RunMyErrand: Making Life in Boston a Little Easier (for a Price)

Although I have lived in Boston for several years now and enjoy the fact that I don't have to deal with car ownership (no insurance, no parking woes, no paying for gas), there are times when having a car would be very helpful. Despite my ZipCar membership, I am a little skittish about driving in Boston, particularly areas that I do not know very well. Consequently, that can make life a little difficult.

However, through the magic that is the ZipCar newsletter, I found out about RunMyErrand.com, a website that allows people to sign up and post errands, such as picking up dry cleaning or dropping off a package. The runners who do the errands are then paid in credits the senders have purchased through the website. So far I've used the service twice and have had a positive experience both times.

Of course, this convenience comes with a price. According to the site, most errands go for 10 to 15 credits (each credit equals $1.00). The price is determined by level of difficulty, location, and the time it will take to complete the errand. You set your price, but you can also make it negotiable in order to entice runners to sign up for your errand. When you purchase credits through the site, there is an additional fee added. However, the upside to all of this is that you don't need to have cash on hand to pay your runner, and you can even pay the runner for unpaid purchases they pick up using the credits.

While this isn't something that I will use frequently since it can get a little pricey, it does make a great alternative to using a ZipCar to run a simple errand. As an added bonus, RunMyErrand is currently offering the first errand ($10.00 or under) for free. If you are carless in Boston or just need an occasional hand running errands, RunMyErrand might be the answer to some of your problems.