Does anyone work from home & make a living?

[Sonoran Silkies]

My sil has worked from home for his whole career, and he makes a very good income. But it is a real job with a real employer. Same thing for a couple of friend's dh's. All have some to a lot of travel involved, and not a one is in an even similar industry: loan re-sales, computer support to businesses, and quite frankly, not really sure of the third, although I *think* it is some facet of high tech.

You mentioned student loans; what is your degree?

 

[Amanda0609]

I know some call centers allow people to work from home. The one I know of takes inbound calls for tech support for a satelite company. Although I think they need to have an operating call center nearby for you for that to work.

I also know some ladies do well selling Avon and Mary Kay. You can do these web based as well.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

There are several things you can do from home, and other things as well with really flexible hours. I'm selling acorns

I can make as much as I want. I work about 3 hours a day, and last year I made $150 a week for several months just selling acorns. I also sold hickory nuts, hatching eggs and pine cones. There is a strong market for smoking wood for folks to use in their grills. All FREE stuff to get. Find something you have access to and stick your foot in the door to become a supplier. The internet is full of legitimate work connections, just look for some. I figured out people were buying acorns off of Ebay, and found a person willing to buy from me wholesale for the product they make which is a whitetail deer attractant. Someone else informed me tonight that some nurseries will purchase acorns as well...so I may look into that. Some guy sells them on Ebay as "tree seeds"...ya just darn well never know what you'll find to make some cash. Some of your birds may have feathers people will buy for fly tying and making jewelry/headbands/crafts etc. Just take a peek around and see what you have that others may want and Google/search to see if it is in demand. If you have geese..use the down for feather beds/pillows and market them on Etsy or Ebay. It just takes a bit of research really.

 

[chickaddict]

I have been working from home for about 12 years now. I am considered an independent contractor. The pay isn't bad, the jobs range from 10 to 15 dollars an hour, but I have to pay my own taxes and Social Security.

On the up side, I get to write off an entire room in my home as well as 9% of some of the household bills. Working at home also allowed me to volunteer at my childrens' school on a regular basis. My boys couldn't get away with anything at school as most of the teachers there are personal friends of mine now.

Working at home is harder than you might think. You end up being the emergency contact for pretty much everyone. You never get to leave the jobsight. Your phone never stops ringing because everyone knows your home all day. My in-laws think I have it made but I seriously doubt any of them could survive my life for an entire week. If you have children - picking this one up dropping that one off, stopping to make dinner and/or move laundry around puts so many interruptions into my work day. I usually start at 7 in the A.M. but by the time I'm done for the day it's usually after 9P.M.

I get work delivered to me from a plastics company 1 town over. I degate - inspect and/or assemble a variety of parts. We have a compressor in our basement so I occasionally get drill press jobs.

My boss loves me, I save him a lot of money as well as space on the factory floor. He is a reasonable person, if I tell him I am being underpaid for a job he ups the pay. Unfortunately my work is driven solely by their need. Over the course of a year my pay will average around $350 a week. But that is an average I have $100 weeks and $600 weeks.

I will also occasionally get VERY SICK OF MY OWN HOUSE. A few times a year I will spend the weekend with an out-of-state relative just to GET OUT.

My chickens keep me sane on a daily basis. When I step into my backyard and the girls come running to greet me, everything in the house just melts away for a moment.

When it's all said and done - I'd rather work at home than anywhere else.

 

[Slinkytoys]

Riding lessons Tack cleaning services Mane braiding for horse shows Stall cleaning Ground/roundpen training Pet sitting services
Baby sitting/daycare
And tell your husband to go piddle up a rope, why should you have to give up everything?
Slinky

 

[2chickenrich]

Don't do medical billing most of it is being done out of country now ,India. It's a waste of time and money.

 

[justuschickens59]

I worked for a company for 18 years as inventory control. That company was bought out by Sunoco Oil (who has sold it since) and my position was "eliminated," along with about 100 other jobs corporate wide. All of those who had their jobs "eliminated" had been with the company for years and years. They kept employees who had been there for 8 months, 11 months, etc.

I went back to school for Medical Transcription and have been working at home for nearly 6 years now. I make a decent salary. I am a regular employee with a company that actually has a building, employees that work on site, etc. I have vacation pay, sick pay, insurance, etc. That being said, the MT biz is taking big hits with sending work overseas to India, etc., though some hospitals won't allow their work to be off-shored. Pay rates are going DOWN instead of up. I haven't had an actual "raise" in 6 years. Since I am paid by production, I can make my own "raise" by working more hours, etc. That being said, I would NOT recommend this "profession" for anybody. Too much hard work, too much responsibility for too little pay. We also have a lot of work that has to be done that we DO NOT get paid for...i.e., looking up drugs, drug dosages, doctors at other hospitals, etc. Unless you are typing in a document, you don't get paid for it.

 

[fowler_chick]

I do baby sitting to bring extrea money but that's not working because the woman i baby sit for has a lame excuess for not paying me all the time, Her kids are very mean and distructive......i tend to do a lot of paid on line servys too.

 

[SpringChickens]

I have a friend who works for Comcast from home - she's on their answering service team. It's not her favorite job, but she can get as much OT as she wants and it pays fairly well.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

Do NOT consider medical transcription. Those of us already well established are doing okay, but I hear horror stories from new grads ALL the time. And the reason the companies are always looking for help is their huge turnover. Most new folks cannot deal with the irregularity, low pay, and many hassles of the work but don't discover this until AFTER they've spent a couple grand for school. Medical billing is even worse. And some schools PAY the folks who recommend them, so do be careful you are not being used just to get that fee by the person who is recommending them to you.


JMO


Rusty