We have 5 kids and work 10 jobs and side gigs. It’s not sustainable, but we’re doing everything we can to pay the bills.

I have been very fortunate to work full-time as a freelance writer for the past decade, but since last fall, my paid work has slowly been drying up. A client lost here, a job no longer needed there, and before I knew it, my life’s work had disappeared.

As a freelancer, I am somewhat accustomed to fluctuating income, but this time, something is different: my emails go unanswered, people I had relationships with have been laid off, and job after job I apply for is a dead end. I now find myself unemployed at the brink of turning 40 with what feels like no real employable skills.

To help replace my income, my husband and I have both taken on multiple jobs to make ends meet. Between the two of us, we have 10 different jobs. And it still feels like not enough.

I have 5 kids, so flexible work has always been my mainstay

As I have been job-hunting, I’ve also been trying to replicate the income I made as a writer while still continuing the flexibility my work provided. Since my husband and I became parents nearly 18 years ago, I’ve been the default parent working around our five children’s schedules. I have always worked from home and been there to manage our life admin, do drop-offs, pick-ups, house cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, doctor and dentist’s appointments, errands, sick days, random days off, and childcare before they went to school.

We don’t have outside help, so having to find a job that would take me outside of the home means changing everything. For instance, we don’t even have a way to get our youngest daughter to school since her start time is a full hour and a half later than my husband’s job starts.

Hobbling together part-time jobs has been our solution

In our search to figure it out, my husband and I have taken to working many different jobs to replace my income and continue caring for our kids. It’s been challenging for me to find any work at all, let alone full-time work that would fit our children’s schedules, so the interim solution has been a patchwork maze of part-time jobs. And honestly, it’s not pretty.

Outside of my husband’s stable full-time job as a teacher, the rest of our work varies from week to week, but here’s the breakdown of our different jobs:

Me:

1. Freelance writer: (~20 hrs/week, ~$2,000 to $3,000/mo) I am still working a few jobs as a writer. It can vary week to week, but most weeks, I put in anywhere from 10 to 30 hours writing, along with various admin tasks, like reaching out for new jobs, source communication, and invoicing.
2. Remote GLP-1 nurse (2 to 4 hrs/week, commission only): Because I have my license as a Registered Nurse, I took a contractor job working for a med spa as a weight loss nurse. I provide remote education, consultation, and care management for clients utilizing weight loss medication. This job takes between two to four hours per week, depending on my client load, advertising, and outreach efforts.
3. Library assistant (10 to 30 hours/week, $16/hr): Shortly before I lost most of my writing work, I took a job as a library assistant, primarily to get out of the house and try something new. The good news is, I absolutely love it. The bad news is that I’m just a sub, so the hours are extremely variable and some weeks, I don’t get any hours at all.
4. Homecare nurse (12 hours/month, $40/hr): This month, I picked up a job providing private duty in-home nursing care through a home healthcare nursing agency. It’s my highest-paying job, and while I enjoy the work and the family of my patient, I’ve only been assigned two shifts, so I’m not sure it’s income I can rely on yet.
5. Teacher substitute (0 hours/month, $115/day): I just completed the process to become a substitute teacher through the same district my husband works at. The thought was I could sub at my daughter’s school, matching her hours. That would still drop my daughter off at school, make some money without needing extra childcare, and have the option to say no when I have other jobs lined up. I’m terrified to be a sub, but it does seem like it may be a convenient and flexible option, although the pay is not substantial.
6. Support staff substitute (0 hours/month, $12/hour): Along those same lines, I am qualified to serve as a sub for support staff, like paraprofessionals, recess monitors, or secretaries in the school. There seems to be plenty of work available for these roles, but because the pay is so bad, so far, I have opted out of taking those jobs in lieu of hopefully making money elsewhere. These jobs also tend to pop up at the last minute, and my monthly schedule is usually set, so it’s hard to take last-minute requests if I’ve already committed to higher-paying library or nursing shifts, for instance.
7. Real estate agent (0 hours/month, -$400): Because my six other jobs were not enough, I decided to take the pre-licensure class to become a real estate agent next week. I’ve always been interested in real estate, and I figured this was the time to try it, because why not? I’m already in the hole financially, there’s a chance I could replace my income, and real estate could give me the flexibility I’m looking for. But I know it will be a long road, so we’ll have to see if it’s a viable option.

My husband:

1. Public school teacher (40 hours/week, $4,000/month): This is obviously our main source of income, and my husband’s job also provides health insurance and retirement accounts.
2. Crop/beef farmer (5to 7 hours/week/$0/month): We have some crops we grow on our small farm, and my husband also raises beef cattle. This past year, we invested in more cattle, so our farm is not currently turning a profit. Hopefully, next season, that will change, though.
3. Professional woodworker (10to 20 hours/week/$1,000 to $2,000/month): My husband also has a woodworking business on the side, which he’s been running for close to 15 years. His time and income with this business vary significantly; some weeks, for instance, he’ll pull down a full 20 extra hours and maybe even more, while others will be much lighter. Still, it provides needed income for our family. I also help with both of my husband’s businesses, managing his social media account, client communications, and websites.

Despite all the different roles we play, this month, my husband and I didn’t make enough to pay our credit card bill. The sobering realization that even 10 jobs isn’t enough is very defeating.

I’m still working on a solution

Clearly, something needs to change. The most obvious solution is for me to get a full-time job working as a nurse that would be consistent, higher income. But somehow, that hasn’t been easy to find, either. Because I’ve been out of the field for so long, I would essentially have to start over as a nurse, which would mean going back to night shift — a daunting concept for me both physically (been there, hated it) and logistically.

My priority in life has always been to be ready and available to my kids, and be at every one of their events, games, and school parties. And so far, I’ve been really lucky to do that. I’ve rarely missed anything.

It’s hard to face the concept of that changing now, especially as my oldest child is graduating from high school this year and I know, on an intimate, mind-dizzying level, how fast it really goes. But working 10 different jobs that aren’t even paying our bills isn’t sustainable (or let’s be honest, healthy) for either of us, and something eventually has to give.

I just hope I figure it out soon.