Unconventional Income

[Toms306]

Hello!

So most of you know me...and know I have a few faults...well many, but a few major ones.

Anyway, I'm still in the same catch 22 that I have been for the last few years now, although some things have changed for the worse in that time unfortunately.  I try not to let it come across on here usually as I don't want to spread negativity, but hoping someone can offer advice/help on this!

Short story is I have big problems with anxiety and OCD, and IBS which is linked to those, as well as a few other small problems.  Now I KNOW how to sort those out, or reduce them to a reasonable level at least.  It'll be a long, slow process and I need a solid routine, a change of diet, space/time to relax and then a steady job. 

Problem is I live in a house of people that aren't very understanding, particularly of contamination which is the main part of my OCD, and more importantly don't have routines which makes it impossible for me to have one, that also stops me changing diet as I don't get much chance to eat in a 'clean' environment, and when I do its often quick, convenience rubbish which aggravates the IBS anyway.  I also don't ever feel relaxed/safe/calm in my room with everyone about and very rarely have the house to myself now.  Its like I'm always on 'high alert' and fighting a losing battle with it!  Now I can work on the OCD, but its a long slow process, and no progress at all is being made in my current situation.  Only progress being made is going out, but only very briefly, and more often than not that fails due to external influences from home as well. 

So the catch 22 is I need to move out in order to get better - but I need money in order to move out, which is extremely difficult in my circumstances.  ARGH!  

There's no chance of me doing a normal job from here, and I've accepted that.  What I need is an idea of something different/unusual to make money (legally!).  I've tried my hand at a few things over the years and nothing has really worked out.  Main reasons are:

-I'm a terrible salesman, I couldn't sell coats to eskimos let alone ice.
-I cant work under pressure without constant f*ckups
-I don't have much space, a quarter of a garage and my bedroom, that's it, driveway is also off limits for 95% of the time now.
-I don't really have any skills.  I have a few GCSEs, a C&G in electrics and a BTEC ND in Motor Vehicle, and I suppose customer handling skills from my supermarket job
-I get very little time around trying to do normal things - I'm left with about 3 hours in the afternoon between 1-4 to do everything inc shopping, helping Nan, car stuff and any 'work' that needs doing, I force myself out at this point most days so take an hour round trip off that if I have to go to town.  This is the time I would try and do the 'new' occupation
-IBS uses up some of that time, and sometimes takes away entire days which is frustrating, its not just sh*ts but cramps, reflux etc so Imodium and the like isn't helpful.  After an IBS episode I lack energy for any sort of manual labour, though I still attempt it.
-Weekends are near impossible and ignored for this
-I cant eat or use the loo out, which makes long times out difficult
-I'm scared by the tax man and the ads on the radio about getting caught taking cash, and have literally no idea about income tax
-Id rather be told what to do than have to make my own decisions, I'm more of a sheep than a shepherd

 
Now I'm obviously not overly employable, and couldn't even do a PT job in the current circumstances, which is worse than about 2 years ago, I should add I was working back in 2010, but couldn't cope with it and eventually just completely failed, couldn't face going in and had to resign without even working my notice, so I'd get a great reference from there lol.  The gov't aren't any help, I'm obviously not eligible for JSA, and I'm not 'ill' enough to claim ESA.  So I need another source of income, and I've been thinking about it for months and just cant think of anything that I'll be able to do and earn enough money, so if anyone on here has an idea, no matter how ridiculous it may be I'd be very interested to hear it!  You can PM me if it's something you'd rather not broadcast publicly!


On another note, and a long shot, if anyone fancies a house share with a whiny control freak that spends several hours a day in the toilet but doesn't mind housework and fixing cars let me know.    Ideal applicant would be someone out all day, that is naturally tidy/clean, doesn't expect constant talking and has amazingly quick broadband.

But seriously, if you've read this far, well done lol.  I will repay you with rep or random 306 parts for any good ideas...maybe more for an idea that gets me the f*ck out of this situation.

Cheers
Tom

[Nathan1305]

I don't think I have any good advice for you but that was an interesting read! Nice to hear more about your life   I would house share but am very far from Ipswich haha

[mspdan]

Chin up Tom cant be as bad as Christmas buddy;

have you thought of online sales like trying ebay or something?
or maybe getting paid for car videos?

there is always something that you are good at or enjoy which is always a good basis for a start to make money from it

like i said mate always about for a chat if you want one, not always the best of advice but offer is there

[Uberderv]

What about being a Taxi driver? Save up and move into your own platz then you don't have to worry about other peoples shit.

[bashbarnard]

Buy fix and repair phones from your house maybe. i used to dabble in iphone repairs. buy smashed screen ones then sell them on. after i had used them of course. maybe start a youtube channel on your life. other people may be understanding and in same situation. having someone to relate to is good and gets views. all of these are only little money earners though. you could always work from home on pc somehow. again fixing computers is good money if you know what your doing. these are basically all the suggestions i have.

or work as an amazon picker. they work alone all day. may be ok for your anxiety. unsure though

[mspdan]

Buy fix and repair phones from your house maybe. i used to dabble in iphone repairs. buy smashed screen ones then sell them on. after i had used them of course. maybe start a youtube channel on your life. other people may be understanding and in same situation. having someone to relate to is good and gets views. all of these are only little money earners though. you could always work from home on pc somehow. again fixing computers is good money if you know what your doing. these are basically all the suggestions i have.

or work as an amazon picker. they work alone all day. may be ok for your anxiety. unsure though

i did a bit work with amazon, would not recommend them to anyone espically Tom it wouldnt be a good combination.

You could also try maybe buying cars and making money on them

there is a 3 door moonstone hdi down road from you Tom for £200 needing bit work, if i had time i would of bought it but might be worth a look for you?

[procta]

I wouldn't work for them, after the whistle got blown on them 2 years ago!

[Iceman299]

Look into jobs/careers you can do from home in your own time?
The mrs is an administrator for a social worker, mainly because she can look after the kids and work from home in her own time.
She does mainly audio typing, gets sent the work over email and has to type it up. 

There's very little contact with her boss and can do the work whenever she wants as long as it is handed back on time.

[1616six]

Drop shipping.

[Dum-Dum]

Just a thought, and tell me to f*ck off if I'm prying too much, but why don't you live with your nan, she might be more understanding, better chance of a routine and if she needs alot of care then thats a good excuse for you to do the cooking and cleaning to your standard.

As for jobs I assume there is lots of old people near you, why not advertise yourself as a local odd job and handy man, do garden and house clearance as you have the trailer, that way you'll usually be close enough to home to pop back for a shit.

As for taking cash and tax and that you'd need to read up online but largely you just need to start keeping records of all your "business" ins and outs (including fuel and food while your working, any tools etc). I'm sure some of the self employed people here will be able to shed better light on this.


Also dude I wish my house was big enough to offer you a room but it isn't and TBH I'd make your OCD worse and I have no routine.

[procta]

Just a thought, and tell me to f*ck off if I'm prying too much, but why don't you live with your nan, she might be more understanding, better chance of a routine and if she needs alot of care then thats a good excuse for you to do the cooking and cleaning to your standard.

As for jobs I assume there is lots of old people near you, why not advertise yourself as a local odd job and handy man, do garden and house clearance as you have the trailer, that way you'll usually be close enough to home to pop back for a shit.

As for taking cash and tax and that you'd need to read up online but largely you just need to start keeping records of all your "business" ins and outs (including fuel and food while your working, any tools etc). I'm sure some of the self employed people here will be able to shed better light on this.


Also dude I wish my house was big enough to offer you a room but it isn't and TBH I'd make your OCD worse and I have no routine.

 Another option there tom, is be your grans carer?

[1616six]

Honestly you should look at drop shipping. It would be ideal.

[lolsteve]

Yodel/Hermes driver? You have to talk to people but only briefly

[toseland]

be a porn star...

at least then if you are getting f*cked, its for your job!

[7057sam]

be a porn star...

at least then if you are getting f*cked, its for your job!

Do a nice dump on someone's chest...

[toseland]

be a porn star...

at least then if you are getting f*cked, its for your job!

Do a nice dump on someone's chest...

Rule 34 haha

[MisterGTR]

Just a thought, and tell me to f*ck off if I'm prying too much, but why don't you live with your nan, she might be more understanding, better chance of a routine and if she needs alot of care then thats a good excuse for you to do the cooking and cleaning to your standard.

As for jobs I assume there is lots of old people near you, why not advertise yourself as a local odd job and handy man, do garden and house clearance as you have the trailer, that way you'll usually be close enough to home to pop back for a shit.

As for taking cash and tax and that you'd need to read up online but largely you just need to start keeping records of all your "business" ins and outs (including fuel and food while your working, any tools etc). I'm sure some of the self employed people here will be able to shed better light on this.


Also dude I wish my house was big enough to offer you a room but it isn't and TBH I'd make your OCD worse and I have no routine.

 Another option there tom, is be your grans carer?

+1 carers allowance and better environment to live in (guessing)

[THE_Liam]

Breaking cars would be an option if you had some space. Tried renting a council lock up?

[Eeyore]

Run a vinyl cutting business from home... oh wait.... :/

do some 3D modelling and sell things on shapeways? Then you can just sit at your PC all day designing things and the making and distribution is up to someone else!

[Niall]

Breaking cars would be an option if you had some space. Tried renting a council lock up?

Councils are very strict with doing anything in them lockups other than storing stuff.
Right with regards to being self employed, don't worry about the adverts and what not. The sort of money you will be earning, you won't pay a penny of tax and will just pay NI. Its all really easy to do and i can PM you tomorrow when I've got some time to explain a bit better. The biggest gist of it is to keep records of your receipts, monthly ins and outs and do your tax return at the end of every year. It sounds harder than it is believe me!

With work, i think something home based would be good for you but finding something would probably be difficult. Home jobs are generally very desirable.
A Hermes driver could be very good for you but don't expect much money. I THINK they get paid about 50p a drop but normally do over 100 drops a day. That may sound a lot but they work such a small area that you could do several parcels per road! All you would need to do is add work use to your insurance which i did with mine many years ago and it added about £50 a year so for you, probably even less! Its shit work but your in a routine, your out of the house, most of the time you have to say "sign here, thanks" if that and you get to try and beat your MPG record all the time

http://hermes-europe.force.com/recruitment

Moving out. Why not have a chat with Rowell? I assume he pays his parents rent so I'm sure you two could get a small 2 bed place. Its not that expensive up your way, Rowells down here spooning me several nights a week so you get the house to your self and he's in a routine. Plus, i think he would understand your needs a lot better than most.
Its worth both of you sitting down and working out figures assuming he's up for it!

[Eeyore]

Yeh it could happen but unfortunately I dont pay my parents rent. If I get a house in the future im sure Tom could squat in it.

[procta]

Run a vinyl cutting business from home... oh wait.... :/

do some 3D modelling and sell things on shapeways? Then you can just sit at your PC all day designing things and the making and distribution is up to someone else!

if tom had kept that business, I could have put him in contact with a couple of the lads, who would have loved to have gotten some stickers re done again, as they are hard to get hold of now, for restoration projects.

[bigcheez2k3]

Run a vinyl cutting business from home... oh wait.... :/

do some 3D modelling and sell things on shapeways? Then you can just sit at your PC all day designing things and the making and distribution is up to someone else!

if tom had kept that business, I could have put him in contact with a couple of the lads, who would have loved to have gotten some stickers re done again, as they are hard to get hold of now, for restoration projects.

Just ask Rowell instead lol

[Just Sean]

Probably gonna get slated and have my pants pulled down here but...

The amount of time your on the net, do some research into stocks and markets.

[C.A.R.]

Tom, have known you for a long while and as others will testify this is a thread not dissimilar to others you have posted before.

Now some of the issues you have are genuinely not very nice and we can only speculate what it must be like to live with them. However, some of these issues can be overcome and are purely state-of-mind. I think you recognise this yourself but haven't been empowered to do anything or provided with the correct outlet to overcome them. 

I'm not trying to be an amateur psychiatrist but I definitely feel that you need to set yourself some targets. There's nothing physically stopping you using a public toilet but fear itself. I worked for someone who had incredibly similar issues and it took him far too long to come to terms with his problems and take control of his life. But you know where he is now? Touring America with his wife on yet another extended holiday. 

He is now in his 40s and it took him until he was in his late 30s to start making changes. I wouldn't want you to wait that long.

You need to get professional help and support. You need to have the confidence to be away from your preferred loo. You also need to start believing in yourself; a negative attitude is going to set you up for failure. 

Focus on the skills you do have rather than those which you don't.  You write clearly and comprehensively,  something which escapes 80% of the "professional" workers i have come across. Presumably you can operate a computer rather competently too, considering the time you spend sitting in front of one! 

If you can use excel, write emails and show technical understanding you can do pretty much any entry-level office job. What you need is the confidence and self-belief.

Start with the basics and work your way up. Stop being negative.

[Poodle]

As above mate, couldn't have put it better. It's going to be hard, it's going to be uncomfortable and occasionally unpleasant, but that's just life and if you don't do something it will only go downhill for you. I spent six months doing a job that stressed me out so much i developed eczema over 30% of my skin, but it was the only income i could get so i stuck to it until i found something else. Take the bad with the good, it IS worth it, the feeling of progress and achievement from hard work is second to none in my experience.

There is a lot of remote work out there for typists, proof readers, etc. You might even find a local office that's willing to make extended provisions for your conditions as it'll help them fulfil their equal opportunities jazz.

[Mattcheese31]

Just to echo what is written in last couple of posts, what you have to ask yourself if this, will doing something you don't like kill you? If you ate something that freaked you out or used a different toilet, would you be here tomorrow to tell the tale? Of course the answer is yes, you would and you would be fine if not better than before for the experience, everyone has to push themselves out of their own particular comfort zone, yours may be smaller than most but the same rules apply, here's a true story for you,
I used to know a few undesirable guys when i was younger, one in particular had done a fair bit of time on the inside, one if the first times he went at her majesty's pleasure the canteen staff were putting Beatles in his food, after starving for a number of days he went and caught a live Beatle and ate it to prove to himself that he would come to no harm eating the contaminated prison food, there after he didn't give a fcuk.
So the moral is, life can be tough but every time you push yourself you grow, like the saying goes, "do something every day to scare yourself"
It's honestly the only way and you can do it, being a victim can be a comfort blanket, throw it away and start pushing things every day, before you know it you'll be normal like the rest of us! Yeah right, no one is normal, everyone has insecurity's, so take some solace in that mate, i promise you, everyone is fcuked up in their own way, but we grow and learn in time x

[Toms306]

mspdanChin up Tom cant be as bad as Christmas buddy;

have you thought of online sales like trying ebay or something?
or maybe getting paid for car videos?

there is always something that you are good at or enjoy which is always a good basis for a start to make money from it

like i said mate always about for a chat if you want one, not always the best of advice but offer is there

No you're right, it is slightly easier than xmas!

I have tried selling various things on ebay etc but never really got anywhere with it.  I have monetised vids on youtube but trying to find something worth recording that hasn't already been done is difficult, that is something I keep thinking about though and I do try and record car stuff if I can.

What about being a Taxi driver?  Save up and move into your own platz then you don't have to worry about other peoples shit.

Moving out and not having to worry about other peoples shit is the idea!  But I need an income for that lol.

I cant really take passengers and don't travel far so being a taxi driver isn't a possibility really though.

Buy fix and repair phones from your house maybe. i used to dabble in iphone repairs. buy smashed screen ones then sell them on. after i had used them of course. maybe start a youtube channel on your life. other people may be understanding and in same situation. having someone to relate to is good and gets views. all of these are only little money earners though. you could always work from home on pc somehow. again fixing computers is good money if you know what your doing. these are basically all the suggestions i have.

or work as an amazon picker. they work alone all day. may be ok for your anxiety. unsure though

How easy is it to fix phones and laptops then?  Theres always loads on ebay for spares/repair but I just assumed they were really complicated!

Tbh I'm not keen on talking about my life to the entire internet, its only really people on here that know about it and I wouldn't want certain people I know accidentally stumbling across a vid on youtube. 

Buy fix and repair phones from your house maybe. i used to dabble in iphone repairs. buy smashed screen ones then sell them on. after i had used them of course. maybe start a youtube channel on your life. other people may be understanding and in same situation. having someone to relate to is good and gets views. all of these are only little money earners though. you could always work from home on pc somehow. again fixing computers is good money if you know what your doing. these are basically all the suggestions i have.

or work as an amazon picker. they work alone all day. may be ok for your anxiety. unsure though

i did a bit work with amazon, would not recommend them to anyone espically Tom it wouldnt be a good combination.

You could also try maybe buying cars and making money on them

there is a 3 door moonstone hdi down road from you Tom for £200 needing bit work, if i had time i would of bought it but might be worth a look for you?

I haven't seen that moonstone?  I usually scour ebay and gumtree for bargains to fix up as that's really the only decent income source I've found so far, but its always a gamble obviously.  I've also lost the use of the driveway/garage for most of the time now which makes car work difficult, and with the '6 here now I don't really have the space for a fixer, I keep meaning to look for some local barn space for about 2 cars for that sort of thing though.

Drop shipping.

I've heard of that before, will have to look into it.

[1616six]

I honestly think it might suit you Tom.

You have internet access, you don't hold the stock yourself so space isn't an issue either.

This will sound really odd but there was a chap I used to work at Mcdonalds with years ago, he was a fat weird lad who had no friends, never had a mrs, but he ran an online sex toy shop via drop shipping & made an absolute mint! He left Mcd's after a few weeks and just lives off the drop shipping, he can't even drive & lives with his parents which shows it really is possible from your bedroom!

[Toms306]

Just a thought, and tell me to f*ck off if I'm prying too much, but why don't you live with your nan, she might be more understanding, better chance of a routine and if she needs alot of care then thats a good excuse for you to do the cooking and cleaning to your standard.

As for jobs I assume there is lots of old people near you, why not advertise yourself as a local odd job and handy man, do garden and house clearance as you have the trailer, that way you'll usually be close enough to home to pop back for a shit.

As for taking cash and tax and that you'd need to read up online but largely you just need to start keeping records of all your "business" ins and outs (including fuel and food while your working, any tools etc). I'm sure some of the self employed people here will be able to shed better light on this.


Also dude I wish my house was big enough to offer you a room but it isn't and TBH I'd make your OCD worse and I have no routine.

Whilst I'd be lost without my Nan, I couldn't live with her lol, its an option that was considered.  She isn't understanding of mental problems at all, which is ironic as she now has pretty bad anxiety problems since losing my Grandad.  All she knows is that I shit a lot, you cant explain anything else to her, try and explain OCD to her she'll take offence and think I'm calling her 'dirty'.  She's disabled but not enough to need a carer, I just do heavy housework (hoovering etc) and gardening and stuff like that, she's perfectly capable of looking after herself atm. 

I tried the gardener/handyman idea.  Only got one call in 2 months of the ad being out and I couldn't even answer the phone for that call.

Yodel/Hermes driver? You have to talk to people but only briefly

Have to work long hours though and I just don't have the time.  That sort of thing would be ideal when I do have a place of my own though!

be a porn star...

at least then if you are getting f*cked, its for your job!

Do a nice dump on someone's chest...

You watch some weird stuff!

Breaking cars would be an option if you had some space. Tried renting a council lock up?

You need licences to break cars legally due to contaminants such as AC gas and oil etc, can only do it in specific areas as well.  Its alright doing one of two if they're donors for other cars but I couldn't do it as a main income.  There aren't any council lock ups round here, they're all privately owned.  But I am looking for some barn space instead.