Working from Home- Help Needed!

[thomascaldwell1]

Recently, while about 8 months pregnant with child #2, I was let go from my job as part of a 'Workforce Reduction'... None the less, I have found another job for the time being, but it does not pay what my family is used to- and what we'll need for income with 2 children in daycare. I am looking for some ways to generate even around $1000/month from home so that I can keep the kids at home with me and still have some cushion to live as comfortably as we have for the past 3 years while I was working my previous job.

I also need to aim for $1000/month because I would like to go back to school nights/weekends/online as soon as possible, but of course there are added costs like textbooks, to consider.

We will be okay with my current employment to limp through until June 1, but then it will be the time to decide what we're going to do. I would very much like to take the kids out of daycare and keep them at home with me at that time until my oldest will start K5 in August at a public school. I have considered watching some children (1-2) from my home, but would like the freedom to go to doctor's appointments any time I need to, volunteer in my daughter's classroom, attend field trips, pick-up and drop-off my child to school, etc. and I feel that babysitting other children may hinder this. I thought about after-care, but A) that wouldn't bring in my goal of $1000/month, and B) wouldn't allow me to school at night like I had planned.

I've been praying lots and feel that this is best for me- working from home, keeping the kids at home, and going back to school. I just need to figure out how to financially put this plan into action. I have the next 7 months to experiment, find the right fit, and make sure it can bring in the money necessary between the nights, weekends, and 1 weekday I can currently offer to work on building my work from home income. I would greatly appreciate any input anyone can offer on work from home income- I am very computer savvy, love to write, and have plenty of customer service experience. I don't have a particular hobby or craft that I can say is my 'strong suit' to make into my own business...

Thanks in advance to any of you wonderful people that can help me work towards my ultimate goal of working from home with my kids by my side. Thanks again!

 

[NotUrsula]

I've been praying lots and feel that this is best for me- working from home, keeping the kids at home, and going back to school. I just need to figure out how to financially put this plan into action. I have the next 7 months to experiment, find the right fit, and make sure it can bring in the money necessary between the nights, weekends, and 1 weekday I can currently offer to work on building my work from home income. I would greatly appreciate any input anyone can offer on work from home income- I am very computer savvy, love to write, and have plenty of customer service experience. I don't have a particular hobby or craft that I can say is my 'strong suit' to make into my own business...

Well, I can tell you right now that if you are planning to try to do a professional full time job at home, your kids need to stay in daycare while you work, unless your spouse is at home to keep them occupied and away from you, or you hire a nanny to stay during work hours and keep them occupied.

I used to have a job that allowed me to telecommute at will, and I discovered very quickly that full-time work at home is NOT compatible with supervising young children. From the time a baby is old enough to sit up until he is old enough to go to kindergarten, it is essentially impossible to get in a full workday while functioning as the sole adult in the house. Every single person I've ever known who was a telecommuter agreed with me. If little kids are home at all during your workday, you have to make up those hours after they go to bed. That works okay once in a while, but won't do every single day, because you'll be totally wall-eyed from lack of sleep.

 

[Acklander]

Wow - that's a pretty tall order of trying to find something with flexible hours, that you can do while your kids are there, without any specific skills, that equals out to about $250 a week in income. Maybe a combo of things would work? Some of the things I've done for "side income" have included buying stuff in bulk and then selling over the internet, mystery shopping, bookkeeping from home for small businesses (they drop off/pick up once a week), typing, having kids sleep over parties on Saturday nights for parents who want to go out and play, waitressing for weddings (almost always on Saturdays when my dh was home and able to take care of our own kids), shopping service for busy moms, etc.... What type of work did you do before you were laid off? Are any of those skills transferable into something you can do from home?