This past week has been a little rough emotionally. I interviewed for a position last week that I really, really thought I was going to get. Nope. Sent an application in to a temp agency "yeah yeah, we'll set something up." Nothing.
When we thought we were moving, we rented a storage unit. Didn't get a lot moved out there, but enough to give us some breathing room in the house. That all needs to come back this week. I've been bringing back a few crates at a time and going through them. Basically, I've been able to eliminate 1/3 of them; that's not a whole lot.
The good news is we've once again been relying on our home storage. Sadly we are out of toilet paper, so I've had to go get more of that, but otherwise we're doing ok. Yesterday I got the garage/3rd bedroom opened up enough that I wanted to rearrange my home storage so I could see what I had. Those cases are heavy, and I am lazy, so I didn't get them moved. But I really felt like it was important that I take inventory.
The nudge from the Almighty? Today I went to my "new" church and my women's group is having not one, but TWO events in the next 30-45 days on self reliance and home storage. The first one is a dinner event where you make something out of your home storage and bring it to share/eat. There's a little competition with a "prize" (really?) for the best entry. I feel slightly guilty that we practice Real Food Storage vs "traditional" food storage. I plan on bringing my famous chinese beef and tomato dinner. I may break down and bring chicken tortilla casserole too. That one is actually easier. It should be slam dunk.
RFS vs "traditional?" Those who have followed me for a while know that I tend toward the asian/vegan style of food storage: rice vs wheat, heavy on dehydrated or freeze dried vegetables, sauces and seasonings that are more asian in orientation (soy sauces/dried, oyster sauces/dried, peanut/sesame oils vs plain vegetable oil) etc.
The second one is a slam dunk too: live on your home storage without going to the grocery store for two weeks. That one is the last week of September and the first week of October (we're actually living this way now, do I get credit? lol), so basically they are giving you a heads up to plan and prepare ahead. My prepper mind went immediately to the stuff I already know I'm short on: TOILET PAPER was first, canned vegetables (we've plowed through our corn and peas), bulking up on canned meat, although I will probably get some more "TVP" style meat for DD19. I really need to find my dehydrating book, and this is also a perfect opportunity to try out some vegan food storage recipes for DD19 (look for a video on dehydrating Almond Milk soon.)
Thankfully, it is just "live off your food storage" without going to the grocery store, not "live off your home storage" without going to the store. The latter to me includes: a way to heat, a way to air condition, a way to cook, a way to bathe etc. (in other words: going off grid and cooking, eating, living that way for two weeks, like in a disaster scenario.) I'd fail the latter challenge.
Although to that regard, another nudge from the Almighty. We are grateful that at present the current owners of our house have the attitude "stay as long as you want." So I'm going to go on faith they mean it, and we are going to start blooming where we are planted. If it would ever stop raining long enough to get the lawn mowed so I can get pallets moved so I can get rainbarrels set up (kills me all this rain, no collection.) I found out I have to start planting in JANUARY here in Texas, so that doesn't give me a lot of time to get things set up.
And a small mea culpa for not following the nudges of the Almighty. We have been working, not gazelle intense though, on getting out of debt the past two years. If we had been gazelle intense, this self-caused financial hardship would not be so bad. It would be difficult even out of debt (the $2k a month outgo for insurances is a killer) but we could survive. As it is, it's really tough. A reminder that we are nudged for a reason. We can disregard if we want, but then we shouldn't be whining when it rains and we are caught without an umbrella and get soaked to the skin.
Vaya con Dios.
Sunday, August 21, 2016
Tuesday, August 9, 2016
Uber-ing my way out of debt
Some of you already know I quit my job a week ago. I probably should have tried to hang on longer, but when it gets to the point where you're physically threatened because you won't break the law, it's time to go.
So in the meantime, while I'm waiting for other work or unemployment to come through (or litigation), I'm Uber-ing.
Yesterday was my first "full time" day: 6 hours. I earned $60, basically $10 an hour. Now, before you pooh-pooh the earnings I hope to convince you of the blessings of signing up to Uber (here's a link: https://partners.uber.com/i/
1. $60 x 5 days a week = $300. $300 x 52 weeks a year = $15,600 !! That's a pretty hefty chunk of change for a part time job. For us, that's enough to pay off 1/3 of our total debt, or pay for two of our children to serve full time missions for the entire duration. I've actually earned slightly more (hour wise) at night during prime time (rush hour traffic) but haven't done it consistently.
2. Uber-ing is relatively "instant cash." You don't have to spend days/weeks/months applying for jobs and interviewing and hearing back. You do have to have a car in good condition (hint: apply online https://partners.uber.com/i/
3. You get paid every week, direct deposit. You do get a 1099 at the end of the year, so you'll have to set some aside for taxes.
4. You meet some really interesting people. Oddly enough, most of the people I've Uber-ed are women, so I think they are more comfortable when a woman picks them up. I shuttled a blind person yesterday, as well as an 89 year old gentleman who was a crack up.
5. You can opt on the Uber partner app (once you're approved) to have continuous fares. Basically what that means is when you are nearing the drop off for Ride #1 Uber will send you a message "hey Ride #2 is right near you, do you want the job?" and you accept or decline. Accepting means you just go from fare to fare to fare without any down time, and without much back and forth.
I was pretty much busy all day yesterday. I dropped my DH off at work, stuck around his free Wifi lobby and applied for jobs for about a half hour, turned Uber on, and had a fare within 15 minutes (which surprised me, since I wasn't "downtown.") I stayed busy after that until I turned Uber off around 3pm.
My plan is to continue doing the same daily M-F, until I find other work. I live too far outside the metroplex to drive in alone just to Uber. $1200 is about the delta I need to make between DH's job and covering the bare basics of bills and living. Sure, there's gas involved (talk about wishing I had a Prius!!) but for the time being, it'll do.
Would I be "money ahead" working at McDonald's et all for $10 a hour? Expense wise, maybe. Can they guarantee me 30 hours a week? Probably not. I have a second interview today and hopefully sometime this week I can get in front of a temp agency. Our personal lives (job notwithstanding) are in such a state of flux that I really need to have some flexibility.
I decided to start doing Uber a few months ago (sporatic to be sure) when I heard a guy on the Dave Ramsey show question Dave about "how to plan for retirement when his self-employment job doesn't have any major expenses." Dave asked him how much he netted after expenses. He said about $4k a month. Dave said, that's pretty good, what do you do?
He said: "I drive for Uber."
Dave about had a cow, and so did I. Check it out. Seriously for a part time job, it's pretty sweet.
So in the meantime, while I'm waiting for other work or unemployment to come through (or litigation), I'm Uber-ing.
Yesterday was my first "full time" day: 6 hours. I earned $60, basically $10 an hour. Now, before you pooh-pooh the earnings I hope to convince you of the blessings of signing up to Uber (here's a link: https://partners.uber.com/i/
1. $60 x 5 days a week = $300. $300 x 52 weeks a year = $15,600 !! That's a pretty hefty chunk of change for a part time job. For us, that's enough to pay off 1/3 of our total debt, or pay for two of our children to serve full time missions for the entire duration. I've actually earned slightly more (hour wise) at night during prime time (rush hour traffic) but haven't done it consistently.
2. Uber-ing is relatively "instant cash." You don't have to spend days/weeks/months applying for jobs and interviewing and hearing back. You do have to have a car in good condition (hint: apply online https://partners.uber.com/i/
3. You get paid every week, direct deposit. You do get a 1099 at the end of the year, so you'll have to set some aside for taxes.
4. You meet some really interesting people. Oddly enough, most of the people I've Uber-ed are women, so I think they are more comfortable when a woman picks them up. I shuttled a blind person yesterday, as well as an 89 year old gentleman who was a crack up.
5. You can opt on the Uber partner app (once you're approved) to have continuous fares. Basically what that means is when you are nearing the drop off for Ride #1 Uber will send you a message "hey Ride #2 is right near you, do you want the job?" and you accept or decline. Accepting means you just go from fare to fare to fare without any down time, and without much back and forth.
I was pretty much busy all day yesterday. I dropped my DH off at work, stuck around his free Wifi lobby and applied for jobs for about a half hour, turned Uber on, and had a fare within 15 minutes (which surprised me, since I wasn't "downtown.") I stayed busy after that until I turned Uber off around 3pm.
My plan is to continue doing the same daily M-F, until I find other work. I live too far outside the metroplex to drive in alone just to Uber. $1200 is about the delta I need to make between DH's job and covering the bare basics of bills and living. Sure, there's gas involved (talk about wishing I had a Prius!!) but for the time being, it'll do.
Would I be "money ahead" working at McDonald's et all for $10 a hour? Expense wise, maybe. Can they guarantee me 30 hours a week? Probably not. I have a second interview today and hopefully sometime this week I can get in front of a temp agency. Our personal lives (job notwithstanding) are in such a state of flux that I really need to have some flexibility.
I decided to start doing Uber a few months ago (sporatic to be sure) when I heard a guy on the Dave Ramsey show question Dave about "how to plan for retirement when his self-employment job doesn't have any major expenses." Dave asked him how much he netted after expenses. He said about $4k a month. Dave said, that's pretty good, what do you do?
He said: "I drive for Uber."
Dave about had a cow, and so did I. Check it out. Seriously for a part time job, it's pretty sweet.
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