Job Hunting

Re: Job Hunting

• Xstatic3333 member

  

  September 2014

  My best advice is to live on a written budget. Give every dollar you get somewhere to go. We lived on my H's income only at times while I was in school and it was tough, but doable. If at all possible, have one of the line items in your budget be saving for the unexpected (if you don't yet have an emergency fund).
  
  For finding a PT job, I'd start by telling your professors you need work. In my program, they all went to great lengths to help us find useful and decent paying jobs. It never hurts to ask! I'd also check out care.com for flexible work in your field.
  
  Feel free to post your budget if you'd like! People here give great tips on where corners can be cut

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• jessica490 member

  

  September 2014

  I just wanted to say hi and welcome to CT, I live here as well! I'm not sure about any jobs in your field but check on Indeed.com. Even if you can't find a job in your field, I would look for other part-time jobs in the meantime. I just picked up a second part-time job at the grocery store, so I think at this point, any type of job would help. Track all your spending on mint.com and only buy the necessities. there are also a lot of nice consignment shops around if you things that you need to sell for some quick cash.

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• hoffse member

  

  September 2014

  I will ditto what Xstatic said about tracking every expense.  Have a written budget that itemizes categories of things (rent, utilities, insurance payments, cell phones, groceries, eating out, clothing, gas, etc.).  Create a "goal" that is the max amount you would be willing to spend in that category for the month and then track your actual expenses as you spend - don't just look at it once a month to see how you did.  If you write down expenses as you go, you will know exactly how close or how far you are from exceeding your budget in any one category at all times.  It will probably take a couple months before you have a clear idea of what a realistic goal for each category is, but pretty quickly you'll get the hang of it.  Obviously don't create goals that add up to more than you bring in each month... and do budget down to $0 so that every penny that you bring in has a place to go.  That includes a line item for savings (however small).  

  
  

  In the event you have money leftover - and you should - you also need to have a plan about what to do with it.  Many on this board use unspent money to pay down debt.  Others use unspent money to pad savings.  Whatever it is, create a goal that you work toward and be committed to sending surplus funds to that goal.  That will help you stick to your budget and not outspend your categories.  For many of us I think it becomes a bit of a game to see how little we can spend so that we can max out our various goals each month.
  

  
  

  Be careful about the places where you might be spending money frivolously.  If you spend $4 on a starbucks coffee each day while studying, that's about $120/month or $1440/year on overpriced coffee.  Not that you can't indulge yourself once in awhile, but be cognizant of what you are spending, when you are spending it, and how that affects your bottom line.  I think most people are just unaware that they're spending $200 or $300 per month on fast food - and then they wonder why they can't pay their bills.

  
  

  I keep a google doc excel sheet that's shared with my husband, and I look at our credit cards each day and enter expenses into the various categories as they clear our cards.  Many on this board do not use a credit card, but H and I have never carried credit card debt, and it helps me keep an accurate (and brutally honest) record.  Plus then I see what H is doing so I can track his expenses on the sheet too.  We talk about major purchases, but we both have a tendency to run to the store for small items or grab lunch without informing the other, so doing it this way helps me stay on top of it without making H feel like he needs to ask my permission to grab a drink with his buddies.

  
  

  H checks the budget sheet every day or two so that he knows what kind of room we have in our budget before he grabs drinks after work or wants to run to the dry cleaners, etc.  I also keep track of the closing dates of our credit cards so that H and I both know when we've shifted to a new month. You and your H will need to come up with a system that works for both of you, but we have found this system to work well for us.  

  
  

  
  

  

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• Roxielove 24 member

  

  September 2014

  Thanks for all the advice, I have and continue to apply for part time jobs on monster, indeed, simplyhired and in person. I just started tracking all our expenses, noticed We spend way too much on fast food and need to cut back.@ Xstatic I will try care.com

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• strickland8052 member

  

  October 2014

  Hey Roxie!  I think you've gotten some great advice, but here are a few more things:
  
  Do you like dogs?  If so, check out rover.com. It is a place where you can find dog sitting gigs (either they stay at your house or you go to the owner's house).  My husband and I have made like $300 in the past month, just by watching a couple of dogs every week.  To get more business, make sure you spend a lot of time making your profile shine, get friends/family who know your experience with dogs to write reviews for you, and set your price kinda low at the beginning.
  
  Do you have any malls or large retail stores nearby?  I would imagine that most places are about to start hiring seasonal employees to handle holiday shopping.  I know retail isn't really what you want, but it could help with income until you find something in your field.
  
  As you are looking at your budget, shop around for car insurance and cell phone plans.  Cut cable and stick to netflix.  Also, try to coupon!  I used to think that coupons didn't make much difference, but I've recently shaved $30-$40 a week off our grocery budget by meal planning around sales/coupons.
  

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• short+sassy member

  

  October 2014

  Also try Craig's List for job hunting.  You do have to be a bit careful and read between the lines, because there are certainly a good amount of bogus jobs on there...like along the lines of "Make $1,000/day working two hours" with a generic picture or wacky looking link to click on for "more details."

  But, with that said, I had a full-time job for two years that I found from Craig's List and I go on there all the time to find part-time/temporary types of stuff.  For example, I found a very flexible high-paying, part-time job that I have now been doing for three years.

  And just last week I took a temporary part-time job with Trip Advisor.  I've also been involved in a couple mock jury trials, some consumer testing panels...all found on Craig's List and those particular types of tasks generally pay VERY well for the time involved.  Consumer testing is usually only a few hours and mock juries can be anywhere from half a day to a few days.  

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• LS45 member

  

  October 2014

  Can your husband ask around to see if any of his co-workers know of openings? In my experience these days, most jobs are attained through networking and personal connections.

  

  @MrNibbles

  
  

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• Roxielove 24 member

  

  October 2014

  @ LS45 i will ask my husband to start asking around.

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