Working Without a Job: Project Craigslist Oddjobs
As a freshly released college student I hesitate to use the term unemployed for at least another three or four weeks. I am currently between homes, jobs, and vocations. To put it mildly, I am in flux right now. I’ve always liked working and having a job but for some reason I have a hard time with the idea of a job. I have spent a lot of time thinking about ways I could live without a traditional job from trading stocks to freelance writing. I semi-regularly participate in market research panels which pay great for what they are. I generally make around $70 an hour and do an hour or two per session. They don’t call very often but when they do I jump at the chance. Yesterday I got a call about going to a convenience store and talking about it for a total of three hours and $350. I washed out when they found out I had graduated college (which I expect will happen more and more) but it reminded me about the days when my discretionary income was comprised of odd jobs and house sitting. (When I was in elementary school I managed to convince two schools to pay me to clean out all the cages for their class pets.) My dad won’t pay me to clear the leaves off the garage roof anymore but maybe someone else will. I am starting my Craigslist oddjobs project today!
Checked out the adult gigs for fun but it was a classic case of getting hurt by the patriarchy. No jobs for me. There is a demand out there for lactating females though. Just giving the heads up.
My first effort has been successful. I collected $40 for roughly 3 hours of work scrubbing lawn furniture in preparation for 4th of July festivities. At over 10 dollars an hour that is better than any regular job I’ve ever held. I promptly blew it on upgrading my phone but the idea is there, I just need to get some more gigs.
I think I should also set some ground rules.
Rule 1. I can change the rules whenever
Rule 2. While Craigslist will be the primary source of finding jobs I will not be limiting myself to it exclusively. I will be open jobs from friends (unlikely) or friends of friends (more likely)
Rule 3. I’m going to count buying things at low cost and reselling them as an odd job. Selling things I owned prior to this project will not count though. That will go into my decluttering project column, the details of which I will not be subjecting you to.
