Quit my job without being homeless?

April 4, 2007 1:47 PM

How do I quit my job but still afford to live in Boston before going back to school in September?

Since graduating from college four years ago I have been productively (although not necessarily gainfully) employed at the same organization. It's been a great job and has helped me win admissions to the type rated Master's program for my field. I'm totally psyched about it.

Unfortunately, I am so psyched for school that I am no longer motivated in my work. I am incredibly anxious to leave, but based on my current savings, company unused vacation policy, and future school costs, I can really only afford to quit my job in early-to-mid July. But the thought of three more months here is killing me.

My question for MeFites, then, is how can I quit my job ASAP but still afford to eat and pay my $600/month rent. I am open to any idea, no matter how far-fetched, just so long as it is legal. For example: subletting my apartment is a fine suggestion, but then I'll need you to tell me where to live.

So wadda you got for me!?

posted by jk252b to work & money (18 comments total)

Wait tables? Work at Starbucks? What's your background -- anything that would lend itself to freelancing?
posted by olinerd at 1:55 PM on April 4, 2007

I can't think of any work-releated solutions that are any easier than what you have now. In fact, they're going to be harder- one, because no company will hire you for three months, and two, even if they do, you'll have to learn new shit, and you'll be the new guy and you'll get all the stuff nobody else wants to do. Gross.

I think you need to sell stuff. Sell everything you own on eBay. Sell your blood. Sell your sperm. Sell your body- to medical studies (nice work, if you can get it).
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 2:02 PM on April 4, 2007 [1 favorite]

Boiled down, you seem to be asking: how can I make money, right? I just want to be sure I understand what's being asked...
posted by delfuego at 2:02 PM on April 4, 2007

Stick it out for three more months. Motivate or psyche yourself up anyway you can. When you're living the monastic lifestyle of a grad student, you'll need all the reserve cash you can get; books ain't cheap.

Keep doing the best you can at your current job and don't scratch that itch until you're fully ready to so do, not to satisfy your anxiety. Doing that won't make the grad program come any faster.
posted by dr_dank at 2:07 PM on April 4, 2007

$600 a month? That's it? That's roughly $150 per week toward rent, or $30/day. Let's say you need to double that to cover the rest of your very basic living expenses. You only need to make $7.50 an hour working a regular 40 hour week. You can do _anything_. Like olinerd says, make coffe, wait tables, work at a book store, find a low paying gig at your favorite non profit. The sky's the freaking limit, man.
posted by robinpME at 2:07 PM on April 4, 2007

Honestly, I don't think you're going to have much luck doing that. I agree with TPS ... you could probably get a temp job or something to last you until Sept, but it's not going to be any more enjoyable or tolerable than working in your existing job. Work isn't necessarily supposed to be fun...it's work... and if you can take off from July - September, isn't that enough? That's more than most people get to do once they are thrust into the working world.

I suppose if you really don't want to work, you could try subletting your apartment and then crashing with nearby friends & relatives or "couch surfing".
posted by tastybrains at 2:10 PM on April 4, 2007

This is really bad advice, but I can't help it -- why not let things go to the point where they ask you to leave? Based upon past performance they might just give you severance pay.

Don't be dangerously negligent or anything, just stop doing the parts of your job that you hate and see about finding other aspects to fill your time left there. The severance might be enough to make up for any lapse in regular pay over this period of time.
posted by cior at 2:16 PM on April 4, 2007

Options:
1 - as other have suggested work a temporary service industry job
2 - get a loan to cover 3 months (credit union loans aren't terrible)
3 - sublet, move in with mom/dad, and mooch for 3 months job-free and hopefully stress-free
4 - stay put and grin and bear it

I've been considering this for myself actually and this is what I came up with, with 3 and 4 being my most probable outs.
posted by mikshir at 2:16 PM on April 4, 2007

Since you seem to be in Somerville, MA:
- there's an MIT mailing list for non-invasive brain & cognitive science experiments that includes clicking stuff on computers ($10-15/hr) and brain scans ($75/hr+ for fMRI plus a free picture of your brain or $30-40/hr for MEG). Another mailing list gets business school and media lab studies ($10-18/hr). If you want on, feel free to contact me. You don't have to be part of the school to take their money.
- there are legitimate focus group companies in Waltham and Back Bay that pay about $50/hr to be opinionated
- HBS CLER has studies that run from $15-30/hr, often your rate of pay is determined by how well you do at the decision-making/auctioning/whatever that they are studying.
- obviously Boston craigslist is really active. I've found it to be a great source of one-time postings for random stuff.
posted by whatzit at 2:26 PM on April 4, 2007 [3 favorites]

I get that you are so psyched about school that you are no longer motivated in your work. Does this mean that you are no longer motivated to do any work? If that is the case, any idea how you'd like to spend the next 4 months?

If you want to work, just not at a career-type job that requires a certain level of commitment, quit and temp for a few months? Your savings will tide you over throughout the gaps in temping opportunities. My guess is that temping will be worse than your present job.

Will you be moving for school or will you be staying in the Boston area? Can you try to find a paid internship in your field of choice in Boston or whatever area you'll be moving to? Or an area where you have friends/family who will let you sleep on their couch.

You can sublet your place and do some sort of work/volunteer-type travel. Try WWOOF. If you do a tag search you'll probably find some posts about WWOOF here.
posted by necessitas at 2:39 PM on April 4, 2007

Summer camp counselor at a computer camp or other camp where you have relevant skills. CTY is one, undoubtedly there are dozens in Boston. A fun summer-only job, though it usually pays badly.
Tutoring/ SAT prep at a company like Kaplan. This work can be seasonal, though.
posted by LobsterMitten at 2:43 PM on April 4, 2007

Another vote for selling your body to science. Have you seen all those ads for Brigham and Women's Sleep studies? Its rough b/c you have to live at the hospital for a while (4-5 weeks I think?) but you can make something like more than 3 grand (I *think*, though don't quote me on that... I just remember thinking it would be a crapload of money to get and awesome to do if I could stay there for that long). I don't think they give you drugs or anything, just monitor and perhaps mess with your sleep cycles. Sounds like a good deal to me. In the meantime, sublet your apartment for even more money. The money you make will probably keep you going until school starts (if you get compensated as much I remember seeing.)
posted by Eudaimonia at 2:45 PM on April 4, 2007

Thanks for the help so far. To answer a few questions that have been raised:

@olinerd: no great skills for freelancing right now, unfortunately. And no experience as a waiter.

@delfuego: yes, boiled down the basic question is about money. how can i make money?

@necessitas: yes, I'm still motivated to work, i suppose. just would like some mindless pass-the-time job that i'm not super-invested in and therefore won't feel bad if i'm a crappy worker. thus, it does seem temping is the best idea.
posted by jk252b at 2:46 PM on April 4, 2007

Become a professional dog walker.
posted by infinityjinx at 3:29 PM on April 4, 2007

be a temp! i just quit my job bc i just couldn't take it anymore and after a week of omgomg car payments rent what am i going to do ahhh ahhh ahhh i signed up with a temp agency. with four years experience, you're a shoe-in to get work. i've been working steadily for a month with jobs ranging from 10 to 15 bucks an hour. i wish i'd done this sooner. and the work? whatever. i'm answering phones and sorting mail. but it's not half as torturous as my old job - no commitment, no imagining doing this for the rest of my life. it's not like i'm a fulltime drone. it's a temp job. and congratulations on going back to school. finding out something one wants to do with at least the next few years - wonderful.
posted by sacho at 3:41 PM on April 4, 2007

I agree with the temping suggestion. Watch out for those sleep studies- I knew someone who used to run one and she said it was rather miserable on the volunteers and many of them quit. (No TV, no telephone, no radio. Some don't allow light or require you to stay lying down for days on end becuase they are trying to block diurnal rythyms.)

As an alternative, have you considered quitting your current job halfway through the summer and travelling for a month or two before school starts? You might rack up some debt doing so, but it might be worth it to have a fun vacation before you begin grad school.
posted by emd3737 at 4:37 PM on April 4, 2007

I assume there is some good reason you need to be in Boston after quiting your job and before grad school starts, but just in case there isn't -- sublet your apartment and travel to somewhere with a really low cost of living, where you can get by on $ 600 /mo with money to spare.

If there is some reason why you must be in Boston, that will probably have a big influence on what you do for money other than work at your current job.
posted by yohko at 5:05 PM on April 4, 2007

yohko: My girlfriend is the only thing that is keeping me in Boston in the time between work and grad school. I don't want to spend all summer without her, but we'll be living together come fall so a few week apart (or even a month) wouldn't be the end of the world.
posted by jk252b at 7:34 PM on April 4, 2007