oh buddy, do i know all about this. lol. i have been a stay at home mom for 5 years and i have tried a plethora of stuff. i will try to break it down in order for you of what i tried and the advantages and disadvantages of all.
1) babysitting. I started babysitting my best friends son 4 days after my daughter was born. it was great for her to have a little play mate, but the hours steadily started getting longer and longer and the older he got the more money it cost for me to keep up the house. buying toys, the food, baby wipes, giving him a bath, etc. when it got to the point that i was babysitting 70 hours a week for $120 bucks, i just couldnt handle it anymore.
2) running an in-home daycare. this was a train wreck for me. I just dont have enough of a spine for it and people walked all over it. i had people constantly not paying me, not bring diapers for their kids, etc. as much as i love kids, this just wasnt worth it for me!
3) selling avon. Avon is great and has some great products. For me personally though with 2 small children, i just did not have the time for it. I hit it hard in the beginning and made maybe $200 or so. people really like their products and they work well, but they are not things that people need OFTEN. if you are like me, then some foundation and blush is going to last you 8 months-a year. so its not a high repeat business unless you have a lots of customers ordering very often. you also have to pay for the books to hand out to people. although that is tax deductible. The hardest part for me was sitting down and sorting out who bought what and then having to drive around making the deliveries to everyone.
I should also add that i looked into selling mary-kay, however they kept pushing me to buy this $250 pack and also an inventory. they even offered me a credit card to charge it on. I just couldnt afford that. avon still required an up front fee, but it much lower than mary-kay. i cannot say if that was the norm though!
3) online paid surveys. Never made a dime. and i tried for a good MONTH to make them work. i dont know what it is about me, but i never seemed to qualify for the remaining part of the survey.
4) selling crafts! i crochet and i enjoy doing it! but again, people only need so many crocheted blankets, scarfs, hats, etc. my friends and family bought a lot in the beginning, but then didnt need new stuff. I dont know how to do patterns and stuff, so i couldnt open a store on etsy. However, i do have a lot of friends who are REALLY good and have opened etsy stores and done fairly well and bring in an extra 20-30 bucks a month or so.
5) i did try to do chacha and re-phrase questions. my sister does it and brings in a little bit each month. However, the software just wouldnt work on my computer. i have no idea why.
6) google systems. (i.e. google kit, google work, etc. ) TOTAL SCAM! dont even go there. i am pissed that i even thought it was real!
7) being a health educator for a wellness company. Ok, i was HIGHELY skeptical of this one. But since there was a money back promise for up to 4 months, i decided, what the hey? i will try for a few months and if it doesnt work then i can quit. you never know until you try right? lol. Now, here i am over a year later. lol. is it HUGE money? no. i do it very part time, but i have still made around $2500 in the passed year and a few months. its consumer direct marketing, so i dont have to deliver or sort any products. It has really helped my families health and i have learned so much that i really enjoy and i am always eager to help other families and their health issues too. its nice, because it is all things people buy anyway, laundry detergent, cleaners, shampoo, etc. its just more cost efficient so its not an expense you arent spending anyway. that makes things easier and there is also no contract. do as much or as little as you want, quit as you want, take breaks, etc. some people have done better then me, some have done worse. but i enjoy it. ( http://www.PerfectWorkForMoms.com if you want to check it out at all )
well, there you go. those are my experiences! lol. be prepared for SOME kind of investment. basically anything you are going to do is going to require something. even working outside the home requires new clothes, uniform, special shoes, gas for driving, etc. you just want to make sure that it is reasonable! its really the "free" stuff you need to look out for. that is the stuff that ends up being a scam 99% of the time. Just be realistic about it all and you will do fine! anything from home is going to be "supplemental" its not the same at a full-time work outside the home job, or hourly pay or anything like that, but it can help make things more comfortable!
