Quit Your Day Job

By Thomas Samph on January 10, 2012

A lot of people make New Year’s resolutions about money: save more, spend less, organize your finances. Admittedly, I’ve made New Year’s resolutions about money – both this year, and in years past.

But for some reason, money and New Year’s seem to go hand in hand. Everywhere you look, something about New Year’s has to do with money.

On one hand, we make resolutions to be smarter with our money. On the other, we’re paying $2,500 to do a jaeger bomb and fist pump with Vinny from Jersey Shore or dropping $20,000 just to stand next to Kim Kardashian in Las Vegas.

Before googling Expensive New Year’s Parties, I thought high rollers were the ones coughing up a couple hundred dollars per bottle in New York City hotel bars. I was wrong. Other people pay thousands just to hang out with a celebrity on New Year’s.

Which got me thinking: maybe I’m in the wrong profession. I should be a celebrity. Vinny, Kim and other celebrities had people pay them to hang out on New Year’s. That’s a pretty lucrative deal.

It sounds nice, but it’s not realistic. Before you quit your day job: Do you really want fake tanning, a daily G.T.L. routine and claiming Italian heritage through your cousin who lives in Jersey to be the reason you can afford to pay $20,000 to be in the presence of Kim Kardashian?

Probably not. So while you’re a college student, you need to figure out how to pay your bills and save some money.

  • Consider waiting: Even the waiters and waitresses serving those celebrities on New Year’s are making bank – sometimes over $100 an hour – from tips. That’s pretty good, considering that when you compare salaries by city across the country, you find that an Anesthesiologist in San Antonio, Texas, makes an average of $250,000 a year. That’s around $120 an hour. (Ok, comparing waitress’s salary and an anesthesiologist’s is a stretch, given the former can probably only make $1,000 per day once a year: on New Year’s.)

For college students, it’s important to note that whatever career you choose to pursue, you should compare jobs and cities. Why? If you do choose to be an Anesthesiologist, practicing in St. George, Utah, will only make you around $68 per hour. That’s half of what the same job would earn in San Antonio, Texas.

Photo from Flickr.com, uploaded by borman818

We’re always told that money can’t buy happiness, and that we should choose a career we love over one that pays well. But if you’re already on track to a high paying career, say Anesthesiology, you’ll want to pick a place to live where you’re going to get paid well for it.

That could be the difference between hangin’ with Kim and Vinny on New Year’s, and trying to sneak in the back to catch a glimpse of them.

In the meantime, however, there’s always the restaurant job.

  • Consider an online bank: You want your money to work for you. College students are way too busy with classes, parties and big bills to really worry about making a lot of money. Most will have a second job to pay for living expenses. Outside of that, however, students won’t be making very much money.

So what can you do? If you’ve made a New Year’s resolution about managing your money better (or even if you haven’t), you’ll want to check out online banks. It’s a great way to build up your finances, passively.

Online banks offer some of the most competitive interest rates you can find. The best online banks have interest rates for savings accounts around one percent. For a savings account, this is huge. Still, this kind of saving can’t compare to the instant gratification of a $1,000 night at a restaurant. Or, getting paid to go to a club. But it’s certainly a lot less work.

Concluding thoughts: A high interest online savings account and a job at a fancy restaurant won’t bring in the kind of money that Kim Kardashian makes for even one club appearance. But for a college student looking to make some more money and organize their finances in the New Year, both are good options.

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