Photo courtesy of cgat
Warning: this post will be very quick and to the point...
Part-time work has always had it's place in our economy. For some it has been a nessescary way of life, but to others it has been an added vehicle to getting "stuff" at a decent discount.
At some point in your life you may have picked up a job at a favorite department store or big box electronic retail chain... y'know just in case THAT jacket goes on sale... or so you can support your video game addiction with some semblance of pride that you earned it.
Now I'm not here to pick on you if you are one who still is working that PT because you want to. But if you are now looking to pick up a second gig because you have to, I urge you to stay away from any place where you could potentially cash in on your employee discount. Alas this means you've gotta find 'work' vs. landing a 'gig'.
If you have a weakness for gadgets then what's the point in taking a job at Best Buy? If your express purpose for getting extra work was to make ends meet, then you'll be setting yourself up to undercut your goals if you do this.
That's why I made the title of this post "Deal or No Deal". You must make up in your mind what type of deal your really going after by picking up that nice little retail opportunity. Is it the kind that gives you the discount on stuff, or the kind that puts you ahead of the game while things are rough? It's key that you don't go into the situation kidding yourself!
This might even mean taking on a job you HATE, or look down on. But dont worry, it'll be good for ya!
Last summer I started considering picking up a side-job in the evenings. The opportunity that I kept coming back to at the time was delivering pizza's (One of Dave Ramsey's prime examples of a Gazelle Intense hustle.) Truth be told, had it not been for the insane gas price wars last year, I would have gladly taken a job slanging pies! Not because I love the work, but precisely because I hated the thought of that type of work. But it would've brought in some steady hustle money to throw at our debt.
I wasnt concerned with whether or not I'd get a discount on the food, I dont even like pizza enough to do it for that reason. And I wasnt exactly thrilled about slapping one of those lighted pizza signs on my car. But I knew that I could basically challenge myself to bring in a certain dollar amount per night in tips, and at the same time call out my own hours in which to bring those tips in. At the time that was a win-win to some degree.
Not shortly after I put aside the thought of delivering pizza's (right around when gas became $4 buck a gallon!) I was given a nice promotion and raise on my FT job. Problem solved! But I still would have had no problem going through with the pizza plan if the raise had never come and gas was resonable.
Part of the reason I'm even writing this post right now is because I may be getting an itch to again look at taking on some extra work. Not because money is tight right now, but because I dont want to wait until it is tight to get my butt out there to defray the cost!
So there ya have it, just a few thoughts from @W on where you should put your focus if you find yourself needing to bring in extra "dough" lol.
Thanks,
@W
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