Making Ends Meet

My mom once told me that when calculating living expenses, rent should take up about 30% of one’s income. My rent takes up 70% of my take-home. Welcome to NYC. In nearly any other city my salary would make me upper-middle class, here I’m clipping coupons. Seriously. I especially appreciate the free panty coupon Victoria’s Secret sends me in the mail on a monthly basis.

It wasn’t too long ago that I was living off of $2,000/year in the Peace Corps and so to make ends meet I began deploying Guatemalan living tactics in The City. I grocery shop in China Town ($1 pint of raspberries, holler.), I refrain from using cabs (the NYC version of tuk-tuks), I ration my Trader Joe’s Gingerly Macadamia trail mix….

Despite my efforts to thriftily manage my money, I recently determined that I can’t continue on this way. Money was beginning to get in the way of my happiness and that is no way to live. I evaluated three paths I could go down to remedy my situation- 1.) move apartments, 2.) get a new job, 3.) some how make more money. I have the best two roommates (love you, J and Sarah) in an amazing apartment and I find too much satisfaction in my job to give it up so the third option was really my only option.  

In talking with my coworker Eileen about my dilemma she mentioned that I should get on sittercity.com. It is a website that pairs tutors, babysitters, petsitters etc. with those in need of their services. I decided to put up a profile for tutoring Spanish. Within a week I landed my first job. I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to the world of part-time work. My student is a sixteen year old girl who is super eager to learn and I tutor her in Spanish once a week. Off to a good start, I continued to look for opportunities on the site. One day I happened upon a posting for “Side job - photo albums for family.” I googled the zipcode of the listing and it came back as Upper East Side. Jackpot. I have been putting together photo albums since I was 9 so sitting in some ritzy apartment sifting through photos for a handful of hours a week and getting a load of cash for it sounds right up my alley. I applied for the job and within an hour had a response. I agreed to meet Tracy C. that evening.

I arrived at the stately Park Ave. apartment complex a little early. Three guards waiting on the street ushered me into the reception area where another guy called to Tracy and then pointed me to the South wing where the C.’s live. When I got to their apartment a smiling man introduced himself as Mr. C. and guided me past the dining room and living room to their family room. The interview progressed more or less as follows:

Tracy: Why don’t you show us what you’ve done.

Annalisa: (taking out photobooks) These three books I created out of photos and a blog I kept in the Peace Corps

Husband (thumbing through books): Nice pictures.

Annalisa: Thanks!

Tracy: We used to have our Nanny do the photo books, but it became too much of a burden for her. We have seven year old twins and the photos are just piling up. (I hear dishes being cleaned in the kitchen. Maybe the Nanny? Maybe the maid?). What other jobs are you applying for?

Annalisa: Mostly tutoring jobs. I am currently tutoring a girl in Spanish.

Tracy: How old is she?

Annalisa: About 16

Tracy: Have you ever tutored younger kids?

Annalisa: I tutored 8-12 year olds in English when I was in Guatemala.

(Eye contact between Tracy and Husband suggests they are interested in me tutoring their children)

Tracy: Why haven’t you applied for Nanny positions?

Annalisa: I have a full-time job and I feel the nanny market is harder to break into because there are so many qualified applicants in this city. I’m more interested in other part-time work.

Tracy: Have you ever cared for children?

Annalisa: Yes, I’ve babysat off and on since I was about 12.

Husband: (smiling through all of this)

Tracy: What time would you be able to get here in the afternoon?

Annalisa: I get off of work at 4:30 so I could reliably be here by 5pm.

Tracy: (sidebar to husband) Do you think it could work, she leaves at about 4pm, but we’d need someone….. (back to me)

Husband (still smiling): How many hours per week are you thinking of working?

Annalisa: About 10 hours.

Tracy: What we are looking for is someone who can come here and ask questions, organize the photos and work on their own to put the albums together.

Annalisa: That is perfect. I understand how this type of thing can get put on the backburner and you just need to have someone sit down and get the work done. I am really great with these types of projects and I’m super organized- my closet is even color coordinated.

Tracy: Have you cleaned closets before?

Annalisa: None aside from my own.

Tracy: Could you organize kids closets?

Annalisa: I guess….

By the end of the interview, I didn’t really know what job I was interviewing for. Two days later, Tracy C. posted a new position on sittercity “Personal Assistant/Swing Nanny.” I did not apply.

The next job I scored was pet sitting for an adorable seven year old toy poodle with a UTI, nervous bladder and swollen anal gland. Every time I’d put on her diaper or wash her little tuckus I thought to myself, my apartment is sooooo worth this.