Fatherhood Factor

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Juhi Modi

5 Ways to Make a Quick Buck With a Side Hustle

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Do you have a couple of hours to spare every day that you’re wasting sitting around doing nothing? Are you always struggling to make ends meet and would love some extra cash to buy and do the things you love? You don’t have to resort to Walter White’s tactics in Breaking Bad. There are ways to earn money without investing thousands of dollars and four years to get a college degree. Here are 5 ways to make a quick buck without breaking the law.

Drive

Uber is a ride-sharing app with a whopping 40 million riders every month in more than 500 cities around the world. Uber pays its drivers an average of $1.5-2 billion a month after taking its cut. So, there’s obviously money to be made. All you need is a smartphone, a four-door passenger vehicle that has passed state inspections, proof of insurance, and a clean driving record. You’ll also have to pass a criminal background check. Remember though, if you’re in a crash, Uber drivers are not protected by workers’ compensation laws.

Write

If you love to write and have a way with words, the Kindle store on Amazon allows you to self-publish e-books. All you need are your fingers, a computer, and the Internet. Share your message with the world and make money in the bargain. For e-books priced $9.99 and under you’ll earn 70 percent of the sale. Now all you have to do is address a common problem, bundle information together, and present it in an easy-to-understand format. If you get good reviews from your first few readers, your e-book will rank higher in results and you’ll have a source of passive income for many years.

Sell

You’ll be surprised how much stuff you have lying around the house that you don’t need or use. That old iPhone 5 could be worth a hundred bucks. Bought a guitar and never got around to learning? Clothes collecting dust in your closet? Turn them into cash by selling online. Books, toys, furniture, sporting gear, antiques – they are all hidden sources of income in your home.

Act

Have you always harbored a secret desire to see yourself on screen? Sign up to become an extra on TV shows and movies. The good news is you don’t have to look like a supermodel or be Hollywood thin or even have any acting experience. Extras come in all shapes and sizes. It’s important, however, to sign up with a professional casting agency and not get taken for a ride by some fly-by-night operator. What do movie set extras earn? A free lunch and up to $12.50 an hour.

Make

The trick is to leverage your hobbies into a source of income. Love horses? Become a horse exerciser at the local stables. Love crafts or woodwork? Start selling what you make online. Love food and know how to cook it? Offer cooking classes in your neighborhood. Play the guitar? Offer to teach for a fee. Rather than spending time worrying about money, be proactive and pick up whatever odd jobs you can. If you don’t have any special skills, babysitting and dog walking are easy money – you get to sit around watching TV or get your daily dose of exercise.

Lifesaving Home Safety Tips for Parents of Young Children

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Children thrive in their home environment – it’s where they feel protected, it’s where they can explore without fear, and it’s where the best memories are created. But home is also frequently the place where young children sustain injuries which are sometimes fatal.

The CDC reports that every year more than 9,000 children under the age of 19 die from unintentional injuries such as motor vehicle crashes, drowning, poisoning, falls, fires, and suffocation. Even though the death rate from childhood injuries has continued to decline steadily, they are still the leading cause of death in children and teens. Childhood injuries are preventable, and as a parent, you should do your best to keep children, especially young children, safe in your home. Here are some lifesaving home safety tips that you simply cannot afford to ignore.

Fire and Burn Injuries

On average, one child dies every day in America from fire and burn injuries. You can ensure your kids are safe by:

  • Making sure the smoke alarms in your home are working properly
  • Practicing safety drills with your kids (fires spread rapidly through a home and can leave a family less than 5 minutes to escape from danger)
  • Using cooking equipment carefully as this is leading cause of home fires
  • Educating yourself and your kids on fire safety with programs such as Start Safe: Fire

Electrocution Injuries

Mistaking a live electricity wire for a utility cable or using an electrical appliance near a sink or bathtub can have devastating consequences. Following a thunderstorm or high winds, remain vigilant for any downed power lines near your home. Kids should receive basic information about electrical shocks and safety precautions regarding electricity. All children, regardless of age, should know these dangers of electricity.

Driveway Injuries

You may think your driveway is a safe haven, but children can sustain injuries as a result of an adult reversing a vehicle over a child in the driveway or from a child shifting a vehicle out of parking gear. Young and small children are particularly at risk. Large sports utility vehicles reversing out of the driveway are the most frequent culprits. Even with a reversing camera and parking sensors in place, parents should remember that small children can move unpredictably and may be impossible to see. Before reversing out of your driveway, make sure you know where your children are, especially children under the age of 6.

Drowning Injuries

Drowning kills more than 1,000 American children every year. Yet, come summer, it’s impossible to keep the kids away from water. Who can blame them? Pools are what make summer so much fun. Children between the ages of 1 and 4 are the highest risk of drowning. Swimming pools are considered the safest place for recreational swimming, but parents with pools in their homes must take some basic water safety precautions:

  • Fence the pool area but ensure the pool is visible from outside the fence
  • Limit access to the pool with a safety cover
  • Empty inflatable pools after use
  • Learn CPR and keep emergency equipment (life ring, rope) on hand
  • Teach your kids to swim
  • Never leave children unsupervised near a pool

Poisoning Injuries

About 80 percent of the 2 million calls to poison centers in the U.S. every year are for children under the age of 5. Death and injury from exposure to household poisons are predictable and preventable. The CDC’s Up and Away campaign offer some easy-to-implement tips for parents to ensure medications are stored safely in the home. Here are some additional tips to prevent poisoning in the home:

  • Install child-proof locks on cabinets
  • Store chemicals and medications out of sight and out of reach
  • Never transfer potential poisons from their original containers to food containers such as soda bottles or milk jugs
  • Never store food and potential poisons in the same cabinet (children may mistake lookalike products or reach for a poisonous substance in a hurry)
  • Keep the product in sight when using it

Are You Ignoring This Essential Fatherly Duty?

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As a young father, you’re doing your best to raise happy kids who you hope will turn out to be productive, culturally-sensitive, and law-abiding adults. But are you ignoring one essential fatherly duty? Have you put your affairs in order? What would happen to your family if you were to disappear from the face of the earth tonight, forever?

I’m 35! Affairs Make Me Think of Tinder!

When you’re 35, the word “affairs” probably makes you think of Tinder and not legal documentation. Don’t elderly people put their affairs in order?

Putting your affairs in order is nothing more than planning ahead of time and making some important decisions that will affect your family should something unforeseen happen to you, which is why it’s important to do at any age, especially for parents. And whenever there are changes in your family, such as a new relationship that results in a blended family, it’s a good idea to review your arrangements and ensure they reflect your wishes, says Carrie S. Schultz, Esq., who practices family law in New Jersey.

Putting Your Affairs in Order

  • Put all important papers in one place in a fireproof box at home or a safe deposit box at the bank and tell a family member where to find them
  • Make a list of your lawyer, bank, doctor, investment firm, and insurance company
  • Add names of family members to your checking account and safety deposit box
  • Review beneficiary designations and ensure they are updated (you don’t want your ex-wife getting your beach house)
  • Make sure your doctors have permission to speak to a family member about your health and insurance claims
  • Make a will (even if you don’t have a Zuckerburg-sized estate to leave your children)
  • Make a living will (advance directives) to outline the type of care you wish to receive should you become too sick to decide
  • Discuss a durable power of attorney or general power of attorney with a lawyer
  • Talk to a financial advisor about setting up a trust for your children
  • Get life insurance (a good rule of thumb is 10 times your annual salary)
  • Save for your kids’ college education (that vacation to Hawaii can wait)

What Do These Important Documents Do?

A will spells out how you want your financial affairs handled. This is particularly important if you have children. Your will should name the person who will be guardian to any kids under age 18.

A trust is not only for the Trumps of this world. You probably need one if you’re worth more than 1 million dollars. Again, this is a good idea if you have minor children who cannot manage their inheritance.

A power of attorney authorizes a trusted person to handle matters if you are not able to do so yourself. This can range from writing checks to making healthcare decisions for you.

Don’t like the idea of being hooked up to a respirator or feeding tube for decades? An advance directive lays out end-of-life preferences.

Click here for more detailed information about putting your affairs in order at any age. No one (except perhaps an estate lawyer) likes to think about estate planning. But nobody ever plans to become sick. And death doesn’t come with an appointment. In an emergency, it’s this kind of planning that will make a tough situation a little easier for your family.