of things - not all taught by me. DH would like me to look at renting a space and starting the same type of thing there. There's a beautiful, newly restored building with pretty inexpensive rents that would work, but I'm afraid right now to commit to the rent.

Writing classes are fairly popular in some areas. I'm talking about specialty writing, though - creative writing (esp. classes where you'd create your own journal or book at the end); website writing; journalism. I don't know if/how it would work. It's just a thought. Our community ed center just closed (lost their funding from the local schools), so there's a big gap right now for any type of community ed. They had a $1 million operating budget, and I obviously wouldn't have that kind of overhead.

I've done some tutoring and essay proofing. I've gotten paid pretty well by parents who are paying for their children's college entrance essays to be proofed, and I could look at that again. I don't like editing for college students because most of them want you to write their papers for them, but it's something I may consider for the short-term.

[Usually Curious]

Writing classes are very popular amongst homeschoolers! If you could teach one or two writing classes AND write booklets AND be available to edit/proof you might make enough to make it all worthwhile. Your schedule would still be flexible - an added benefit, IMO.

[CarrieMF]

The job I took that disappeared was community arts organizing. I was planning to have classes on a number of things - not all taught by me. DH would like me to look at renting a space and starting the same type of thing there. There's a beautiful, newly restored building with pretty inexpensive rents that would work, but I'm afraid right now to commit to the rent.

why not do that in the 400sq foot space in your house until you got a larger group. Alot of places will have a room you can rent for 1-2 hours as many nights a week you need for fairly cheap. The 1 group I belong to we meet at the pool & the room is $10/hour.