I also do "family helping" and am trying to figure out how to charge for that. It started with an autistic teen from our scout troop. I went over at 5:15 a.m. every day to sit with him in the morning after his parents had left for work, took him to school at 7:30, then picked him up again at 3:00. They lived 2.5 miles from me, the school was in between our homes, and it was great while homeschooling (although getting up that early STUNK). They paid a shocking amount of money that totally made it worth my while. I did that for two years until his younger sister got her driver's license and put me out of business
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I made friends with their neighbors, who had a mom with MS. She had gotten to the point of needing companion care, so I began working for her in the afternoons. I charged $15/hour to go over from 1-5 (or so) every day. I did their laundry and dishes, changed the sheets on their bed (mom wet it a lot), and kept her company. We watched cooking shows, which she loved, but she couldn't cook anymore as she'd lost a lot of the use in her hands. I got her some Pampered Chef products that worked for her (chopper and crinkle cutter), and we began cooking together almost every day. We also did crafts and things that kept her fingers going and mind going. She needed real care-taking help at the end, but they kept me on every day for a few hours in the afternoon because we got along so well. She ended up passing away.
I still work for the MS mom's family. I go over twice a week and tidy, walk the dog, do any dishes, make dad's bed, etc. They have a housekeeper who comes once a week, so there's no heavy cleaning. I spritz around the base of the toilets
) I also bring their laundry home to my house and charge them 1/2 my hourly wage to do the laundry here. I just got paid today from them for two weeks, which totaled about $125/week (there was a bit more laundry than usual).
What else do I do... for that family I have pinned dad's pants and taken them to the tailor to be hemmed, dead-headed their roses, and cleaned out their cupboards. I have a new client in my neighborhood who was looking for help for $10/hour. Pretty cheap, but I don't have to drive, and I can work for her when I have spare time. That's valuable to me! I took home some of her flatware and polished it while watching a DVD with my boys. I got paid to watch TV! It took me an hour to clean her silver, so I made $10.
I also get work from
www.NARMS.com. It stands for the National Association of Retail Merchandisers. These are the folks who do demos at Costco and Sam's, stock shelves, etc. I specialize in putting up promotional materials. The jobs pay about $10-$12/hour, and you can pick and choose. My next job is through a company called SRS (Strategic Retail Solutions) and I'll be putting up vacuum signs in two Costco's near me. I'll get $10/store + $5 travel time to drive up to the second store, which is about 10 miles away. Each store will take me about 20 minutes.
I found out about NARMS when I was working for Nutro Pet Foods as a demonstrator. I went on the site and found out there was a LOT of terminology I didn't understand, so I checked with the clerks at the stores where I worked (PetCo and PetSmart) and asked them to explain things to me (which they did). Sometimes I'd see people at the grocery store scanning products and they clearly didn't work at the store, so I'd ask them what they were doing. I learned.
Almost everything I've done through NARMS has been easy; you just have to be super reliable and be able to think for yourself. My first job was putting up POP (point of purchase) items at Ralph's grocery stores for a NASCAR promotion. I had to put window clings on the frozen food windows, erect cardboard signs to stand at the doors, put up big end-cap headers (that was fun, NOT), and audit specific food items around the store to make sure the store personnel had changed all the pricing to the promotional pricing. It was a big job!
I chose a quiet store in a more industrial area as my first stop. I called ahead to the manager to see if I could put everything up the night before instead of during the day when there would be more people, and he was happy to comply. It took me about 2.5 hours to figure everything out, but I did it!
The next store went much faster. In fact, I did so well that when I called in they gave me two MORE stores + a bonus for taking on extra work. I ended up with 5 stores for my first job.
I recommend going on NARMS and looking around. There may be merchandising companies seeking people they can call on in the future: for those you go on their website and fill out the application and just wait to be called. Others have more direct needs. I'm happy to give you a heads-up if you have questions: email me at socalpam 1 @ gmail.com. No spam, please!
DON'T USE WONDER MARKETING. I had a huge two-week job at Sam's Club with them and they tried to stiff me! I had to threaten a law suit to get paid. Too late, I checked online for recommendations and there was almost universal scorn for this company going back a couple of years. Shame on me, but I got my money (about $250).
When I do little hourly jobs for $10 it sometimes doesn't seem like that much. However, I had lunch today with a friend, which cost me $11. I polished silver for Tisha and got to go to lunch with Laurey
So... this was really long. Sorry. I guess I do a lot! My point is that there are jobs out there if you're creative. I like all the ideas the rest of you have posted -- I may have to try a few myself!
I tried posting on Craigslist as a "family helper" but got too many housekeeper and babysitting offers. Not my thing. My friend just turned me onto
www.care.com. If you're interested in babysitting, elder care, or housekeeping, that would be a place to advertise yourself.