staying home, are any other moms trying to work from h

[reese's mom]

Are there any other parents who have chosen to stay at home but still need to earn an income?
I am just finishing my maternity leave with my second child and have chosen to leave my career of 14 years. However I still to need to have an income. I have no transportation and would like to do something reputable on the computer.
Has anyone else been there?
Any suggestions?
This is the first time I have used anything like this.

Please help

Reese's mom

[MommyToAshley]

HI and welcome to Parenting Club!

I am a WAHM... DH and I run our own business from home. We do web design, computer programming, database, custom applications, etc. If you are interested in something like that, you can take courses on web design. You won't get rich off just web development alone, but it could be a supplement to your household income. Just some thoughts. Maybe someone else will have some other suggestions.

I probably don't have to tell you that if there is a way you can manage to stay at home, it is soooo worth any other sacrifices you make. I don't know what I would do if I had to leave my daughter every day, my heart would just break. I know it isn't always possible for some families, but if you can work it out, I would suggest it.

By the way, how old are your children? I'd love to see some pictures.

[kit_kats_mom]

My first suggestion is to not use any of the "telecommuting job finding services" online. Most of them are scams. Do not pay ANYONE to find a job for you. Do you live in a city or small town? Are you crafty? What kind of skills do you have that you could use to make extra money? How much time can you realistically dedicate to working from home? When will you work? If you will be working nights, then any job which requires you to have customer contact are probably out. Do you have sales skills? Do you have strong computer skills? Do you have a broadband connection at home and a reliable computer?

I would say that you probably need to evaluate all of the above first. Make a wish list of your ideal job and then network with everyone you know. You may also want to offer to telecommute for your current job. Finding replacements for skilled employees is very difficult and if your job does not require direct customer contact, and you present your company with a well researsed proposal, they may be willing to give it a go.

I do database work for a national consulting firm. I work from home, mostly nights and weekends when my DH can watch my DD. I have had to put her in home daycare for 12 hours a week so that I can return customer calls and answer emails uninterrupted though. Working from home is hard but I wouldn't trade it for anything. I offered my former employer a proposal to let me work from home but they did not accept it due mainly to the fact that the other employees would be jealous. Whatever....I figured out how much I had to make so that we could make ends meet, how many hours I could work and the things that I was interested in. Virtual secretary, errand runner for busy professionals, credit counselor, bill collector, database/web consulting, software tutoring, typist, housecleaning etc. I am not the sales type but I did research discovery toys and avon as well. I then told everyone I knew about what my ideal job would be and I also called around to every temp agency in town. Finally, a family member came home from work complaining that someone didn't return to work after her maternity leave and I asked what she did and if it was something that I could do from home. I took my resume in and was hired the next day. It was total luck that they were in such a desperate situaion, but I was persistant and I was able to sell myself & my skills to them. I've been working for them for a little over a year now and I love it.

Good luck and welcome to the board. Feel free to ask anything else you might want too. This is a great group of folks.