Looking For Approval From Strangers....

[HairyUpperLip]

Hey Guys,

Looking for your approval and thoughts on this "opportunity"....

My wife and I currently live with my parents. No rent amount set, but we give them $300 a month (which is nothing).

I currently get $96,500 from my job's salary. We maintain a 55-65% savings rate most months.

I work M-F 9-5 type of gig.

I have an opportunity to get a job delivering pizza's for the local Pizza Hut. A friend works there and said the manager would hire me based on his recommendation.

Friend said he averages $85 a night easily, plus they pay $0.33 per mile for gas. He said he does an average of 70 miles or so a night which is about $23 for gas.

I'm thinking of trying to work 3-5 nights per week and see if I can handle this type of workload.

My main job is a IT gig and I am on call 24-7. Let me know if anyone has any questions to help better understand the situation? Anyone have personal experience with working a "real job" and doing something like the pizza thing?

When I was much younger I worked at a bank and served at a restaurant in the evening. It was very easy to manage, especially since working in a bank is a pretty damn stress free and the restaurant was an American buffet spot.

[FiguringItOut]

Can't really answer anything about handling the work load, but the current mileage reimbursement rate is $0.56/mile.  So you may want to consider this before you agree to drive you car ~70 miles per night for only $0.33.

[Iron Mike Sharpe]

If you are on call 24/7, what would you do if you were delivering pizzas and got called in? 

[Cromacster]

I guess my question would be why?  You already make a great salary.  Without knowing more about your spending/debt...to me it seems you would find more bang for your buck in reducing your expenses.  55-65% savings rate seems low with a 300$ rent.

[MillenialMustache]

I am also wondering why - you have a great salary, and the extra job would take time away from your family. My DH delivered pizzas once, and said some nights are great, but others not so much. Just depends on the tips you get.

[sleepyguy]

This is just imho.  HELL NO!  We work to live, not live  to work.  I value my off work time.  I think I've given up abut 30k per year in side hustles as well but its well worth it for personal\family time.  9-5 is enough, way more than enough to give to shareholders.  Plus you make a decent income already.

[frugaliknowit]

Besides the other tradeoffs, with gigs like this you are trading in excess wear and tear on your vehicle for cash.  $.33 per mile sux!  Invest your time in more lucrative things or your education (IT certification(s)?).

[norabird]

Why do you feel you need the extra money, which probably won't be too much? Your housing costs are crazy low, your salary is good...so, what gives? If it were a side hustle that came out of your passion and didn't suck up all of your time I would get it, but I'm pretty sure no one is that passionate about delivering pizza and it's a big time commitment with no future possibility of turning into something more. The money doesn't seem to outweigh the loss of your quality of life. If you want a side hustle, could you do some freelance web design or fix people's computers, etc., something related to your skillset that doesn't have a set schedule?

[swick]

I agree with everyone who has posted. It seems like something isn't adding up. When you say you "get" 96,500 from your salary I'm not sure if that is gross or take home. Either way, with your super low cost of living your spending an awful lot. It would probably really help you to do a case study, if you haven't already.

Are you covering more of your parents/households bills or spending money? Is your wife working or planning on working? It seems like with the salary you are making, you should be able to enjoy your family and time off. If you get bored and feel the drive to do more/different work that is a totally other issue.

[HairyUpperLip]

lol - thanks for the reality check everyone.

I'm just overly desperate to achieve FI. I thought it wouldn't be too bad because I work from home so I already see my family/daughter all day. I didn't think it would be so bad to be gone for a few hours at night while she's sleeping anyways.

But I think what is the truth is that reducing expenses will have the bigger bang. Lots of life changes in the last year have contributed to the "lower" savings rate. I believe by after August it should increase big time. I just liked the idea of getting an extra $200-250 a week to live on and not touch my actual paychecks.

I don't think I can do any real side hustles with my IT skills as they are really only relevant on an Enterprise level. I am anxious to find a real side hustle and it's something I've thought about a lot.

Thank you again to everyone that responded and gave me the reality check. I should continue to look for side hustles, but only more lucrative ones.

[HairyUpperLip]

I agree with everyone who has posted. It seems like something isn't adding up. When you say you "get" 96,500 from your salary I'm not sure if that is gross or take home. Either way, with your super low cost of living your spending an awful lot. It would probably really help you to do a case study, if you haven't already.

Are you covering more of your parents/households bills or spending money? Is your wife working or planning on working? It seems like with the salary you are making, you should be able to enjoy your family and time off. If you get bored and feel the drive to do more/different work that is a totally other issue.

That was gross. I did a case study before, but it was kind of premature. I still didn't know a lot of solid numbers and now I do have a much clearer picture. Maybe I will do another one and see what people suggest.

I cover random things around the house to help out and I don't always properly track it. It's my parents, so I have no issues helping with anything that needs help. My wife is not currently working, she's just taking care of the baby. Thanks for the response.

[swick]

I agree with everyone who has posted. It seems like something isn't adding up. When you say you "get" 96,500 from your salary I'm not sure if that is gross or take home. Either way, with your super low cost of living your spending an awful lot. It would probably really help you to do a case study, if you haven't already.

Are you covering more of your parents/households bills or spending money? Is your wife working or planning on working? It seems like with the salary you are making, you should be able to enjoy your family and time off. If you get bored and feel the drive to do more/different work that is a totally other issue.

That was gross. I did a case study before, but it was kind of premature. I still didn't know a lot of solid numbers and now I do have a much clearer picture. Maybe I will do another one and see what people suggest.

I cover random things around the house to help out and I don't always properly track it. It's my parents, so I have no issues helping with anything that needs help. My wife is not currently working, she's just taking care of the baby. Thanks for the response.

If you wanted to update your case study, that would be a big help I think.

I was asking about parents expenses because when I lived overseas I dated a man who lived with his parents and while didn't technically pay anything in "rent" or "bills" paid huge sums of cash for day to day expenses, groceries, shoes, clothing, pocket money, and was actually supporting the entire household. It can add up - not to say it isn't a valid way of doing things, but if you aren't actually tracking the money it can go quick.

[Cwadda]

Even $.56/mile barely covers gas, repairs, and wear & tear on your car. You already make good money and you have a high savings rate; you don't need the extra job IMO. I would say use that time to study finances, look into a house, and just enjoy life!

[mnstachian]

I'd drive for Uber before I'd do pizza delivery. My sense is that it's better, more consistent money. Or you could ride a bike rickshaw, get fit and get paid. That'd be badass.

[Metta]

[quote author=HairyUpperLip link=topic=21051.msg351329#msg351329 date

My main job is a IT gig and I am on call 24-7. Let me know if anyone has any questions to help better understand the situation?
[/quote]

How do you picture this working? I'm also in IT and oncall and I'm pretty sure that nothing good would happen if my server went down or a data load abended and I said, "Let me just finish delivering this pizza and then I'll try to get the server working again."

[HairyUpperLip]

[quote author=HairyUpperLip link=topic=21051.msg351329#msg351329 date

My main job is a IT gig and I am on call 24-7. Let me know if anyone has any questions to help better understand the situation?

How do you picture this working? I'm also in IT and oncall and I'm pretty sure that nothing good would happen if my server went down or a data load abended and I said, "Let me just finish delivering this pizza and then I'll try to get the server working again."
[/quote]

Well I'm the only person in my role, so they really couldn't say much if I'm occasionally out and about. One of the times I was paged out I was at my brother's place about 35 minutes away from my laptop. I told them I would finish up what I was doing and head home. Took me about a good hour or so.

Now, when I worked in some of my previous IT roles I would say the same thing as you, but life is a lot different when you are the only person doing your role. :)

[HairyUpperLip]

If you wanted to update your case study, that would be a big help I think.

I was asking about parents expenses because when I lived overseas I dated a man who lived with his parents and while didn't technically pay anything in "rent" or "bills" paid huge sums of cash for day to day expenses, groceries, shoes, clothing, pocket money, and was actually supporting the entire household. It can add up - not to say it isn't a valid way of doing things, but if you aren't actually tracking the money it can go quick.

I'll update it soon.

My family doesn't play me on anything like that. If I'm stepping out for some reason I'll just ask if anyone needs anything. My father might request some milk or something small. It's never any unreasonable or expensive requests. My mom also makes lunch and dinner most days for everyone, so we are all in a happy place. Nobody is complaining about money at home.

I keep a budget and spreadsheet but for some reason I've just lost all kinds of interest in actually tracking my purchases the last 2 months. Not sure why. I'm getting lazy. Sometimes I feel like working from home is making me a lazier person, I guess that's one of the reasons I wanted to get out and do the pizza thing.

[Suzaloo]

You may also want to check your car insurance. Typically, this would fall outside the realm of private passenger insurance and bump you up into commercial class insurance. As the primary job is "delivery driver" it may throw you into really, really high insurance rates.. And if you didn't disclose this and had a claim, your insurance company could decline as you did not advise them of a material change in risk.

[Numbers Man]

I'm delivering a facepunch. Get an IT side hustle. You'll make much more dough than schelping pizzas.

[rmendpara]

Unless you plan to feed your family with free pizzas, I don't think it's worth your time.

If anything, start developing your skills in the IT field further. If you spend 10 hours a week developing your professional skills rather than 10 hours delivering pizza, I'm almost positive you will make more money doing the former.

[fantabulous]

I'm delivering a facepunch. Get an IT side hustle. You'll make much more dough than schelping pizzas.

This is what I was going to suggest, if the OP really wants a side hustle. Even with primarily enterprise IT skills and potential non-compete agreements, something like teaching IT courses at a community college could be doable.

However, I'm in a vaguely similar sounding IT position and frequently the last thing I want to touch after work is yet another computer.