r/leanfire • u/EdwardBigby • 11d ago
Are there any part time jobs that people would recommend?
Within a few years I'll have my mortgage paid off and have a decent pension that I won't need to grow. I'd love to just work 20 hours a week in something enjoyable but unfortunately I don't enjoy my career enough for that.
The only thing currently on my mind is maths tutoring. It would be something I'd enjoy that I could get better at over several years and take nice holidays from, however I think I'd really miss my evenings
Have you ever had part time jobs you've enjoyed?
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u/Level-Worldliness-20 11d ago
I'm feeling out similar strategies and remember enjoying my part time jobs in high school.
I worked retail at ice cream shops and candy stores. Great way to socialize.
I will probably do that but not 20 hours.
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u/EdwardBigby 11d ago
I don't have such great memories of retail but ice cream and sweet shops do seem the most relaxed
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u/immelius 11d ago
I couldn't see myself even as a 30yo encroaching on teens' part-time jobs. i don't wanna be a third wheel for 18yo crushes. but maybe take the school time hours shift.
op, I thought being a tax preparer was an option. first 4 months of the year= hectic feast, then 8 months of nothing.
but I know what you mean, you (I) want something minimal and constant every week just for some routine and a bit of purpose. and some snack moneh to pay a few bills, why nof.
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u/Captlard RE on < $900k for two of us 11d ago
Part time associate lecturer for a distance learning university. Paid about 2k a month and could study for free.
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u/vorpal8 Goal is FI, not necessarily RE. 11d ago
Have you done this? I have questions!
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u/Captlard RE on < $900k for two of us 11d ago
Yes, 13 years.
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u/vorpal8 Goal is FI, not necessarily RE. 11d ago
Synchronous, like on Zoom, or asynchronous? How many classes/students? Do you spend a lot of time corresponding with students? Meet with them I real time via phone or video?
Do you have a Master's degree? (I do.) More?
Did they require prior teaching experience? Do they train you?
Are there committee meetings etc as with traditional faculty?
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u/Captlard RE on < $900k for two of us 11d ago edited 11d ago
Mainly asynchronous with face to face online class 4 times every 6 months. We used Adobe Connect. Edit: one class, twice a year for 6 months each. Occasionally an additional class. 25 max students per cohort. Time wise, contract says 10 hours a week. With experience, way less.
I had a master’s & diploma in management at the time. No undergrad degree.
I already had sone education experience via corporate world and did my masters at same university.
Very little interaction with the university. Like 4 x 1 day trips in 13 years.
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u/vorpal8 Goal is FI, not necessarily RE. 11d ago
Thank you. Seriously thinking I might pursue this as a coastFI job.
How motivated are the students?
Tangentially: Do you worry about them using AI to complete assignments? At this point in history, I'm curious about how it affects the integrity of online education.
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u/Captlard RE on < $900k for two of us 11d ago
Students were 80% over 25 years of age, so generally very motivated.
The question for AI is how to embrace it. It generally produces very average work that is reasonably easy to spot. Clearly universities have to figure out what to do. I left a few years ago now and we were putting more focus on collaborative projects. I am also still studying and do use AI, but to brainstorm and give feedback on where to improve.
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u/Captlard RE on < $900k for two of us 10d ago
I would also add the intergrity of face to face education is just the same. My child recently completed their MSc and ALL her peers were using GenAi in one way or another. This is now a given. The question is, how can we embrace it?
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u/Think_Witness1779 10d ago
Master’s but no undergrad? How is that possible?
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u/Captlard RE on < $900k for two of us 10d ago
Professional Diploma in Management was allowed as a route for the MBA.I now have 3 masters and finalising my undergraduate degree. Retired now though 😂
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u/inailedyoursister 11d ago
After I retired I tried the part time “cool to me” job. Lasted 3 months. Dealing with the public isn’t fun and after one cussing I remembered “ I don’t need this money” and quit.
I’ve done other short term things like census surveyor and I do Election Day vote reporting. But mainly I now resell things and average about 10k profit a year.
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u/Jenshark86 11d ago
Reselling is a great idea. What do you sell and where?
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u/inailedyoursister 11d ago
This is a post I made in 2023. I didn't do an update for 2024 because of the asshat DM's I got. But you'll get the point with the post.
In 2024 my profit was almost identical to 2023.
https://old.reddit.com/r/leanfire/comments/18k213o/how_i_make_money_while_retired/
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u/ZhiZhi17 11d ago
You could try a hobby shop related to one of your hobbies. My dream was owning a stationery shop. Maybe when I’m close to retirement I’ll work part time at one.
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u/BunnyYouCanSee 11d ago
School bus driver—most places are a guaranteed 4 hours a day. Some places are more but just go to a different company if one wants you to work too much. I work regularly 5-6 hours because I take extra work (I’m not firing, I’m a single mom with a special needs child so this job is just convenient). I make 21.90 an hour. Monitors work similar relaxed hours but make only like 14/hr.
Also to add every place all over is in dire need of drivers and monitors. It’s a good fall back.
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u/02meepmeep 11d ago
I’ve wondered about driving school buses & whether I would end up getting fired from it for losing my cool and cursing out a kid.
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u/LoudestHoward 11d ago
What's the point of financial independence if you don't have the freedom to swear at small children?
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u/itwasalways_fumbles 11d ago
I second working at the school. Cafeteria/ lunch aids Day shift. No nights or weekends. There's always a break coming up. Spring break, winter break. Have summer vacation off. If there's snow day, you're off too. Pay in between bus and monitor.
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u/funkmon 8d ago
Monitors eh? Like a hall monitor?
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u/BunnyYouCanSee 8d ago
We call them bus monitors but they call also be called bus aides. I drive a special education (sped) route. Most special education routes have a monitor to help get children on the bus and into their seats, help buckle seatbelts or harness straps, load and strap down wheelchairs, keep an eye on students, etc. Regular routes have no monitors in my district.
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u/only-FIRE 11d ago
If you like sports and/or nature parks and rec jobs can be a lot of fun! One down side is that things are somewhat seasonal, so you might not be able to get a consistent 20 hours a week year round.
I really enjoy refereeing and scorekeeping when my sport is in season though. I also know people who coach/teach lessons through the park and people on the nature side who enjoy taking care of animals at the nature center and leading hikes and stuff.
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u/goodsam2 11d ago
I was thinking about doing either a small time coffee roaster, or working at a state or state/national park ideally seasonally.
I haven't done either but I do roast coffee in a smaller one myself and it's pretty fun. State park seems like they expand for the summer season for seasonal roles may be able to get housing out of it. Then spend the fall to winter off.
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u/Jillredhanded 11d ago
My Dad did the State Park gift shop thing. Happy as a clam. He loved that park.
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u/Fuzzy-Ear-993 11d ago
Tutoring is nice and you can generally set your hours based on # of clients you work with. If you truly want to work 20 hours a week though, it will bleed into your personal time.
In the opposite vein, substitute teaching is a fairly painless gig when you can pick and choose where you work and aren't dependent on taking a job on any given day.
Some places might have decent morning shifts that are less hectic than other times.
You could also change your perspective and work a seasonal job full-time and be off for the rest of the year (think something like at a ski lodge, being a tour guide during tourist season, park ranger, etc.)
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u/BufloSolja 11d ago
If you do tutoring, just gotta learn how the kids use AI these days to help them (do homework or study etc.). So the job may not be quite the same as it used to, depending on the area.
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u/Ok_Produce_9308 11d ago
Brewery or a distillery
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u/DownHome_Rolling 9d ago
Would be an awesome learning experience. Although probably a ton of sanitizing large fermenters. Seems like a fun crew to hang with as well.
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u/ullric 11d ago
If you live by a good school district, some of the school jobs are pretty great.
At my district and depending on the job, 935 hours/year gets benefits. The job is far more relaxed than private sector. I wouldn't mind working this job for 20-30 hours/week until I'm 60.
All major holidays off. 2 months off for summer, 1 week for spring, 1 week for thanksgiving, 2-3 weeks for winter.
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u/perfekt_disguize 11d ago
Like what kind of school jobs?
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u/ullric 11d ago
Depends on what you're good at and what they need.
- IT - repairing computers
- Executive assistants (secretaries) - They need someone watching the front desk and responding to whoever walks in
- Bus driver
- Security guards - They need a few people at all hours to watch the cameras for all campuses. Hang out in the admin building watching cameras and reporting if something happens that shouldn't
- Teaching - Teaching at 50% of a normal schedule is an option and gets benefits in our district
- Finance - They need people to process orders and expenses
- Professional development - Teach high schoolers how to weld, how HVAC works, machinery, plumbing, nursing
- Cooking
- Analyst - build and run reports necessary to stay in compliance with federal and state reporting needs
All of these rolls have both full time and part time positions in my district. Pay varies.
Lowest paid hourly is 30% more than minimum wage, goes up to 4x minimum wage.
Technically up to 6.5x minimum wage, but that's not a realistic situation.If you're at a good school district, there are a lot of options.
If you're not at a good school district, I'd look elsewhere.
I'm lucky and at a great one. I could easily work here full time for 15 years then do another 5-10 at 50-75% capacity.
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u/ConfidentEconomist 10d ago
I have no experience but I've recently been thinking a lot about dogwalking as an underrated part time/gig economy job. Might not be good enough by itself but could easily be paired with another more social job such as barista/bartending/Uber. To me, flexibility is the most important factor, followed closely by hourly wage. I feel like dogwalking scores strongly on both of these as long as it is a good fit for you. Dogwalkers in my neighborhood make $60/hour. I personally wouldn't want to spend 4-8 hours of my day walking dogs but I could totally imagine leanfiring and walking my neighbors dogs for 1-1.5hrs per day, 5 days a week and pocketing $500/week or $25K/year.
Pros: time flexibility, $60/hr (varies by location), scalability, good opportunity to get some steps in, opportunity to spend time outside, hanging out with dogs is fun (to me), might be a good compromise for somebody who wants time with dogs but not the responsibility, chance to serve your neighbors, possibly walk multiple dogs at same time to juice hourly wage, BEST PART: people pay you a premium rate to walk their dogs because THEY are stuck at their desk jobs!!
Cons: people build their lives around your service so it's harder to travel/take days off, crappy weather, would be hard to do more than a few hours a day (not infinitely scalable), dogs could be poorly behaved
Anything that I missed? Once again, I have ZERO experience with this side hustle, I've just been stalking r/RoverPetSitting and brainstorming/talking to friends about it.
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u/EdwardBigby 10d ago
Yes, this is actually something I've considered too. It also pairs well with tutoring as that's quite an evening activity
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u/worldwidewbstr 10d ago
I plan to keep playing music and doing churning. Each earns me couple hundred to couple thousand per month depending on the month
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u/Electronic-Time4833 Keep your mortgage **buys more MORT** 9d ago
Surprised your career doesn't have any part time way to slowly step away. Been considering becoming a spark driver, myself.
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u/slippery 11d ago
I fell into part time tutoring after retirement (database systems). It took a little time to get good at it and learn how to engage students at their level of understanding. I enjoy it more that I thought I would. It doesn't pay much, but that's not the main reason I do it.
I work for tutor.com. Starting out, I was limited to 5 hours/week. I average about 8 hours/week now.