Major Money Trouble

Do you have any skills? What is your education? Most home workers have special skills that do not require they show up at an office.

People I know who work at home are freelance graphic artists, editors/writers, seamstress/furniture upholstery, dog trainer/horse border, SAT tutor, musician (teaches and does some studio work), portrait painter, and child day care owner.

I'm majoring in English, and my goal is to someday be a writer/journalist/columnist...My skill level is not high enough to call myself one yet, but that's the plan.
I'm pretty shy when it comes to boosting myself up, but I'm pretty sure I could pull off a writing job at home.

Hi MzDaizy,

I've been a stay-at-home mom for the last 6 years. I have a degree in English and a lot of good experience (I was the director of an agency I created, etc.) and thought I'd do some writing/ editing from home.

It's REALLY difficult to break into. A lot of competition for the legitimate jobs, and a lot of scams to wade through and hopefully avoid.

I did eventually get some jobs but it's just not a money-maker. I assume that you don't want a full-time job, and it's really difficult to find part-time jobs. I figured out that with the time I spent searching for jobs factored in, I was making something like $2/hour, and I stopped searching.

I did end up getting a good steady job but that was based on other areas of my work experience. And it doesn't pay much at all.

What about childcare? That's something I would have done if it were practical. (I'm deaf, and while I understand/lipread my daughter easily, it's much harder to understand other children.)

The fact that you're a student could give you some options -- why don't you contact the student financial aid office or job center and see what they have to say.

Good luck!

A student and an English major. Could there be any money in proofreading and typing to disk for other students? Most colleges have bulletin boards, and I think it would be legitimate if you weren't actually composing papers for other students. You'd have to be careful not to give away too much time in the consulting phase, and you still wouldn't get rich.

Any job openings at the pre-school where your son goes?

Cleaning jobs are very flexible and fairly easy to find with a little advertising.

May I ask how the money trouble started? Health issues, credit cards, law suits? You might want to look into the advice of Dave Ramsey for how to get out of debt. Just Google his name and you should be able to find his website.

My student advisor is working with me to see if we might be able to find something part-time, on-campus...but it's a really small school, and opportunities are scarce.
I'm really not looking for anything to make me rich...we just need some cash to help us with the kids...which is where my paycheck would go.
As it is, we live on the bare minimum, and every spare dollar goes to the kids expenses.
We never expected to be in such a dire money situation. I really just want to help the family.
What makes me feel even worse is we're scheduled to take a trip at the end of May...we planned it awhile ago, but now I feel guilty for going.We thought we could afford it...now it seems like we were so frivolous.
I can't stand living like this.

Money trouble: started with my son's father, backing out of health insurance (son has asthma)...then fiance's ex-wife decided that it's a good time for her to move to England, so now we need to pay for 4 round-trip tickets back and forth...which led us to an attorney for my fiance. Then came the house payments...and our taxes just sky-rocketed. We had a budget that was working for us, now it's toast.

I think I will check out the school. It's a good place to start. Thanks
And thanks for the name...I'll check him out.

I've been there, I know it sucks.

I hope working with your campus advisor gets you somewhere. You can also, as Roger suggested, just look at bulletin boards and maybe also make some flyers of your own and advertise your own services there. How I got my early jobs was by way under-bidding the competition -- I made very little money but it was something at a time when anything helped, and then once I got some jobs, I was able to point to that experience and get more. You can research the going rate for editors and then offer to do the job for half that, for example.

I think the college is a good thing to focus on (as opposed to craigslist and other online job markets) because your competition is more limited.

Is anything happening there? I have the barest recollection of a discussion here that indicated that moving like that is legally frowned-upon. And even if it isn't, shouldn't she be responsible for the tickets if it's her decision to move?

I'll definitely talk to my advisor about the bulletins. The problem is, we have a free service at our school for help with papers, etc...so I'm not sure how far that will get me.


As far the move to England is concerned, her husband is being deployed (next year) so she's going to move with him...which is fine...but we also believe that she should cover the expenses...hence, the attorney...since she doesn't agree. I'm not sure how long it will take to sort all of that out, but in the meantime, the kids (his) still need to come home for the summer. So until it's straightened out, we foot the bill.

Blended families...you gotta love them

This time of year people--particularly older people--need help getting their yards in shape.

A friend of mine paid $75 for a thorough cleaning of the inside of her car--vacuum, windows, vinyl. The job took about 2 1/2 hours. Even with travel time this could be a very profitable cottage industry.

Some at-home jobs could be:

Medical Billing

Typing for Authors (from dictation?) - are there any nearby publishing houses that have demand for typists on a contract basis?

Online Surveys

Home-Based Dispatcher (for service companies or taxi-cab companies?) - the hours could be difficult in this one

Work-at-Home.org

Thanks for the help, you guys...I need all the advice I can get.

Update:

I've been able to finagle some part-time weekend work (when my husband isn't working). He insists that I stay in school, so while I will still keep my eyes and ears open for anything I could do from home, my main concern will continue to be my education. We made a thourough run-through of our expenses, and found that we were able to cut out some things that could save us a little bit each month. I'm still open to suggestions, if anybody comes across anything...but in the meantime, thank you for the help!

And yes, I said husband. We married while we were on that vacation.

Thanks again, guys.

MzDaizy--

Best wishes to you and your husband.

Rebudgeting is an excellent idea--you can't go in debt for money you don't spend.

Have you weighed the cost of daycare versus the income of a full time (or even part time so you can do school) out of the house job for you?

I know you want to stay at home but that is not always practical.

Perhaps you can do the daycare thing for a while til you get back on your feet.

Just a thought.

For us, the cost of daycare is WAY cheaper than me not working so....we are opting for daycare.

I'd love to raise my kids at home but financially we can't do it right now.

Just found this thread and wanted to wish you the very best from someone who's been there.

why the hell do you have to pay for her airline tickets? that sounds completely absurd.

what happens if you dont, shes gonna sue you or someshit?

If we don't pay for the tickets, we don't see the kids. And since we kind of like them...well, you see where it's going. In a few years, they'll both be able to fly on their own, then we'll only have to pay for two round-trip tickets instead of four. Whoopee doo.