My wife works for a school and is off for the summer. It has got us thinking about scenarios where she could work from home. If you google “work from home”, you get sleazy/scam results. They pay would not have to be great, as she does not make much at the school. This is coupled with the fact that we pay almost $5000 a year in daycare.
She has a college degree already and we are looking for something with little to no ramp-up cost.
Anyone have any suggestions?
My hugest suggestion is not to fall for any of the scams. By following that, you are ahead already. If it looks like it might be a scam, it’s a scam.
Most people actually working from home are doing one of 2 things: self-employed or working at home after establishing themselves with an employer by working in the office for a while. There are not that many companies that will hire someone new to do work for them from home. If they do, they will probably want someone who has a track record doing that exact same thing. There are books out there of self-employment opportunities with minimal start-up costs, some of which can be done substantially from home. One option is to take in additional children and become a day care provider.
Also, most working from home should not be considered a substitute for childcare. I worked in an office that had several work-from-home employees, and if they needed you in the office or at a meeting or on a conference call, you were expected to be available to work during the workday. Working from home was a convenience in that you didn’t have to commute, but it wasn’t a replacement for childcare.
Sorry, I did not clarify…
It should be something with flexible hours and preferably part time. No benefits are needed. Basically, we are just looking for a way to keep the wife from getting bored at home and gain a modest amount of income. Minimum wage would probably be fine.
Note my suggestion of daycare, or even just babysitting if she can go with the lower earnings. Everyone else is in the same crunch for good childcare.
Companies like Mary Kay, Tupperware, Pampered Chef work for a lot of women in that situation. Although they are MLM, they are things people you know probably actually buy. Stay away from the ones selling miracle supplements and water purifiers.
Also, remember to think like an employer. It’s hard to market what you don’t want to do (go to the office, work full-time, invest in start up). What skills *does * she have and what type of work *does * she want to do?
Summer tutoring. There are lots of kids whose parents would love to send them to a real live teacher for scholastic help.
I second the comment that working from home cannot take the place of daycare if you’re doing something unrelated to childcare. Hearing screaming children in the background just isn’t that professional. And it can really take your attention away from your work.
I think the summer tutoring idea Kalhoun presented is a great idea. Also, if your wife can write well, she can always submit ideas for articles. The only problem with that is that it’s pretty time consuming and certainly not a sure bet. I used to be a freelance writer and getting established can be pretty difficult.
Would your wife be interested in babysitting? I have a good friend who is also a teacher and she babysits during the summer, earning a significant amount of extra income. She’s also very trusted and a couple of the families she sits for take her on vacations to watch their children while the adults play. If your wife offered something like that, she might be able to combine childcare and a job in one.
If she has good typing skills, there are a few transcription companies that hire independent contractors to work from home. I work for one, and getting a job as a transcriptionist with us is not difficult, although it is time-consuming; I think it would probably take about a month for her to get up and running, although I’m not heavily invested in that side of operations. Other companies may have less stringent requirements. The hours are pretty flexible; we have plenty of people around in the day, and plenty of people who only type at night. The pay is rated per minute of audio typed, so obviously the more work she takes the more she earns.
If you live in an at least semi-urban and are willing to do the legwork, secret shopping might work. A friend of mine did that for a year or so, made enough money to make it worth her time, and was able to take her child along with her when she was doing it.
For the most part, for her, it entailed going to places she already went or didn’t mind going.
My wife has done the secret shopper thing, but they kept sending her to the same eyeglass store for an exam. After about 3 visits in 6 months, they started to catch on.
She likes to go to yard sales and we have contemplated re-selling some of the items on Ebay.
BayleDomon, what are some of the reputable transcription companies. My mother does medical transcription for a local doctor, and has been wondering if she can work from home as well.