i have searched every whrere for a real work from home/computer/internet
job and have been ripped every time, i am aware that there is really no get rich quick deal but i have to care for my father and can not leave him for long periods of time. “anybody” know of any thing ? thanks, boltman
The onliest w.a.h. jobs I know of are where you have a regular job in (usually) an office with a regular boss (sorry) and do some of your work at home.
They stopped doing it where I work because, I think, the managers didn’t like it.
Sorry, I’ve never known of anyone getting a dream job at home with no boss. Not a job that actually pays, anyway.
Much of that kind of work is snapped up by contractors who hire people like you and stick you in a cubicle somewhere. India and The Philipines are a couple popular places.
Ain’t capitalism a kick! 
Peace,
mangeorge
This probably isn’t for you, but I knew a woman some time ago who’s dad needed assisted living. Not medical or anything, just to be watched and fed and the like.
Anyway, she got herself and his big old house licensed for elder care and took in a couple other old dudes for a fee and did alright.
We’re out there. It’s called freelancing and/or self-employment. But it takes time to build a livable income.
Oh, sure. But it’s usually translating, transcribing, or copy editing ;), something like that. Pretty specialized stuff, and you got to find a niche. For more ordinary work, I think you have to compete with companies like Kelly and such.
I don’t mean to discourage the OP, but it seems he’s looking for something less unique.
Have you looked on monster.com, boltman?
Good luck, BTW. 
You could look into mystery shopping. I do this. Basically, you go places and pose as a shopper, then tell the company how it went. There’s usually a form online to fill out for your report. You can work as much or as little as you want, and pretty much set your own schedule. Sometimes you have to buy stuff, which you are reimbursed for. Usually there is pay on top of that. It’s not much per job, but being paid to go out to eat, which you might not otherwise be able to afford to do frequently, or even being paid to do stuff you’d do anyway, like grocery shopping, is very cool. I’ve done lots of kinds of restaurants, electronics stores, gift shops, gas stations (free gas!!), banks, and many more. I’ve had offers for reporting on bus tickets, plane tickets, amusement parks, hotels, and even an upscale day spa. You can find out about these by doing a search on “mystery shopping” and signing up with various companies. There are also several Yahoo groups dedicated to this. Do NOT pay a company to set you up with jobs. I don’t know if it works or not, but it’s not necessary.
Another option is answering surveys online. I do one called Pinecone Research. It sends out consumer survey stuff, which is usually about how I react to a new product that a company is considering promoting. Five minutes of my time online, and they send me a $5 check once a month or more. Not enough to live on, but for five minutes, not bad at all!
Best of luck,
HennaDancer
Often, but not always. boltman, tell us a little more about your background. What are your education and skills?
A book I often recommend to people looking to get out of the rat race (in fact, I own multiple copies for lending out) is Making a Living without a Job by Barbara Winters. When I read it, I pretty much knew what I wanted to do, but I found her book very inspirational – not only in the “rah rah you can do it” sense but also for her practical ideas for figuring out what you can do.
Bear in mind, too, that working at home does not necessarily equal lots of free time. I raise my eyebrow at people who want to work at home so they can take care of their children at the same time. You can’t usually serve your customers/clients and your children at the same time. This may not apply to caring for an elderly parent, depending on his needs and the work you choose. But be aware that a full-time job is a full-time job, no matter where you do it.
In my opinion, managers are usually of the mindset “If I can’t see you, you’re not working.” I used to have a perfect job for telecommuting. All I needed was a telephone and a link to the mainframe. Heck, I would have been happy to work out of a company office in another city. (They had the room.) Unfortunately, the managers were not progressive enough to consider the option.
Telecommuting has advantages that are almost too many to list (at least in a casual post). The employee saves money on gas. Laundry/cleaning bills are lower. Less time is wasted sitting in traffic. (My commute was at least an hour.) If everyone who could telecommute did telecommute, those who were not telecommuting would save gas, wear and tear on their vehicles, and time because the roads would be less crowded. With fewer cars on the road, less pollution is going into the air and onto the ground and water. Companies save money by being able to lease or build smaller offices. Spending less = higher profits. Or, by spending less on office space and allowing employees to telecommute, a business might be able to hire more people. More jobs means more people spending, so it’s good for the economy. It also means more taxes being paid that could be used to pay for government progreams. Telecommunications companies would benefit by selling more bandwidth, and from the advances that would necessarily come from increased demand.
To telecommuting is good for the employee, good for business, good for the environment, good for the economy, and good for the country.
IMO. YMMV.
My Brother and I run a licensed gun dealership out of his home. We sell lots of guns over internet auction sites (100% legal by BTW!). It’s only a side business for us, but I know guys who make their entire living dealing guns out of their homes.
My Sister-in-Law operates a state licensed day care in her basement.
A good friend of mine runs a mail order business out of his house.
My retired Mother runs a continous rummage sale out of her garage to make a few bucks and help friends get rid of stuff they don’t want. She’s not in it for the money, but still: you wouldn’t believe the cash flow she see’s!:eek:
A friend of my wife lives across from Wisconsin State Fair Park. During big events she lets cars park on her front lawn for a fee. She actually makes 8K+ extra income per year for doing almost no work.
There are lots of “kitchen table” businesses you can do out of your home. It’s not all easy work, and you may have to do more than one thing to make a lot of money. But working out of your own home is a big positive!
boltman, we share a birthday! 
Mine’s in '45, so I got you by a few years.
Yes.
Transcription. Get your touch typing speed up, do a medical and/or legal terminology course, and get typing!
It’s not easy to break into, so you might need to work in a law firm or hospital / medical practice first in order to get known. It’s also not a get rich qiuick scheme, rather a genuine work from home (bolding mine) situation. True, you can say goodbye to the freeway and the boss, BUT you will need to put the hours in and be disciplined. It’s still a job. It’ll pay the mortgage, but you won’t be living the high life promised to you in the spam work-from-home ads.
My sister makes a living at this, is how I know.
Although it isn’t steady employment, the Educational Testing Service hires people to score various standardized tests online.
If you have a large house in a popular city, turn it into a B&B. My nextdoor neighbor does this and they report the money is quite good.
Or if you have a large house miles AWAY from a popular city turn it into a B&B or a retreat. Corporations pay big bucks for retreats. It helps if you have scenic views, fishing ponds, nature trails or the like. I believe there are data bases where you can regisiter your B&B or retreat in order to drive business in your direction.
Good luck!
Check your state’s license requirements… I teach CPR and First Aid to the staff of several Family Group Homes as they’re called here in NC and I’m told obtaining the license is a exercise in pure unadulterated bureaucratic hell. The owners though, tell me they do very well. Maybe someone in your area can help guide you through the process?? There may even be a Group Home Association you can join??
Again, good luck!
I work entirely out of my home doing software development. I get to do this because I co-founded a software company and then moved far away. My partner runs the office and all the employees and I sit out in the woods and write code. This situation has made project management and mentoring of other programmers more of a challenge than it would be if I were on site, but it works. It works so well that we now allow almost all of our programmers to do at least some of their work from home, but many choose to work in the office because of the perks and because they recognize their own procrastination is a problem when they work at home.
Mine may be a rather rare situation since I have the infrastructure of a regular small business without having to go to the office, and no one can pull the plug on my telecommuting since I’m the boss. However, there are a lot of opportunities for contract-level software development where the hiring company may require you on site for an initial planning meeting and one or more review/test phases, but the bulk of the work can be done from home. It all depends on whether you have the skills to do that kind of work and the resume to compete for the jobs.
For the OP, I think you need to look at your strengths and the kind of work you want to do, and then figure out how to make that work in your situation. You’re going to be a lot better off playing to your existing skills than trying to start from scratch on something, and your time-management working at home is never going to happen if you end up with something you don’t like doing.
I have a friend who did exactly that. He had to put a lot of time into it at first, of course, but it worked out for him. I haven’t seen him in years now, but I was thinking about him just yesterday evening. I hope you end up with as good a life as he has had.
RR
I finished 2 years of college, I have worked in addictions counseling, was a group home parent for 10 emotionally/physically abused children 
Then entered the
plumbing wholesale/retail distribution sales industry and staarted at the bottom
and worked my way up to executive vice presiden/general manaager and oversaw 200+ employees at all different levels also helped owner to open 14 new branches either new or bought out the area was the Mid-Atlantic. I most enjoy teaching people and when I feel they have got it I’m only there for support and as you know some need more support than others but not if you choose the right people, and since I did the major hirings it was pretty easy ( beleive me I made some bad, bone head hires too). In a nut shell that’s about it.
Ah yes, telecommuting. Another much vaunted perk of life in the future that has gone the way of the flying car and pleasure trips into space. Many work-at-home jobs have become “work for pittance wages in China/The Phillipines/India” jobs. My company will let you work at home, where appropriate, if you have a reason, like needing to wait for the plumber, but as a general policy they’re dead against it.
's a matter of fact I’m working @ home today because I have to take my wife to the doctor later…and I’m naked, so there!
OK, that’s your résumé . . . I got nothing, but maybe someone else can help you riff on that.
Now, what do you like to do? What do you do in your free time that you’re good at? Don’t even think about whether you think it could earn money, just tell us about your strengths and interests.
I had zero background in publishing when I first started thinking about getting into copyediting. I didn’t even know what it was called, or that you could do it at home! But I was a voracious reader and had a gimlet eye, an excellent memory, Adrian Monk-like attention to detail, and a natural feel for the structure of language. Once I found out that those raw skills were just what a copyeditor needs, I was on my way.
What are your raw skills? You mentioned that you’re good at teaching people – give us more stuff like that.