Would You Hire This Woman?

It's been over a month since I became voluntarily unemployed and OK, I admit it, I'm starting to worry about money. I have always worried about money actually, it's practically a family trait, and so I was mildly freaked out about it even before quitting, but now, with little-to-no income, and seeing our savings act like a balloon slowly leaking helium, I'm hitting a new level of anxiety.

It doesn't help that everything I seem to want to do costs money (as my husband generously points out). We have modified our spending habits considerably - I mean, we aren't idiots - but maybe not as much as we should have by now. But life is expensive, you know? At least while we are living in a city, buying groceries and still paying a not-inconsequential mortgage. The whole point of Panama was always the low cost-of-living but we just can't seem to get there yet!

So, I'm trying to think of creative ideas for making money and yet not return to the cube and pantyhose I loathe. One of my ideas is for when we get to Florida - "Shelley and Dave's De-cluttering Services." The name is kind of an inside joke, because we are so not that couple. But it really could be perfect, I think, because it leverages what we've learned from reducing our possessions to practically nothing, including the best places to sell stuff, whether it be online or in person (taking things to antique malls and consignment shops). Just yesterday we had a garage sale and made $100 selling our crap that we were just going to take to Goodwill anyway.

And you gotta figure there's lots of elderly down in Florida wanting to reduce, whether because they need the money, or because they know their time on the planet is up soon, and don't want to burden their families with the cleanup effort afterward. Isn't everyone so equanimous and rationally thinking when it comes to their own demise? :)

David wasn't enthused, he said that their families would think we were taking advantage, and also that a lot of older people are notorious for hanging onto things. But that's precisely where I think I could really add something special to the "services" of our new proposed company. I would approach it as part psychotherapy and part really good friend who knows how to listen: flash to me at the kitchen table with "Millie" telling her gently "I know you want to hang onto xyz object, but you really have to start thinking about letting it go..." and then attending to the feelings that may come up.

I could cheerfully tell Millie, or her husband Milton, that one way to de-clutter and hang onto memories at the same time is to scan into the computer (which David would help buy and set up for them, if they didn't have one) that article about the wedding of the mayor's daughter that Millie attended. "Look there it is on your desktop, you can revisit that special occasion whenever you want and still get rid of the newspaper clipping you've kept for the last 30 years!"

Everyone wins right?

Right. Well, that's a Florida idea but we are still stuck here in Milwaukee for the time being. (Have I mentioned yet, that our beautiful "priced-to-sell" duplex is just not selling?! It totally perplexes me but then everyone just sez "oh you know, it's a bad market" - yah sure, we know that now and only wish to god we had sold 2 years earlier, but we didn't.)

So my idea for Milwaukee, should we stay long enough and I get on the stick about it, is another type of service. Enter "Shelley's Babysitting Services" and here's the flyer I've drawn up in my head, so far:
I am a 37 year old professional woman between jobs. Have no children of my own, but grew up babysitting, taking care of younger siblings, was a nanny during high school, and often filled in at my mother's in-home day-care center in Seattle, WA. I guess you could say that caring for children runs in the family! I have very flexible hours so think of me for your next last-minute date night, surprise meeting you just have to attend at work, or any other babysitting emergency. As an added bonus, I'm currently teaching myself Spanish and would love to do some fun learning activities with your children to help them acquire this beautiful language too!

I would probably need to get 1st Aid-CPR Certified again, or whatever (which I'm currently looking into), but the question I am asking my loyal blog followers (all 5 of you) is: would you hire this woman?! And do you think parents would actually pay more for an adult, versus a teenager, especially one who doubles as an uncertified Spanish tutor? Looking for any and all constructive feedback or even other creative ideas for making money, thanks! (And, also - thank you so much for reading my blog, everyone!)