Advice on Telecommuting

[gottimd]

I was wondering if anyone here has had any experiences with finding part time work by telecommuting? I am looking all over the internet and I see a bunch of scam sites.

Can anyone suggest a good place to go? This is mainly to bring in some extra cash, maybe an hour a night and 4-5 hours each weekend. Like data entry crap that I can do from home. I was looking on Craigslist, is there another place I should be looking at?

[rjolley]

I use dice.com to look for telecommute jobs.

[gottimd]

Thanks! I took a look at that and I may be able to get something from there even though it is primarily for tech jobs. I was looking for something like 10-15 Hours a week tops, telecommute, and what I'd like to do is something on the Accounting/Financial Technical side, including data entry. But I'd do pretty much anything besides cold calling people or sales.

Just looking to bring in an extra amount per month.

[rjolley]

Yeah, I'm the same way. Just something parttime to pick up some extra cash here and there.

You could also try sologig.com and odesk.com.

[Cringer]

Too much time at home can be bad. If your tables start to sexually attract you I suggest you end the telecommute thing. Until then, best of luck.

[Fidatelo]

That odesk site is depressing. I'm seeing people with pretty good qualifications whoring themselves out for < $20.00/hour. Yikes.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

That odesk site is depressing. I'm seeing people with pretty good qualifications whoring themselves out for < $20.00/hour. Yikes.

of course. you can't expect to work from your couch doing part time (i.e. little/no responsibility & little/no accountability) work and get paid much of anything. there's simply too much supply and not enough demand for that type of work. i'd be willing to work for 20% of my real salary for night/weekend part-time, work-at-home work.

[oliegirl]

I started working from home in February. I took a pay cut, but the money I'm saving in gas/commuting time/work clothes/etc...combined with the freedom to make my own schedule and be home when my son leaves and comes home from school makes it totally worth it. It's not something I could do if I was the sole income earner for the family, but combined with my fi's income, it's more than enough.

[gottimd]

I understand that the pay will be low, just looking for a little extra on the side, I am not trying to take on a second full time job. I'd be happy with $10/HR.

I already work 70-80HRS a week for a pretty high salary but my wife and I are losing dual income, so we need to pick up the slack somewhere to make ends meet.

[Fidatelo]

Originally Posted by gottimd

I already work 70-80HRS a week for a pretty high salary but my wife and I are losing dual income, so we need to pick up the slack somewhere to make ends meet.

Holy hell, that is not cool. No one should have to work 70-80 hours a week and still be thinking about looking for more.

[gottimd]

Originally Posted by Fidatelo

Holy hell, that is not cool. No one should have to work 70-80 hours a week and still be thinking about looking for more.

I've gotten so used to it, it doesn't matter. I work about a 12hr-14hr day and then sporadically through the weekend. Don't get me wrong, my current company has rewarded my time and time again with stock options, random bonuses, two promotions.

Still all of that doesn't make up for the loss of income, and I need to help out where I can so I figured I could work from home doing some web data entry. Gives me an excuse to be working on NAFL stuff at the same time, and the wife can't say anything!

[NoMyths]

Originally Posted by gottimd

I already work 70-80HRS a week for a pretty high salary but my wife and I are losing dual income, so we need to pick up the slack somewhere to make ends meet.

You may need to trade in your Corvette for a Suburban.

[gottimd]

Originally Posted by NoMyths

You may need to trade in your Corvette for a Suburban.

If I had a corvette that would be an option.

[NoMyths]

Originally Posted by gottimd

If I had a corvette that would be an option.

Time to fire the gardener, then.

[gottimd]

Originally Posted by NoMyths

Time to fire the gardener, then.

If I had a yard that would be an option.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by gottimd

I've gotten so used to it, it doesn't matter. I work about a 12hr-14hr day and then sporadically through the weekend. Don't get me wrong, my current company has rewarded my time and time again with stock options, random bonuses, two promotions.

Still all of that doesn't make up for the loss of income, and I need to help out where I can so I figured I could work from home doing some web data entry. Gives me an excuse to be working on NAFL stuff at the same time, and the wife can't say anything!

Have you taken a hard look at your homee financials?
We havee recently been considering a family income move, and it appears initially like it will cost somewhere around 5-600/month.

We dug a little bit and by changing house and car insurance, swapping cell phone plans, and dropping a TV premium, we were actually able to recover a large portion of that. YRMV, but I had carried the same car/home insurance for 5+ years and never shopped rates.

Also, do you get a tax refund? if so a small change theere could alleviatee the problem somee.

just trying to give some unconventional ideas.

[gottimd]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

Have you taken a hard look at your homee financials?
We havee recently been considering a family income move, and it appears initially like it will cost somewhere around 5-600/month.

We dug a little bit and by changing house and car insurance, swapping cell phone plans, and dropping a TV premium, we were actually able to recover a large portion of that. YRMV, but I had carried the same car/home insurance for 5+ years and never shopped rates.

Also, do you get a tax refund? if so a small change theere could alleviatee the problem somee.

just trying to give some unconventional ideas.

Yes I have, thanks for the advice. We live in a very expensive area with a great school system so my wife is unwilling to move out of the neighborhood. One of our issues is that we bought our condo at the peak of the market, and even to sell right now, we need to come to the table with $20K to close. That is besides the point, I have run our monthly expenses and cut out what I can (drop cable to basic, get rid of verizon and use our cell phones, etc). We will be getting a tax refund but that is going right into savings. That is about all we can cut unless we don't pay heat, electric, mortgage. Other problems are that I am about to take out a Life Insurance policy, up my 401K by 1% per pay, and put some into savings as well each paycheck.

That being said, dropping to one income is tough, and I have thought of all the ways to cut our current costs, and this option of working at home on the weekends or evenings might be a possible option.

She is toying with the idea of us selling our place and moving south (Atlanta). If I can work out a deal with work to telecommute to DC 3 weeks out of the month or every other week, and probably buy a really nice place in Atlanta for $250-$300K keeping my "northern" salary, we would be perfect. But that is probably not likely and I'll need to investigate the work from home option further.

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by gottimd

Yes I have, thanks for the advice. We live in a very expensive area with a great school system so my wife is unwilling to move out of the neighborhood. One of our issues is that we bought our condo at the peak of the market, and even to sell right now, we need to come to the table with $20K to close. That is besides the point, I have run our monthly expenses and cut out what I can (drop cable to basic, get rid of verizon and use our cell phones, etc). We will be getting a tax refund but that is going right into savings. That is about all we can cut unless we don't pay heat, electric, mortgage. Other problems are that I am about to take out a Life Insurance policy, up my 401K by 1% per pay, and put some into savings as well each paycheck.

That being said, dropping to one income is tough, and I have thought of all the ways to cut our current costs, and this option of working at home on the weekends or evenings might be a possible option.

She is toying with the idea of us selling our place and moving south (Atlanta). If I can work out a deal with work to telecommute to DC 3 weeks out of the month or every other week, and probably buy a really nice place in Atlanta for $250-$300K keeping my "northern" salary, we would be perfect. But that is probably not likely and I'll need to investigate the work from home option further.

Just to be another "alternate thought" person...

I'm assuming dropping the income is because of a child. So, let's work with that assumption.

Would it be more productive if maybe your wife was able to pick up one of these $10/hr type data entry jobs? I have no idea if she's qualified, etc, etc. But to me (and I don't have kids) it seems like there would be an opportunity during naps, certain playtimes, etc where she could do that and alleviate you some? Or you still do the PT job?

Anyway. I have no real advice on the telecommuting thing. I know of some freelancing sites for web-design and such, but that really doesn't help you.

[gottimd]

Do headhunters or staffing companies bother with placing people for weekend work or evening, by telecommuting, or do they not bother because the portion they receive from the hiring company would be too small to even look for?

Reason i ask is I am wondering if I should bother giving the resume to a headhunter/temp agency/staffing company, and will they accept it if they know I am only interest in after hours or weekend telecommuting? Anyone try that route?

[johnnyshaka]

My wife is a couple months away from giving birth to our second child and it won't be long before she stops working her part-time gig so we are going to have to come up with another way to make those extra bucks. I'm due a raise at work...been working since September without a contract...but I would still like to find a way to pickup some extra cash as I've got some reno stuff to do around the house.

Let me know what you come up with as I've got a couple of potential leads with a couple of buddies who sometimes need an extra hand here and there but nothing concrete.

Wade, your idea about having the wife doing stuff while the baby naps or whatever is great in theory but in my experience is virtually impossible. Before having our first child I thought the exact same thing but I changed my tune pretty quickly.

[lighthousekeeper]

Originally Posted by johnnyshaka

Wade, your idea about having the wife doing stuff while the baby naps or whatever is great in theory but in my experience is virtually impossible. Before having our first child I thought the exact same thing but I changed my tune pretty quickly.

unfortunately, as husbands it's not even our tune to change if we wanted...

[johnnyshaka]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

unfortunately, as husbands it's not even our tune to change if we wanted...

Very true.

[oliegirl]

Originally Posted by lighthousekeeper

unfortunately, as husbands it's not even our tune to change if we wanted...

Tell you what, you squeeze a 7 or 8 lb baby that 18 or 20 inches long out of your body and then you can sing whatever song you want

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally Posted by oliegirl

Tell you what, you squeeze a 7 or 8 lb baby that 18 or 20 inches long out of your body and then you can sing whatever song you want

I've squeezed something that was 7 or 8 lbs and 18 or 20 inches long out of my body, but I don't think it was a baby. My wife told me that she heard crying after it happened, but I think she just heard me.

[MikeVic]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I've squeezed something that was 7 or 8 lbs and 18 or 20 inches long out of my body, but I don't think it was a baby. My wife told me that she heard crying after it happened, but I think she just heard me.

Stalls thread!!

[oliegirl]

Originally Posted by Pumpy Tudors

I've squeezed something that was 7 or 8 lbs and 18 or 20 inches long out of my body, but I don't think it was a baby. My wife told me that she heard crying after it happened, but I think she just heard me.

Men are gross.

[lordscarlet]

Originally Posted by oliegirl

Tell you what, you squeeze a 7 or 8 lb baby that 18 or 20 inches long out of your body and then you can sing whatever song you want

Give me a break with that.

[oliegirl]

Originally Posted by lordscarlet

Give me a break with that.

Did you not see the great big grinning smiley face that very obviously showed that I was kidding???? Sheesh...

[lordscarlet]

It's the internets. Sometimes it's hard to tell if that is "I'm kidding" or "I know I will catch flack for this comment." I apologize.

[CU Tiger]

Originally Posted by oliegirl

Tell you what, you squeeze a 7 or 8 lb baby that 18 or 20 inches long out of your body and then you can sing whatever song you want

My wife says you are a wuss.
9.8 23"
8.4 21.5"

7lbs wouldnt slow down, they'd bounce off the floor.....

[Lorena]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

9.8 23"
8.4 21.5"

Big babies! Our 2 kids were about the same too:

9.4 21"
8.6 20"

[Raiders Army]

It's not necessarily the size. Sometimes after eating Mexican, it's like napalm coming out. No matter how many times you wipe, it's burning like a mf-er.

[Autumn]

This site http://www.homewiththekids.com/work-at-home/ has some good, already vetted, links on it. There's stuff like virtual assistants, data entry, transcription. None of it pays spectacularly, but if it's something you're efficient at you can make $20/hr or so, and you can decide how many hours you want to do on most of them.

[CamEdwards]

Yeah, my wife was lucky enough to land a telecommuting tech writer contract a couple of years ago, but it just ended on March 1. For us it's more about her doing something outside of mommydom, though the extra money has certainly come in handy. I'm going to refer her to those websites, so thanks for posting them!