The Truth About Part-Time Jobs
Do you know anyone who works a part-time job and a full-time job that pays decently? There are a million reasons to have one. It can be as simple as “I just want to make a little more money; there’s something I want to do,” to “We’ve had a catastrophic event that massacred our savings.
Why do you need a part time job?
We’ve got to build them back up.” You’ll also find people who are really misusing the money they make working their second job; their lifestyle requires them to use it to pay their regular bills. (That means their misusing the money they earn at their primary job, too.)
Part-Time Job = Frugal?
Maybe…Maybe not.
I can’t say anything bad or discouraging about having a part-time job. (I’ve had plenty of them). Sometimes life doesn’t go according to plan and we need to rethink, recoup, and keep going. Or, maybe we’ve planned for an expensive event (like the vacation of a lifetime) and we want get on top of its financial aspect. (Who wouldn’t rather be thinking about how they’re going to spend their money over where the money’s going to come from?)
Those are good reasons to take on a part-time job or some extra hours at work. Unfortunately, many of us use a part-time job to sustain extravagance—not because something out of the ordinary has or will happen, but because we habitually overspend. Instead of being in control of our lifestyle, it controls us, and we try compensating by working more—by making more money. Often, we just incorporate the increase into our spending and exasperate rather than solve the problem. Too many of us live beyond our means.
Living within our means
How much money do you earn from your occupation? While you’re at it, think about that word, “occupation.” What does it mean? To put it simply, it’s what you do, and what you do should be sufficient to meet your needs. I think most of us need much more than just sufficiency, and my concept of sufficiency includes comfort, not just eking out a living. But…we tend to go well past need into greed, and greed is never satisfied. Greed always wants more. AND IT WANTS IT NOW!
Many of us are in a cycle of wanting something and, therefore, getting it. Then we need to pay for it, and often that means taking on more work—probably a part-time job—to pay for that something which may already be depreciating in value. We have to get past the acquire/pay cycle and into a frugal state of mind that focuses on saving, then acquiring.
People who want to get out of the trap need to make some decisions: Should we put the house up for rent and move ourselves into something less expensive? Do we need a brand new car right now? Could we wait another year, and when we do decide to buy, could we find a pre-owned one that would meet our needs? How about this: Does John Jr. really need his own car—one we supply? Does the car really need to be professionally detailed? Could we clean it ourselves? Do the twins really need to play three sports and take dance classes? Does every birthday and Christmas have to be better than the last? Do we have to eat out every weekend? Do we really need a cleaning service? Do we have to buy all our clothes from high-end stores? Ever think about checking out the thrift store?
Food, shelter, clothes, and a way to get around: These are the basic things we need. I want you to think about your minimal needs—no extras. Can you budget the pay from your primary job to cover those needs? Evaluate every aspect of your life. What changes can you make in order to live on your primary income? Your lifestyle should be funded by your real income—not by what you wish it was or even what you expect it will become. Your choices can be the determining factors in how quickly financial stability can be achieved—even whether it can be achieved.
(Note: If you’ve read any of my posts on budgeting, you know that when I talk about funding a lifestyle it has to include saving for emergencies and the future—yours and your children’s. This is when a part time job would be good)
If you’ve pared all extravagance and your full-time job doesn’t supply the funds you need for basic living, you’ve got the wrong job. You need to do something else. Find a different job or perhaps get more education/training in your field. That may require you to seek extra work for now, but what you earn to pay for that skill and knowledge would be an investment in your future. Also, a part-time job may be necessary to fix a financial plan that’s been severely stressed by debt. The funds earned would be dedicated to getting out from under your existing debt, but the additional income should not make you feel comfortable about acquiring more (debt).
I’ve already mentioned vacations. Vacations are only one of the luxuries most of us want to enjoy. Upgrading the vehicle we can reasonably afford or funds for our children’s college education are others (and again, not the only ones). Ideally, the money we make working our full-time job would be sufficient to include these ventures in our lifestyle, but sometimes…it just isn’t. Without extra funds, attaining these desires would be just dreams. Working a part-time job so that we’ll have the money before we need it is a great idea.
Will a part time job give you what you need?
The truth about a part-time jobs
There is nothing wrong with working a part-time job to fix or enhance your financial state. There is something horribly wrong with needing to work a part-time job so you can carry an ever increasing debt burden.
In the long-term it’s dangerous to have no budget or to make a budget that requires you to work more than one job in order to finance your (basic) lifestyle. In addition to being fiscally irresponsible, many employers feel they are shortchanged when you take on another job. You may be chronically tired, have conflicting schedules…not giving 100%. The pay from your second job should fund a financial rescue mission or, preferably, dreams. It should not be used to maintain the cost of you daily life.
“So,” you say, “my employer would feel better about me working a second job, if I was doing it to save for my kid’s education or to buy a boat?” (Note: I didn’t say “finance the boat you just bought.”) The truth is yes: In those scenarios you are likely to have time and flexibility on your side. Your extra work is seen as a choice—one they may feel can be imposed upon.
It’s also worth noting that we tend to feel better about working in general (and possibly, our job in particular) when our earnings meet our needs. It’s discouraging to continually have to play financial catch up.
Conclusion
While there is nothing wrong with working a part-time job, we should not depend on the money earned at that job to pay our usual, recurring bills. Rare, unfortunate occurrences might require you to do extra work—make extra money—to make up or restore your finances, but a second job really should be part of a plan that allows you to have the funds you need to pay for acquisitions, services, and luxuries before you get them. That’s the truth about part-time jobs.