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I started this journey with the intent of making additional money by doing the least amount of work. With the future so cloudy and so many unexpected things occurring, the Project Manger in me wanted to mitigate my risk. My goal was to double my emergency fund to protect myself from unexpected risk, but you can use this same practice to pay off your student loans, save for a down payment on property, or start a business.
My recommendation is that you only use this practice for something important or productive, not just to have extra money because you will not be as motivated to continue the process if there is not a goal associated with the mission.
As a wife, mother, full time employee, student, and entrepreneur the likely hood of me actually taking on a part time job was slim to none, I just didn’t have the time! I needed to find something that would not interrupt my daily schedule.
After months of doing research, I settled on being a personal shopper . My daily schedule already consisted of me getting Starbucks in the morning, running errands, and going grocery shopping for my family. This was part of my day that I actually enjoyed because it allowed me to get out of the house, have some alone time, and do what most women like to do anyways, shop! I figured, why not add the additional perk of making my leisure time profitable while accomplishing a financial goal.
If you are turned off by my decision to become a personal shopper keep reading because I also had some reservations and I established some strict rules for myself to combat the risk.
- Only take batches that are less than 3 miles from your home. As stated previously, my intent was to make additional money by doing the least amount of work. I only chose stores that I would likely have to shop throughout the day in my local neighborhood. This was a strict rule for me because I did not want to put extra wear and tear on my car and I calculated, local rides would be the equivalent of me driving to work and back everyday (I currently work from home now).
- Only worked 1 hour a day. Also as stated prior, I am a wife, a mom, a student, a full-time employee, and an entrepreneur. I realized very early that I did not have many hours in the day to dedicate to being a personal shopper. I was intentional about my time and ensured that I received the best ROI possible, investment being my time.
- Go for the big fish! My goal was $25 a day, on a good day, I would attempt to get one batch that will allow me to make as close to $25 so that my workday would be complete after just one order. Disclosure, some big fish batches are just not worth it, I would rather do 2 five item batches at Walgreens or CVS then accepting a 45-item batch at Aldi’s (NEVER ACCEPT THIS, TRUST ME!)
- Focus on the Money The money is the most important part, for running my normal errands and shopping at grocery stores that I would already likely go to, I earned $25 a day (give or take) 7 days a week which equals $175 a week. There are 52 weeks in a year which allowed me to save roughly $9,000 taking into account you may miss a day or not hit your goal every day.
The most important part here is to put this money directly into a savings account and not touch it under any circumstances. I want to be clear, this being a personal shopper is not an easy job, it is tough and to dedicate one hour a day takes mental dedication and execution, but the reward is worth it. I want to commend any person shoppers that does this work full time or as a necessity just to make ends meat because it is more difficult than you think.
In closing, this is my journey and my story on how I made additional money to accomplish a financial goal that worked with my lifestyle. If you decide to take a different path, I encourage you to stick to it so that you can reap the benefits at the end. Be intentional about the task, the goal, and the accomplishment. This is the time that we need to do the things that are uncomfortable, uninteresting, and maybe even unflattering to ensure our future selves are setup for success. Good Luck on your Journey.
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