College students are expected to spend around $2,900 month on living expenses including food, clothing, entertainment and other expenditures for the 2024-25 school year per recent data.
While this may not sound too bad to us adults, we have to keep in mind that many college students’ class schedules don’t allow for full-time employment. Not to mention many often take up internships and volunteer opportunities to make them more attractive to the job market upon graduation. Fortunately, there are ways for them to make a decent pay check without infringing on their study time.
Enter Taskrabbit, the same-day platform that connects users with handy people who can clean, cook, assemble and decorate for an hourly fee.
Boston-based dental student Emely Cepeda says the app is helping her survive the rigors of her hectic life.
“It is something that I do to make ends meet,” Cepeda tells ESSENCE. “Boston is super expensive. ” On average, Bostonians are faced with $3,075 / month in median rent costs and are expected to earn about $62,219/month to keep up with regular expenses per a 2024 Payscale report.
What’s more, unlike many major cities, Boston’s housing expenses are about 124% higher than the national average and the utility prices are 25% higher than the national average.
“Coming here, I didn’t realize a box of pasta is going to be three times of what it is at home for the same thing,” Cepeda says, explaining that before moving to Boston she lived in less costly suburb of the city.
She says that she signed up for the app after realizing the usual flex jobs in bartending and catering weren’t going to work for her evolving school schedule.
“You’re able to make your own schedule doing things you probably already enjoy doing like cooking, cleaning or organizing.”
When she started two years ago, Cepeda says she started out making about $25/hour as a beginner but as she took on more tasks and built review rating score, she now commands more than $100/hour for most projects. In one month she says she’s raked in $1200 for doing just a few jobs.
“You really work for what you need and what you want, which is the beauty of Taskrabbit,” she says. “You have full flexibility on how much and how little you want to work. It’s not like you’re expected to make a certain quota or every month, even though the more you do, the higher ranking you get and the more money you can make.”
Similar home-task apps like Jobble or Care.com offer a low barrier to entry and often allow users to get started in just a few days. Task Rabbit requires a $25 registration and a short verification process before your first assignment can come through.
“It has really helped out a lot with my expenses and it’s not taxing on me,” she says. “I enjoy meeting the people I help out and honestly, I’ve had some of the best experiences cooking, cleaning and organizing for them. I’m really grateful.”