Odd Jobs: 101 Ways to Make an Extra Buck

by Abigail R. Gehring

Here is a book for every curious, courageous, or desperate person who’s willing to set convention aside to earn a living in the face of an ailing economy. From fashioning balloon animals to promoting liquor brands to picking berries in Australia, this easy-to-read, entertaining book takes a candid look at over a hundred jobs that don’t require you to sit in an office eight hours a day, five days a week.

Genres: Nonfiction

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2006

About the author

Abigail R. Gehring is a writer who divides her time between New York City and rural Vermont. She is the editor of Back to Basics, Homesteading, and Self-Sufficiency, and author of Odd Jobs: How to Have Fun and Make Money in a Bad Economy and Dangerous Jobs: The World’s Riskiest Ways to Make an Extra Buck. The Simple Joys of Grandparenting: Stories, Nursery Rhymes, Recipes, Games, Crafts, and More. The Little Book of Country Baking: Classic Recipes for Cakes, Cookies, Breads, and Pies. She's practiced living self-sufficiently since her childhood in Vermont, helping build a log cabin, being home-schooled, home-canning jams and jellies, and enjoying natural crafts. She's held many of the jobs she writes about in her book, including beer promoter, “Cinderella”, lipstick reader, and hot dog vendor.

Reviews

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having done at least some of the jobs here and known people who did others of them, I have to say that I found this book to be awkwardly hilarious.  The author has clear amassed a great deal of experience doing odd jobs throughout her career and has proven herself to be immensely flexible in using her talents to achieve some measure of financial success.  Moreover, she appears to have sought to get to know other people who have similarly made money doing odd jobs and has networked and shared stories so as to gain experience even in areas where she has not herself worked.  The result is a book that is entertaining but also more than a bit uncomfortable as the author notes certain expectations that various jobs would have and tells some uncomfortable truths about what people are looking for to fill certain jobs, or what kind of people would be best suited to certain jobs that pay some money but which might demand months of unpleasant solitude.  This is not a book for the faint of heart or for those who would be negatively triggered by unpleasant reminders of the realism of odd jobs, but it was hilarious to me.

This short volume is a bit more than 200 pages and it is divided into different sections and includes interludes where the author shares her own experience in various odd jobs included in that section.  The book begins with eighteen service jobs, including personal assistant, model for artists/photographers, renting out a room, house sitting, and personal shopping, where the author shares a couple of her stories (1).  After that the author provides eight ways to make money online (2), including doing surveys and selling books online.  After that comes twenty odd jobs relating to entertainment and culinary pursuits (3), including lipstick reading (which the author did), working at a Renaissance fair or being a mascot or being a motivational dancer or being a gustatory athlete or fast food worker.  After that are eight jobs that are country pursuits (4), including being a fire lookout, beekeeper, as well as raising hens, Christmas trees, and worms.  There are then fifteen jobs included that relate to travel and adventure (5), including being an English teacher abroad as well as working on a cruise ship, shell picking in Kauai, and working on a kibbutz in Israel.  Then there are seventeen jobs relating to sales and marketing (6), such as being a call room operator, doing focus groups, making soap, being a sperm or egg donor, or being a home-based sales representative for Avon or essential oils.  The book then ends with a section of fifteen jobs that the author considers to be the oddest of the odd (7), from being a mystery shopper to breeding betta fish to being a video game tester or organ courier or club bouncer and even collecting cans.

What made this book particularly fun for me is that I have done some of these jobs myself (teach abroad, working in a call center, doing online surveys, house sitting, and mystery shopping), and I know people who have done many other ones that I have not done.  This is one of those books that turns the sort of odd ways that people make money or have a bit of fun on the side and puts it into a category that one might not be aware that one is in, in terms of making money in unconventional and odd ways.  As is so often the case in life, I find it somewhat odd that I do not realize that my own life has in many ways been odd.  It is quite possible that there are many readers of this book who would similarly not realize that their own work experience has been irregular by the standards of the world, but the author's good-natured humor about her own experiences and misadventures of one kind or another really make this an enjoyable book for all those who want to relive past experiences or ponder what it would be like to be an obscure fish breeder like one of my friends in California.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and inspiring

I enjoyed reading through the jobs described in this book, it was engaging, amusing and somewhat inspiring. I would recommend.

[Elruin Elmsroot · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice read to pass the time....

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

Intrigued by the title. I found this at my local library.

A list of some usual jobs (dishwasher, bouncer, etc) and some unusual jobs that I had never heard of
(lipstick reader, shell picking in Kauai, etc)

The book is divided into categories and each jo has a what you do, what you get paid, what it costs, what you need, perks and downsides plus websites to help get you started in that area.

After tagging a few options like Hair Seller and then looking up the websites listed, most times the website was no long there or no longer offered the options listed in this book. To be fair, the book was originally published in 2007 but still some interesting and fun options to look at.

[Wendi WDM · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty fun book to read. Easy to read, super easy to read. Lots of websites to get you started if you're interested in some of the Odd Jobs Gehring proposes in her book.

I would say that I wish she had gone into some jobs like yearbook photographer, vending machine stocker, that kind of thing. Maybe they aren't odd enough?

[Treasaigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very interesting and amusing read. Anyone wanting a departure or break from routine or traditional jobs should definitely give this book a go. This book features over a hundred jobs that don't require you to sit around on your keister in an office eight ho-hum hours a day, five days a week. The author herself (Gehring) has had twenty-four of the jobs listed in her book.

[Ingenue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious and oddly useful. I will make my fortune raising earthworms and picking shells off the beach!

[Cara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Surprisingly/disappointingly/oddly, I already know about most of the jobs in this book. Still, mildly amusing.

[Rio]

Creative funny ways to make some money. You can actually put a lot of these ideas to good use.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 2 out of 5]

a good book for those interested in the unusual in ocupations

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! Full of funny anecdotes and I'm sure would be an uplifting (and maybe even useful!) read for anyone going through an arduous job hunt.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting list of jobs and some entertaining personal stories. Unfortunately many of the links provided were dead.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting jobs in here, but a lot of them are only found in big cities, and San Diego ain't one of them.

[Eli Poteet · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is entertaining and helpful. I was delighted to see how many of mine and my partners hobbies were included in this book! I would recommend this to everyone for shits and giggles.

[James R Ellison · Rating 5 out of 5]

The real deal

Actually knows about the jobs. Lots of details and supporting links. And they are real jobs, not jokes or just ideas.

[Sunny P · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really like this author. This book is a bit dated and not very likely for you find extra work.