Work from home

[tink_n_pooh]

Are there any legit work from home companies? I just informed my boss of 10+ years that I will not be returning to the office after my maternity leave. The cost of day care is ridiculous, DH and I decided that it is best for DD if I stay home to raise her. This is really going to hurt us financially so I am trying to find a work from home job to add a little bit to our income.

Any recommendations?

 

[Claudine877]

I know what you mean about daycare! Two newborns in daycare was seriously like another house payment.

My sister used to do medical transcription at home where she would load files into online sites. Many of my co-workers do office/project work from home, much of it finance related but they must show proof that any children have daycare and commit to regular times for work. Have you checked with Monster.com or perhaps a temporary agency? Or you could go the part-time have a party route with: Pampered Chef, Tupperware etc. Good Luck!

 

[goodfood4ursoul]

Are there any legit work from home companies? I just informed my boss of 10+ years that I will not be returning to the office after my maternity leave. The cost of day care is ridiculous, DH and I decided that it is best for DD if I stay home to raise her. This is really going to hurt us financially so I am trying to find a work from home job to add a little bit to our income.

Any recommendations?

GOOD for YOU
I stayed home with both of mine and now that they are grown I can still say it was one of the best decisions on my life
They grow up too fast as it is, for you to miss out on so much time together...

Have you considered becoming an in-home day care provider for one or two children?
I did that 19 years ago when I was expecting my second child- was paid $100 a week for one child but I expect costs have gone up since then
$100 was a lot in 1993 Parents sent breastmilk/formula in bottles and baby/toddler food every day for child to eat.

If you have a guest room that you can set up as an extra nursery that can be helpful.
If you care for kids ages 3 and up they don't need a crib, just a bed for naps and reading stories together and room to play,
and a kitchen table is great for most crafty/coloring activities...

Having a small home daycare is simply an extension of being a mom- just another little person to care for and love.

Good luck and congratulations on your new baby girl!

 

[bettymae1121]

Just a word of warning, you won't be able to work and watch your child at the same time. That means getting something flexible and working around naps or in the evenings, or needing to get child care anyway. Most flexible gigs don't pay much, maybe a hundred or two a month for something like LiveOps, unless you truely have the gift for sales.

I work from home full time and still need full time child care for my daughter as my hours are set 8-4:30. We might be able to cut that back to 2-3 days a week, DH wants to see if he can handle watching her during the day and still get enough sleep (he works 3rd shift and sleeps during the day normally) but we'll see. Sounds nuts that we need child care when two adults are home but there you have it!

As a PP mentioned, watching a couple of kids is probably the "easiest" way to make a sigificant amount of income. Not that it's easy work, but it's got little in the way of start up costs and you rarely lack for clients. I pay $30 a day for my infant, so if you get two full time kids you're looking at a gross of $1200 a month, not too shaby.

 

[irishsharon]

I stay home also and I care for two little girls(sisters) and make $300 a week.My boys are 6 & 10 and are in school full time but staying home still works for my family because the cost for before and after care is so expensive.Also I only care for teachers children(summers off!!!!!) and never more than 2 children.I have been doing this for 8 years and it works well for my family.Good luck and Congrats on your little one.

 

[Jenny3]

I primarily work from home as a Realtor. Not sure if that is in your area of interest, but I absolutely LOVE it.

Positives are that I get to stay home with the kids; make my own hours / schedule / vacation and don't have to answer to anyone as I'm an independent contractor. Plus, of course the self satisfaction of assisting people with the biggest purchase of their lives It's very rewarding!

Negatives would be that it can also be very stressful, the start-up can be challenging and the pay is difficult to depend on as I get paid in lump sums only when I close a deal. I make up for the lack of weekly paycheck by working part-time nights as a manager at Pier 1. Perhaps you could check into a retail job that allows you to work nights and weekends? (big perk there is the discount! )

Good luck and congrats on your new baby girl!

 

[Cheshire Figment]

What kind of experience do you have?

 

[Tree]

Congrats on a big decision. I would try to save as much money as you can right now as you transition to becoming a work at home mom.

I started working at home when my youngest was born over 10 years ago doing call center work. and 10 years later here I am still doing it. I primarily work for a company caled Liveops and answer the phones early morning and while my kids at school. it is not going to make you reach but it has kept me home. There are a few call center that allow people to work at home. work at home call center

 

[Sadie22]

This topic is discussed on lots of forums dedicated to working at or from home. Two are at workplacelikehome.com and wahm.com.

 

[Sheaboys]

I too am a Realtor. I have been home since 2002, then got my license to sell real estate in February 2012.

I began staying home in 2002, when I was pregnant for ds3. We now have 5 boys, and the youngest begin preschool in September.

We don't need my income, so it will be interesting to see what we will do once I begin getting paid. Remember it has been 10 yrs since I have seen a paycheck.

I did watch kids, one family of 3 kids, that all their kids were friends with my kids, days off, school vacations and summers, I had off. So it worked out well.

I think watching kids is a great thing to do, but I say find a family that you like with kids you like. It makes it more relaxing. Teachers kids are even better, summers off, unless you get a teacher that does summer school.

Good luck, once you adjust to the income loss, it all works out. You would be surprised.

 

[Belle599]

What kind of employment are you looking for and what is your work experience?

Many employers offer flexible work arrangements whereby you could work several days per week from home to reduce commuting time to decrease childcare hours.

Also, a lot of my co-workers work say 20% of their time in the evening after their spouse is able to provide childcare.

 

[littleshamrock]

I agree with the other posters that said that just because you are working at home doesn't mean you won't need childcare. A lot of companies, particularly if you are on the phone, won't allow you to have any background noise. I was able to stay home with my son by writing, selling on Ebay, and doing odd-jobs (mostly found on wahm and workplacelikehome). I am currently with 2 party/direct sales companies, and my newest venture has been the most lucrative. My son is in 5th grade now, and I am returning to school to finish my degree.

 

[stcav2000]

Another vote for in home daycare provider. If you own your home it is not too hard to get licensed. Start up costs vary depending on how many children you will provde care for and what the capacity is in your sate. I did this when we decided to have more children until they started kindergarten. I was hoping to bring home $600-$800 a month but it grew into a 6 figure income and I was able to make a nice profit when I sold it. If you are creative you can sell handmade items on Etsy and Ebay. Since my father had his stroke, he has been selling paintings and gets to make money doing what he loves.

 

[timmac]

Just to echo what a few others have said, as this topic, or ones very similar, seem to come up on this board at least once very few weeks.

The first question is why you're looking for work at home employment. If the assumption is that you'll be able to make money "while you're home anyway", then it won't work. Working at home earning income while taking care of a child sounds like the best of both worlds, but that's at best a naive interpretation unfortunately. You won't have the ability to do either activity with proper attention.

That said, assuming it was work at home during times that childcare wasn't an issue, it would largely depend on what you're experience/skills are. Most lucrative work at home people have their jobs from elsewhere, or have special talents/experience that allow them to consult, etc. Much beyond that, and any jobs that did exist (which there aren't many) are obviously going to be under exceedingly high competition.

I like the suggestion about home daycare. That's one thing you could do while taking care of a child, since, well, both are basically the same thing

 

[pookybean]

I logged on here with the intent of asking this question!

I am going to be attending college 3 nights a week and interning 16 hours per week to finally finish my social work degree in may

I am quitting my full time job because I couldnt intern and work, and they wouldnt let me go pt. Ive been looking for something that would allow me to be flexible (no nights or weekends) and nothing retail/restaurant related has panned out. I can either do 3 8 hour shifts or 4 4 hour shift + 1 8 hour shift per week.

I was looking into the work at home/call center thing but have been a little apprehensive, i wondered if they were all a scam.

i will have daycare, so i dont have to worry about my littlest being at home.

now for the question, will these kind of places allow my schedule too? i guess i will start to look into it.

thanks for the suggestions (and to op for reading my mind!)