The holidays seem to come faster every year, which can make it difficult to come up with a decent holiday budget. Prices seem to keep going up, which can make shopping for your list even more difficult if you don’t know where the extra cash will come from. Luckily, there are plenty of options if you need to pad your budget this year. Regardless of your skill set, there’s bound to be a temporary holiday job that works for you. Here’s a list of some of the available holiday jobs to get you started.
1. Truck Driving
Seasonal truck driving jobs could be perfect if you enjoy being on the road. With so many people buying gifts online during the holiday season, it’s more crucial than ever to have truck drivers handling the shipping. This doesn’t mean you have to travel the country each week, because there are several different types of routes available. You can even stick to a local route, and many companies that hire truck drivers will keep their drivers on the same route, which means you should know exactly what to expect every day when you show up for work. If you already have some experience driving trucks, this can be a great way to pick up some easy cash.
2. Retail
People may be shopping online more, but retail stores are still swamped when it comes to the holiday season. Retail may not feel like a great job to you, especially when you have to deal with stressed and cranky shoppers, but the seasonal retail jobs tend to be temporary, and can come with some great benefits. For example, these jobs often include an employee discount. If you work at a store with a wide variety of products, you may be able to shop for your entire list at a steep discount. On the other hand, you could work at your favorite store and snag some sweet discounts for your own favorite products. This also gives you the opportunity to check out some new and exciting products before the public does. You may even have access to fast selling products that you might have a hard time finding anywhere else. Many of these positions also have flexible scheduling and you can work full or part-time.
3. Surveys
If you don’t think you can fit an actual part-time job driving trucks or working retail into your schedule, filling out surveys may be a better fit for you. There are many legitimate survey sites that provide a variety of different surveys for you to fill out in exchange for gift cards and even cash. It’s important to do your research and make sure you’re not giving out sensitive personal information, but many of these surveys can actually be entertaining to fill out. You may be lucky enough to qualify for higher-paying surveys if you’re part of a unique demographic. One of the great things about filling out surveys is that you can do it in your downtime, like when watching TV or on your lunch break. It may not seem like you’re earning much, but if you start early, all of those little efforts add up.
4. House Sitting
Lots of people like to vacation in the fall and winter, whether it’s for a weekend getaway or traveling to see families for the holidays. Many people don’t feel comfortable leaving their home empty for long stretches of time, so they’re willing to pay others to keep an eye on things. This can work well if you already have a job with the demanding schedule, since you can simply go to someone else’s home instead of your own and still take care of house sitting duties. Prices may vary, though if your client also has a pet, you can make a decent amount of cash taking care of their furry friend.
It can be difficult to plan a great holiday season when it’s hard to figure out where all of the money is going to come from. With a little forethought, you can find the perfect seasonal job to earn some extra cash.
