Work From Home

Over a year ago Rob & I began building a house and the small rent payments of yesteryear were gone with the wind. We were faced with a real live size house payment. I wasn’t used to living on a budget so things definitely changed around our household. No more last minute trips to the mall, no more getting my hair done every 6 weeks (ok that was actually before Jeff was born), no more eating out 5x a week (j/k).

So I decided that I needed a J.O.B. but I didn’t want to leave Jeff with a sitter, besides the fact if I did get a sitter and driving 30 miles to get to work then I wouldn’t be making much money. So that left me one choice... find a job working from home.

I had absolutely no idea where to start. I didn’t want to be the person licking envelopes from their house or anything else from those newspaper ads. So I did what any person would do and turn to Google. Do you have any idea how many results pop up when you type in work from home?!? Like a million... ok I just googled and now it’s 341,000,000. I was overwhelmed. I was lucky though because one of the very first ones I clicked on is the one that led me to the job I’m at today.

So I’m going to share with you some of my knowledge… although I’m sure there are lots more informative people out there. But maybe what I know can give you a head start.

First, the main thing you need to know is - Any job that asks you to pay money is a SCAM. Legit companies don’t ask you for money.

I’m going to list some work at home websites that have message board forums where you can learn lots of information about a company. Do your research! Don’t just start gathering names of companies and applying to all of them. What if you get hired, spend the time training, and then find out they are a lousy company to work for? Read the message boards and see what people are saying!

Also, you need to realize that a large percentage of work at home people are considered Independent Contractors. What does that mean? It means you are not an actual employee and you have to be responsible for withholding your own taxes. I’m sure there is a more detailed and better explanation on the web.

Here are the list of sites that I visit:
www.wahm.com (the telecommuting moms board is my favorite)
www.workplacelikehome.com
www.ratracerebellion.com

I’m sure there are many more sites than the ones I have listed so I encourage you to google and research.

I often get asked, “Are there really that many jobs you can do at home?” Yes, you would not believe the amount of jobs out there that are legit – and a bunch of them are with well known companies!

Next week I’ll expand on this topic and give you a list of work at home companies that I’ve heard about. Good Luck!!