What Type of Job Can I Do from Home?

I also would love to hear any ideas! I am a divorced mom and work full time but having a hard time with all expenses and now with the holidays coming up. Help!

To answer Suzy's question, MLM is Multi-Level Marketing. It's not quite a pyramid scheme, but it's basically a program where they want you to sell something or do something online, and then they want you to sign up a bunch of friends, and you'll make a certain % of their earnings, then a smaller % of what your friend's friends make, and so on. I've been looking around for 4 years to find something legit that I like, and haven't had much luck since I don't want to sell ANYTHING from home (Avon, tons of candle companies, Arbonne Int'l, Pampered Chef, etc.). There is nothing wrong w/those legit companies I just mentioned, it's just that I don't want to deal with that.

I personally sell stuff on eBay. While eBay fees take a chunk out of your profit, depending on what you sell, it's still something I can do from home ON MY TERMS. A lot of times I find stuff sold in bulk and buy it and sell it as individual pieces. I've also had some luck selling a bunch of my purses and the kids clothes. You accept payments through your Paypal account, then the $ can be transferred FREE to your bank account within a few days. Paypal accounts are free, as are eBay accounts.

Beware of all the online survey and mystery shopper offers. I have worked for a few legit mystery shopper companies in the past, but even trying to haul one child to do the shops wasn't worth the small amount of $ they paid. In the end, I decided to stop doing the mystery shopper stuff because it wasn't profitable. The only survey company I do surveys for and have actually made $ from (though not a huge amount at one time) is www.MySurvey.com. I've been doing surveys with them for a couple of years now. Even though I can get points for referring people, I'm not going to hand out my referral info because I'd rather have people trust the info instead of thinking it's a ploy for self-gain. My Survey is always looking for people to sign up and take surveys, especially people with smaller children. Some of their online surveys eventually lead to product testing at home. Twice we've gotten samples of Cheez-It crackers to try, and I got a box of 90 dishwasher tablets to try out a couple of months ago. We've tested a few other products as well, but My Survey mainly does online surveys. I just cashed in $75 in check form. You collect points and then decide when you want to cash them in, and what you want to cash them in for. You can get a Paypal payment, check, or merchandise. You don't lose your points after a certain date like a lot of those survey sites. You won't make a fortune, but it's nice to do the surveys and get a little extra $ when you accumulate enough points.

Finally, if you are remotely good at spelling and proofreading, there is a company called Cloud Crowd that operates through Facebook that does a lot of small stuff like editing poorly written English text for foreign websites. They post their work available and you decide what tasks you want to do. They pay through Paypal within a day or two of the completed work being approved. Once again, YOU have control over what you do and how much. To find them, go to Facebook and do a search on Cloud Crowd.

I agree with the suggestion to babysit or watch someone's child while they are at work. That's probably going to be your best bet for reliable income. If you do try to go the selling handmade crafts route, there is a website you can sell your stuff on called Etsy (www.etsy.com) and it is exclusively for handmade goods. A family member of mine does digital art, and she sells her stuff on www.RedBubble.com.

Good luck on your search! C.

First of all you will now get every MLM recruiter on mamapedia trying to sign you up to get rich quick. Just be very careful and if you do choose a MLM company, go in with your eyes WIDE open (and pocketbook).

What are you good at, good qualities? Babysit, teach something to children, (sewing, cooking, etc)

5 hours is not a long time, can you possibly babysit?

Get creative and think outside the box..... Best wishes.

Kind of depends on your goal - are you wanting to get out? Or do you feel your income is necessary (or would at least relieve some of the pressure on your husband). I'm hoping my suggestions could help with either goal.

First off, be very cautious of every offer you get:

Most at home businesses require some sort of start up investment. The legitimate ones get you stuff for your investment (ie, Pampered Chef costs $80-$100 I think and you get a lot of products for demo and home use. Mary Kay costs $100 and you get a lot of demo products. Both are "retail value" more than you pay, plus you get training and such to get started).

Direct Sale companies, like Pampered Chef, Mary Kay, Sentsie Candles,
Avon, Lia Sophia, and so on, are generally legitimate. You are selling a product (which does require you to contact other people and either leave your home a few hours a week or host parties in your home). Even a non-"sales-type" person can be successful and have a good income, but it's not for everyone.

MLM companies generally are selling the company. A lot of the promise tons of income and seem to suggest very little work. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Or, have you ever considered going back to college? I know from personal experience that finishing college with kids is very doable and very worth it - if you know what you want to do, and if you enjoy it. It takes some extra work and support from others, but it can be done! And, there are lots of grants out there to help pay for tuition as well as other expenses (including "room and board" and "child care"). Go through the government ones first, especially fafsa.gov (which is the application for financial aid). And once your done, you'll have another marketable skill and a sense of accomplishment.

Good luck then because there is nothing out there.

I sell Avon, there is only a 10.00 start up fee and you run your business are much or little are you want.

Do you type and spell well?? Why not look into transcription services like Medical Billing coding, etc.

I believe you may need to complete a certificate program for that but then you'd be able to do it in your home. Like others have said really check out any program b/c there are so many scams out there. I would start by talking to the people who work in your childrens Dr.s offices and see where that leads you.

Also, what's a MLM that was mentioned in another post????

if your creative enough, you could make custom bows and hair things ant tutu's and shirts and stuff, like this is one of the people i order from :) http://www.facebook.com/#!/CraftyCousins?v=photos

This may require a little bit of money, but my sister-in-law has made SOOOO much money towards her FIVE kids' activities by becoming a coupon queen and stocking up on free and inexpensive items. Then she has these mass garage sales where she is practically FAMOUS (in Central Florida) for having brand new name-brand products (shampoo, hair spray, shavers, conditioner, etc...) Every time she had a sale she would collect e-mails and create a mass-mailing list so people would know when she was having her next sale.

Her coupon tactics-
1. using manufacturer on top of store coupons (sometimes on top of rebates)
2. price matching plus coupons, etc...
3. Using websites that tell you of deals/coupons like www.iheartcvs.com or couponmom.com etc...

She has five kids... has an extra freezer in her kitchen that is often stocked with free/inexpensive frozen food that she stocked up on...

She is amazing... I told her she should teach classes or something...

Other ideas:
1. typing transcriptions for doctor's offices or for research (professors, students). I bet if you put an ad up at the local college graduate school and dissertation office for typing transcriptions you'll get a ton of calls. You could either charge by the hour or per minute of recording. (I'm trying to work on my dissertation and can't find the time to transcribe my own stuff... so I may have some work for you. Ha ha.) :0)

2. Advertise a service to help other Moms with carpooling or taking their kid to school or activities (that your kids share so it's no additional time added to your schedule) 'Kid taxi' to school for 25 per week or something like that...

3. My sister told me her fiance was offered a bagged lunch for 25 bucks a week from a co-workers girlfriend. I'm not sure what it consisted of... but he was considering it!

4. If you enjoy crafting, sewing, etc... sell stuff on www.etsy.com (an e-bay site for crafters)

5. My sister-in-law also used to buy kids stuff on clearance super cheap and then turn around and sell it on e-bay for a profit. (sometimes you have to be careful with shipping to make sure you make money), but she always did well with that........

6. Take whatever skill, trade, hobby that you enjoy doing and start advertising it on Craigslist... or some kind of local magazine that caters to your market... then word of mouth will take over.. (I teach piano lessons in my home... etc...)

Good luck!

I can share what I do part time from home (I also work fulltime outside the home). You set your hours.

www.WorkAtHomeUnited.com/madden