Any Ideas for Working from Home?

How about medical billing? I do know several SAHM who do that but they tend to do it after the kids go to sleep. I agree with TF wholeheartedly. Any job that is going to make you money will require focus and WORK. So not something you can just do while the little ones are off playing.

This question comes up periodically and it is truly unreasonable to think that you can work from home and be paid to be home with your children.

The ideal way to do that is IF you have a licensed day care situation. Even if you do pet sitting, etc, you still need to be bonded and licensed which will cost some money.

If you are in the corporate world, you have to earn your way to working from home and IF you have children, they must be in a day care program because you would be working in a designated area of your home in order to be paid.

IF you are crafty you can sell your goods online, join a local online garage sale and sell things you no longer need online.

Determine what your strengths are, what you like ad want to do, how much money you would like to bring in and then go from there searching for a good alternative for you to bring in supplemental income.

I am a business owner (raw materials industry.. plastics) and I office from my home. My expenses are in travel and business related due to making sales calls, maintaining the warehouse management and inventory.

Best wishes!

It's hard to way, without knowing anything about your skills or abilities.

There is an on-line service called Thumbtack, where people post jobs they need done. You have to pay a small amount to bid on things but it's not much. This is a reputable site - my husband has gotten many writing jobs from it, and there are tutoring and proofreading/editing opportunities as well. There may be a lot more too - I only know a few categories. You do have to learn to search things out to avoid the bogus ones - for example, my husband is a writer, but a lot of the things up there are high school and college students who want someone to write their papers (completely dishonest of course), and then the clueless ones who want someone to write an entire screenplay for $100!

I think it's unrealistic to think you won't have to invest anything - you need some way to advertise your availability and skill set. So doing some sort of website (expensive) or flyer or resume distribution is going to be key. How are people going to find you to do, say, pet sitting or sewing or child care? And employers are very concerned about someone thinking they can work the job around kids, laundry, carpools and so on. You have to have some strong professional skill that convinces them you are worth it.

Maybe if you added to your question or put something in the SWH section that tells more about you, we could be more helpful.

Most people who work from home either own a a business or have skills that can be done remotely (accounting, tech work, writing/editing, etc.)
If you don't have any of those skills then your best bet is to babysit, plenty of people need child care, even part time.

There is no such job unless you take your children to a child care provider. There is no such job unless you already work and get your employer to allow you to bring your work home with you.

Would you like to know why this question irritates everyone?

We'd all love to find a real life job where someone would pay us to stay home, clean our houses, do laundry, start dinner, all while magically completing all our assigned work and making tons of money.

That job does not exist. If you think it does then you are not understanding what work at home means. It means that you are employed by a company to do a particular job. During certain hours. With certain people. You might even be speaking to customers. If they hear dogs barking, kids playing, crying, or screaming they might drop that company so any company that hires an employee and that person doesn't come in to their building they expect that person to do a professional job.

That means no kids in the home while you're on THEIR clock, no barking dogs in the house while you're on THEIR clock, etc...

This is a fact that SAHMs don't seem to always understand. Working at home still means you have to take your kids to child care. No one will pay you to stay at home and watch your own kids.

If you have a degree such as a teacher's certificate look at the K12 hiring page and see if there are any jobs for your state that correspond with your degree. You'll still have to take the kids to child care but with a teacher's salary you can afford to pay someone to take care of your children.

Another option is to open a child care business in your home. Call your local social services office and ask them for a phone number to your state child care licensing office. Then ask those licensing people to send you information about opening a home child care business.

Do you have marketable skills that you can use to create a job for yourself? This is most likely your best bet, but you may have to invest money if your skills require supplies.

I'm self-employed and work out of my home. Not MLM or contract work for another business. I'm the owner and I provide a service. I still have operating expenses, but they are a small fraction of the overall. The main advice I can give anyone for starting out is to not go deeply into debt for it. I have friends who are self-employed who basically have all their income going into paying off the business debt they racked up. These ladies had a dream. What they didn't have is a business plan.

Another option is to look to your past and see if a former employer is hiring remote contractors.

In the past I worked from home in a telecommuting capacity after I had been working full time in the office for a long while. When I had my first baby I was going to leave the company but they wanted to keep me on. My physical presence duties were assigned to another worker and I did computer work at home for a little more than two years while caring for a baby and a toddler. My work didn't require interaction with other people. Some occupations require dedicated work times and silence for phone calls. That does not work with wee ones unless you have childcare.

If you are at home with your own kids then child care is the way to go. You get paid for providing your child with a playmate! Win-win!

I have friends who sell things like cosmetics, natural home cleaning products, etc. I am not sure how much money they make - some do parties others don't. They just supply to the neighborhood and friends.

I have a friend who cleans homes. She had a high paying job but wanted to be home with kids. I have a relative who did this for a few years too when her kids were in school. She saved enough to pay for a car outright. She was home before the kids got home and did every other day I think. She also cleaned a gym at night after the kids went to bed. I remember her telling me what she made and I was shocked. Can't remember exact numbers, but it was more than I thought - but she did houses back to back on the days she worked. Didn't have a boss watching over her (just someone who told her where to be), she ended up with regular clients, etc. I think she still cleans the gym in return for a free membership. She said it wasn't bad because it wasn't her house she was cleaning and she made good money, and it was good exercise. I think she had a partner who cleaned with her and they got on well. They shared supplies and gas, but did clients that lived nearby so they weren't driving far.

It's not for everyone, but it's also quite flexible. If she couldn't make it, her friend just did it on her own, but took longer.

HireMyMom is legit, but there is a subscription fee to get to the job postings. Then you have to evaluate each posting and interview, do your own taxes, make your own contracts, etc. I got a job there for 4+ years and another friend got a virtual assistant job that she may still be doing.

You might also consider things like contacting a senior center to see if any of their clients need regular rides, or errands, or light housework, for example. One of my young relatives has two elderly people she runs errands for and she also takes them to doctor's appointments for an hourly fee (not sure what she charges).

Another friend joined a dog walking business and she gets a lot of flexibility, but they handle all the clients, etc. She just shows up and walks dogs for a few hours while her kid is at school.

Baby sitting
Pet sitting
Dog walking
Any sort of real job is going to have to be a relationship you build with an employer - and they grant you permission to work from home AFTER you've proven yourself by working in the office (often for years).
Once you're working from home - you're WORKING - which means you need day care for the kids (you can't watch them at the same time and get any work done) - and a dedicated work space/office (in a room with a door you can close) is a good idea.

You and everyone else.

don't we all.
khairete
S.

Some government agencies allow working from home. I'm a federal employee and I work three days a week at home. It might even go up to four days a week in the foreseeable future. But these are full-time positions.

I beleive your kids are in school? www.ratracerebellion.com is a free website that scopes out LEGIT work at home jobs. They are out there. Alot of them are customer service jobs for informercials. BUT there are plenty to choose from! GOOD LUCK!