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Working From Home


Silver Post Medal for All Time! 255 Posts
June 12, 2014

Why do people want to devalue a part time employee? Part time jobs are of value to both the employer and the employee. I work several part time jobs, mostly at home. I do home childcare, I tutor from home, I teach CPR and first aid classes often from home (if for a company I go to their site), and do writing and copy editing for several online publications. I am also a landlord. Yet, I am considered by many to be unemployed.

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I was asked if I was ever going to get a "real job" instead of being a stay at home mom. I replied, "I do work and have several jobs. In fact, many weeks what I do totals above and beyond your typical 40 hour a week job." This person told me that what I did was not "real work", because most of it I do from home or, if not at home, because it is only part time.

Some weeks, such as last week, I worked over 100 hours, simply because I have two families whose children I have for 24 or 48 hours straight as their parents work 24 hour shifts. That gives me more than a normal week of 40 hours just in 2 days. Then, during racing season I may still go and work another 2 or 3 days at the speedway, which is usually 12-16 hour shifts.

The IRS considers me to have real jobs, because I sure pay taxes on it. If everyone felt that the jobs I do are "not real", we would have no landlords or property management people, no daycare, preschools, or babysitters, no CPR or first aid instructors. In fact, a lot of jobs could be lumped into that field, because probably somewhere is somebody who does something from home to the extent that almost all occupations could fall under this. I even know of a dentist whose office is at his home in a converted garage.

Evidently, to some people, a "real job" means you must leave your home to work for someone else.

This same person then told me they thought that Pizza Hut was hiring (minimum wage) and perhaps I could quit my part time at home jobs to work there. In doing the math, I would not only incur the cost of fuel to and from work and uniforms, but would actually earn only half of what I earn now in the average week.

Working at home has huge advantages, as you can still keep an eye on your kids and their activities, not have to worry how to get to work on days with bad weather, not having to purchase work clothes, or call in sick, and one can get some small household chores done in during breaks.

It also sometimes has its disadvantages, as having to stay on task to meet an editing or writing deadline when you know the laundry needs to be hung up on the line, or keeping people out of the office and quiet when you are trying to work. And the biggie, people who think they can just drop in whenever and then get mad because you are on the phone or computer and can't just leave to answer the door or to leave with them and do whatever, whenever said person wants you to.

This person said if my job was real, then why do I usually state I am a stay at home mom? Well, because I am "at home". Being at home doesn't mean that you are not contributing to your family's income. There are lots of stay at home moms who add to their income, through Avon, Mary Kay, having a beauty shop in the basement, child care, sewing, tutoring, or giving music lessons. And, to me, being a mom is the #1 most important job there is, next to being a dad.

In fact, being a stay at home mom also saves the family money. I am here to do what a lot of dual working families hire to have done. We have no babysitter, no lawn service, no weekly housekeeper, I pay no one to transport my kids to and from events because I am at work. I have the time to cook and bake from scratch, instead of having to stop and get fast food on the way home from work. I do our laundry instead of taking it to a dry cleaner. I have time to save on our grocery bill by planting a garden. From that garden I freeze, dehydrate, and can over half of our food for the year. I have time to coupon and shop sales and feed our family (5 remaining at home) on $200 a month (month, not week as the average family does). That alone takes me around 4 hours a week to plan my shopping/sales trips. I have time to do my own mending and some sewing (when my girls were younger, I made all their clothing, except for their Christian School uniforms). I also have time to shop garage sales and thrift stores. (Often finding items I can resell at a profit). I also have time to refinish furniture, including a few that began as $5 thrift store finds and resold for a profit.

When I worked full time, I had to pay for a sitter, pay to have my lawn mowed, pay for dry cleaning and we ate out at least 3-4 times a week, because by the time I got home from work at 6 p.m., I was tired. I thought I would get all my chores done on a day off, only to be given mandatory overtime, which is very painful when you are a single mom. Nothing more lovely (sarcasm intended) than paying income taxes on money you earn then having to pay again to have someone do your work for you, while you do someone elses work.

Why pay taxes on a full salary, only to have to pay half that out to other people you had to hire to do your at home work for you? You come out ahead by only working part time and only paying taxes on your part time work. Many part time jobs also give an employee discount which is even a further savings if it is a place where you often shop.

Having said all the above, the person then argued my children were old enough that I could leave them. Yes, I could. After all, the youngest 2 are now in high school. But, often that is when they need you most. This is the age where they can have a friend come pick them up and be gone to who knows where with who knows who. I am here, I know where they are and I know who they are with, and I know the other parents. This is the age of teen pregnancies, teens drinking, smoking, and experimenting with drugs.

Years ago I worked at a crisis center, and for a few months was a volunteer interim director. One thing we asked women "in trouble", (trouble could be anything from drinking to pregnancy, or they had been kicked out of the house or abused), was how did they get into this situation. Over and over the answer from many women, especially the younger ones, was that the behavior that got them in this situation started or usually occurred at their own home, while their parents were at work. "Well, I got into the liquor cabinet while dad wasn't home, or my boyfriend would come over every day for an hour before school as soon as my parents left for work, or I took the drugs out of my mom's medicine cabinet." Basically, because your child is a teen, does "not" mean you are not responsible for them, or need to stop watching them. Often, you need to watch them more, but for different things and different reasons. Teens are easily persuaded by their peers, fashions, and other adults, and often not in the best way.

Work at home moms (and sometimes dads), are not to be looked down at, thought of as lazy bums, or to be criticized. They are both a parent and often more than a full time employee. They are also usually the first to be asked to help with various volunteer activities that parents who work full time "for the man" can't do. Many don't realize that a lot of well known solid companies now hire work at home employees, such as Centurylink, Enterprise Rental, and many many IT jobs.

Next time you visit with a stay at home parent, pay attention to what all they do. Often there is a lot to be learned from them-such as organizational skills, budgeting skills, and other lessons.

 
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Silver Post Medal for All Time! 267 Posts
March 25, 2020

Many people are attempting to work from home during the current lockdown. Here are some tips for being effective without having to go into the office.

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Kelly Ann Butterbaugh
April 30, 2010

For those who work at a home-based businesses, maintaining an efficient work pace is crucial for fiscal success. Today, these piecemeal workers may need to produce more work for less cost in order to keep up with the market.

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Claire Bush
September 4, 2008

Working from home makes sense for more workers as the cost of gas continues to rise. Telecommuting, whether for a few days a week or a month or even full time, is an option for many office jobs that your firm may consider if it's presented in the right light.

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10 Questions

Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.

April 18, 2013

How can I start online work and make money while working at home on my PC?

By Khawar

Answers

April 20, 20130 found this helpful

A place to start is at Amazon's Mechanical Turk. They have a wide variety of tasks. None pay well but you can work it at your convenience. www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome

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There are also paid to click sites like swagbucks.com and mypoints.com

None of these are get rich quick schemes but I've made as much as $20 in a day on Mechanical Turk.

 
June 11, 20130 found this helpful

I agree. mechanical Turk is a great way to make some money. There are also many other free ways to make money online. I've been doing it for years. Dana

 
July 7, 20130 found this helpful

I suggest trying MyPoints.com. You can do surveys and searches to earn points, which you can redeem for gift cards for dozens of merchants, or basic Visa gift cards. You also can earn points for buying the things you need online. I paid for about 40% of our Disneyworld vacation on about a year!

 
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December 5, 2009

Does anyone have information on home based jobs? Can I make money stuffing envelopes?

Vonate

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Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 147 Feedbacks
December 5, 20090 found this helpful

I suggest to work at home for yourself, I use to sew for people, made good money, I put a small sign out front "I sew", if you live in town put it on your mail box, also put ads in news papers, the Market Bulletin is a very good paper to put ads in. Also ask the fabric stores near you if they need somebody to do sewing for them, I use to sew for 2 in a small town.

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As you know baby sitting is a way to make money, so is doing laundry for people, baking cakes, cookies, etc. Just think of what you like to do and make money doing it. Good luck.

 
December 6, 20090 found this helpful

Those so called jobs stuffing envelopes are scams. They get you to invest in lists to send the stuffing envelope job to other people. You are required to makes copies of the letter you get and mail it to others wanting work at home jobs. You should never pay to get any kind of job.

 
December 6, 20090 found this helpful

You can sell things on ebay. I know a woman who goes to thrift stores and buys clothes with designer labels. She takes them home, cleans them and then takes pictures of the clothes and posts them on ebay.

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Their are many books you can buy that tell you how to set up an ebay account and a paypal account. You can also buy things at yard sales and flea markets and sell them.

 
December 6, 20090 found this helpful

Try these two web sites. I worked at home for several years with Cloud 10. I love it, but got laid off but hear they are hiring again. Just browse these two web sites for lots more info.

www.workplacelikehome.com and
www.homewiththekids.com

 

Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 102 Feedbacks
December 8, 20090 found this helpful

I have a day care in my home. I get paid to play all day!

 

Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 102 Feedbacks
December 8, 20090 found this helpful

As Deebomb says, those envelope stuffing jobs are a scam. I tried that, here in Canada. So they are probably the same rip-offs everywhere!

 

Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 102 Feedbacks
December 8, 20090 found this helpful

I have also tried the "make money filling out surveys" sites. They don't pay you in cash. They "award" points which can be turned into cash, but it takes a few years to make five bucks!

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I would advise the day care route.

 
December 11, 20090 found this helpful

When you give to others it will always return back to you ten fold. You may want to try www.2plus7.com/moneyjackpot Tell two and pay no more. For more info I have it.

 

Gold Post Medal for All Time! 969 Posts
December 13, 20090 found this helpful

All are great ideas. Reselling is perfect.

I sell on Craigslist and leave eBay alone most of the time. It's pricey and you have to deal with shipping, feedback that might be negitive even if it wasn't your fault.

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For example, I bought a 2.49 unopened crewel kit last week, and sold it the next day for 6.00. I didn't have to do anything but bring it home.

I meet people at a nice coffee shop just 1/2 a block from me, they make a bit of my money on a mocha, my home is still secure, and everyone is happy.

If you have a good sized garage, you can also have a sale every other month...inviting your neighbors and charging them 10%. This helps you and them by making some money for them and you both.

If you are crafty, make small things and sell them on artfire.com and etsy.com leaving the website fees and responsibility to others who have the time and money to run the sites.

If you are good at editing, fix resumes and proofread manuscripts or college essays. If you love computer work, you can take a course in medical and legal billing, and stay home and work from your desk.

Do you have a nice voice? In some states, they will pay you to read for the blind or audio books.

Be a critter sitter if you have a nice big yard and live in the country (most neighbors don't like a lot of dogs barking)...or just do cats. I know a lady in Salem OR who has a cat condo and is doing nicely.

Sewing and altering is also a great idea as mentioned, or make doll clothes and sell them. If you crochet, you can make specialty sets like mufflers and caps for kids, sweaters for pets, or get paid by other crafters to roll yarn, cut out fabric, etc.

Once, I hired my sister to do the small things that I didn't have time to do, and it gave her some money and me some time.

The best advice is to know what you love to do, see it there is a market, start out slow and cheap, and find or create your niche.

Please tell us all when you find it so we know we were part of something creative for you??

Sincerely,
Sandi
Poor But Proud

 
 
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January 13, 2011

I am interested in working from home, there are so many ads online, but almost all want money paid up front. For a person who has no job, it is difficult to pay upfront with the risk of not making money at all from all these ads. Is there a way to start a business from home without a down payment, or payment after you start to make money?


Thanks.

By Helen from Orlando, FL

Answers


Bronze Feedback Medal for All Time! 186 Feedbacks
January 13, 20110 found this helpful

You can start a business at home providing you have the talent to create something and produce it and sell it from home. There might be the requirement of having a state sales tax license. Also if it is a food product you might have to have a health inspection. Some offices do have programs where employees work from home. Some medical transcriptionists are able to work from home, but you need the special training and from what I understand you also need a special computer system.

 

Gold Post Medal for All Time! 846 Posts
January 14, 20110 found this helpful

Never, ever pay a fee to work! These are scams! What kind of work do you want to do from home? That might make it easier for us to give you an answer of what to try.

 
January 14, 20110 found this helpful

Check with any of your local thrift stores and see if they need anyone to schedule donation pick ups. Depending on your area, Purple heart, disabled vets, salvation army. I did it with the disabled vets, they paid per pickup and did not take taxes out so watch out for those and they will usually be under independent contracting. But never pay for any job.
Good Luck.

 
January 15, 20110 found this helpful

There are legitimate work from home virtual call centers. I work for liveops.com, however, please note that you are required to pay for the background check before you can work for them. There are other virtual callc enters and they are legitimate, but again you have to pay for the background check. How much that is depends on how in depth a background check is being done.

I paid $35 for mine. I have worked for Liveops for three years now and it was a worthwhile investment.

 

Silver Feedback Medal for All Time! 270 Feedbacks
January 17, 20110 found this helpful

The Att General office and BBB say about 95% of those out there are fake. Do not pay money to 'join'. Go to your state's BBB to check them out. Some are not legal in certain states. Meaning they ticked the states AG off and got the door slammed on them!

 
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April 29, 2008

I would like to work from home. I am a mortgage broker. Any ideas?

Bill

Answers

By pamala woodward (Guest Post)
May 3, 20080 found this helpful

Visit pamsparadisetravels.com & click on presentation. Many of my friends that are realtors, brokers, insurance agents, & title reps have used this site to now be financially free from simply working from home for about 2 years! Hope this helps.

 
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ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.

August 11, 2009

A friend of mine in SC needs a job she can work at from home.

 
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December 5, 2009

What are some of the best "work from home" jobs?

 
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