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Who should get the 2nd job?
Ok. I'm new to this board, but I'm not new to posting (I'm on TK).
Anyway, my bf and I have been discussing the possibility of one of us picking up a 2nd job. We both have full time jobs, while I carry 2 ft jobs (work and being a mom). We live together and my bf helps me out by picking up my son from the babysitter since he gets out of work at 330, while I get out at 5. This has been great and it makes for a happy me because I don't have to rush to the babysitters house to make it by the 515 late cut off.
Anyway, my bf's hours had been cut back a few months go - he used to work lots of OT but the corporate office came down and cut them back to 40 a week instead of 60+. We have been discussing him (or I) picking up a 2nd job. He technically already has a 2nd job at the local bowling alley (that he's worked at for almost 16 years) but it's on an "as needed basis." He said he could pick up a pt job at a local hardware store or petstore. Ok, fine, he'd make maybe a little bit above minimum wage. However, I on the otherhand, have worked in retail a little longer than he has. I have the opportunity to apply to a Joann's Craft/fabric store that is like 2 minutes from my FT job. I have experience in this as I'm extremely crafty and have worked in this field a little bit more than the typical girl. My mom owned and operated a sewing shoppe for 10 years and I helped as the "store manager" while she was away. So, I'm no stranger to fabric, sewing machines, etc. I would be guaranteed more than minimum wage if I were to work PT. PLUS, they're looking for evenings and weekends.
Yes, I'm a mom and my son is just that, MY son. My bf is not his father. My bf has bowling 2 nights a week (Wed & Fri) Those nights I'm typically home to be with my son...hell, every night I'm home to be with my son. I figure I can work on Mondays, Thursdays and Sat/Sun.
Here's the thing, if my bf gets a 2nd job, his hours at work may come back and he may have to leave the 2nd job. However, if I get the 2nd job, I can work on the nights that I know he will be home and on the weekends when we technically don't do much of anything anyhow. He said he's willing to watch my son while I'm working, so that shouldn't be a problem. But who should get the 2nd job?
Any tips/suggestions?
Thanks!
Re: Who should get the 2nd job?
Oh, I'm sorry. Finances have gotten really tight since his hours got cut back. I'm only making 12/hr and once taxes and health insurance gets taken out I'll be making less. So finances are going to get even tighter. Having the extra job on either side would help 100%.
he lives locally and sees him on the weekends. Really not someone I like to discuss which is why he is omitted from the post.
So you and your BF have combined finances and your budget is based off of his base + OT versus just his base? Then step 1 would be to try to cut your budget as much as possible to be more in line with your combined base pay. Then if still needed, I guess he should get the second job. Really, it's not a good idea to plan on OT or a second job to meet basic living expenses, so the cutting budget is the major issue.
You live together and have combined finances, but it is deemed a "favor" for to pick up your kid and him watching your kid is considered "babysitting"--that tells me he is not taking an active role in parenting, then you need to be filling the parent role. Does the kids father have the kid any specific times? Because I guess you could try to get a second job on the weeknights/weekends the father has the kid.
Maybe I should clarify a bit. My son is 11 years old and is as independant as the next 11 year old. Since my boyfriend works 630-330 daily, it's more economical for him to pick my son up so I don't pay the per hour fees of the babysitter after my son gets out of school. Even if my bf were to pick up OT, he'd be leaving work by 430 and would be home to pick up my son by 5...which saves me the aggrivation of rushing home from work. My son's father only sees his son on the weekends as that is our custody agreement.
We set our budget on just our regular 40 hr weeks. He has 2 nights a week that he bowls that he sets aside $ for. I have $ set aside for emergency purposes for my son. However, as everything is getting more expensive - gas, utilities and food - so money is really really tight. I've cut back our extras - fios pkg has been downgraded to the cheapest one (i sometimes work from home and need phone/internet) and that's about it. We cant cut back on our electric/gas bill...there is no package for that but since we're on an equal payment plan, I know how much that bill is each month.
So, needless to say, one of us needs to get a 2nd job so we don't have to worry about not having the $ for emergencies, etc.
Have you tried to posting your budget on Money Matters?
If you weren't living with/combining finances with your BF, how would you be able to meet your living expenses? How did you meet them before you moved in together?
I had lived on my own for 10 years and never had any issues with my budget. Every once in a while I ran into a jam, but that was typically due to being sick and out of work for a few days w/very little PTO available. I was able to manage and didn't have many bills outside of utilities, insurance, car payment, rent, food and laundry. Now, we have a high rent ($1500 for a 4 bedroom house that we are renting from a friend (his mortgage is 2000 but he gave us a break because he's known my bf for years and he knows we'd take care of the house - which we are)), have to pay for water and sewer, on top of our normal utilities (Fios, gas/electric). I was out of work for a couple of months and I'm playing catch up on a few of the bills that I was only paying a minimum payment on.
Maybe its just tight because of everything going up in price. Hmmm
Yes, my son's father pays for it, but it goes towards his after school care, karate, and the remainder goes into a savings account for his college education.
Thanks everyone!!!!
you dont need 4 bedrooms. you need two. find a 2 bedroom place for less rent and move. i dont care if someones 'doing you a favor. 1500 is CHEAP for a 4 bedroom house. by me anyway. cheap!!
sure gas and food is going up -they always do and willc ontinue to do so until the end of time. if your budget is THAT inflexible-where a few cents a gallon will force a 2nd job-you need to ditch the fios package, find a smaller place for less rent, your bf can skip his 2 nights a week bowling and you can save more money.
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