Help me think outside box for jobs

[3and3]

A little back story to help with advice. Up until October I was Homeschooling my 5 dc and working part time in the evening while my husband did day shift mon-fri. Needless to say it wasn't working it put a huge strain on our marriage and homeschooling suffered greatly! So after 3 years of this crazy schedule we came to the difficult decision to put our children in public school after 15 years of Homeschooling. And I was able to switch my schedule to day shift mon-thurs 9a-3p. We thought this would work perfectly!

 

To make a long story short since October I have only been able to work my scheduled work shift a few weeks. Between illness, school closings, doctors appointments and snow closings I have to keep calling in. My oldest are able to watch the youngest some of the time but I don't think that should be a permanent situation. Then of course the summer is coming soon and there is no way we can afford daycare for the 3 younger boys.

 

So what kind of things could I do from home to make some extra money? I am crafty, and can paint and draw a little, but not sure if I can make much doing it. I have no degree and was a stay at home for a long time. I've only been at this job for 3 1/2 years, I build electronic components. Thanks for any suggestions.

[Lady Marmalade]

Child care is the first thing I thought of for you.  Before school and after school care is pretty popular in my area as well.

[3and3]

In our area you have to have a daycare license to baby sit for anything over 10 hours a week. And I am not able to jump through all those hoops right now. Plus in our subdivision I'm pretty sure it's against our HOA rules.

[fairfarmhand]

Cleaning houses.

 

 

[AK_Mom4]

Pet Care - vacation care for pets and plants.

Gal Friday - running errands for people.

 

Since the babysitting limit is 10 hours a week, look into doing Back Up Child care.  You offer coverage for people for those snow days or when their normal after school sitter can't make it.

 

[3and3]

Thanks for the ideas. How would you go about finding people who need houses to clean, or animals to watch/walk? Not sure I can run errands for others we are going to be short a vehicle soon.

[indigomama]

Could you work a night shift somewhere? Maybe janitorial or secretarial for a hospital? Then even if you were sleeping part of the day you would still be home.  

[gaillardia]

:grouphug: Cleaning houses will take you away from home and it is not an easy task. I have a dear friend who started her own business doing errands for others which includes babysitting, pet sitting and walking, house cleaning, bill paying, grocery shopping, baking cookies, driving people to airport, appointments, etc., picking up packages, picking up kids, delivering packages, and a whole lot of other chores, errands, etc. She makes generally about $20 hour, but sometimes a lot more. It started out slow, but now she has to say no to some jobs. Her husband was working, then he lost his job and it has gotten them through for about 4 years (he was making a very decent salary).

My friend had to get licensed and bonded, which is a guarantee of her trustworthiness to clients and covers her if there are any damages or losses on the part of the client. I'm sure I'm missing something on my description of that.

 

I also worked afternoons into the evening for over a year with a few little ones at home and older ones to watch them, and my dh worked days. I know how hard that can be.

Have you looked into substitute teaching at the schools? Some states/districts don't require a degree.

Look into etsy and ebay. I have another friend who buys junk all the time to resell it on both places. She recently bought a box of stuff at an auction for a couple of bucks and resold some of the items in it for $20 each. Some of the things that resell at $30 to $300 would amaze you. I asked her why people would be interested in buying a never used, packaged set of bath towels and washcloths for $30 from 1960s. She said: "Don't ask."

When she can't get rid of individual items she boxes together similar items to sell. She's making money.

You said you're crafty. See what's selling on etsy.

Some people resell their kids' clothes. There are some nationwide but local online sale places. Research for that on the net.

 

Also, look into your state's cottage food industry laws. I think forrager dot com has a listing for every state. Some states you can sell from home, you don't need inspections, etc.

Good luck. Don't give up.

 

 

[Lady Marmalade]

You said you are crafty- do you sew at all?  I make a nice chunk of change this time of year doing (usually very minor) costume alterations for dance.  You wouldn't believe how many people cannot even sew a strap on!   I get paid a minimum of $5 per costume- when some of those strap attachments take 30 seconds, I make a very good hourly rate.  The more major alterations I charge between 10 and 20, (plus materials) and then there are the people who don't sew a bit and have a child with eight costumes- I've made as much as $60 from one person.  

 

On top of the dancewear, I often do alterations for people who know I sew.  It's just a skill that a lot of people don't know how to do anymore, and they are willing to pay nicely for the service. 

[MomatHWTK]

Do you write well? There are lots of contractors who will hire people to write e-books, articles, etc. 

[Guest]

Sometimes assembly jobs can be done based on piecework at home.  You might ask your current employer.  Also, look around in the area you currently work in...similar jobs tend to cluster in similar areas.  You can ask other assembly businesses.  Piecework can be GREAT because you can take on just as much as you can handle and it can be done at odd hours.  I had piecework one time which ended up being pretty lucrative because I was particularly skilled and FAST at what was required of me.  

[MomatHWTK]

There's this as well:

https://www.mturk.com/mturk/welcome?variant=worker&state=QVdoVzV4TFhKRDM2VjFKSGluL3N5RWFoYUI4PTIwMTYwMzAzMTYzNFVzZXIudHVya1NlY3VyZX50cnVlJQ--

[Daria]

This might seem really far fetched, and weirdly specific, and I have no idea how it would work logistically, but as a special educator, I know so many parents and therapists who want or need customized visual materials for their classroom or homes, and just can't find the time to make it.

 

Here's a good example:

 

 

I would love this kind of book for one of my students.  It's not commercially available in a complete form.  You have to buy the software, customize it (e.g. put in pictures of siblings, or favorite activities), print it up on special waterproof paper, laminate with special matte laminating paper (but only one sided, and only certain pages that get the most use), bind it, cut the little tabs on the bottom, attach the side panel, add the PVC rod, drill holes for ribbon, add a stand . . . 

 

Frankly, for someone as klutzy and not crafty as me, that would take me forever.  I'd have to go to a number of stores (office store for waterproof paper, hardware store for PVC pipe, whatever store you by ribbon from . . . ) and I'd probably mess up the first 3 times and waste the expensive paper. 

 

If there was someone who had an ETSY store, where I could customize the file*, and email it off with some simple choices (what kind of binding, what color ribbon, how many pages of matte laminating, sized to be carried by a child/adult/wheelchair user . . . ) and get a completed book back, I would happily pay a couple hundred dollars for that.  And while I would find it super hard to make, if you were making them for multiple kids you'd learn what you were doing and it wouldn't be that bad.

 

*You would not be able to sell the file, because I'm sure there are rules about the software, but if you were selling the service of printing/laminating/binding/assembling? I bet that's legal.