How do you make money from home?

[Milknhoney]

For those of you who are able to draw an income while at home... how do you do it?

 

Two years ago when I had my second child my employer graciously allowed me to go down to 15 hrs/wk which is what has allowed me to homeschool. Yesterday I learned that, while a final decision hasn't been made yet, they most likely will require that position to be 40 hrs once again. My wages are such that I just couldn't go work 15 hours somewhere else and make even close to what I am getting now. We're still trying to think of every possible option, but we've pretty much decided that it's either have me stay home full time or work full time. We've come up with a few ideas of how to cut expenses, but it won't be enough. One of those ways is to get rid of the vehicle we are making payments on. Which means I need to find a way to earn from home because I wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

 

Any ideas?? How are you making it?

[Satori]

I'd take a look at what skills or interests you have. If I had to work from home again, I'd design online scheduling software. Are you a good writer? Blogging can be some extra income. Are you very knowledgeable in a certain niche? I've found that to bring in advertising income, maintaining a popular hobby website. Otherwise, I've worked from home as a web programmer, ecommerce online store, photographer, and now a little bit in writing.

Edited June 4, 2011 by Satori

[SweetMissMagnolia]

hope things work out---I've always been interested in doing medical transcript work from home but never really looked into it seriously---my sister has worked at the same place for 30+yrs and it's closing this august....she's looking for something new and would like home based work too but we aren't sure what's available...... she's done just about any kind of office work over the years from payroll to shipping/receiving invoices....good luck.......

[Guest momk2000]

I work as an independent contractor with LiveOps. If you don't mind talking on the phone, it's not bad and is a pretty good supplemental income. I basically take calls from folks ordering products advertised on infomercials. http://www.liveops.com

[Once]

Our family has hosted foreign students in the past (providing room and board)and will again this fall. We have a spare room and meals have to be made each day for my family anyway. There is a loss of privacy but we manage it and conveniently we have had several students that like their own privacy as well.

 

Our local University has an English as a Second Language program but we have found that the quality of student is too variable. This fall we will host a highschool student from Korea who is family friends with my daughter's piano teacher. We did this a few years back with great success. We are hoping for the same successful blend this fall.

 

It nets us about $500 per month with very little *extra* work. Our last student had a few mornings where he slept in and I had to drive him into school but otherwise the only driving we needed to do was evening trips to the local library occassionally.

 

A local friend was a recruiter of the ESL home stay program here in town for a few years and she did most of it at home. I also have friends that clean houses....It is not at your house but the flexible hours may work for you. If you have flexiblity in hours with your husband home in evenings then you could do a night job at Target stocking shelves, sorter at UPS, or maybe a paper route. I know these jobs are not high paying but it might fill a gap.

 

Good luck with finding what fits for you. :001_smile:

[blessedmom3]

I work as an interpreter/translator . Pretty easy to find a ( well paid ) job if you are fluent in other languages , except Spanish .

[3peasinapod]

I do medical transcription. You would have to take a course, preferably one that talks about getting your foot in the door with one of the bigger med trans companies.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

I do general transcription. It's good work if you have a solid grasp of the English language and are a fast typist. It's very flexible.

 

how do you get started in something like this???

[SweetMissMagnolia]

I do medical transcription. You would have to take a course, preferably one that talks about getting your foot in the door with one of the bigger med trans companies.

 

do you have a link or can you do just a general online search? I'm always worried about getting caught up in one that isn't legit and is a waste of $$

[mommymilkies]

A lot of community colleges have online or night transcription classes. :)

[SnegurochkaL]

I work as an interpreter/translator . Pretty easy to find a ( well paid ) job if you are fluent in other languages , except Spanish .

 

Can you recommend any reliable one? My friend was doing a lot of "trial" translations but wasn't paid anything or got a regular position. A company was praising him for an excellent job but didn't bother paying just asking to do more work. He is fluent in Russian.

Edited June 5, 2011 by SneguochkaL

[LAS in LA]

:lurk5:

[Kelly in IL]

Just thought I'd put in my 2 cents with my personal experience. I worked as a medical transcriptionist for 15 years but had to quit last year after having carpal tunnel surgery on both arms.

 

First of all, it is definitely a career where there are all sorts of schools that promise you a job if you take their program, but I don't personally know anyone who got a job that way. People I know who invested money in one of those programs couldn't get a job because they didn't have actual experience. In my experience only, the major firms will only hire you if you already have 2 years of actual hands-on experience doing medical transcription in an acute-care facility.

 

Second, while I am sure there are still good companies out there, in the years I worked as a transcriptionist the field was going quickly downhill. At one point I was making $32 an hour (based on productivity, and I was supposedly one of the most productive transcriptionists) but the company consistently changed the payment format so that I was making $25 an hour for the same work within a year (and going down). They stated a transcriptionist was "worth" $10 an hour, and I think they were doing everything they could to ensure no one could make more than that. In addition, more and more of our accounts were being moved over to other countries, so there was not always work available even when you were scheduled to work.

 

I don't want to discourage anyone, but people were always asking me about medical transcription because they heard it was such a great job. Almost everyone who asked for info decided not to try to go into it after checking it out, and the one friend who did go into it worked for 2 years and made about $5 an hour and had to work in the middle of the night to even have access to work. So I do want to warn anyone considering this not to invest a lot of money in any programs that promise a great income. Please be wise! :tongue_smilie:

[Bayt ul-Hikmah]

I've brought in supplemental income by tutoring and teaching classes for other homeschoolers.

[specialmama]

How do you make money from home?

 

Any ideas?? How are you making it?

 

Good quality paper and a scanner. :tongue_smilie::lol:

[~Amanda~]

Just thought I'd put in my 2 cents with my personal experience. I worked as a medical transcriptionist for 15 years but had to quit last year after having carpal tunnel surgery on both arms.

 

First of all, it is definitely a career where there are all sorts of schools that promise you a job if you take their program, but I don't personally know anyone who got a job that way. People I know who invested money in one of those programs couldn't get a job because they didn't have actual experience. In my experience only, the major firms will only hire you if you already have 2 years of actual hands-on experience doing medical transcription in an acute-care facility.

 

Second, while I am sure there are still good companies out there, in the years I worked as a transcriptionist the field was going quickly downhill. At one point I was making $32 an hour (based on productivity, and I was supposedly one of the most productive transcriptionists) but the company consistently changed the payment format so that I was making $25 an hour for the same work within a year (and going down). They stated a transcriptionist was "worth" $10 an hour, and I think they were doing everything they could to ensure no one could make more than that. In addition, more and more of our accounts were being moved over to other countries, so there was not always work available even when you were scheduled to work.

 

I don't want to discourage anyone, but people were always asking me about medical transcription because they heard it was such a great job. Almost everyone who asked for info decided not to try to go into it after checking it out, and the one friend who did go into it worked for 2 years and made about $5 an hour and had to work in the middle of the night to even have access to work. So I do want to warn anyone considering this not to invest a lot of money in any programs that promise a great income. Please be wise! :tongue_smilie:

 

This was my experience, as well. I used to make a good amount of money transcribing, but not in the last few years.

[Amy Jo]

I'm currently doing a paper route in the early morning. I drive to get the papers then park at the start of the route then actually do the route on my bike most days when it doesn't rain. (Wednesday and Sunday papers are too big, so Wednesday DH goes with me - which is fun - and Sunday I stay home and he takes the neighbor's teen on the route.) If you consider a 7-day a week paper route have a plan for a day off at least every other week and really count the cost.

 

I'm planning to quit the route before the weather gets to bad to bike and switch to writing. I plan to keep the schedule I've set by getting up to deliver papers. I'll probably experiment with writing a homeschool blog, writing for hubpages (targeting amazon) and another website (something-contact I think - they have a little 'test' to be sure you speak/use English well and have to approve your first 3 articles).

 

I've done web design but I stink at marketing. How do you market that kind of business from home (no connected family members to help me out either)?

 

If writing doesn't work out I'll try tutoring, or go back to web design if I have too (and can get real clients)!

[Virg]

I watch a few daycare children. It makes homeschooling hard but not any harder than the homeschoolers who have little ones of their own. It isn't great money but it is flexible and we can continue with our lives as normal.

[kiwi3129]

Good quality paper and a scanner. :tongue_smilie: :lol:

 

I don't know if anybody else caught your answer, but I'm ROFL! :smilielol5:

[littlebug42]

Just thought I'd put in my 2 cents with my personal experience. I worked as a medical transcriptionist for 15 years but had to quit last year after having carpal tunnel surgery on both arms.

 

First of all, it is definitely a career where there are all sorts of schools that promise you a job if you take their program, but I don't personally know anyone who got a job that way. People I know who invested money in one of those programs couldn't get a job because they didn't have actual experience. In my experience only, the major firms will only hire you if you already have 2 years of actual hands-on experience doing medical transcription in an acute-care facility.

 

Second, while I am sure there are still good companies out there, in the years I worked as a transcriptionist the field was going quickly downhill. At one point I was making $32 an hour (based on productivity, and I was supposedly one of the most productive transcriptionists) but the company consistently changed the payment format so that I was making $25 an hour for the same work within a year (and going down). They stated a transcriptionist was "worth" $10 an hour, and I think they were doing everything they could to ensure no one could make more than that. In addition, more and more of our accounts were being moved over to other countries, so there was not always work available even when you were scheduled to work.

 

I don't want to discourage anyone, but people were always asking me about medical transcription because they heard it was such a great job. Almost everyone who asked for info decided not to try to go into it after checking it out, and the one friend who did go into it worked for 2 years and made about $5 an hour and had to work in the middle of the night to even have access to work. So I do want to warn anyone considering this not to invest a lot of money in any programs that promise a great income. Please be wise! :tongue_smilie:

 

I agree. I currently have a job working for a major regional hospital as a transcriptionist. We are the last of the local hospitals with in house transcriptionists and we are converting to voice recognition software in two weeks. Jobs are rapidly disappearing and most of the online companies won't look at you at all without experience. I am even having a hard time and I have years experience but my experience is in radiology transcription and not acute care. Anyone interested in medical transcription should proceed with caution especially if you want to do it from home. It is not currently something I would invest money in with hopes of getting one of the at home jobs afterwards.

[Twilight Woods]

I agree. I currently have a job working for a major regional hospital as a transcriptionist. We are the last of the local hospitals with in house transcriptionists and we are converting to voice recognition software in two weeks. Jobs are rapidly disappearing and most of the online companies won't look at you at all without experience. I am even having a hard time and I have years experience but my experience is in radiology transcription and not acute care. Anyone interested in medical transcription should proceed with caution especially if you want to do it from home. It is not currently something I would invest money in with hopes of getting one of the at home jobs afterwards.

 

With all the laws changing most hospitals are changing to voice, electronic medical record etc. I think that medical transcription will be almost non existent once all the federal laws/changes are put in place. The need wont be there anymore.

[mhg]

I charge my child a dime per drop of teetee seen on the toilet seat.:lol:

[FairProspects]

Is transcription different than medical billing and coding? Is the outlook similar for the billing/coding in terms of automation?

[blessedmom3]

Can you recommend any reliable one? My friend was doing a lot of "trial" translations but wasn't paid anything or got a regular position. A company was praising him for an excellent job but didn't bother paying just asking to do more work. He is fluent in Russian.

 

Pacificinterpreters.com Must have a very good knowledge of medical terms . Mostly interpreting over the phone. Excellent pay.

[Leimarie]

I sell my handspun and hand-dyed yarn as well as knitting for others on occasion. I had to slow down this year since it was our first year of homeschooling but I am hoping to ramp back up this coming year.

[Once]

I charge my child a dime per drop of teetee seen on the toilet seat.:lol:

 

I'm rich. I'm rich!!! :D

[lailasmum]

I am thinking of growing and selling plants, probably veg and herb plants next year. I always grow a lot and give a lot away but people have been commenting this year that they would pay for them, I gave away about 50 tomato plants this year.

 

It will never earn a lot but it a bit of cash coming in through my efforts

 

When my dd was a toddler I ran a business selling cloth diapers and baby goods but it never made a great deal of money and was hugely time consuming.

 

My closest friend child minds from home and at times she has made nearly the same as she was when she was teaching. That totally depends on how many kids she has at any one time though, it fluctuates a lot. She currently has about 4 part time kids on odd short hours and earns about £600 a month but was earning twice that this time last year with 2 full time kids on very long hours. One of her mindees was with her at least 12hrs a day though 5-6 days a week and a second about 8-10 hrs a day I know she found it pretty hard going with her own child to look after too.

Edited June 5, 2011 by lailasmum

[ChrissySC]

Good quality paper and a scanner. :tongue_smilie::lol:

 

And not just any paper, a good quality linen paper.:lol:

 

It took me a minute, but I got it! LOL:tongue_smilie:

[Amy Jo]

I am thinking of growing and selling plants, probably veg and herb plants next year. I always grow a lot and give a lot away but people have been commenting this year that they would pay for them, I gave away about 50 tomato plants this year.

 

My step-sister sells produce and such at the farmers market.

[truebluexf]

 

http://www.lionbridge.com is hiring and is legit. And the pay is really good for an easy work from home computer job!

[HSMom2One]

www.lionbridge.com is hiring and is legit. And the pay is really good for an easy work from home computer job!

 

Would you mind explaining a bit on what type of computer work this involves? I visited the site, but don't understand completely.

 

Thanks!

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[DawnL]

:lurk5:

[TheAutumnOak]

Good quality paper and a scanner. :tongue_smilie::lol:

:smilielol5:

 

That is the best way, but since I can't do it I watch a little boy part time at home now...His dad is a substitute teacher, so I watch him whenever he gets a call for work...It has turned out to be around 4 days a week and I will most likely have the summer off...I just started watching him a month ago...

[truebluexf]

Would you mind explaining a bit on what type of computer work this involves? I visited the site, but don't understand completely.

 

Thanks!

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

 

The basic gist is rating search engines, at least for the Internet Rater job. It's 10-20 hours a week, on your time. They give you a training manual and test and such to make sure you are prepared, and have plenty of support available. It's a great and easy way to make money if you are familiar at all with the internet.

[Guest lahmeh]

:bigear:

[HSMom2One]

The basic gist is rating search engines, at least for the Internet Rater job. It's 10-20 hours a week, on your time. They give you a training manual and test and such to make sure you are prepared, and have plenty of support available. It's a great and easy way to make money if you are familiar at all with the internet.

 

Thanks for the lead, truebluexf! I'll have to check this one out. That sounds like a great option, especially since it's computer based and a person wouldn't need to buy extra equipment.

 

In case anyone else is interested, I applied for the LiveOps position another poster listed and was informed that they don't take applicants from my state at this time. Therefore, it varies from state to state on that one.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[ShellChelle]

I proofread/edit for a transcription company. The pay isn't fabulous, but the work is steady and pay is received weekly. It's enough for the "extras" and allows us to travel frequently.

[Guest iblpvideomom]

I work as a freelance writer, 5 hrs a week or so, and have found some decent jobs through oDesk.com. You really have to sift through the postings, but all my jobs have paid $18/hour and upwards. Of course, I had a lot of resume clips from writing for mags and such so that helps get a higher wage. I've really enjoyed working through there - gotten some writing skills (copywriting, financial writing, etc), plus I work when I want and don't have to worry about pitching magazines at the moment (something I don't have a lot of time for now that we're full swing into 1st grade). Hope that helps!

[Milknhoney]

I work as a freelance writer, 5 hrs a week or so, and have found some decent jobs through oDesk.com. You really have to sift through the postings, but all my jobs have paid $18/hour and upwards. Of course, I had a lot of resume clips from writing for mags and such so that helps get a higher wage. I've really enjoyed working through there - gotten some writing skills (copywriting, financial writing, etc), plus I work when I want and don't have to worry about pitching magazines at the moment (something I don't have a lot of time for now that we're full swing into 1st grade). Hope that helps!

 

That looks like something along the lines of what I can do. I just checked out that website, and it looked like most of the employers were paying like $1-$5/hr. Did I read that right? Seriously, they want someone with impeccable writing and grammar skills and that is how much they pay? How did you find $18/hr jobs??

[tuzor]

I'm rich. I'm rich!!! :D

 

Hilarious. I need to charge .10 for toys on the floor. My retirment portfolio would look a lot different.

 

Would somebody please explain the scanner and quality paper to me. I think I have an idea but I am not sure. I need a good laugh today.

[tuzor]

Oh I forgot to say try www.ratracerebellion.com I found a job there a few years ago when I had my second son. The company was called Cloud 9 and I worked as a at home tech support for Comcast cable. It was horrible but it was a job that paid weekly.

[hiveHolly]

Would somebody please explain the scanner and quality paper to me. I think I have an idea but I am not sure. I need a good laugh today.

 

You could scan money and print much more.

[renabeth]

Would somebody please explain the scanner and quality paper to me. I think I have an idea but I am not sure. I need a good laugh today.

 

You could scan money and print much more.

 

:lol:I thought she was talking about scanning homeschool curriculum.

[Tarreymere]

I know some people that are family living providers for intellectually challenged adults (Down's Syndrome). The adults are picked up in the morning to go to a sheltered workshop all day and come home for dinner. They are at home on weekends and holidays and participate in all family activities. If you are interested in this kind of work, you can look into meeting a few people looking for a family and see if you hit it off.

 

You can also do respite care for foster children or intellectually disabled adults, usually on weekends. This leaves your weekdays free also and lets you have more flexibility and less commitment.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I used to do LiveOps and did very very well with it. I wish I hadn't let my account lapse. I *finally* got a call back for Working Solutions which is supposed to be awesome; but that just means I'm in their pool now. I still haven't gotten the job. Stinks.

 

Anyway, I want to encourage people to consider being trained for respite, especially therapeutic, if you have it in you. It costs very little to get started and you can make such a difference for a foster family like ours. It is helpful if you can only do 1-2 kids one or two weekends per month. I would LOVE for a few more providers here for the times we need it. My agency is great and is in many states if anyone is interested.

[heritageofthelord]

I actually have a blog about working from home if you want to check it out, http://www.telecommutingmommies.com . The page regarding companies that hire telecommuters to work from home as a list of companies that hire regularly. Looking at the different categories may give you an idea of something you are interested in. I have worked from home for 11 years since my oldest son was born. At times almost full time and at times very, very part time. I have done everything from call center work from home, online standardized test essay grading, data entry, freelance writing to social media. If you are homeschooling and need something really flexible I would look at the interent search engine evaluator positions at Leapforce.com, Lionbridge.com, etc. I did it for about a year and it pays pretty well. Also, freelance writing is a really great flexible job. I had absolutely no writing background and find a place to publish a couple of free articles I could use as samples and then started applying. If you get on with several of the freelance companies you can have enough work to keep you plenty busy and work when ever you want as long as your articles are done by deadline. I don't mind answering any questions if anyone has any either.

[ChrisB]

Milovany, another board member, recently posted about her job as a TypeWell transcriber. It sounds very interesting!

[k2bdeutmeyer]

I just applied at Lionbridge and am in the final stages of the hiring process. At this point I'm just waiting to hear if I passed part II of the test. The pay is good, and the job (while a bit monotonous) is easy. I'm really hoping I get it.

 

I have a friend that used to work for them and said that they are 100% legit and that it was easy money for the most part.

[Mothersweets]

I sell my handspun and hand-dyed yarn as well as knitting for others on occasion. I had to slow down this year since it was our first year of homeschooling but I am hoping to ramp back up this coming year.

 

Yay - CreativLEI Made! I'm glad to hear you are planning on doing more this year!

[Leimarie]

Yay - CreativLEI Made! I'm glad to hear you are planning on doing more this year!

 

Found out! :blushing: (are you on HC?) Can't tell you how much you just made me smile. There are times I wonder if anyone realized I'd taken a sabbatical. I'm actually dyeing the fiber of the month for Pulling at Strings for July. ;) Jenn is a local friend and always fun to work with.