working from home

[mooshie]

hi there

i just want to get some work that i can do from home, hey i will even stuff envelopes etc

we really need to ease the pressure a bit and after 8yrs of not being in the "paid" workforce, i just feel the need has arisen for me to earn a bit of extra income - i am not asking for much $5,000 a year would be nice so we could go on an annual holiday. my dh works so darned hard to support us, and things just seem to be getting tougher at the moment. i have considered working at night, but unfortunately dh works shift work on alternate weeks - ie one week day shift next week night shift.

how can i find a job that i can do from home, i have rung a few companies out of the phonebook but i feel so darned desperate and i always get the usual response of no we don't have anything like that. i have rung employment agencies but they just suggest to continue ringing up other companies, i am getting so darned frustrated.

gee there is a demand out there for mums etc to work from home, dh and i were discussing that we should start up an employment agency for people solely to work from home - but then you are in the same situation as i am in - there seems to be no businesses out there that offer this.

i have googled and googled and googled for hours most nights but all that comes up seems to be the same old scam type situations.

any ideas on how i can go about getting some work from home as i said i don't mind at all mind numbing things like stuffing envelopes. i just want to do something to help the household budget and i am getting a little desperate.

okay off to search for more things to sell on ebay lol - sorry this seems to be a pity old me post. just a bit frustrated by all the knockbacks and the making me feel like an idiot phone calls i have been making.

[Danni]

ive been searching for the same thing for months!

[~Jo~]

Mmmm Ive had the good fortune of having a job fall into my lap. Its just data entry no more than 20 hours a week for a company who is absolutely overrun and needs to enter its stock into the computer. I got this through DH but maybe you could ring smaller businesses to see if this might be an option rather than bigger companies who will pay to have someone there to do it. Just a thought.

Jo

[Danni]

you lucky duck Jo

[mooshie]

hi jo

wow you are so lucky, i am guessing most of the opportunities around are actually via word of mouth.

was speaking to a girl at school yesterday and she is doing the censis this year - just deliering the censis forms and picking them up for 350 houses and she is getting paid $1400 - bugger just wish i had have thought about that a month ago.

ah well thems the breaks, time to keep on searching lol

[~Jo~]

OH wow Michelle..bugga...maybe next year?

Jo

[Beckibee]

Censis pays that much?! I saw the ad in the paper,but I'm not quite there on the license thing...will definatley have it for next time though.

Are you a fast typer? There are a lot of people around (students) who would pay to have people type up assignments. Doesn't pay alot, but it's a little cash in hand each time.

[chickyfly]

im a fast typer

[Danni]

im a fast typer!!

[Muppity]

I was talking to the lady who delivers our junk mail the other day She picks it up in boxes from the warehouse, sorts it into piles (She gets about 10 boxes of printed stuff and then sorts it inot piles of one of each like you get it in the mailbox) and then she takes the pram out and delivers it. It isn't a huge amount of money but pays for the groceries each week which takes the pressure off.

[Astrid]

Re: Stuffing envelopes - I think you will find these days that companies either have a folding and stuffing machine (my old work did) or they out source the printing in the first place to somewhere that can fold and stuff as well. When I did work places that did need envelope stuffers the staff usually called people they knew (friends & relatives) so put the word out to people and they might think of you when something comes up.

Good luck to those that are looking - I am beginning to think there needs to be a sticky thread on work from home ideas.

[barbie-up]

The censis is done every four or five years - a friend of mine did it last time and said it was a BIG pain - people not being there time after time when he went to pick them up, lots of dodgy flats in his area and people not speaking english.

[Jesswith6]

I sell products in a party plan atmosphere through a company called PASH.Its commission based but they re so much fun. PM me if you want to know more about it.Just thought I would mention it to you ladies, I was the same I wanted to work from home. But I saw this oppurtunity and it seems like I am the only consultant in this area, I even see lots of people having parties in Melbourne.

[Jennifer13]

Hi girls

I have been working for myself from home for four years now, so I had the luxury of being able to continue during pg and after Lucy was born. I know just how lucky I am and although the pressure is sometimes on because I don't have the certainty that comes with a job, I have always been able to find enough work to cover everything I want.

I'm not sure what you all did before leaving the paid workforce, but in all likelihood you probably have some skills that can be transferred to home-based work.

I worked in corporate affairs for public service and a couple of big companies (about five years in total) and was astounded at how many of our suppliers were one-person businesses run from home - and doing quite large projects too. I figured maybe I could do what I was doing in-house on a consultancy basis from home. There were a lot of PR agencies charging top rates so I didn't have to do much to undercut them on price.

So, after being made redundant I gave it a shot. I guess the redundancy gave me the luxury of giving it a go without going broke. And I had the support of my DP, who has run his own business for many years so knew how to go about setting me up. It didn't cost much to do, a computer and company set up fees and that was about it.

I basically rang around all of my contacts working for other companies and then started cold calling publicly listed companies and sending out a flyer with what I did to them. I only need a few clients at a time and it didn't take long before I had some regulars. Now, I have a regular that I do a newsletter for every other month (write it from home, phone call interviews, email it to them, don't have to leave my desk!), a couple of fellow consultants who call me up when they get swamped so I can do some of their work and other clients who get me to do up presentations, surveys, newsletters, write for websites, annual reports, that kind of thing. I used to go in and cover for people going on leave or if someone had resigned at company's offices as well, but until Lucy is older and I'm not bf all day I'm going to put that on hold.

I do have to go out for the occasional meeting and I have a close friend who is happy to babysit for a couple of hours.

Some other one-person businesses (some Mums, some not) I've heard of are:
- Graphic designers
- Other corporate affairs and pr consultants
- Massage therapy (visiting people in their homes)
- Dance lessons (after hours, hiring a school hall)
- Bookkeeping (which I also do for my DP's business)
- Proofreading (for big companies' important reports)
- Tutoring school and university students (I have done this too and it pays very well, also I found it quite enjoyable helping kids learn to like subjects they weren't that good at)
- Tupperware

and I'm sure there are plenty more!

I'm happy to give out advice on setting up if anyone wants to PM me. As a side point, one of the best things about working for my own business is that just about everything you can think of can be put through the business, which means it's paid for pre-tax. It ends up saving us a lot of money! (think phone, mobile, foxtel, some groceries, lunch 'meetings', office supplies, internet access, car, petrol, some electricity and gas since I work from home, office furniture, the list is endless) My biggest expense is my phone and accountant. Another point is that you work for your company if that's how you're set up, so that's where the money goes, and you can choose how much salary to pay yourself. This means you can still be eligible for family tax benefits, etc.

Good luck to you all and I hope you do find a way to make some extra $$!!

[Lulu]

Bugger my baby brain!

A while back I was looking for something for dp whilst he was at home. I think I looked under something like "picking" or "packing" in the directory and found a place that packs stuff into things. All I needed was a van or station wagon - it didn't matter though, so I could pick it up and some room. My friend mum used to put disposable razors into the bags and staple on the cardboard bit, pack it back into the box and return it.

Sorry if it makes no sense, but it was easy work. We didn't go ahead with it as I got too busy with Body Shop.

[Astrid]

-. As a side point, one of the best things about working for my own business is that just about everything you can think of can be put through the business, which means it's paid for pre-tax. It ends up saving us a lot of money! (think phone, mobile, foxtel, some groceries, lunch 'meetings', office supplies, internet access, car, petrol, some electricity and gas since I work from home, office furniture, the list is endless) My biggest expense is my phone and accountant. Another point is that you work for your company if that's how you're set up, so that's where the money goes, and you can choose how much salary to pay yourself. This means you can still be eligible for family tax benefits, etc.

Ok the Bookkeeper and accounting training is coming out in me now. Please be very careful what expenses you claim for your business, please see your accountant for what you can and can't claim, as some could incure fringe benefits or even worse mean that you could incure capital gains tax on your home if you sell it, so protect your self.

Agree totally about the company set-up, being separate from the business as such is quite handy and makes it very easy to set your wage for the year and declate it to the family assist office, but once again see your accountant for the best business set-up for you.

[dinky]

Michelle

Keep an eye out in your local paper, I found a few jobs through there that I could do from home. They dont come up very often though as most of the people that do it are like us and dont quit! I spent 2 yrs folding tissue paper and cellophane for a marketing company, they deal with the major paper mills in Melbourne. The pay didnt sound like much at all, but i would usually average between $150-300 a week, I mainly did the folding at night, so you do need a lot of room. My boss had a heart attack and closed the business, so I havent been doing it for a while, but i am sure that they are still doing it, as all of the stuff that i used to pack is sold in a lot of retail outlets still. Maybe ring some of the paper mills and see if they can give you an idea of what companies they use. My boss used to deliver my work and would pick it up a week later, so it had to be finished, then he would drop off the next load at the same time. I think the pay was like 1 cent per sheet of cellophane, and 1 cent for 5 sheets of tissue, but i managed to get through it very quickly.

I hope that you find something.

[Astrid]

Also make sure everything is insured properly, especially if you have a company set-up. For example if the company buys a computer, then the company must gets its own insurance policy. Where as if you own the computer it may be covered under your own home and contents. Anyway always check with your insurance company as to what they cover.