Ok so I have my day job which pays well and a coaching position that I do in the evening which also pays well (considering what I’m doing.). So now I’m thinking of what I could do on the weekends on the side for a little more income.
Only thing is I don’t want to work hard and I only want it to be voluntary (meaning I get paid but only have to work when I want too).
I thought of being a taxi driver but that’s out considering my driving history. I’ve also thought of being a gitny (an illegal taxi driver, but that seems dangerous).and a pedi-cab (those guys on bicycle that cart people around) but with the weather changing I’m not so sure about it.
Now I’m a bit stumped and not sure what next. Keep in mind, I don’t want to work hard, it needs to be voluntary, and I want it to be around $100 in a night.
Maybe a bartender? You may be able to work somewhere with a casual schedule, if they aren’t looking for a full time person. I used to make some pretty decent tips. Besides, it was fun!
Good luck - right now odd jobs are sought after by many, and if you don’t want to work hard, want to work whenever you feel like it, and have a pretty high income requirement, I’m not sure how you’d compete against all the other people trying to pay their bills. I’ve done freelance work in a lot of areas, and unless you have a really marketable skill (or your own business), $100 a night to work when you feel like it is kind of unrealistic. In my opinion.
I’ve done a little taxi driving in the past. I can tell you that it’s a total pain in the ass. The money can be good or it can be horrible and there are many factors in whether it’s a good day or not. Early in the month when the government checks show up, the money is good. When weather is bad, the money is good. When holidays are near, the money is good. Otherwise, you’re lucky to make minimum wage.
My best day was approaching $250, but that was when a guy wanted taken from our bus station to a town 180 miles away. I also had several $200+ days when we had some major ice storms and nobody wanted to drive or walk anywhere. My worst days were around $40 for a 9 hour shift.
But they are out there. A bartender is a perfect example. To say they work hard is a joke but I can still pay a nice figure. Not to mention waiters. Even the pedicab rides I mentioned pays decent, I bet.
If you think that waitstaff and bartenders that make $100+ a night don’t work hard, you’re mistaken. You don’t make that kind of money sitting on your ass in the service industry. I’m guessing you’ve never waited tables at a restaurant or tended a commercial bar. Pizza delivery and taxi jobs can be lucrative under the right circumstances, but don’t discount the “dial-a-victim” threat. Weekend shifts tend to be the best money nights for those too, so it’s not easy to work only weekends, and certainly not on weekends only when you feel like it.
If you think you can make that kind of money AND not work hard AND show up whenever the fuck you feel like grabbing a hundred bucks? Well, I don’t know what to say. Good luck, I guess. Given your coaching experience, you might try officiating for recreational sport leagues (if they exist in your area for your sport(s) of interest), but I don’t think you’re going to pull down a hundred a night for those gigs.
Given your constraints, I’m thinking freelance prostitute. Also, it’s jitney, not gitney.
Alright Jake thanks for the heated but useful advice. I didn’t mean to insult and actually you’re right I haven’t waited or tended before. In fact, I probably would suck at it. But for some people it’s easy money. What else is there for weekend stuff? Restaurant temp? Security? Cashier? Except they all pay diddly. I’m kinda stumped.
It wasn’t heated. Critical, but not heated. I did try to intersperse my criticism with a useful suggestion. Have you looked into recreational officiating? Probably not viable if you’re a football or track coach, but there are many soccer and hockey leagues that pay officials and you usually sign up on a voluntary basis. But again, I don’t think it will meet your monetary goal.
My criticism was based on the fact that your expectations are completely unrealistic. The fact that this comes as a surprise to you is questionable, at best. Seriously. You’re asking for a job that you can work whenever you want (on weekends only) for $100 a night (with no definition of what “a night” means) that doesn’t require much work. What kind of responses did you expect?
Can you make things? You could have a little stall at a market. Another thing I think of sometimes is to take a big ice-box of cold drinks someplace that doesn’t have a shop, a football field, or something like that, and sell them there.
Well, I almost think your OP was just a set-up to get exactly this response, but someone’s eventually going to ask “How do you feel about, um, sharing physical moments with strange men?”
Hotels may be a place to start, but you’re only gonna be earning spending change. AND you will have to commit to a shift. The thing is most hotels rotate weekends so the regular staff LOVES to find someone who wants to work Saturdays and Sundays only. That way the get those days off. You don’t make more than a dollar or two than minimum wage, but being a PBX operator or front desk clerk isn’t that hard.
And YES, I’ve been both and yes it’s a job but it’s not that hard. I’ve done it enough to know that.
Of course hotels aren’t really hiring now as the economy sucks but you may be able to get in if you say you only want weekends, H/R would love that as it’d give them the opportunity to give their regular staff a M-F schedule.
Jake - I was hoping for some useful suggestions. Officiating is definitely something I could consider and I wouldn’t be surprised if it did actually pay that well. (wrestling by the way)
Ok, so I know it’s far-fetched but I thought I’d throw it out there. I remember reading one poster who said they bought stuff at a local goodwill and then flipped it on craigslist and eBay. Stuff like that.
And markxxx thanks for the suggestion. Maybe if I want an easy weekend job I’ll just have to settle for a low wage.
Scotty Mo
Where are you located? Some cities ban busking, some require a busking license, and some (as here in Philadelphia) ban busking in all the good tourist spots.
You could make use ebay to make your ale money, sure. If you pick the right area (not easy), it could meet your golden triad of easy work, at your timetable, and delivering 100 odd quid a week (not a night).
As an example, if I were to do this I would buy and sell mountain bikes and components.
Pros are:
I know a lot about bikes and can work on / fix / strip them.
Ebay is a very active marketplace for bikes, great bargains can be had because people often overspend on bikes they find they don’t use and sell them at sub 50% rrp.
Bikes are worth more parted out as their components than sold as complete machines.
I have the basic intelligence to write a good ebay ad.
Mountain biking is my main hobby so I would find the whole thing enjoyable.
Cons:
Bikes are relatively large items that would incur a lot of p+p aggravation.
Working on bikes is dirty, messy work and if I started filling my flat with bike parts I would get divorced (I’m already on my final warning).
Time (the big one). It is far, far too time consuming to work on bikes as a side-project to make 100 quid a week. The margins would work out far too thin.
So, pick something that matches the pros I listed, but involves small items and no real labour on your behalf. If you know enough about the area you could make some cash - we’re not talking about making a living here, just some beer money.
You can make money doing that but you can also lose money. I used to do this (except not Goodwills, which are pretty picked over – rather, garage sales) to make money, but there’s no way that you can guarantee yourself the kind of income you stated. Of course it’s possible to earn $100 per time, especially if you’re playing with bigger sums (buying and selling used cars), but sometimes you can go out and spend a whole day and not really make any money at all or lose money. Keep in mind, too, that eBay and PayPal will take a big bite out of your ass, and while Craigslist won’t, be prepared to waste a LOT of time on inquisitive idiots.
Also, it’s worth noting that it’s highly seasonal, and success largely requires being free when the sales open (which around here is pretty much Friday morning).
If there’s an area that you know about – for me, it was mostly video games, and the odd electronics, toys, or books – sure, you can make some side cash doing this. But it isn’t “easy”, and it doesn’t stop on the weekend - eBay requires pretty constant care and maintenance to answer questions, ship products, etc.
Not to mention, with the economy the place it’s at, you’re competing with a lot of other people who do this, and garage sales don’t seem to be the gems they once were (I think people are getting better about checking Craigslist/eBay, or are having fewer declutter sales and more sales to make money).
