Do you currently have a full-time job? What is your current financial situation? Do you struggle to pay the bills or are you living comfortably from month to month? Either way, I think everyone could benefit from a part-time job (or at least another income source).
How Many Hours a Week Do You Watch TV?
The typical American watches 4 hours of television per day! That’s 28 hours of TV each week – it’s almost a full-time job! Sure, sometimes it’s nice to wind down and watch a show, but I’d say that 20+ hours a week is a bit excessive. What if, instead of watching that brain-drainer, you take on a part-time job. You could work a couple of evenings and a full day on the weekend to get an extra 15 hours a week. At an average of $10 (after tax) an hour, that would put an additional $600 in your pocket each month!
Sure, $600 might not sound like much, but this money could be for anything you choose! Let me show you how much of an impact this could have on your financial future.
Some of you might have some student loans, a car loan, or maybe even some credit card debt that’s still weighing you down. Let’s say that you owe $8,000 on one of these forms of debt and by paying the minimum payments, you won’t be getting rid of this debt for another 10 years.
If, instead of following the minimum payment plan, you decide to throw your 600 extra bucks at the debt, you could be free and clear of this debt within a year! Can you imagine? You could be debt-free in just one year, not ten!
Put The Money Toward Your Mortgage
The most popular mortgage term these days is the 30 year loan. Let’s assume that you just purchased a home and owe the bank $100,000 at 4% interest – this puts your average payment at about $478 per month. What do you think would happen if you paid an extra $600 toward the loan? Would you pay off the mortgage 5 years earlier than normal? Maybe even 10 years earlier?
If you were consistent and put $600 toward that mortgage each month, you would pay off the loan more than 20 years earlier than the terms! That’s right, after 9 years and 4 months, you would own your home free and clear! Not only that, but you would save $52,000 in interest payments! I’d say that a part-time job is looking pretty sweet right about now.
Invest For the Future
With just one job, money seems to get pretty tight when the month is through. Often times, we can’t even imagine investing for our future when the present seems to eat up all of our cash! But, with that extra $600 a month, I bet we could develop a pretty hefty nest-egg!
If you start investing $600 a month at the age of 30 (which is pretty late I might add) and have an average growth of 10% on your money, guess how much you’ll have when you’re 70 years old? Don’t fall off your chair…..$3,826,069! That’s right, almost 4 million dollars!!! Making an extra $600 could earn you a pretty impressive retirement!
What do you think about taking on a part-time job? Would it be worth it for you?
photo by Per Ola Wiberg ~ Powi
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I definitely think about this all time! I waste so much time, but I could be more productive.
I feel like I’m 2 or 3 times more productive than I used to be. All because I got rid of that distracting television!
That’s why your ebook of 101 ways to make money is great.
Thanks Jai! I’m glad it’s making an impact! Always good to hear.
I like to think that my blog is my part time job. If we can earn extra money part-time without sacrificing family time, then we should do it
I hear ya there SB. I’m in the same boat. The extra income from my blog definitely contributes to our future goals.
I have to agree. My small blogging empire has become my part-time job. I’m sure I would get paid more if I had a part-time job, but I enjoy this so much more.
I think having a part-time job will be more common place as people begin to realize the impact of not saving enough for retirement. I have earnings from part-time jobs part of my early-retirement plan!
Awesome Paul! Glad to hear it! I’m not sure there will be too many people that realize they won’t have enough money for retirement though. Most of the time, they don’t understand there’s not enough until it’s gone.
I think you’re on to something here, as far as part-time jobs being more commonplace due to retirement concerns. The average person out there is toast when it comes to being on track to retire with sufficient savings/cash flow. Just make sure that the part-time job doesn’t take away from necessary focus on the primary source of income!
A part time job sounds great as long as it’s something you really enjoy doing. I like SB@One Cent at a Time’s idea of using Blogging as a part time job. It keeps you from being away from the family. I wish I had read something like this when I was in my twenties, but I guess it’s never too late to start.
You’re right Charlotte – it’s never too late to start! Can’t wait to hear your success story!
Is an average of 10% growth on your investments realistic?
If people actually paid attention to the amount of time they waste – TV time being the prime example – they would be amazed. Those hours add up fast!
@Tyler – According to the “professionals”, an average of 12% growth is realistic, but I like to assume 10%. Keep in mind that the growth is not purely dependant on the market – perhaps it’s the growth of a side-business!
Agree 100% — I have a part-time job, and put every single paycheck toward my student loan debt.
Awesome! I predict that you’ll be quite wealthy in the future.
HA awesome. Any other predictions for me? 😉
Where do you get 10% on your money, I’d like to know? Including that as part of your savings plan is inaccurate and misleading.
Index Funds. Take a look at the book, “Millionaire Teacher”, by Andrew Hallam
It is a shame that the idea of working a part-time job is considered drudgery and something people may sometimes “have” to do when in reality it can open so many doors financially.
You’re right. Most of the time it seems that people are too proud to work that extra job on the weekends. Kind of sad really.
Very motivating Derek! I can tell you that MyMoneyDesign would have never happened had I not cancelled Netflix. So now rather than watching something really lame like “Wrong Turn IVâ€, I’m sharing financial knowledge with the rest of the world and potentially making money (which is way easier than getting a normal part time job I’ve ever had). The picture of the cats is great by the way.
I’m trying to get there, but it’s not an easy road. Traditional part time jobs are hard to come by, but creating your own is always a possibility.
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