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Any other professionals working a part-time side job?

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  • Aug 16th, 2018 3:56 am
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Deal Expert
Oct 7, 2010
15536 posts
5790 upvotes
divx wrote: dat true? sometimes i wonder if i should come back to gta, but posts like these aren't giving me any conviction
Where are you now?
Banned
Dec 5, 2015
2038 posts
429 upvotes
Concord, ON
I worked as a server on weekends at the keg and I basically got another paycheque equivalent money of my reg job

I had no weekends but I made 2k a mth extra ..mostly in cash...kept that up for 2 yrs or so
Deal Addict
User avatar
Apr 15, 2011
1484 posts
380 upvotes
Shunshin wrote: I agree, 50k is not enough in Vancouver/Toronto. What is it that you do for your primary job? Able to move up in a few years?
We both work in administration.

Yes opportunities for growth within both our firms.

I don't think it's that weird, I know tons of professionals who work nights too.

Small price to pay to not have to live in the suburbs (we are truly city folks)

My goal in the next 5 years is to get to 9hrs work each day, which will be more reasonable IMO
Deal Addict
User avatar
Apr 15, 2011
1484 posts
380 upvotes
divx wrote: dat true? sometimes i wonder if i should come back to gta, but posts like these aren't giving me any conviction
It's definitely true if you have a mortgage and a car for transport!

If you wanna rent and public transit, then no need for second job IMO
Deal Fanatic
Sep 23, 2007
5654 posts
2168 upvotes
I don't have a second job. But I can relate since I have a main job (accounting) and some side affairs. My advice is: you need to know what you want out of life. If money is the most important, and you have no better options then do it. You're already sensing the stress so you can make the call if it's worth it to you or not. I think most people would prefer a more balanced life. If you're young, these are probably your best years and you should have a little fun.

Personally, I'm a little ambitious, so I always want to do something on the side, but I wouldn't do a second job that pays little. A second job is usually a dead end. Doing a business on the side is more worthwhile than a second job to me because it could lead somewhere big.

If you earn over $60k, I think you can live a reasonably comfortable life, and the need for a second job is much less. One thing maybe you should do is instead of working a second job, improve yourself. Read some books, study some skill yourself. Go meet people. Improving yourself can lead to a better main job. You'll be more valuable and can earn more per hour. Work "smarter" beats work "harder" these days. Back then, output was a direct function of how much time was spent. you spend x hours on a machine to produce y amount of output. Increasingly these days innovation and creativity is more important to success.

And there are lots of other success factors to life than just money and career. Make time for relationships. Very often EQ leads to more money than working an extra job.
Deal Addict
User avatar
Apr 15, 2011
1484 posts
380 upvotes
BananaHunter wrote: I don't have a second job. But I can relate since I have a main job (accounting) and some side affairs. My advice is: you need to know what you want out of life. If money is the most important, and you have no better options then do it. You're already sensing the stress so you can make the call if it's worth it to you or not. I think most people would prefer a more balanced life. If you're young, these are probably your best years and you should have a little fun.

Personally, I'm a little ambitious, so I always want to do something on the side, but I wouldn't do a second job that pays little. A second job is usually a dead end. Doing a business on the side is more worthwhile than a second job to me because it could lead somewhere big.

If you earn over $60k, I think you can live a reasonably comfortable life, and the need for a second job is much less. One thing maybe you should do is instead of working a second job, improve yourself. Read some books, study some skill yourself. Go meet people. Improving yourself can lead to a better main job. You'll be more valuable and can earn more per hour. Work "smarter" beats work "harder" these days. Back then, output was a direct function of how much time was spent. you spend x hours on a machine to produce y amount of output. Increasingly these days innovation and creativity is more important to success.

And there are lots of other success factors to life than just money and career. Make time for relationships. Very often EQ leads to more money than working an extra job.
Just wanted to thank you for this post. REALLY insightful, and actually interesting to think about it that way.

One thing you noted was that the 2nd job is low paying. In my experience, most professionals who work a second job work in the service industries, and get tips.. which often don't get translated to declared on taxes.

That said, I know women I employ who are building janitorial staff 9hrs a day, and work at Tim Hortons 8hrs a night. That would be awful.. but some of the immigrant cultures have such an ambitious work ethic.. I truly wish I had their spark (and that all the youth of today did as well!)
Jr. Member
Dec 15, 2010
128 posts
185 upvotes
mathiewannabe wrote: I'm assuming people who work pt jobs earn < 70k$/yr unless they're working under the table the pt job.

if you earn $80k/yr in your main job, you're taxed at like 40%+ marginal tax rate so don't think pt job would make sense.
I make >$70k/yr with my primary job (accounting) and I don't work under the table.

Living in Alberta, the marginal tax rates combined would only reach 32% maximum for me with all my RRSP and pension contributions I make.

I completely agree with BananaHunter’s post but I don’t have the motivation nor do I think I have the capability of starting a successful business at this time. I could live fairly comfortable just with my main salary but having additional income from a part-time job just makes spending on wants and experiences so much easier. There are self-improvement things I have been delaying working on which I think will benefit me personally and career wise which is why I don’t intend on continuing to work multiple jobs once I reach my early 30s .
Deal Fanatic
Sep 23, 2007
5654 posts
2168 upvotes
daikman wrote: Just wanted to thank you for this post. REALLY insightful, and actually interesting to think about it that way.

One thing you noted was that the 2nd job is low paying. In my experience, most professionals who work a second job work in the service industries, and get tips.. which often don't get translated to declared on taxes.

That said, I know women I employ who are building janitorial staff 9hrs a day, and work at Tim Hortons 8hrs a night. That would be awful.. but some of the immigrant cultures have such an ambitious work ethic.. I truly wish I had their spark (and that all the youth of today did as well!)
The immigrants grew up differently and have a different mentality. Ever read books by Malcolm Gladwell? He puts it pretty well and is very insightful. He describes the difference in cultural habits in one of his books. Asians have been growing rice for centuries. Rice output is a function of how much time you spent in the field. Whereas in the West, crops are a function of luck (whether it rains or not). Many Asians are willing to put up with long hours because it's ingrained in their cultural norms since the advent of agriculture.

But the problem with working McJobs is that it leads nowhere. You work hard to make someone else rich. Hard work is only worth it if the benefits accrue to you. I think for a lot of immigrants, it's not a matter of work ethics. Often they arrive with no connections and their credentials are not recognized, so they are forced to work McJobs. And since they are new arrivals, they may feel bad leeching off welfare. I'm not sure about the welfare rules but I think when you immigrate you are supposed to show that you have the financial means to support yourselves. Since many come with cash and assets, they won't qualify for welfare at first. So working McJobs becomes their best and only option as sitting at home getting rejected by interviewers is not fun.

A good way to earn "extra" income is if you have some professional skill, you can try to do some consulting services on the side. For example, I am a CPA so I can start advertising and do people's taxes and bookkeeping.
Sr. Member
Jul 19, 2010
886 posts
566 upvotes
Calgary
Make over $100k being as an accountant, and honestly would work for free at best buy if I could keep my discount

drtmrcht wrote: Designated accountant, that works at Best Buy on the weekends. Any money earned is given back to the store, since I spend triple what I make there.. Long Live the Staff discount..
Deal Addict
User avatar
Apr 15, 2011
1484 posts
380 upvotes
BananaHunter wrote: The immigrants grew up differently and have a different mentality. Ever read books by Malcolm Gladwell? He puts it pretty well and is very insightful. He describes the difference in cultural habits in one of his books. Asians have been growing rice for centuries. Rice output is a function of how much time you spent in the field. Whereas in the West, crops are a function of luck (whether it rains or not). Many Asians are willing to put up with long hours because it's ingrained in their cultural norms since the advent of agriculture.

But the problem with working McJobs is that it leads nowhere. You work hard to make someone else rich. Hard work is only worth it if the benefits accrue to you. I think for a lot of immigrants, it's not a matter of work ethics. Often they arrive with no connections and their credentials are not recognized, so they are forced to work McJobs. And since they are new arrivals, they may feel bad leeching off welfare. I'm not sure about the welfare rules but I think when you immigrate you are supposed to show that you have the financial means to support yourselves. Since many come with cash and assets, they won't qualify for welfare at first. So working McJobs becomes their best and only option as sitting at home getting rejected by interviewers is not fun.

A good way to earn "extra" income is if you have some professional skill, you can try to do some consulting services on the side. For example, I am a CPA so I can start advertising and do people's taxes and bookkeeping.
Unfortunately, in our line of work that would be considered a conflict of interest. All related work, for a different principal, would jeopardize my fiduciary duty, and thus my primary job!

I'll give that author a go. Interesting on the immigrant culture. For me it's just mind blowing that they work 16hrs a day standing up the entire time!

I do like maybe 6 hrs of standing a night, in my custom orthodics, and my legs and back still ache! How do they manage? :s
Newbie
Aug 1, 2018
15 posts
3 upvotes
I was in the same situation 5 years ago....joined Canadian Army Reserve ...love Army...best part time job....Caporal now I make around 1000 cad/month for 3 hours /week(parade night) and 1-2 weekends/ month...and if you have a University degree you can apply as an Officer....Sir...

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