Tuesday, May 24, 2011

When it rains it pours

So if you are a regular reader you know of my penchant for picking up extra work. I am always looking for ways to save money and make money, and since Boyfriend is currently between contracts, I've been especially keeping my eyes open lately. I think I may have overdone myself, however. Currently I am:

1) still doing at least one mystery shop a week, often two to four
2) doing online test grading - I did this back when I was unemployed and now they let you do it from home so of course I am doing that in ADDITION to my actual job, and have been putting in 15 to 25 hours a week at it
3) writing tons and tons for MoneyCrashers - tax season was very exciting!
4) another small writing gig
5) spending 3-4 hours a week on couponing - granted, our pantry makes our house THE place to be during the apocalypse, whenever it comes, but it does take time

Pant pant pant.

I know this won't last forever (the test grading gig, at least, is over next week, although I might get offered another one) and I'll be glad of the extra money at the end of it, but it seems lately like there is no piece of time when I am NOT doing something extracurricularly productive in my free time.

I don't know if I mentioned this but about two years ago I bought a very nice electronic keyboard at a yard sale for $50. It sat around for a year until I bought some books since I would like to learn how to play - I can't read music at all so this is a daunting proposition. I was making decent progress (I can now play King of the Road as well as several children's songs) but haven't played in weeks.

A few weeks ago I bought some beginner piano books off Amazon, and then some more at an estate sale. I was really excited to get back to practicing since I do really enjoy learning this new skill, but I was a little sad to realize that I wouldn't actually be able to do any practicing without feeling REALLY guilty for at least several weeks. I have this complex where I feel bad if I'm not doing whatever it is that needs to be done, at times when I am instead choosing to view many pictures of lolcats. But one cannot be good all the time.

I do really enjoy being busy in the off hours though because my regular job is pretty slow paced. It's nice to run around and accomplish things quickly, but we'll see how long I can keep it up!