part time work ideas... or how to juggle full time work

[JoseyJo]

Hello, My dream is that OH and I can work part time so we can spend more time creating a self-sufficientish life! And spending quality time with family, enjoying nature, creating, etc etc (I know..... a familiar dream.)
At the moment OH works full time 35odd miles away requiring car, fuel, lots of time out of home travelling to and from plus working. I work 16ish hours a week alongside looking after our children during the week. So we get 1 full day when we are both at home plus a couple of evenings. I'm struggling to use that time really well to grow/cook/save energy and money... and of course we like to spend the time doing fun things with the children too. I think if we had a little more time to get organised I could do more, then save more, grow more etc.

So.... firstly, what sort of part time work do other ish-ers do and do they pay the mortgage/bills etc? What ways have you found to reduce outgoings? How do you juggle work and all the other lovely things you'd rather be doing? Does anyone who has made the transition from full-time to part-time work have any tips?

And what home or local based jobs do others do? I'd love to be able to get rid of one of our vehicles but we live in rural area and so at the moment rely on our second car for me to get about when OH is at work.
Thanks for any ideas

[GeorgeSalt]

What skills do you each have? What skills would you like to develop or obtain?

Everyone can say what they do (there's a big thread where people do that already), but that's less important than what you can do. You don't mention what jobs either you or your husband do now.

[JoseyJo]

He works for an agricultural company - dealing with orders, monitoring of crops, warehouse skills. Is very good organisation-wise, enjoys driving and gardening and thinks he would enjoy working at either of those but less reliable than his current job and might not pay the mortgage! Also enjoys photography.
I work with adults with learning disabilities and also do some tutoring as I'm a teacher. I could prob get more tutoring work but it wouldn't be my ideal to do more. Not sure what else I could do though! I also enjoy gardening, crafts, and have considered indexing and proofreading work (mostly completed an indexing course but to complete I'd have to pay some more so would need to be sure.)
Other things I've considered - pet sitting/dog walking, writing.

Could someone direct me to the thread where people have listed their jobs....

[JoseyJo]

Oh yes, some more thoughts. OH is good at sewing (from a previous job). I'm very interested in herbs/alternative remedies - a long time ago did an aromatherapy course but not sufficient to use with new standards. I've considered yoga teaching for adults or children. All vague ideas... don't see how any of them could provide enough of a living to give up other jobs.

[GeorgeSalt]

Aarghh.. I know it's there, but can I find it? The thread is called something along the lines of "Jobs for ishers".

It's all goung to come down to the absolute minimum you need to pull in to cover the mortgage, running costs, food, etc. Sewing has a potential for piecework done at home, there are still a few companies put this sort of work out (I don't know anyone local to you I'm afraid). Would your husband's employer consider a flexible working arrangement or a reduced hours week?

The problem with things that you enjoy as work (photography, gardening) is that the work aspect can kill the enjoyment. You gain an income but lose a relaxing hobby.

[GeorgeSalt]

Found it.. 101 professions for a self-sufficientish, thinking person

[diggernotdreamer]

The single biggest problem is your mortgage. Once you don't have a mortgage, then you need very little to live on. I watched a programme some time ago and this fella went in and showed people how to budget well and exploit skills they had to earn a bit extra to pay off their mortgage. I helped a friend once. She was on interest only and paying into an endowment policy. I got her to cash in the endowment policy and used the money to pay off a bit of the mortgage, Then she went over to a repayment one and if she had any extra money, she made an extra payment. She paid off the loan within about 2 years.

Have you sat down and worked out how much it costs in fuel, car maintenance, tax, insurance etc for him to go to his job and would it pay him not to have the job and do odd jobs and gardening for people in your area. I had an idea for a business here, I wondered how many people want a 'helping hand' but not on a regular basis, a one off spring clean if someone has visitors coming, help with clearing out lofts, cupboards, shopping companion, a garden spruce up, etc, that way you can pick and choose when you do things and you're not tied down on a regular basis but could fit in with present commitments.

We moved away in order to be able to buy a house outright, so we have no mortgage now, but that often means moving to a depopulated area where it is harder to find work.

[JoseyJo]

I'll have a good look through that thread...
Yes it would be a big help to get rid of the mortgage - I've tried many times to come up with a way we could do that! If we moved to an even more rural part of the county we possibly could reduce it a lot, but then we'd be even further away from good public transport / our current jobs / friends, so we'd have to have a plan of where we could look for more local work and how we'd get about. I do often think about it though.
I remember that TV programme about paying off your mortgage - it was very interesting.
OH could possibly reduce his hours in the winter months, but I don't think they'd be keen in the summer & autumn as they're usually so busy then - in fact that's part of the problem cos for a few months he has to work longer hours and just when we'd like to be working on our own garden & allotment he's tied up with the harvesting work. I have worked out that after tax and fuel and running an extra car he/we could get away with earning a fair bit less at a job in cyclong or walking distance - but I need to keep looking for that job!

[Kikalily]

Does his job offer any feasibility for working from home? If only one day a week that'd save 70 miles of petrol, plus offer some flexibility (work in garden during daylight, work on job after sunset).

[Thomzo]

It's amazing how much difference it can make just paying a few extra pounds off the mortgage each month. If you can do so, I'd certainly recommend it, even if it's a tenner or fifty or something. For each pound you pay off, you reduce the total repayment by the interest on that pound every year for the rest of the life of the mortgage. Not only that but, as long as you keep your repayments the same, you are then paying off a larger proportion of the capital with each payment (if that makes sense?). The mortgage gets repaid much more quickly. Just check that you don't incur any penalties by repaying early. Most mortgages nowadays allow you to overpay by a certain amount without penalties.

Do you have a spare room? Could you take in a lodger or do bed and breakfast? If you have some spare land, or a garage, could you rent that out? A friend of mine paid to store a car in a farmer's field when he was working abroad. I can't remember how much he paid but it seemed like quite a lot of money.

What about child minding? If you have your children at home, could you take on another one? You will need to be registered.

If you enjoy crafts, could you consider teaching a craft? Either privately at home (try advertising at craft fairs) or via your local adult education college. You only need to start with beginners course which should be easy if you're reasonably competent and have experience of teaching.

[demi]

I like the childminding idea and that was something i had once considered. I'm a stay home mum with 2 kids and once they both start going to school i'll have more time on my hands. I was also considering tutoring English for the school kids ( im in Macedonia ) taking a study group for a few hours once or twice a week, with maybe 5 kids in each group, instead of taking individual kids one at a time . I still need to help my husband out on the farm in the growing season, but the kids are off school for the summer holidays and i'd have plenty time then to help.

[JoseyJo]

Thanks for more ideas! I think part of my problem is I am thinking of it in "all or nothing" terms - wishing I could think of a miracle way to change our job/home balance dramatically, but actually what I could be doing is lots of little things to make money on the side, save money, reduce work-out-of-home a little, see what works and hope it builds up. I'm too impatient
And I do have moments when I think I must be mad to even think about it... we're struggling to live within our means with the jobs we have now, and barely finding time for the garden etc. and I'm dreaming of living on even less and taking on new projects!! But I think I could work harder at that - my new year resolution is to decide on a proportion of our income to try to live on each month and put the extra (?if there is any extra?) towards a savings/contingency fund - and yes, paying off extra on the mortgage if I get that far. And then organising myself better to allow extra time for trying out some new ideas.... well I can dream

[Zech]

put the extra (?if there is any extra?) towards a savings/contingency fund - and yes, paying off extra on the mortgage if I get that far.

Paying off your mortgage is a far more efficient way of saving than putting money in a savings account. Even if you earn any interest on your savings, you'll get taxed on it, whereas the interest saved on your mortgage will almost certainly be more to start with, and it's worth even more because there's no tax. The only downside is that you might not be able to get at the money if you need it, but even that varies from one mortgage to another.

[Teadrinking]

I think the small things can build up and make a massive difference. Last year we did the whole take the cash out you need for the month thing and then split it by week and if we had something left over at the end of the week tried to pay off a bit more of our debt with it.
I work a full time job and a part time one and am hoping if I seriously put the hours in next year I might just pay off the loan I have out in 12 / 13 months.
Do a little at a time though - cycle/ walk instead of drive / get public transport, plan meals and stop buying non essentials. As soon as changes become habits you're there but the trick is to build up slowly so you don't feel like you're missing out / struggling to do everything at once.

[Teadrinking]

ps I'm not suggesting you work a full time and a part time job. I have no kids / dependants and it's almost too much for me! Must be super hard to cram everything in and bring up a family!