“IT’S YOUR TURN TO RENT THE CAR”
It is never easy when you have one car and two performing artists in the same household. You have to keep a calendar of when the jobs are! Then, because of the car and mileage, we would decide who is going the farthest and which car would be best for the trip to the job. Then we would get an economical rental car when the jobs overlap or are at the same time or if there is no way to get from one job to the other without being late. Who ever would benefit most from the rental would end up paying for it, or, as we did most times, split the cost between the jobs.
Now are life has become less complicated due to our car not working for the last year and a half. But we still manage to do our jobs that we get. We just have to be a little more selective due to the added cost of renting a car or asking a friend to take me! I have some good friends who are willing to take me along with them to mutually enjoyable evenings and even some that are willing to take me to jobs and wait or, to their liking, watch me work for the 2 hours or more that the job is! It’s beyond me why they enjoy it, but, I have been doing balloons since 1995.
There have been times when we have had to turn down jobs because of conflicts, or because it wouldn’t cover the rental for the weekend. We have to figure the rental for the weekend, because the rates are better for 3 or 4 days than they are for the one day and if it is a Saturday job with no Sunday job, the rental car companies are closed on Sundays around where I live. The other reason is because we are able to do some errands that have been put off and just generally enjoy a few days out of the house! This is important to keep the marriage healthy!
My wife, Diane, has been Face Painting since 1999 I think and she does keep getting calls for her work! That is great, except her hourly rate is lower than mine and we do get a conflict from time to time. At these times, if we can, we will rent a car for her and get a friend to take me to the balloon job. If not, the discussion gets involved on whether we can take both jobs. Can we work it out where one of us gets dropped off early for a job and the other goes on and does their job and then gets back to pick up the other from their job on time? We have been lucky enough that this doesn’t happen too often. (Or should I say, unlucky enough?)
With the economy the way it is right now and for the past few years it has been hard getting the entertainment dollar! So it is rougher to be able to get the jobs, the rental cars for the jobs, and then try to save up enough money to replace the car.
All this aside, the best way to have two entertainers working in the same house and “one” car is to try to get double bookings for us – where they hire me for balloons and her for the face painting! Hopefully, we will be working for the same hours. But we try to get them a discount if they do. Because we don’t have a car, the face painting job ends up clearing the rental car and some other individual costs of doing the job. The balloon job money is what goes back into the household. While we know (hope) this economy is turning around and the jobs will be increasing, we just keep plugging away at getting more jobs.
Rick I can feel your pain. Their are time I need to take the wife’s car and it seams every time I do that I forget something. I just not the same when it’s your car. You know exactly where to through the garbage and it doesn’t get in the way.