Anyone here work a second job?

So, long story short, I am an electrician working maintenance for the University of Michigan hospital. A good gig all in all. I make pretty good money, enough to cover the bills and living expenses for the most part.

My wife has started waiting tables a few nights a week when the budget gets tight, and that works out great.

The trouble is, I don't have any money for my MG Midget project waiting out in the garage. We don't use credit cards, and don't plan on doing so any time soon. The Midget was purchased with and has since been funded by "extra" cash. So overtime pay when we didn't need it for something else, on call pay, etc.

The trouble with this approach is it has taken two years to do one year's worth of work and I'm tired of it. I currently work from 4am to 12:30pm Sunday through Thursday. I have a friend that works at a Belle Tire two miles from my house, and was thinking about applying there to work 10 to 15 hours a week for 10 bucks an hour, if they hire me.

That income would primarily go for my car, like a performance build and machine shop work.

Anyone else done this? What are the caveats? It seems pretty low risk as this would not be my primary source of income...

Sounds like it could be just what you're looking for but it really depends on the atmosphere at the shop, some chains are like an 8 hour a day NASCAR pitstop. Besides, there could be a few employee benefits (free mounting, free alignment, free tires from the waste pile, etc.)

This is exactly the feedback I was looking for!

I'm sure it's fast paced, and the friend of mine said if you can put up with 18 to 28 year olds you will be fine (I'm almost 40)

And I was thinking of the benefits too- discounts on ties.

Mmadness wrote: Sounds like it could be just what you're looking for but it really depends on the atmosphere at the shop, some chains are like an 8 hour a day NASCAR pitstop. Besides, there could be a few employee benefits (free mounting, free alignment, free tires from the waste pile, etc.)

Whats your energy level like? If you are one of those no-sleep people, it may work out fine. I suffer from this: If I work enough extra to have lots of money to put my skills to work, I don't have the time to do use them, because I'm sleeping.

I take pickup work at my former employers whenever I can get it...at roughly twice what they used to pay me/hour. It rocks. Get to hang out with a couple of the guys I hired there, being sure to ocassionally be as much of a pain in their asses as they were in mine.

It's a REALLY nice change to go from "head of customer service/accounting/production/marketing/janiorial" to "Shop Ninja." I do what they need done and go the berkeley home. I've also done a bunch of badly needed maintenance on their equipment the last couple times I was there, and they were very appreciative.

YMMV.

I did it for many years. Taught school all day and worked 4-5 hours at a second job in the evening. The jobs usually had some connection to one of my hobbies (Gunsmith, Motorcycle Mechanic, etc.). The benefits from discounted prices and the extra income financed all my hobbies.

Sure do. The main second job is reffing hockey. I'm able to put away about 30-50% of my salary to retirement, live paycheck to paycheck, and the reffing fills in for the fun stuff. I'll also pick up a buck here and there doing odd jobs for friends and relatives.

I guess it depends on the company, but I worked for Discount Tire for a couple months.

Long story into why I quit, but just be careful with if they try to up your hours. If you deny it, they may want to terminate you. Like I said, depends on the company and the management.

Just like Mmadness said, some places are really fast paced, Saturdays especially. If you can deal with the climate, you'll be fine. Discount always had the doors open. Luckily you could wear shorts in the summer and they provided gloves in the winter.

There were great benefits too, so hopefully that can work to your advantage.

With a skill like Electrician, I would think there are other second job options that might be more lucrative than $10 per hour.
Could you be a back-up man for an electrical contractor? You know, a guy to call when the workload exceeds the standard employee load.

Always wanted to be a limo driver for a second pt weekend job, but it sounds like I'd make just as much working at a tire or lube shop.

Here is a tip I learned about...

Been playing with MGs for 40 years.

Working on other peoples MGs pays $30/hour. Cash.

Not that I would ever do such a thing, but just saying.

Paid to play is better than pay to play any day.

If my full time gig had anything close to regular hours I would love to.

I used to work as an exotic dancer but I quit when my wife started asking where all the quarters were coming from.

I did. I worked the counter at a plumbing supply store during the day and 3 nights a week, I would work at a bar. I got pretty tired of it after a couple months. I would like to try that now, but with a mini-me and my wife getting her doctorate after work 4 nights a week, its not going to happen. I have had some success selling/flipping on CL to supplement our income.

For the past two years I was working a normal 40 hour week plus another 18-20 at another gig. While the extra $$ helped it absolutely sapped my energy and when the full time gig ended in April I was actually happy for the break. I did use the extra $$ earned to pay off all my credit cards and rebuild my reserves which totally helped when we had to spend most of it on rebuilding my wife's condo after a tenant trashed it.

Guess I better start looking for another 2nd gig too.

You're an electrician? Does the university have a policy preventing you from doing electrical work on the side?

If they don't care, that's your best bet, because a.) If you charge a bit less than most other electricians you can find more work than you want. And b.) You can incorporate - which will allow you to write off more than you can imagine(get a good accountant). Seriously, our tax return was almost 1/2 what our gross income for the business was.

define Second Job?

As a "casual" stage hand. I work in the Following places:

Atlantic City Convention Center
Bally's Hotel Casino
Boardwalk Convetion Hall
Borgata Hotel Casino and Spa
Ceasars Hotel Casino
Gold Nugget Hotel Casino
Harrahs Casino Hotel
Trump Taj Mahal
Revel Casino Resort

Because any one of them might only offer me 4 to 8 hours a week, I jump from one to another as the days go on. Right now I am supposed to be at Boardwalk hall setting up for Miss America, but The MRSA in my arm is keeping me away another day

I teach a couple nights a week at the local Tech school. If you have the right credentials you might be able to get a gig teaching a couple electrician classes at the local JC. It might pay better than a tire shop.

If I were you, I would start doing side jobs after hours, that can build up into a business that you have other guys working for you, remember to keep them as contractors not employees.

I tried but having a full time job, being a weekend warrior, and a part time job on top of that it was miserable. The extra cash flow as nice but I had no time to use it. No time to spend with my wife and child, no time for fun. It was all work work work. I guess it all depends on what you are will to miss out on and if the benefits outweigh the cost. I enjoy doing things on the weekend whether it's sitting on my ass watching college football or doing mini-triathlons.

I tried it once before in college too. Full time tech at a dealer, 15 credit hours, and a pizza delivery driver and in a relationship. That sucked.

I financed my auto-x and automotive addictions with side jobs my whole life. Now with three kids, a job where I spend 70 hours away from home at work and no friends nearby I really just stay home. My job has a non-compete which requires that I ask for and receive permission from them before accepting work of any kind that may put a damper on their ability to use me, lol. I'm good with that though it keeps me near my family.

If you are able to do it I'd say to for it but as others have said stay in your field. Btw: I've hired guys who worked for belle and I won't ever do it again. They've all been shifty(no offense to anyone if they have and aren't).

i fix cars for family and friends when i need a little extra dollars... i've also been known to "flip" a car or two if i get them cheap enough... right now i'm eyeballing a '00 Bonneville that needs a few cosmetic things fixed that has a super cheap price, and a pair of Intrepids ('01 and '04) that have rod knocks that are extremely nice except for the slight rod knocks that i can pick up for less than scrap price...

novaderrik wrote: and a pair of Intrepids ('01 and '04) that have rod knocks that are extremely nice except for the slight rod knocks that i can pick up for less than scrap price...

2.7? They won't be worth scrap price even after you fix them. Bigger motor is ok. 2.7 is the touch of death for resale.

Streetwiseguy wrote:

novaderrik wrote: and a pair of Intrepids ('01 and '04) that have rod knocks that are extremely nice except for the slight rod knocks that i can pick up for less than scrap price...

2.7? They won't be worth scrap price even after you fix them. Bigger motor is ok. 2.7 is the touch of death for resale.

i know.. i have a plan to take care of that issue

There are a few jobs out there that are titled " independent contractor" depending on the companies you deal with. I suggest doing side jobs or finding something that you are your own boss of.

I have been a wage slave for two full time jobs, and am now my own boss/independent contractor. Being your own boss is a worlds difference better for the most part. If I need more money for something I just work more. If I am sick of work I just go in a couple days a week. I can get away with working 8 days a month and still pay the bills/rent. This gives me plenty of time to do other work or whatever comes up .

When I was working two full time jobs it was pretty stressful sometimes. Having more money than I could spend was nice but not having any time to put the parts on the ca, with the money I did spend gets old. The other downsides came up often too.

I was going to work with only a few hours of sleep sometimes. Doing simple things like laundry and buying groceries had to be planned ahead of time. After about a year of this some managers heard I had another job, they needed to cut hours and I was the first one to get my hours cut . This was despite good evaluations.From that point on I was almost on call, short shifts, first person called when someone was sick, bad attitudes from the managers about the other job. Right up until I quit one job.

Maybe you have better people you are working for but don't underestimate a boss taking every opportunity to screw you over if your boss is iffy.