Monday, January 5, 2009

Resolutions

I don't normally do the New Year's Resolution thing. I have enough chaos in my life without trying to reach what is apparently some unattainable goal for myself.

But this year I am trying something new. I work full time and I also am a substitute newspaper carrier. Since this second job allows me to set my own rate, I do pretty good when the jobs are rolling in. Last week I got a call and this guy needs me the for 9 days over the next 2 weeks. This is about 550.00. Not to shabby for throwing papers. So I have decided this year that all the money I make throwing papers goes into paying off my debt instead of using it for other things. Right now my hubs has a job and it pays okay so we are not stressing like we were 1 month ago.

This guy told me he will probably need me every week for the next 2 months. At an average of 240.00 per week, that is about 1920.00 give or take. Since I have about 1500.00 in unsecured debt, I can pay that off and put the rest towards my asset debt ( car, house,etc). Now in theory this sounds pretty good. But, with my life and the way things happen, I am sure that a plethora of things will come up that will prevent me from keeping this goal no matter how noble it sounds.

I am however, still going to try. I will be able to pay off 2 credit cards and have about 120.00 left to apply towards the rest with the first 2 weeks pay from him. I am really excited about this and hope to achieve it. I keep reminding myself that God desires that I be a good steward with what He blesses me with and that will be what helps me to keep my resolve.

Before any of you start thinking about how easy a paper route in your area would be, let me tell some things I found out the hard way. I did have my own route for 5 years before I gave it up to just be a "sub".

1. You have to throw EVERY DAY. Christmas, New Year's Thanksgiving, your birthday, no matter the weather. Remember there is news everyday even if it did snow 3 inches last night after the ice storm.

2. There is a time limit. Here in my area, you have to pick up your papers no later than 4 am and have them on the ground no later than 6 am Mon-Fri-. Sat. is 6:30 and Sun. is 7:00 because these are bigger papers.

3. If you want a day off, you have to find someone to throw your route yourself. You will pay them more because they are doing you the favor by getting up in your place. When I had my own route it cost me 400.00 for 7 days and that was cheap.

4. In my area you are a sub-contractor. This means that you get a 1099 form at the end of the year. Since no taxes are withheld, this can be a real pain. In some area you have to collect your own fees. This is a bigger pain.

5. And last but not least, the pay varies from route to route. Here they base it on how long your route is and by how many papers you throw. So the bigger or longer the route, the more money you make.

If you are looking for a part time job, this is not a bad gig just know what you are getting into first. You can check in the classified section of your paper for listings of available zip codes for routes. They usually put a pretty big ad in there or just call your local paper and ask them.

Before I forget, a reliable car with current insurance is a must. Sunday papers are big and you have to fit them all in your car so keep that in mind.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment



Template by:
Free Blog Templates