Because when you’re in debt, the best place to go is to work.
Today I did a “meet and greet” with a family in need of a part-time caregiver for their child. I heard about the case via a fellow nurse at church. She gave my name and number to the family, and the mother called me yesterday. It is about 4-5 miles from my office job. The child was a preemie and is fed via a j-tube (feeding tube in the midsection of the small intestine for all you non-medical folks!) and is also on oxygen. The child no longer qualifies for nursing care (other than a quick visit from a visiting nurse), but the family feels more comfortable having someone with some medical background taking care of their kiddo than just a regular sitter. Essentially, it is a glorified babysitting job.
As for pay, they are paying out-of-pocket at a rate of $15/hour. I have no idea how much regular babysitters earn, but I felt this wage was decent. I made it clear that I do work two other jobs (not including my side business) but I think it should work out as they are only looking for 4-5 hours twice a week. The other nurse (from church) also does a day or two a week. I think this is mostly to give the mom a much-needed break.
After the meet and greet, I went to my office job for just a bit. Since there wasn’t much of anything I needed to do, I didn’t feel I could justify just hanging out in the office. That job isn’t too far from the city, so I decided to take a trip there and see what I could find to resell for my business. As I’ve mentioned before, I am a third party seller on Amazon (FBA). I did well and came back home with a trunk full of items to ship off to Amazon.
Tomorrow I will be at the kiddo’s home for 2 hours (to get comfortable with what is involved) and will then go to my office job again. Since the mail had yet to arrive today (much of what I do comes via the mail) and with going in a little later, I should have enough to keep me busy for 3-4 hours. Work there, however, will start to slow down even more in about two weeks. Meanwhile, I’ll try to get in as many hours as I can.
Can you believe tomorrow is already the last day of January? Where does the time go? Tomorrow is also the last day we can change our mind of the refi of our house, which of course, we won’t! Tomorrow I plan on doing an update on our debt payoff. I sure love seeing those numbers go down. Progress, it sure is a beautiful thing!
Oh goodness, I bet mom needs a little caregiver break now and then. Bless you for stepping up to the plate to take on the job.
Thank you. I’m a little nervous since it has been a few years since I’ve taken care of such a little one. I don’t know how these moms do it!
An attorney friend had a preemie and hired a former nicu nurse as full time nanny. She paid her a small fortune, more than the nurse made at the hospital. She felt lucky to have the woman. I would think it would be a sweet experience although it is serious.
Practical Parsimony recently posted…How Monday Actually Went Down | Tuesday, Too
The nurse no doubt came with a wealth of knowledge. That family was very fortunate to have the means to afford her! The baby I’m caring for is now a year old but looks more like a 7-month-old. I don’t think I’d want to do it full time, but a few hours a week should be okay.
Sounds like it will be a good side gig for some extra cash each month and also not take up too much of our time.
OneFamily recently posted…This and that
This is what I’m hoping!