successful work from home jobs?

[dayshen]

are there any single mommas out there who are working from home to be with their kids and making money to pay all the bills? i have tried various things and none of them were stimulating enough for my brain, nor did they make enough money...
if anyone has a way that works... i would be so grateful for the shared knowledge! blessings

[cupswands]

How about real estate?

I got my real estate license precisely because I wanted to make a substantial income and determine my own hours, clientele, etc. Mothering allows us so many networking opportunities with other moms (i.e., moms clubs, parks, LLL meetings, etc.). You don't have to sell your soul to the professional world either.

Most importantly, you have control over how you spend your time. It is a challenging profession and is constantly changing. Boredom is not an option.

Love,
Mindy

[truly_sarah]

I'm a SAS programmer. SAS is a cool language, it's very interesting and you can do all sorts of things with it and it runs on mainframe and PC. I make enough money to pay all my bills and then some by doing programming for health services research, mostly slanting towards the public health side of containing costs while improving outcomes. You could probably do decently writing grants, doing data entry, editing, or writing. BUT I would say to go where your heart leads you than where your pocketbook requires because in the end you won't make any money doing what you don't like to do but you will make plenty doing what comes naturally and it won't even seem much like work. I think the best thing is whatever you do to have local clients who are supportive of your status as a mother and who enjoy children and will pay you fairly. Maybe you can start with your chamber of commerce...or people you know who might need some work done?

I do get child support for my oldest so his 'bills' aren't covered by what I make, just the little one's needs and mine...and also I live in my partner's house so I only contribute to groceries and a small amount for the mortgage and then whatever phone calls I make...and my business provides our computers and machines and internet connection. But I don't recommend getting a divorce to find yourself in this sort of setup!

Sarah

[Tori]

I was wondering the same thing I was considering looking into the assemble at home deals or I got the name of some work at home website, not really sure what's required for that. I couldn't put any money into it initially. What have you tried?

[Skyemama]

I am a stay at home single mom making money from babysitting, child support and the state. I struggled with the need to have work that intellectually stimulated me too. In the end I decided that figuring out a way to stay at home, have stimulating friends, and reading a lot was the answer for me. I'll go back to school when my 23 month old son is much older. Right now I am exactly where I need to be.
Best wishes

[SquirelNutkin]

I ahve looked into a lot of things-
secret shopping (none open in my area), web design(need server- in my area), babysitting (now pregnant), and, hell, phone sex(didnt think I could manage it).
I found a lot of good info off this site- hope it helps. It does talk a lot about how to discern the fake assembly/ letter stuffing/ got computer scams from the real money makers.

http://www.wahm.com/

If all else fails- I say take out a big fat loan and some grant money and go to school. (did this, too for 2 years, In 2 more eyars when the loans are outta deferment, I may not be so happy about the descision, but my daughter will probly still like the time she spent with me.)

good luck! Its not an easy quest,
b

[momom]

I, too, looked at all the "make-money-at-home" offers, and all the ones I checked into were scams which required a substantial outlay of $ up front. I never trust those. Finally, I started watching a neighbor's child while I was home with my then-2-year-old. Pretty soon, through word-of-mouth, I had enough children to pay the bills. Seems like there is no shortage of parents who need reliable daycare. You just have to be willing to give your house over to a bunch of kids every day, and take the messes that go with that. Also, I have found that some parents are much better than others about paying you and showing up on time and not sending sick kids to be with the healthy ones... But I guess there are problems in any job. Mostly, I have really enjoyed it because it allows me to just focus on child-realated things all day. Something to consider... Good luck!

[NaturalJoy]

Do you have any skills you could tap into? I did PR writing for awhile for an agency, and then when I had Sam, decided to do work from home. It's a pain to track down clients once I've tapped one dry, but it is a great source of income for relatively easy work. I write brochures, newsletters, etc.

Good luck!

Joy

[~member~]

Hello All!
I am not currently a WAHM, but when I lived in the city and my babies were three I got all of us into modeling. I know it's 'unconventional', but at $650 an hour it helped. Unknown to most people, you don't have to be Cindy Crawford or beautiful, thin wafer. Just look in your ads for Target or local clothing goods store. What most advertiser's want is the next-door people look. Number one advice: NEVER put any money into it. It is a job that pays you. A good agency will never ask for money, nor ask you to pay for headshots/photos.

I just brought personal photos to a few agencies. I picked photos that gave a good picture of what we looked like. One full face shot and one full body shot.

We certainly didn't get rich or famous, but it allowed for a fun summer with tons of time spent together and no worries about bills.

It's probably not a 'job' you would want to depend on as a SAHM, but if your looking for that extra 'boost' it certainly doesn't hurt.
Hope this helps

[madison]

Hi there!

I'm not doing yet, but I've looked into a multitude of things to earn a wage while working from home raising my own child(ren):

Afterschool childcare (3-7pm)
Part time Nanny
Post partum doula
Housesitting/dogwalking
Crafts - I'm a soap & candle maker
Personal Assistant
Errand Running Service
Mystery Shopping
Elder Care Service (non-medical)
Cooking for house-bound folks or busy families


I've also been looking into the Pampered Chef product line - check out www.pamperedchef.com/index.jsp. It required a $100 start up cost, and seems interesting.

Good luck!

[tuodeggol]

not my real name

this is a temp name I got from a moderator becuse my real handle got messed up
somehow -

anyway - I'm in the same situation - needing to make some money to supplement state
help until my baby is older. I have been advertising to do childcare for two months now
and every time a mom calls to talk and finds out I have a child of my own - they bail out immediately.

How do you guys get a mother to hire you if oyu have a child already? I can see they probably want 100% attention for their own child but I also thought having a mom look after your kid would be a big plus - since
we know what we're doing a bit more than non-moms.

Any thoughts on how I might get a mom to hire me?

[Tori]

The babysitting job I had, I actually called someone I knew whom I was friendly with ( I had worked with her before). I knew she wanted someone to watch her baby in her house when she went back to work and I was pregnant at the time. I was upfront with her. I told her I wanted a job where I could bring my baby with me and offered to watch her son. I feel pretty lucky it worked out because she actually already had someone elce to do it but that person wanted her to bring her child to their house instead. So my daugher and her son were 6 months apart and it worked out great! Any other jobs I have gotten are through word of mouth. People will tell their friends how much they like you and something will come up. You said YOU were advertising. Could you call OTHER people who advertise in the help wanted section and would you be willing to go to their house.

[TraceyMc]

Call a nanny agency. I have worked with one for years before my dd and after. It is free for the nanny to sign up, the clients pay the agency. The one I have worked for has a list of people looking for a nanny and which ones will let you bring a child.

Good Luck