The mother with a million things to do

A part-time teacher determined to save the £1 million she needs to buy her dream home has vowed to take any odd job for as little as £1.

Chrissi Sharkey, 29, spotted the idyllic five bedroomed Edwardian mansion – but knew she’d never be able to afford it on her modest salary. 

But Chrissi decided to become a ‘bob-a-job’ mum in a bid to raise the cash – even though it could take her 66 years working eight hours-a-day, seven days per week. 

Ten months on, the part-time textiles teacher has pulled in £15,000 by taking work including bra testing, cleaning, cake-making, catering and creating greetings cards. 

Since launching her website www.amillionjobstodo.com in June last year, the mother has been inundated with requests. 

Some have been odder than others – with one person wanting to hire her to cut their toe nails, while another asked her to clean dog poo from their lawn. 

Chrissi has been so busy that her electrician husband Jason, 34, contacted her via her website, offering her £25 to clean their own house. 

The determined entrepreneur is undeterred and is keen to keep going until she has enough to buy the property in Kennington, near Oxford. 

Chrissi, who lives a £200,000 semi-detached in Oxford with Jason and their children Deluca, four, and two-year-old Rocco, said: ‘As a mum of two, I am used to juggling a million things to do anyway so I am just increasing the work load slightly. 

‘I don’t do all of the tasks on my own. I’ve recruited my whole family practically. They’ll get paid for their work and I’ll take a small work-finding commission. It’s a case by case basis really. There are tasks where everyone’s involved. 

‘People do things in their own way, I’m happy being busy. I’m always tired and moaning about it. I’m not a superwoman. I shout for no reason, I’m not perfect. 

‘I knew from the beginning that I was going to have to work hard to do this!’   

Chrissi came up with the unique business concept in April last year after discovering the luxury mansion for sale for a guide price of £995,000. 

She added: ‘When I saw this beautiful house I thought, “I want to be able to afford that”. 

‘I actually Googled something like “how to become a millionaire” and came across the concept that little by little earnings can add up. 

Dream home

‘I started thinking that I knew how to do a lot of things and even if I charged £1 to do something like sew a button on a shirt, that could start adding up.’   

Within just the first few weeks the company earned over £4,000. 

As word spread, her internet page was soon receiving dozens of hits a day. 

She focused on the arts and craft type jobs and roped in the specialist skills of friends and family members, calling on her handyman husband, graphic designer sister, accountant mother and businessman father, for help with other requests. 

Almost a year on, Chrissi has had over 11,000 visitors to her website and her young company is bringing in average earnings of £1,000 every month. 

She promises that any job will be considered and the final fee is agreed by the employer and Chrissi as to what the tasks would be worth. 

Chrissi, who has a fashion degree, said: ‘I was always the one my friends came to when they needed to fix something on their clothes. 

‘I enjoy being busy and most of the jobs I do I enjoy so coming home after teaching and working for three hours actually helps me unwind.’ Predictably, the premise of doing ‘anything’ has attracted some strange requests and indecent proposals. 

One jilted woman wrote her asking if she would help take revenge on her ex by using his spare house key while he was at work and put her needlework skills to use by sewing kippers into the bottom of his curtains and another person wanted to pay Chrissi to make a bi-monthly visit to her home to cut her toe nails.

One, calling himself Ali G, sent Chrissi a letter that read: ‘Hey, would you be prepared to first pole vault over Botley Bridge and then limbo dance down Botley Road stopping traffic until you get to Habitat and then go into Habitat and salsa dance around the shop knocking over vases, dishes etc and smashing a couple?

‘I will pay you to complete this challenge.’   

She also received a cheeky offer from an escort agency, advising she could earn £400 a night, which she politely turned down. 

Chrissi admits, ‘I’ve been asked if I would do something ‘rude’ for the whole million. Of course not. That’s never the direction I wanted to take this. 

That’s been one of the hardest aspects of this project.’ 

Although the minimum is £1 for a task, Chrissi’s clients pay what they think the service is worth and so far, everyone’s decided her work is worth more than a pound. 

Chrissi explained: ‘Some people have been quite critical about how long they believe it is going to take me to reach my goal. 

‘They’ve said that for £1 for every task, working eight hours per day, six days a week, working every week for every year, to make my million, I would have to work for 66 years. 

‘I don’t think I’m Britain’s busiest woman. I do these things in my own time and I have my family to keep me grounded. 

‘This hyperactiveness began when I became a mum actually. When I was on maternity leave I think I spent three days at home. 

‘My family’s never expressed worry about how much I do because they know I’m happy to keep going all the time. 

Speaking about her target dream home, Chrissi said: ‘I’ve never seen the inside, never visited. 

‘People think that’s strange but I don’t want to see if, I want it to exist, ideal, like a carrot dangling in front of me. I’m afraid I’ll see it, find a flaw and get demotivated. 

‘If the house gets sold I’m sure I’ll find another one I like.’