I can already tell that my June income will be very nice. Well, "very nice" is a relative term....certainly not what full-time income should be, but considering my lack of a regular job, not too bad.

I was paid $885 for freelance work (4 jobs), I made $71 thus far in June on online surveys, $100 from a market research focus group and $50 from a Yale study on emotions. Add that to my unemployment and I will have more than covered my monthly expenses. Phew.

What's nice is that when i showed up for the market research focus group, they didn't call my name. (They always recruit extras, in case there are no-shows.) So they still paid me, but I didn't have to stay for the 2-hour focus group, PLUS I'm able to participate in another focus group right away, instead of waiting 5-6 months.

Today I finished ghost-writing a story for CT Builder Magazine, for my client, on what's going on in the housing market, at the state and national levels. It was fairly difficult to do because there was so much to cover: foreclosures, distressed sales, the jobs situation, etc., but my client wanted me to put a "positive spin" on it, which I was able to do with background info he provided. (Average prices for single family homes in my county actually increased by 15%, though number of units sold was down statewide.)

This morning I traveled to qualify for a different kind of study, this one doing product testing on a new skin lotion. Today they looked at the skin on my arms and legs and then i go back next week for 1 more visit where i have to sit in their room (they feed you breakfast and lunch) for 5 hours with lotion on my arms and legs. Then I collect $120. But you can't talk on a phone or use a laptop in this room, which you can't leave except to use the bathroom, so all you can really do to pass the time is read or talk to people there.

I'm not positive I'll be able to do the study. She said my skin didn't look that dry, and that's what they're looking for. She said, well, it's raining, so I'll pre-qualify you again when you come back. If I don't qualify next week, then I guess i only get $25. My gas for going there and back 1 time is roughly 20 miles, so I figure that's about $5 worth of gas. I get about 36-38 mpg. Hmm, maybe I'll put some retin A on my arms and legs.

Got another email from the local book author who sounds like she's ready to have me start editing her first book. I'm meeting her at a local coffee shop next week to get the thumb drive, and my advance retainer.Cool!

So unlike large portions of my jobless past, the work seems to be rolling in fairly steadily. I hate having too much to do at once, so I like to have one thing to work on at a time, and then look for the next project, and that's exactly the way work has been falling into my lap.

A recruiter called me about 2 jobs. One was a contract job (4-5 mths) for an RFP writer for a financial services firm. I have no experience doing RFPs (Request for Proposals), so I'm pretty sure that will go nowhere.

The other job was working as a web content writer for an insurance firm about an hour's drive from here. I initially didn't consider it becus of the low pay ($20-something an hour) but then changed my mind because it's certainly better than nothing, but by the time I called her next day, the window of opportunity had already closed.