This was something I was thinking about a good deal last night. I was still waffling over whether I wanted to work for H&R Block (we need to apply soon) and Boyfriend made a simple comment: "You don't need the money."
I thought about this for the rest of the evening - I do make plenty of money, we can do pretty much whatever we want between the two of us, and I'm already saving some money. I don't need this money FOR anything. If anything, I might put it in savings, or we would just go out to eat a couple more times in the month and blow most of it. (I wouldn't get paid terribly much, anyway.)
But there's still this nagging drive in my head to keep accumulating as much and looking for as many income opportunities as possible - but how much is it going to take a toll on my having a life I actually enjoy? I mean, it's pretty much accepted that I wouldn't like working at H&R Block. I only lasted three shifts at the last part time job I picked up (desk watcher at Kaplan), mostly because when I am done with my regular job I just want to go HOME. And nearly every day when I was going to the test grading job last spring, I thought about skipping that day. I never did, but I thought about it every day. Especially when it was nice out and I just wanted to go home and take my guinea pigs outside.
It's even more pronounced now that I have CashDuck up and running. (over 800 members.. that's more people than I actually know, I think) Any time that I'm at H&R Block is time that I'm not at home answering questions, mailing gift cards, and putting up new offers. Even besides the fact that I like to work at home, I don't think it's financially worth the not-huge amounts I'd make at H&R Block to miss out on time I could be spending making CashDuck better and more profitable.
But the ultimate reason that I decided not to work at H&R Block comes down to Boyfriend's statement - that I have enough, and I need to work on accepting what I have and not spending every hour working to make more, when the money doesn't make me as happy as coming straight home every day does.
Friday, November 03, 2006
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
8 comments:
Good point...I always use my favorite quote when it comes to happiness. "Happiness is not a goal, it's a road travelled." I guess the meaning is, you're not doing what your doing to be happy, but in the meantime, you should be happy doing it, ya know?
The fact that you and your boyfriend are more than surviving on your combined paychecks tells me that you're sustaining life. Now, you have to have fun while living that life. It would make sense to take that other job if you were preparing yourself for something big, like a house or a car or something, but if right now, you're living in the moment, and living in it comfortably, then I'd say keep doing what your doing. :D
There is always one more option. With the training you received from H & R Block you could use it to create another stream of income. Placing an add in the local paper or spreading the news word of mouth of your new obtained knowledge, may stimulate some business for you at home. There are always people looking for someone to help them at tax time.
Keep your options open. Home is a wonderful place!
I think you could learn a lot from doing a month or 2 at a tax place.
Plus you'd have a lot of interesting stories to post about :)
I generally have the idea that working usually isn't worth it. I would much rather be doing something else. If you don't have to, don't work your life away.
Your post is perfect timing! i was looking into something part-time during the holidays because my budget is tight even though I watch what I spend super carefully.
another part-time gig is something to think about. i think it'd help me breathe a little easier living in california.
jp - You have to take and pass their fall class before you can work for them, and it's more than half over unfortunately. You might be able to work as a front desk person however.
Kira,
Two thoughts, only work at H&R if you are going to learn something from it. The actual dollars aren't important. I think you may learn alot about taxes and see how other people are living doing some returns. That insight may be very valuable for you.
Take the time you would have spent at H&R and devote it as work time to your business. I think you'll see a better dollars per hour return in the long run.
That's exactly how I'm starting to look at things. Granted, I do have a good chunk of debt that I'm working on eliminating, but if I work myself to death what good is that? I've picked up enough regular random work that I don't need another part time thing. Though I still keep an eye/ear out there for one day type things. I would love to go through a tax course though just to get my certificate and be able to officially prepare taxes but this time around their class schedule didn't mesh with my life schedule.
Post a Comment