I have a friend who divorced about four years ago. She’s from the Midwest and sold her house and moved to an apartment in Florida. Her parents were there. Her kids are now in their mid-twenties.
She recently told me in 2024, she had four income streams. I found that interesting because I realized I also had four income streams.
Earning from 4 part time jobs
I hate to call these “side hustles” because together, they made up her income. I think of a side hustle as something someone does to supplement their larger income-generating opportunity. Some of her jobs were actual jobs.
I found it so interesting and was thinking about how it compared with mine and about the different ways people can earn money. These were her revenue sources:
Revenue stream #1
She’s paid to handle her mother’s assets and former home. I think my friend’s adult child lives in the home. The home is out of state so I think her travel to see her child would be covered from the estate. So there are definitely additional benefits outside of pay that she receives.
She mentioned that what she receives monthly handing this covers her apartment. I don’t know if that’s just her rent or if it includes anything else.
Income opportunity #2
In addition to handling the bills, etc. for her mother, she babysat for a family. The kids were older. When she first took the job, she drove the kids around a lot. Now that they have their licenses, she is mostly hired when their single father goes out of town for work.
She mostly makes meals and stays overnight so there is an adult there. I can’t remember what she was making but I remember thinking it was great pay given the kids were pretty self-sufficient.
Last year, the man moved away so that ended.
Job #3
Her third income source was working around 20 – 25 hours a week part time for a small business. She arranged travel and handled administrative tasks and their customer relationship management system (CRM).
She left because she was promised more hours and wasn’t getting even 20 hours a week. There were some other issues too. I think she was making around $30 – $35 an hour.
Job #4
She may have been willing to leave the third opportunity because of this last one. I can’t remember what she said. Someone she knew was opening up medical practice. My friend was the office person and handled a lot of opening responsibilities as well as setting appointments, etc.
I think that was around 25 – 30 hours a week. I think she was earning maybe $30 – $35 an hour. She ended up leaving because the owner wanted to cut her pay to $25 an hour.
Now what?
I think the disappointing thing is that she hasn’t worked since November 2024. She only has the first job (taking care of her mother’s finances). So I’m sure that’s very unsettling.
I understand why she left but wish she would have kept either the third or fourth job.
She’s been interviewing and looking but having trouble. She’s in her upper 50s. I think it’s great that she can still afford to live; she’s not in dire straits by any means. I wonder if that will be my situation. She didn’t get a lot of money from her house. What she got, she used to put her second child through college.
Anyway, I’ll write about my income streams tomorrow. I love the idea of passive income, which none of hers were.
Also, she’s paying rent instead of having a mortgage, so that’s not the greatest for the future. There’s nothing wrong with it and maybe because the estate is paying it, she doesn’t matter.
She’s always been someone to have very high-quality things. She’s still sort of keeping that up. I just find it interesting. It’s making me think about my life and future.