How many here have second jobs and what do you do?

[Russell]

Hey everyone, I can't for the life of me figure out what to do for a second job. Since I work in IT I don't have a a set 9-6pm work hours, I get calls on the weekends and evenings which makes it hard to commit to a second job.

Since computers is my main field and have been in the industry for 11 years I thought about starting a consulting business but I don't have the skills to go find new customers and then I still have to commit to fixed working hours.

I've thought about odd jobs, I'm a tinkerer and can do pretty much all the car repairs myself. In the last 6 years none of the four cars we have have gone in for any repairs.

I've thought about buying in absentee business like a coin-op car-wash or a salon but I have no knowledge or experience running such a business.

I've read some threads about people making some money blogging etc but that doesn't interest me a whole lot. Any other ideas?

[momof1in150]

I am a REALTOR but have had a part time job at our church for 2 years. I had the job at my church before I got my license. They are very flexible with my hours and it works with my kids schedule. Oh, and it pays when nothing is selling in Real Estate

[jIM_Ohio]

I coach soccer and I prepare people's taxes

[rizzmo]

Russell, great question. I have a very similar working situation. I also have a lot of free down time at work (90% boredom, 10% panic). I haven't found a second job per se, but have come up with a few different ways to make addition money.

1. Write a book. When I started it seemed overwhelming, but after reading a few books on the subject of writing a book it is less daunting. I am writing my fourth chapter right now and enjoying it.

2. Purchase rental real estate. I haven't done this one yet, but I'm hoping too very soon. IMHO to make this work you have to purchase an apartment building with enough units to afford to employ a property manager and still yield a profit. I have found two of these where I live. Both of the current owners are willing to do seller financing so 0% down on my part, but I will be assuming the mortgage risk which is substantial, dollar wise.

3. Invent something and get it patented. There are tons of benefits to intellectual property that work well in for people in our situation. First, any income from licensing of the patent is tax at a lower rate than earned income. Second, you leverage other people’s time and money; people who license your patent use their company’s time and resources to make you money. Third, you have ability to enforce your patent through legal means. This isn't the most pleasant option, but from a legal stand point you hold all the cards. I got a patent a few years ago it cost a bit up front, but for me it has been well worth the cost.

4. Start or buy an absentee business. I have not bought one of these, but am currently working on building one. This by far takes the most time investment. I figure about 800 hours total to get mine off the ground and profitable.

[tripods68]

I plan on retaking my Life Agent's exam for the State once again in the next 6 months. I figured after 6 years away from the business, I missed holding a "side job" that really pays well. I plan on selling Term Insurance on my own time. I was on the business before for almost 10 years.

[maat55]

Being self-employed, I work for the same jerk all the time.

[FrugalTexan75]

I have a second and a third part time jobs. The second job is at the gym in my office building. All I do is sit at the desk and check people in / out, fold/wash towels as needed. I get min. wage, but also a free membership.

My third job is with ChaCha as an expeditor. ChaCha is a texting service where people can text questions in, and then a human guide will locate the answer and respond via text. There are three guide positions available - Text Guide, Expeditor and Transcriber. The Text Guide pays the most, because that is the person who actually finds the answers. If you think you might like to do this, send me a pm and I'll give you my email address to use as a referral. If you go to chacha.com and click on Become a Guide it will tell you more about it. I've been with ChaCha since August, and have made over $300 just in my "spare" time. (And yes, I have been paid $232 of that money already.)

[KatieNK]

Originally Posted by maat55

Being self-employed, I work for the same jerk all the time.

LOL!


My DH works for the state DOT but 2 nights/week he works 5p-10p at the Walmart Distribution Center. But he has been there a few years now and thanks to hard work, he is the *only* part-time employee they have in their 1,000+ staff. He worked there FT at first but then when he got his state job, he needed to quit Wally's but they offered him 2-4 nights/week so he stayed. It is hard work and he usually doesn't want to go, but he makes almost $20/hour now.

[cptacek]

I farm on the weekends. Probably not something you have access to

You say you are "in computers". What does that mean? Networking? Desktop support? Do you know how to program? In what language? Do you know Access Databases? Do you know .NET or Java? Do you do hardware support? Application support? Give me more than "computers" and I might have some ideas for you.

[Russell]

Those are some great suggestions, thanks everyone!

Maat, what do you do? besides dealing with that jerk

Originally Posted by cptacek

I farm on the weekends. Probably not something you have access to

You say you are "in computers". What does that mean? Networking? Desktop support? Do you know how to program? In what language? Do you know Access Databases? Do you know .NET or Java? Do you do hardware support? Application support? Give me more than "computers" and I might have some ideas for you.

cptacek, i've done it all (besides .net and java). I currently work for a large corporation as an infrastructure architect i.e. I design IT solutions, lay out road maps for future etc.

[Johansen8]

I love my job and I love my boss, that's more important to me than more money.

[jeffmem]

I have three jobs all part-time.

I do sales and marketing
I teach professional
I edit professional

[Peilan]

I own an internet shopping portal, which is not a true job but a part time business that I "work" 5-10 hours per week, although it runs 24/7. It is great means to add income without having to report to another J-O-B.

[jamiefic]

I don't know exactly what kind of work you do (with IT stuff), but there are some sites that you can bid on for jobs - a lot of stuff with computers and smaller stuff like research, etc. You have to create profiles, but you could search the jobs first and see if it's something of interest to you. The two I know about are:

Rent A Coder: How Software Gets Done -- Home of the worlds' largest number of completed software projects
and
Elance | Connect with Qualified Professionals

[MaskedMarvel]

I do side projects and trying to make money online. It's not much but it's better than nothing.

[Russell]

Peilan, Masked, any more info on what you guys do? I'm still in analysis, paralysis mode.

[PrincessPerky]

selling on ebay?

[JeanneElle]

Originally Posted by PrincessPerky

selling on ebay?

I know someone who does that - she has an eBay store selling kids clothes. She makes a fairly consistent part time income (i.e. realistic, but worth her while to put in the effort).

[cptacek]

If you have computer skills, are there any small businesses around that could use some help installing software? I know a bank around here that is doing some of its tracking in an excel spreadsheet and they want to instead us an access database to track it and run reports off of it. If they give me some set up info, I'm going to set that up for them.

A friend of mine gets used computers, refurbishes them, installed windows and sells them. He could make a lot of money off of it, but it is just hobby for him right now.

I read about someone advertising that they would wrap Christmas presents for people, a certain amount per box.

My sister is starting to cook frozen dinners for people at her church. They are paying her $100 a week and she is cooking enough supper meals for 2 people in their house. They bought the tupperware/casserole dishes, and she buys the food and cooks it, and she gives it to them after church on Sunday. She figures if she can get 4-5 people to do that, she could go part time at her current job and spend more time with her daughter.

[cashqueen]

I teach online classes.