Struggling Family - Looking for additional income - Advice?

More excellent replies, thank you all.

Just wanted to touch on expenses since I see people suggesting to cut what we can, and we have.

We don't have cable, we only have Netflix for our little boy. I do not watch TV at all. With what free time I did use to have I would spend rebuilding atv's. I still do that as much as possible, but the work is slow and everyone around here thinks you should damn near work for free.

We don't eat out. In fact it's been since early December. We are on republic wireless, and have their most basic plan, it's very cheap. My wife cooks dinner every single night, and I take leftovers for lunch everyday. Luckily she's a great cook.

I posted last night offering my services as a farm hand or laborer. I can do plumbing, roofing, anything landscaping, run a skid loader/bobcat, zero turn mower and other equipment. I also made an ad offering services utilizing my truck and trailer. I'm going to look in to the Amazon survey idea as well, that could be something my wife could help out with when she isn't editing photos.

Other than that the pizza idea is looking more attracting. I know the area and the hours could work great as the pizza places deliver until 11 PM I believe. Selling the truck (as some suggested) and getting a small cheap car is not an option. Plus I wouldn't get what it's worth. I've got to fix an exhaust leak this weekend, but it has a strong motor.

renewed marathoner wrote:

get rid of all other expenses. phone, cable, internet, car,.gone. alt transport to work. sell the car. if you're living too far that you have to drive, move.

you getvthe idea.

Cutting off your nose despite your face.

he needs EXTRA money, not to completely change his life.

What about being a medical bill transcriber. You might have to lay out some shekels to take a course, but it is WFH.

Anyone have experience with this line of work?

In grad school I worked for a company that provides editing/proof-reading services for journal articles. The company I was with focused on scientific papers, but you might be able to find something similar with a more general focus. It was nice because I could do it from home and I could specify how many hours per week I wanted to work. Alternatively, if there's a local college you could just put up flyers offering to edit term papers or whatever, and then you wouldn't have a company taking a cut. You seem like a good writer so this could be a flexible/easy option.

Can you take out a loan? It's not something i would normally think is a good idea but this is what loans are designed for - to get you out of a short term financial mess.

Your medical bills are likely going to be higher than what you are going to be able to make on an extra job. You need a short term solution to get you out of a pinch. Based on what you have posted, you are extremely responsible with budgeting and work your ass off and once you get out this mess, I don't think you will ever be in a bad financial situation again.

I usually hate people who do this, but it seems like you've got a serious problem. Have you looked into gofundme or any other similar crowd funding platforms? If you set the goal at a reasonable amount, I'm sure you could reach it through social media and your letsrun presence.

If you have some space (a den, office, small room in your house) AirBnb. You're probably not going to rake in much (in a small MW town), but you never know.

https://www.taskrabbit.com/

- again, may not be much in small town, but you never know.

Cold calling/emailing businesses for simple photography work - basic headshots, storefront, etc. The kind of photography work that doesn't demand the same time commitments (not on weekends, not much editing) for your wife.

If it comes to it, could you wife take a small loan out for her business? It'd be better than paying credit card interest.

I've done the craigslist ad in times of need. I never made much (thought my skills were not on-par with yours), but it helped. Good luck, have hope!

midwestSmallTowner wrote:

My wife and I have a wonderful 2 1/2 year old little boy. Unfortunately, 3 months ago doctors noticed some abnormalities and without going in to great detail just know that our medical expenses have become......a nightmare.

.

Talk to a lawyer about bankruptcy.

If your child needs medical care, he also needs time with his parents.

Start thinking about him rather than your creditors.

Just ask your wealthy parents for some money.

First off, hopefully your son gets better soon. There are some great suggestions already, but I have one more. If you live near a Hy-Vee you could work the overnight shift stocking shelves one or two nights per week. A couple of my coworkers are doing that for extra income and, depending on the store, the pay is decent for what it is. Be warned, though, it's very physical work and can be a miserable environment depending on who the boss is.

Clintttt wrote:

I usually hate people who do this, but it seems like you've got a serious problem. Have you looked into gofundme or any other similar crowd funding platforms? If you set the goal at a reasonable amount, I'm sure you could reach it through social media and your letsrun presence.

My conscious won't allow me to make a gofundme. Although I'm in a very stressful situation, there are many more people out there that need more help than I do, and I honestly don't want any handouts. My son has access to the medical care he needs, if he didn't and I had no other option then at that point I would strongly consider something like gofundme.

UPDATE: I got a hit on the Craigslist ad I posted. I have a full days work lined up for this Saturday. It's not going to be above 25 degrees and it's supposed to snow......man weather! Farm work for 10 hours and will pay $250! If only I could line this up every week.....maybe I can.

To the person that mentioned filing for bankruptcy......I'm not THAT far in over my head, that's not even something to consider at this point, imo. However I respect your suggestion and all the advice I've been given. I've read every post and fortunately have more options than I thought, which is why I turned to the good folks of LR. Smart group of people.....for the most part ;-)

A $250 day is not bad at all! More than I would have expected. Hope you can find something like that consistently. Maybe the guy that's hiring you will give you a plug to his buddies. Your mechanical skill set is your most valuable asset, aside from your professional career of course, glad you were able to capitalize on it. Speaking of handymen, landlords are always looking for someone cheap and trustworthy to do minor repairs for rental properties, might be something to add to your craigslist ad.

I told my wife about this thread and she just said, "why would someone ask those idiots on letsrun for advice?!" But we can come through on occasion. Notice the minimal trolling even after 3 pages?

Galen Rupp Number on Fan wrote:

athoguht wrote:

webcam model

Pics first please.

You guys are making jokes abouth this?

Really?

One more thing to do is to talk to the billing office in your son's doctors office.

Ask them about a longer term payment plan. It would give you some breathing room. They are generally very open to this because for many doc's offices, the alternative is that they don't get paid at all. So they will likely help you out with coming up with a payment plan that helps you.

southwestSmallTowner wrote:

I told my wife about this thread and she just said, "why would someone ask those idiots on letsrun for advice?!" But we can come through on occasion. Notice the minimal trolling even after 3 pages?

+1

You could also looking into tutoring nights/weekends.

You could ref youth soccer or some other sport. They make good money on weekends

I agree with the GoFundme idea.

You sound like a decent guy trying his best to do what is right for his family. There aren't many charities I would give to, but something like this I definitely would. We all need a little help sometimes...

Glad this thread has had a heart and is helpful so far. All the great ideas spurred another, further related to deliveries--

OP: any opportunity to haul pallets for recycling? A neighbor and his kid are doing that in our midwestern 'burb. They do a little canvassing and riding at businesses, construction sites, etc. to get them, store them until they have a full load (back of pickup plus a trailer), and bring them to this business that shreds them for mulch.

Continued good luck.