Making Money when You're Unemployed

When my husband was laid off, very unexpectedly several months ago, we had to make alot of adjustments very quickly. Obviously, one of the first things we did was to try to find alternative sources of income while he was on the hunt for a permanent job. Here are some of the things we did.

1.) Contract Work. Fortunately my husband has IT skills that are in demand for small businesses and home users. He printed up some business cards on the home computer and bought some small ads in some community newspapers to get customers. He also made postcards from the home computer and mailed them (using the postcard postage rate -cheaper than the regular mail rate) to small businesses offering his services.

2.) Part-time Job. I was able to work out a deal with my former employer to come back and work part-time, my husband and I worked out our schedules to trade off child care duties.

The above items are really what kept us afloat during this time, but we also looked to less obvious ways to make some extra income.

1.) Sell! Sell! Sell! We sold several things on Craigslist and Ebay. Extra computer parts, an extra microwave, and a quilt that I never used for my child's room. I also participated in a children's consignment sale and sold some clothes to a local consignment shop.

2.) Working, temp & odd jobs. I have worked at a flea market selling jewelry, babysat, and other odd jobs here and there.

3.) Work the Election Polls. This is an election year, and did you know that the poll workers were paid? I didn't. I thought it was purely volunteer. But poll workers do get paid a small amount (around $125 in my county) for their service. It's a very long day, over 12 hours, so it's not even minimum wage when you work it out hourly, but it was some money for one day's work.

4.) Rent out garage space. One thing that I love about our house is that it has a 2 car garage -- I've never lived anywhere that had a garage. And I love being able to park my car inside. But, in tough times, that is a luxury that I could go without. We rented out our garage as storage space for someone that was trying to stage their home for sale. We knew this person, and so there was a comfort level with both sides, it may not be for everyone. I don't know that I would want to rent out to a stranger and be obligated to let them have access to my garage (and therefore my home since the garage is attached).


None of these items single handed made us alot of money. But the way I began to look at it was, "this will pay the light bill this month" and "this takes care of the groceries for the week". It was a little mind game I played with myself, that helped to take the pressure off a stressful situation. And, so far, we've never missed a payment and we have not missed a meal.

Have you come up with a creative way to make some extra cash? Please let me know! We're not out of the woods yet, and I'm always looking for a new source of income.


This post is linked to Works for Me Wednesday at We are That Family

Saving Money on Dance Class

My 5-year old just completed her second year of dance and her first recital. It's been a great experience for her. I'm convinced she was born to be on stage, which is quite a shock for her father and I who were born to be anywhere but the stage!

Dance class can be very expensive, the classes themselves, dance apparel, shoes, recital fees, recital costumes, the list goes on and on. And this past year has been a particular hard financial year for us. We simply could not have even afforded the dance class had it not been for the generous gift from the grandparents.

Here are some ways that I saved on the classes and other items that go along with it.

Shop around for different dance studios. We live in a metropolitan area, so there are many dance studios. I discovered that by just crossing the county line to a surburan area, that the tuition costs were much less.

Ask about a discount for siblings. If you have more than one child interested in dance, ask the studio if they will give you a break on the second child's class fees.

Purchase attire and shoes at consignment shops. Ask your studio if they require you to purchase their dance attire and shoes. Many do not. I shopped consignment shops and seasonal sales and found leotards and tap shoes for a quarter of the price that the dance studio sold theirs for.

Take your own pictures. The professional pictures were very expensive. We chose to take our own pictures of our daughter in her costumes at home. These pictures were just as good, and with all the photo deals that are available from Walgreens, Target, Snapfish and other online photo sites, I can get as many copies and sizes as I want for zero or little money.
Another option for pictures is keep an eye out for promotional deals at some of the in-house picture studios at Wal-Mart, Target, JCPenney, etc. Often you can get a small promotional package of professional pictures for just a few dollars.

Make your own video. We were not allowed to video the actual recital (because they wanted you to purchase the $50 dvd). But, we could video the dress rehearsal that was held on the same stage. My husband videoed the rehearsal, and edited it using windows movie maker, and we have a very good video record of the event for free!

These tricks helped us to afford an activity for our daughter that otherwise would not have been possible right now. What do you do to save on extra-curricular activites for the kids? I would love to know.


This is part of of Works For Me Wednesday at We are That Family.

WFMW: Homework for the 4 Year Old

Recently we've had some role reversals in my household. Hubs is playing "Mr. Mom" while I am working outside the home a few days a week. It's tough for dads who are used to going to a job outside the home and being with adults all day to suddenly be trapped at home with babies and preschoolers.

Of course the biggest challenge is how to keep our 4 year old occupied all day - without her watching 8 hours of television!

Here's the plan I came up with: Homework assignments for my 4 year old!

Everyday before I leave for work, I write some assignments for her to complete on her chalkboard. Some of the assignments so far have been:

Write the number "4" and the number "9" (those are two numbers she struggles with)
-- she also had worksheets to help her with this.

Write your phone number 7 times.

Draw a triangle 10 times (I had discovered that she could draw every shape except a triangle)

Complete the hidden pictures puzzle in her Highlights Magazine.

This has been working pretty good so far. She was thrilled to have an "assignment", it's help to keep her on track for kindergarten preparation, it's made me feel less bad about having to go back to work, and it's given my husband a little break because she will concentrate on this activity for quite a while.

It Works For Me! See other helpful tips about all kinds of things at Rocks in My Dryer: Works For Me Wednesday.