Part time income

[ChiDisneyFan]

Anyone have any luck finding any part time work to bring in an extra 500-800 per month? Would like to hear any work at home success stories if possible. Need something for evenings/weekends, have a full time job already.

 

[timmac]

This topic comes up, in one form or another, pretty often on this board. So, I'll offer a somewhat general response, which is pretty much like the response I offer any other time...

Yes, there are such things as work at home part time jobs. However, they are not necessarily very plentiful. Consider how covenient and easy it sounds to be able to work without leaving the home... wouldn't lots of people want a job like that?

There are many people who do work from home in some sense or another, but I would wager than a majority fall into one of two categories. The first is freelance workers who already have some established skillset, and have some clients they work with in some capacity, like a writer for instance. (As another example, I do some web development and programming type stuff in this manner.) The other major category is the "home business" model: tupperware, mary kay, etc. Some people report decent levels of success with this, though personally I am not a huge fan and not much of a believer in the home sales model.

Something else worth considering is the question of why any desire for "work at home"? Too often the answer is something like "I need to be able to be here with my kids", in which case I'd caution that being able to effectively "be there for kids" and actually "work at home" at the same time is not always easy as it sounds. I don't know your situation of course, nor do I mean to imply anything, this is only a more generic observation.

Back to the original question of part time work, if I were needing a few hundred bucks a month extra, there are a few things I might consider: is work at a retail or food establishment an option? (Both are frequently options for part time night and weekend hours) Are there any skills/services you can offer, even seasonally? (As an example, in New England, many people who own a truck make a handsome side income during the winter by plowing driveways.) Or, can you do in-home babysitting or something like that? (There are regulations and limits, of course, but it's an option to consider)

 

[danygirl]

I have had several work from home jobs, but they were sales jobs and I was expected to make 60 or more calls per day and sell a certain amount (it was advertising).

Right now my work from home job is to walk the neighbor's dog.

 

[averysmom]

Respite care? It's taking care of special needs children (maybe adults?) so their parents can catch up or get a break. I'm a teacher and I know of many teachers / EAs who do this. The money is decent - dependent on the child's needs. More than minimum wage anyways, and if you take them for a weekend or an overnight, it adds up fast. Obviously you have to have some credentials to do it, but it I'm sure you could bring in $500 extra a month.

ETA - along the same lines, I worked with a woman (EA) who did overnights at a group home for mentally challenged adults 3 or 4 nights a week. Basically, they just needed to have someone there in case something happened. So she'd work all day, spend the evenings at home with her family, head to the group home, make sure everyone there was ready for bed, sleep there (she had to check on them once I believe), get her crew up and then the next shift came in. She'd make it home to get her own crew up and out the door and then head to work. She said it was a perfect second job because she spent most of it asleep (albeit, not in her own comfy bed).

 

[robsmom]

This reminds me of a job that I had in college. I worked flexible day hours in the security office and sometimes would get to cover the night dispatching if someone was ill. Job entailed sitting at the security desk while doing homework and then taking the sleeping bag out of the closet and sleeping on the floor in case a call came or a fire alarm went off. Very small sleepy college so the calls were light. Loved getting paid to sleep.

 

[Jenny3]

Working from home is not easy; it's very challenging to do my job efficiently and professionally while vacuuming with one hand and wrestling with a 3 y/o with another!

I picked up a part time job managing Pier One and love it. It's 15-20 hrs/week, mostly nights/weekends. Decent pay, awesome staff and of course, the discount rocks. Nice to get out of the house too

 

[Tree]

I work from home primarily do call center work and some freelance admin gigs and make about $2000-$2500 from home. It is hard and you need to be self disciplined

 

[danielle79]

Nights and weekends, sounds like good serving shifts at a restaurant! I am a server as my full-time job and make very good $, I usually work about 30 hours a week and make the same amount as my friend who is a teacher or my best friend who is a school nurse! Not something I want to do forever, but right now it works with the kids and my husband's schedule.

 

[Sadie22]

Forums such as Rat Race Rebellion, wahm, and workplacelikehome have a lot of info regarding work at home jobs and pitfalls.

 

[a742246]

Maybe you can do things like shopping for the elderly. Of course you will have to find your own clients.
There are many successful seniors whose children live out of town and can not do their own shopping and other misc things.

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

Anyone have any luck finding any part time work to bring in an extra 500-800 per month? Would like to hear any work at home success stories if possible. Need something for evenings/weekends, have a full time job already.

I not sure where you live, but check out the website and app task rabbit. you get paid for doing jobs for people. It is all over the news the last couple of months and sounds like a good gig if you have it around you. It is not near me yet, but hope maybe soon.