Ahh, the paper route. I do love it.
No, I mean it, I really DO love it, as far as having to work for money goes. The basic gist is: I pick up my papers by 4:00 a.m. every day (earlier on Sundays), drive around a few different neighborhoods listening to the radio and flinging papers and occasionally getting out to jog up a driveway to someone’s porch. I’m done by 6:15ish (7:30ish on Sundays) and home by 6:30 every day.
Moneywise, it’s decent. I make about $4 per subscription per month, plus tips. I have about 250 customers, so generally I’ll make about $1100-1200/month after I include tips. Usually it averages out to about $15+ an hour.
Then there’s Christmas, of course, and I’ve learned that (for me, at least) I can expect an average of about $3 per customer in holiday tips. Yay, shopping!
On the downside, I put new brakes on my car about twice a year, replace headlights and four way flashers once a year, and put about 30 miles a day on my car. (That doesn’t seem bad to me, but I used to commute 600 miles every week.) Also, I can count on a maximum of five days off per year. This year, I only get four. I work on Easter, Thanksgiving, and July 4th if it’s a Sunday. If Christmas is on a Sunday, I’ll have to work then too, but I haven’t had that happen to me yet.
On the plus side, it’s a couple of hours of privacy, and that’s worth a LOT to a woman with four children and heaven-knows-how-many pets. I rarely have to deal with people, I’m not standing on my feet all day or sitting at a desk all day, and I get a smidge of exercise (one of my routes is inside a retirement home, so I have a fast-walk of about 20 minutes every morning.) Also, I get to see some great sunrises, beautiful moon stages, and the occasional skunk snuffling through someone’s yard. And, as I mentioned earlier, my little ones don’t even realize that Mommy works because I’m home before they’re up in the morning.
If you can deal with getting up at 3:30 every morning for a year, I’d say go for it. You can always quit if you don’t like it, and you might be surprised at how nicely it works out for you. Let me know if you do, I’ll offer support!
Shirley! I’ve missed you. My entire house is furnished in mostly cast-offs from the college kids, and I think of you every time I find something “new”! I think we bought a few chairs, and that was IT–everything else, from dining room furniture to the couch, is curbside specials.
Progress, however, is being made. I’m restarting my business under a new name, which will be fun once it gets rolling, I think.
Poor guy. At least he finally healed up and is back to rights now, although I swear that when he’s over-tired that eye still looks hurtful. Strange.