OT: Help!!! Thinking of becoming a WAHM

[james'mommy]

I found out last week that DH and I are both going to be laid off in September. We are hoping DH won't have too much trouble finding a new job since he has plenty of banking and management experience. But I've come to realize that I have been way over paid for the last 9 years. Our DS will start school in a year and I was hoping by that time to be able to scale back my schedule to be home when he gets done school. That would be impossible now since I'm going to have to start from scratch. I've started kicking around the idea of working from home. If anyone could lend some guidance and point me in the right direction it would be much appreciated. I've looked at the wahm website and would like to hear some experiences from people who do that type of work. TIA

 

[AllyCatTapia]

personal experience: I've worked at home with a DD4 and its near impossible without some kind of a sitter there

 

[james'mommy]

my son is currently in daycare and will have to be removed in sept since it is a work sponsored daycare. i was thinking of enrolling him in a pre-k program at the school we are planning to send him to. they also have a daycare program for after school so it would end up being m-tr 8:30-3:30 with the option for all day care on fridays. i don't want to totally pull him out of daycare since he is learning soooo much

 

[RuthLS]

Hi, I'm sorry to hear about you and your husband's situation. A layoff can be a hard thing and to have to go through it at the same time is horrible.

I'm a sahm/wahm mom. A little over a yr ago DH was laid off and we weren't expecting it. He went to work one day and they said "today is everyone's last day". We had a house, two toddler boys. Luckly we had saved some money up. That is when I looked into contributing to our income "just in case".

There are many and several opportunities out there. You have to find what is right for you. I had wanted to stay at home, but have my own business for a long time. I've never been into sales or party planning, but learned that you can make a good income with some companies. I did a lot of research and settled on doing home wine tastings b/c I love wine, loved their concept and opportunity, and loved that I could make money teaching others about wine without having a lot of experience myself. I work 2 nights a week and make on average a $100 per event/night for a couple of hours work. I could do more if I wanted to, but 2 is good for me right now.

There is a party plan company for just about everything you can think of. If you go that route, you just need to be careful to do your research. There are companies out there that will scam you. You also have to pick a product that you love and believe in. Otherwise you won't be happy. I just love wine, so it's a natural fit.

I am happy that I can be home with the boys and still have something for me. And I bring in some money to help out. Plus I have met wonderful people, I make my own hours, and I feel good about what I am doing. I may or may not do this forever. We are looking at starting our own little unrelated business soon. Our goal is for me to bring in enough at some point that DH can leave his job and work on this other business. I think we'll be able to swing it in the next year or so.

Just keep reading and researching. There are definitely opportunities out there. I'm honestly amazed that more people don't take advantage of them. Feel free to email me if you want to take this offline to brainstorm and/or want some ideas of good websites and or books.

Ruth