Struggling Family - Looking for additional income - Advice?

*exponentially

Chin up wrote:

Deliver newspapers in the morning. That's usually 700 to 1200 a month and they are always looking for someone

I did this in the 90s while I was in school. I got paid $250/ week to work for 2-2.5 hours every morning. I would assume that they pay more now. It's tough on your car and you have to do it pretty much every single day of the year, but they'll hire you right away. Go for it.

[quote]midwestSmallTowner wrote:

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. [quote]

That is fine. Glad to hear that it is not that bad.

Just remember that-- at the end of the day-- your first obligation is to your son, not to your creditors.

Working a second or third shift to pay your creditors may be good for your pride, but do not let your pride hurt your son.

I clean houses for extra money. I charge $20 an hour. Once you get one client and get a reputation for doing a really good job the word will get out and so many people will ask you that you have to turn people away. If you can do some handyman things around the houses too you will even be more popular as women don't need to nag their husbands and husbands won't get nagged to fix little things.

I find the best money is in once in awhile bigger projects. Like cleaning the clutter out of a basement or garage, or cleaning a house to get it ready to put on the market. My husband was off work for a bit and together we made $900 clearing out and cleaning a giant house.

Duh...throw a road race.

I live in a small town in the mid west and a few years ago organized a 5k/10k to benefit a local family. My "A" goal was to raise $10,000.

The race made just shy of $50,000. The cause did really snowball and there was a huge supporting network so this result is not typical but you can for sure make a few thousand dollars.

Go around town and ask for sponsors. Ask for $100 to 200 to put their name on the back of the race T. Your main goal with sponsorship is to cover the expense of all the t-shirts and basic race supplies.

Keep the race low frill. Accurate results and distance is all that is needed. Local grocery stores and gas stations will donate bananas. You can do Popsicle stick results or compile bib strips in order in a notebook or on a board. There are cheap ticker apps for timing. Maybe ask the local XC team to help. Road Id gives out free race bibs if you contact them. Have the race start at a park with bathrooms and make sure the race has as few turns and intersection crossings as possible.

Push the race like crazy on FB. Post the race on running websites that list local races. By putting on a race you are selling a product instead of just asking for a handout. You will have to work hard and do a lot of legwork for a success. People will touch your soul with their generosity.

Many small businesses are run by people passionate about what it is they're selling. Typically, those people are not passionate about paying invoices, paying employees, figuring out sales tax, and balancing the books. There may be some places in your area that would require 1-2 days worth of work a month to keep things in order. Start with running stores.

good luck

Look, I have a lot I employees. You need to go into your business owner or Presidents office (sometimes this isn't your manager but just tell your manager what you are doing) and explain everything you do for him, in a humble way. Then explain your personal situation and that you will have to work a second job but first you would like to ask him to raise your salary an extra $452 a pay period or a month, whatever you feel is justified but have it be an exact dollar amount, not rounded. Be very humble and sincere about this, like you have been on this board.

With hundreds of employees over the years I have never turned down a personal request by an employee for a raise of less than $5,000 annually. Even if I didn't know the employee. If my employee had to get a second job to make ends meet, I would feel bad and I know that if I gave him the raise he would work harder for me than showing up Monday morning tired because he's worked construction all weekend or was delivering papers before work.

A very small (ie less than 5 employee) workplace may be different, but that's my best advice.