The Northland Age

Sharing and caring

- Frank and Muriel Newman

It’s amazing how many money saving and money making opportunit­ies are springing up from the IT revolution.

The buzz word is ‘connectivi­ty.’ Here’s a example.

Harriet (Brisbane): “Use the Kerb app to park or lease a space to save money on parking or earn money renting a space you don’t use.” Essentiall­y the

Kerb app (www.kerb.works) works like any market that brings buyers and sellers together. In this case the ‘product’ is a parking space. Usually it’s somewhere to park a car or motorbike, but it could also be a marina berth, or a helicopter pad.

The way it works is very similar to AirBnB, but for parking spaces rather than living spaces. It will be of particular interest to those with a parking space but no vehicle, as well as businesses that may have surplus car parks as part of their office lease. We know of one company for example that was committed to taking six car parks as part of their lease, but after changing the nature of their work only needed two.

Kerb started in Australia but now operates in a bunch of cities, including Auckland. Their website shows that in downtown Auckland there are car parking spaces available from $10 a day. Bookings may be for one or more days, with discounts for the longer term.

Although Uber was the first ridesharin­g cab off the rank there are now a number of companies operating this type of service, so those wanting to earn some extra money as a driver have options. Zoomy is already operating in Auckland and Wellington, and a company called Ola is about to enter the market offering a lower per-ride commission rate.

While snooping around the sharing economy we came across a bunch of other not so well known sharing sites, including one called Dog Buddy. It’s a dog minding service where those with pets that need to be minded connect with those who have the time and desire to mind them. For pet owners it’s a great alternativ­e to kennels (which is a little like a boarding house, and you never quite know what your pooch gets up to), and a great way for people who love pets to spend time with a pooch and get paid for it.

Let us know if you have any great ideas. We’ll be happy to pass them on.

Drop us a note via oilyrag.co.nz, or write to Living off the Smell of an Oily Rag, PO Box 984, Whanga¯rei.

"Although Uber was the first ride-sharing cab off the rank there are now a number of companies operating this type of service, so those wanting to earn some extra money as a driver have options. "

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