Moonlighting and other things you do to get by

Found and interesting article on The dark side of moonlighting here is what they said:

Having two jobs can help ease your financial burden, but with double the pressure, both jobs and your mental health can suffer. Achieving work-life balance is already a juggling act. Throw a second job into the mix, and it can become a lot harder to perform. Having a second job can really help when you are saving up for a special expense like paying for college or paying off your credit cards. If you are going to work this hard having a second job make sure you plow the money into something that will help you get ahead. You will have virtually no life when you are working 2 jobs so try to make it count.

More than 5 percent of U.S. workers hold more than one job, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Willie Floyd Brunson has been part of this group for decades. A transportation manager by day and a security guard by night, Brunson says the cost of living in the Washington area has driven him to an 80- to 90-hour workweek. ''To maintain good living conditions, I have to work two jobs,'' he said. ''You can't do it on one job,'' he added. Think about that number 5 percent of 300 million people is a big number can you say 15 million people. Unfortunately, if you do live in an area were the cost of living is high you may need to work that extra job.

Brunson, who is preparing for a second marriage and perhaps a new family, said he wouldn't consider quitting the night job. He describes himself as ''old school,'' saying that as a man it's his responsibility to pay the bills. It's not easy -- while the decision to moonlight was ''financially rewarding,'' he said, "emotionally it wasn't.'' Those who hold two jobs must occasionally reweigh the money against the minuses. You have to give this guy a lot of credit he is being responsible and trying to do the right thing. There does approach a point though when you need to think about how you are going to get ahead in life and not have to work two jobs all the time. Education and skills are the way for you to get ahead in life.

For about four years, Tiffany Guarascio, now a staffer for Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., took on extra work. She had started waiting tables while a college senior and kept some shifts when she got her first ''real job.'' But when Guarascio started working on the Hill in 2004, she cut back to waitressing on Sundays only, at an establishment owned by a friend. The job was flexible -- 'It was very easy to say `I need a month or two off,' '' she said -- and it became a social outlet. But last summer, when Guarascio recognized that the service she was providing was starting to reflect her resentment over working so much, she quit. It's important to know when your are over doing it. Remember all work and no play make you a dull person. If you work all the time and never relax you will suffer from career burn out.

PRODUCTIVITY
Taking an additional job primarily to make extra money can be stressful and unproductive, according to Renee Lee Rosenberg, an author and career coach with the Five O'Clock Club in New York. Her clients with second jobs often ''get very angry and depressed and start resenting their primary work also,'' Rosenberg said, and sometimes, with better budgeting, a second job isn't really necessary. This is a key point. When your bills are too high you need to consider if you lifestyle is out of control. Cutting back and living within your means if the surest way to a happier life style.

She stressed the importance of researching what a job requires before saying yes, so you can know whether ``you can function the next day.'' Some second jobs can lead to more enjoyable primary jobs. ''It builds an opportunity to build a new network and ultimately it may develop into a new career,'' said Kathy Blanton, a career management consultant for Spherion in Nashville, Tenn.

BALANCE AND HARMONY
By day, Mike Graglia manages a team working on education in Africa at the World Bank in Washington. A few evenings a week he teaches yoga. He wanted to do more yoga and figured teaching would be the next logical step in his practice. He often schedules his flights to Africa around his yoga commitments and swaps classes with other teachers when he's out of town. It's common to find Graglia at the yoga studio with a suitcase -- either coming back from a trip or on his way out. ''I love both my jobs, and they balance each other out,'' Graglia said. ``Yoga is a genius one because it keeps you healthy and keeps you moving.''

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