Paying The Bills: Help Wanted

Some Companies Still Hiring

Not only did Congress just pass an enormous stimulus bill to assist individuals with paying the bills, as well as small businesses, while the virus spreads across the United States, but there are also quite a few companies actually expanding their workforce right now. There are a range of companies, especially those selling grocery products, hiring to meet the demand as many Americans stock up on essential goods.

One of my favorite financial sites, The Penny Hoarder, which is both informative and entertaining, recently posted an article about the hiring sprees of a number of companies. According to their numbers, there are over 747,000 new job offerings. Albertsons, Amazon, and CVS are among the companies they list as having thousands of new positions open.

Nasdaq.com reports that Kroger is hiring an additional 20,000 employees on top of the 23,500 it’s already hired, as of late.

A Few Other Ideas For Paying The Bills

If bootstrapping your business has you strapped for cash or if you’re one of many who have lost their job recently due to the coronavirus, perhaps one of these leads will prove helpful. Just make sure to follow their protocols for handling the current situation. First and foremost, we all need to mitigate risk and stay as safe as possible.

If you do need a job, but you have that entrepreneurship mentality, you could also try finding work within the gig economy. You can still have the luxury of choosing your own hours and keep that special feeling of being your own boss.

Or, if you have an in demand skill, you could do some freelancing. If those skills can be used remotely, they could really come in handy as more Americans are laid off. Try Freelancer, Fiverr, Steady, or Task Rabbit to market yourself for regular work or pick up some odd jobs.

If you’re decent at graphic design or photography, you could also earn some extra pay. Cafe Press allows you to put your photos or designs on a bunch of different merchandise options to sell and it works off of the same principles as drop shipping, so you don’t have to buy any merch. You simply get paid when something sells.

Also for photography, you can upload and sell your photos on ShutterStock. Obviously, they’ll take a portion of each photo sold, but if you’ve got a knack for snappin’ pics, maybe still photos of items around your house or neighborhood, you could make a decent amount of cash pretty passively once you upload. This article by Better Tech Tips offers a step-by-step tutorial on exactly how to do so.

Even during some rough times, and while many are quarantined or self-quarantining, if you’re creative enough, you can still make at least a little cash on the side to add to anything you might get from the government so you can continue paying the bills. You may even make enough to set aside the government assistance for investing or a rainier day, or you never know, you might just find a new full time gig regardless of circumstance.