Working from Home - Farmville,VA

I worked from home for my old consulting firm on an internal project for about 5 months. It is not all it is cracked up to be because you are still a full-time employee. I still had to pay for all 3 kids to be in summer day care and was not able to stand outside and talk to my friends when they were talking. I had to work. I did take little breaks here and there to run the vacuum, change the laundry, or put dinner together. I also felt like working from home was working ALL THE TIME. If I opened my computer adn saw an email, I'd answer it or work the issue. I made way more than $2k per month after taxes, but that's because they paid me my same salary as if I had an external client, like I do now, and sit in an office.

Rest assured... You'll be hit up with every MLM/direct sales recruiter on the site with this post.

Working from home is a job, WORK, and you don't bring in $2000 a month just working at home.

Working at home is self discipline, self motivation and being a self starter which has a lot to do with sales.

If that's what you are good at... Go for it. BUT... You need an area only for your work with NO intrusions of children, pets, etc

Yes, I work from home with hubby running our company. It is NOT easy peasy, it takes a lot of effort on all parts to make it happen.

Tread carefully with all the offers you will receive for recruiting, etc.

Remember... If it sounds to be good to be true? Question it ?

I've been working from home for about 6 years now.
It evolved from an office job (Cobol programmer) I held for 20 years.
I work for a major outsourcing company and my co-workers and department members are spread out across 5 continents.
I have a degree in Information Systems Management and I am currently a Business Analyst, - the work consists mostly of spreadsheets, reports, email, instant messaging and teleconferences.
Working from home is like your office cubicle is now in your home.
You spend your hours each day sitting at a computer next to a speaker phone and you crunch numbers all day long.
Sure you can get a cup of coffee, use the bathroom, put in a load of laundry, or work in a bathrobe and fuzzy slippers but you can't watch a child - you still have to have a baby sitter or send them to day care.
The commute is great - I get to walk from my bedroom to my home office in the den (should be a dedicated space used for nothing else with a door you can close when you need quiet or so your speaker phone does not disturb rest of the family).
Not everyone can handle working from home.
You need discipline and you have to produce and keep to your deadlines as well (or better) than if you were driving to an office every day to perform those functions.
The social interaction is different (it took me 3 months to adjust to it) - you don't meet with people at the water cooler or coffee pot anymore.
You might feel very isolated until you feel comfortable with the phone and instant messaging as your major communication methods with your co-workers.
You have to prove yourself to management that you are trustworthy with an over the top work ethic before they will allow you to become a remote (work from home) worker.
And you have to keep proving yourself.
I make more than $2000 a month but this has been my career for over 25 years.

I work full time from home and make over $2000 a month. I also pay $1800 a month for my daughters to attend preschool from 8:30 - 3. Like the previous posters have said, you can not work from home and take care of small children at the same time. It's simply not possible. I've been working from home for seven years. I had been with the company for a few years and told them that we were moving across country and I would like to continue to work for them, but would have to be a telecommuting employee. They gave me a four month trial, it worked out, and I stayed with that company for six years. When my kids were born I took a year off, then hired a nanny to care for them while I worked. I simply could not have been there for my girls while at the same time working full time for a company that had deadlines and expectations.

I left that job six months ago and was hired a few months ago by another company that has many work-from-home employees. Like B, I'm an analyst. I do a lot of work on Excel spreadsheets, and then I work with other teams to improve the numbers. I'm on conference calls 2-4 hours a day and spend the rest of my time at my computer. Yes - I do get to clean up the breakfast dishes at 10am, throw in a load of laundry at 12, and be there when the plumber arrives to fix the water heater... but that's about it for "in-home" chores during the work day. Working from home really is like having an office cubicle in your house rather than in an office building. You have to treat your work time as sacred so that you don't slack on the job while you vacuum and straighten the house.

If you have a skill that translates well to remote work: analysis, editing, planning, etc - then you may be able to find a work at home job. Just be sure that the salary offered will cover the cost of daycare for your baby and other children.

Babysitting????

I did that when I had my 1st child and she was a Toddler.
I did it for 2 years. Until I was 8 months pregnant with my 2nd child.
But it is not something, I want to do again.

2K a month?
Some people don't even make that working in an office.
What is your background or previous work experience?

Making $2,000 a month from home seems like an impossibility to me.
I could be wrong, but I'm making less than that killing myself at a full time job. I used to make $3,000 per month, but times have certainly changed.
Even real estate agents who can mostly work from home are having a hard time averaging out a couple thousand a month. Especially after all the expenses of advertising and travel to show homes, etc.
You can't make money selling things from home if you're selling something people can't afford to buy.
I have heard people say that companies allow telemarketing, but it's my experience that firms have cut staff and need people in the office.

If you find something that can earn you that type of money and is legitimate, definitely share. I work 40 hours + outside the home and don't quite make that.
You can start your own business, but that takes time to build up and you have to have a product people want and need and can afford.
I'm pretty creative and haven't found a way to be at home more and make money.

I'm a single mom so if there's a way, I'd love to find it. I haven't found it yet.

Good luck.

Everley and B said it perfectly: work from home is work. You cannot work from home and have your kids around unless your job is child care. When your attention is divided between work and kids neither one is getting the attention they deserve. There is no way I could adequately do my job with my kids underfoot - and they are in grade school! I also know they feel cheated when they are home and I am working, they are not shy about whining that I'm spending too much time on my computer, they eagerly await 3 pm and run into my office to drag me away from my computer, lol.

I work from home, the descriptions below are very accurate - I spend my days sitting in front of the computer or on con-calls. It's very isolating and can be very lonely. It's also very hard to turn off. My official hours are 6 - 3, but I'm routinely on the computer as early as 5 am and stay logged in till after 4 pm 'just in case'. It's not unusual for me to be answering emails or phone calls while at my kid's practices or after they go to bed.

I do earn more than $2000/mo; but I've been with the company 11 years and have earned the level of autonomy that I have. I think it would be very difficult to find something like this without working in an office first, unless you have highly specialized skills (ie RN or LVN).

So, I didn't read a ton of your back posts, but it looks like you are pregnant now? I'm not sure how many other kids you have, but you will need to factor in the cost of full time child care if you are going to have a full time career that earns a decent wage - no matter where you work, especially if you have a newborn. You will not be able to work at home and care for a newborn simultaneously. You can do it for about a blink of an eye when your kid is 5-8 mo, but then not again until they are in school - unless you are planning on ignoring your kids, or 1/2 a**ing the job... neither is a good solution. So, I'm not sure if the $2000 per month you are looking to make takes that into account?

I'm not sure what your background is... but some companies will allow you to telecommute. If you are talking about starting a business, even ones that are proven successful will take you some time to get off the ground running while you build a client base. My sister's next door neighbor was a virtual assistant - is now making about $60,000 and has 3 people working under her. But the first 8 months operated IN THE RED. I only know this, because I too was looking for that dream job that doesn't actually exist where I could make a ton of money and not actually work!!!! lol. But as a virtual assistant she worked pretty much around the clock to get her business going. Even now, she has flexibility, but still works more than 40 hours a week - sometimes people will want her to work when they do, which is the middle of the night or whatever.

Good Luck though - I am interested to see what other mamas say. You will no doubt get tons of scam offers or avon / pampered chef etc.

Heck... I work OUTSIDE the home and don't make $2000 a month!

I am a NYS certified residential real estate appraiser, and I work mainly from home. (I am on the road 1-3 days a month, but it's local driving.) My Dad & I own the business. When I work full time I bring home more than $2000/month; part time is about $2000/month, more or less. It was impossible for me to work full time after my daughter was born. I returned to working full time when she began attending preschool regularly. Working from home does have its benefits, but you need a great deal of self-discipline to complete your work. I find it difficult sometimes to stay at my computer when I have laundry to do, cleaning, food shopping, etc. I only work when my daughter is at school or asleep (which is tough because by that time I'm ready for bed, too). My job has a very flexible schedule, but it may be complicated to get into this business, as there are so many regulations and requirements. It's different for every state, so if you are interested in something like this you should contact your department of state for licensing requirements. Good luck!

In this economy, work from home jobs are tough to find. I think there are some companies that dole out customer service jobs (i.e. answering customer calls from home) but I believe you have to have dedicated availability hours and cannot be interrupted by kids/husband, etc. I think the pay is around $12/hour (last I knew). So you would have to work in excess of 40 hours a week to earn around $2K/month.

I work from home, but only because I worked for my company for over 20 years and basically told them it was the only option if they wanted me to continue working for them. My boss isn't thrilled, but they need me. I do most of their accounting work, business writing, bid work plus some light computer programming and customized reporting work. That said, I took a major salary cut and lost many benefits by working from home. I work hourly now and have to carefully track my time.

I find it tough to work more than around 32 hours/week from home, and this is with my son in school 8:30-2:30 daily. There are a lot of interruptions plus the constant pull of things that need to be done around the house. Besides, this is probably the first week since school started that there isn't a half-day/holiday/school field trip/school show, etc. It is amazing how many things "pop up" each week.

Last spring we had a major project and I had to work around 55 hours per week for about 4 weeks. I was up to about 4:00 am every night and my alarm went off at 7:00 each morning to take my son to school - I thought I was going to have a coronary!

K.:

Working from home isn't always what it is cracked up to be. There are MANY people who misinterpret it - ahhh you are home so you can watch my kids!!

I am a recruiter. I work from home. I get to pick and chose the contracts I work on. I only get paid if I make a placement. I have worked for companies that allowed me to work from home. However, the base pay was NOT $2K per month after taxes...the only way I make more is making placements.

So to answer your question - yes it IS possible. However, it is WORK. If you have young children, working from home is NOT an option.

There are banks and credit unions that allow their employees to work from home - only AFTER proving themselves in the office. There are companies that have call center people work from home as well. However, again, it's a matter of proving yourself in the office first.

Good luck!

I own 4 franchises on the internet. It's like owning amazon.com except you make the commissions. It's awesome. We sell everything so you really don't have to sell. You just find out what folks need and you show them how to save money on just that. I have stores like Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Victoria Secret, etc. Folks are already shopping at these stores so there's really nothing to sell them on. Incredible business.
We make our money from the stores advertising. We all have Tivo and DVRs now so they needed to find another way to drive business to them rather than commercials.
I do informational webinars if you would like to sit in on one. You can learn the concept of internet franchising right from the comfort of your own home in your pjs. :)
Message me if you want to sit in on one.

I work at home as an editor for an e-publishing company as well as doing some freelance work on the side. I own my own editing business. I make about $4,000-$5,000/YEAR and this year, I might make $7,000. Really. And that's working anywhere from 20 hours/wk up to and over 40 hours/wk. I try to maintain part-time hours, because my daughter/family are a top priority, but sometimes deadlines make working a priority. I have looked and have not found jobs where the money just pours in for little work or effort or for just a few hours of work. I think those are a fairy tale!

I definitely am not doing a job at home that is supporting my family!

However, what it does do is allow me to have a little money for "extra" things (like paying for my daughter's dance lessons, which we couldn't afford if I didn't make a little pin money) and to keep an updated resume of work that shows I am "working" while I'm home raising my daughter (Starting in Nov I will have worked for the e-publisher for six years, so I have a good, long-term work relationship with them, and another small publisher I have a three-year working relationship.). It allows me to pursue my passion--writing, editing, the publishing industry--while giving our family breathing space and stress reduction (having two working full-time parents out of the house; did that for five years. Wasn't working with our special needs daughter. My staying home is the best thing we've ever done. But my husband makes over $80,000/yr, has good medical and dental, has 401k and other great perks from his company, so I can afford to work at home/not make a ton of money.).

Could I make a lot of money? Sure. If I don't want to be a mother to my daughter or a wife to my husband. But I (and my husband) have decided that it's not important how much money I bring in as long as I bring something in. What's more important is that I am available whenever my daughter needs me (school activities, school vacation days, getting the household errands done so that we have the weekends open to do family stuff [That was the hardest when I worked full time outside the home; the weekends were always packed full of errands so that we could never enjoy family time or enjoy the weekends], or being available to nurse a sick daughter). Working at home allowed me to be a caregiver to my husband for the past two months while he recovered from a tibia-plateau reduction surgery (broke leg on Aug 22, 2011; just went back to work Oct 31, 2011). We couldn't have managed that if I didn't work at home.

I think the $2000/month you're thinking is quite unrealistic. And it takes time to get anything started, especially if you're starting a business from scratch. Remember that anything you have to use to start/run your business will be deducted from what you make--most people who start their own business are often in "the red" and don't make any money for a good five years. If you can stick it out for five years and actually make some money, you're doing good.

If you are able to get a job with a company where you can telecommute, you might have a better chance at making some money. However, it isn't easy working at home with small children. In fact, I worked out of the house until my daughter entered Kindergarten; then I stayed home and started my own business. Her being in school helps big time, because I get those dedicated hours to work on my business and/or run errands and get other household chores done.

There are a lot of things to juggle and consider when working from home. The least is childcare and how/when the household chores are going to get done.

Hi K. - I guess I am a little late responding; the last couple of days have been busy, actually, because I work from home, and we just held the Maryland Home Business Expo here! I know right where your town is; a friend has a child at Longwood. We are international, so you can have customers from other places besides just your own town. Many moms work with our company and are able to contribute significantly to the family income. Our mission is helping people reach their goals, and we offer true, reliable, residual income. We are a health & wellness company, so no worries about not being crafty! Feel free to contact me for more info. I'd be happy to share. Good luck with your budget! I hope I'll be able to help.
www.ConnectingFromHome.com/Nat