Thursday, January 6, 2011

Looking For Alternative Jobs

The first payday of the year was yesterday. It sure is nice to start out the year with a paycheck. I got $18 more than last time. I am not sure if this is because my medical insurance is cheaper or not. I will have to compare it to the next paycheck and then check my paystub. I haven't set up automatic deductions for my new health savings account so if my paycheck really is $18 higher I should probably shuttle it over to the new account.

In my spare time I have been researching home based businesses, specifically, pet sitting (visiting the pet in their own home) and grooming (in their home). I have also been looking at used book reseller because of some articles that I read on those scanners that read the bar codes off of books and tell you how popular it is and what it is selling for. I don't know if I would have a passion for books though. I'm not really a collector or even a reader.

The pet sitting and grooming idea sounded great until I realised that with pet sitting I would have to be available all the time. I mean, if someone went out of town for 2 weeks I would have to be there everyday no matter what. No sick days, no excuses. And the busiest times would be around the holidays when I am usually visiting family. The grooming idea sounds better but I have no experience at that so it isn't something I could just start doing.

Today at work my boss was asking me about my mortgage payoff plan and what I will do after. I said that I wanted to build a fenced yard for the dogs and then save for a house. I didn't mention changing careers or anything like that. It is still all undecided. Maybe I will want to work at this job for years to come. Or maybe I will find a better job with flexible hours and better suited for my talents. I'll keep looking until I find that job, whatever it is.

11 comments:

Dave said...

Daizy, check the taxes to see if you are having less withheld this year than last year. Federal income tax brackets are indexed, so if your taxable gross pay is unchanged from the previous week then your paycheck will be slightly higher. Check the FICA (Social Security) taxes, too, although I am not sure how that FICA tax reduction for 2011 compares to what was being done at the end of 2010 (I have not received a paycheck for 26 months, as you know).

I found in previous years when I was working, the income taxes withheld decreased by more than the my portion of my company's group health insurance premiums increased, causing a net increase in take-home pay.

Anonymous said...

The increase in pay should be due to the 2% reduction in FICA tax.

Anonymous said...

And your federal w/h would be a bit more than last year due to the making work pay credit expiring and the withholding tables adjusting for that.

Sallie's Niece said...

I think you're right not to let your boss know you're thinking of moving on. Better safe than sorry. Have you given any more thought to building a house on your land? That could be the next thing you save for!

Daizy said...

Dave, I'll check it out when I get my paystub. Haven't had a chance to get the mail lately.

Daizy said...

Anonymous, FICA went down and Federal went up and Making Work Pay went away? That sounds like i should get less money in the paycheck. Well, I will find out.

Daizy said...

Sallie's Niece, my boss thinks I will be saving for a house next. I don't see where the money will come from if I quit. That is one of my quandries. I want a house but I don't want to work at this job for 6-10 more years. So I lower my expectations or find another job where I make enough for a house.

just a thought said...

are you sure that your boss doesn't know about, or hasn't discovered your blog?

You might have already mentioned this, so apologies if I missed it.

Daizy said...

just a thought...are you my boss? If he has found it and I am not fired then I guess it doesn't matter if he found it or not. I don't think he has because I don't think he could stand not telling me that he found it. He says I am not allowed to quit until he retires which is 8-10 years from now.

big sis said...

Dog sitter is actually good, you only take the clients you want and you only take the dates you want. My next-door neighbor does it, the people come to her to drop off and pick up. And if she doesn't want to work a holiday, she doesn't. You can just say "the schedule is filled" for those dates :p

Daizy said...

big sis, my problem with dog sitting is that I don't have a house exactly. I could go to other people's houses but I would have to add travel time and gas money.