Any of you ladies work from home?

MamaHanna · July 2013

I am sure this topic has been covered but I went through 3 pages and couldn?t find anything. I work now as a secretary and I was not concerned about going back to work after my little girl comes in December but we just announced a move to down town Detroit from our nice place in the burbs 2 miles from home.

1) That adds over an hour to my drive time each way

2) The stuff that they say about Detroit is true?and it?s pretty scary

3) I would be away from my little girl 9 hours+ depending on traffic every day and that kills me

I would love to stay home with her but we need some form of income coming in from me. Any of you ladies make a decent living working from home? I am not talking like $100 a week I mean I would have to make at least $400 a week for this to fly with DH. I have a BA in English and a MA in Counseling, I have years of secretarial experience and have worked in doctors? offices before but I don?t know coding and billing. I just feel like a jerk because I was told I would never have kids so I made my education my baby and spent 7 years in school now all I want to do is stay home with my real baby!

Allycat11 · July 2013

ta78:
Allycat11:
Last time I had to find a job in the Metro Detroit area was 2.5 years ago (I am almost positive there was a higher unemployment rate then from everything I have read), it took less than a month. Oh and DH actually had to do the same twice and both times it took him less than a month. I am sick of people blaming the economy for everything.
In all seriousness though, you will not make up your entire paycheck, or even close to it by working at home.
Why would you move to such a crappy area when you have children? There are plenty of nice suburbs within a comfortable commute of downtown Detroit.

I thought she meant that her work moved locations and made her commute longer and less desirable.

Oh, gotcha. I was dealing with a fussy baby while trying to read.

On that note, I know plenty of people who commute into Detroit or Pontiac and they are fine. Suck it up, or find another job.

MamaHanna · July 2013

I live in a very nice area but it is about 45 min from Detroit and that?s the issue. 45min in rush hour down I-75 translates into over an hour easy.

The reason it took me so long is that as soon as people find out I have my MA they tell me I am ?over qualified.? If I am willing to apply for the job I am willing to do the work.

OceanBreeze1 · July 2013

Dirty lurker...

I work from home, about 20 to 30 hours a week...and without taking dd to my in laws two days a week it would be nearly impossible, lol. It's really hard to do any work with dd home, and I'm exhausted at the end of the day when it comes time to work at night.

I'm in the metro Detroit area. Before dd I was a newspaper reporter and was offered the opportunity to be a campaign manager from home when I was pregnant, so I took it.

My candidate lost, which was actually a good thing because I found more work from home opportunities.

I work for a social media company, and I also started my own business setting up basic websites, writing ghost blogs for companies, creating online newsletters, making fliers, doing public relations press releases, etc.

With an English background, you have opportunities out there, you just have to hunt them down.

But being a wahm to make the income you want is hard without some child care, if you don't want to spend all your nights and weekends working. Good luck!

bumpuser8448316 · July 2013

CnAmom:
Are you sure you're not just looking for an excuse to SAH? Because this thread is full of them.

bingo!

MamaHanna · July 2013

Sorry for the lurk. I assumed I should go straight to the source if I wanted to SAH.

I am in the same area as my parents and DH?s parents so I have round the clock free babysitting that has been offered up not asked for. If I stay with my current job it?s a 20min drive to their house (they all live with-in a block of each other DH and I grew up together) then a 45 min drive down town putting me at over 3 hours in the car every day. This is where it is killing me. They offered to babysit but only in their homes (which I get, obviously I don?t like spending 40+hours a week away for home either). I assumed if I was a WAHM I would cut down my commute to the 20min back and forth to the inlaws/parents and cut out the hour down town. All of the jobs I keep finding are in Detroit, Southfield or Dearborn which are all really far from me. This is just really frustrating.

bumpuser8448316 · July 2013

MamaHanna:
Sorry for the lurk. I assumed I should go straight to the source if I wanted to SAH.

I am in the same area as my parents and DH?s parents so I have round the clock free babysitting that has been offered up not asked for. If I stay with my current job it?s a 20min drive to their house (they all live with-in a block of each other DH and I grew up together) then a 45 min drive down town putting me at over 3 hours in the car every day. This is where it is killing me. They offered to babysit but only in their homes (which I get, obviously I don?t like spending 40+hours a week away for home either). I assumed if I was a WAHM I would cut down my commute to the 20min back and forth to the inlaws/parents and cut out the hour down town. All of the jobs I keep finding are in Detroit, Southfield or Dearborn which are all really far from me. This is just really frustrating.

well, to be fair this is the SAHM board. Not the WAHM board...most of us don't bring in any type of income or do any work whether at home or out of the home.

spring_time · July 2013

If it were that easy to find a WAH job for $400 a week, I think a lot more people would do it. Honestly, it sounds like you are making a lot of excuses just so you can stay at home. As a person who lives in Metro Detroit, and has worked in Detroit in various locations for the past 11 years:

1) That adds over an hour to my drive time each way

This is a pretty normal commute for Detroiters. Most people do not live in the city and there are a whole lot of people who commute. It all depends on what time you leave. Leaving 15 minutes earlier can mean the difference between a 45 minute commute and a 1.5 hour commute. I drove over an hour every day for the past year and a half. It stunk, but is not unusual. We live in the suburbs, and my husband works in the suburbs...it is still 45 minutes.

2) The stuff that they say about Detroit is true?and it?s pretty scary

Actually downtown Detroit is pretty safe. If you are near Campus Martius, it is very similar to the suburbs with a lot of people eating outside and walking around. Down by the Riverfront near the RenCen is beautiful in the spring and summer. Wayne State or the DMC is full of young people. If you are not near one of those hubs, you can get most places driving main roads, just don't drive the neighborhoods. You find your routes.

3) I would be away from my little girl 9 hours+ depending on traffic every day and that kills me

Again, not all that unusual. This seems to be your real issue.

rockyrollgirl · July 2013

I don't know what to tell you OP. You want to stay home, but your family needs the extra income. $400 a week is kind of a lot. You are going to have to commute or find a job closer to home. You have free babysitting so thats helpful. Maybe they can come to your house so you don't have to drive that extra 20 minutes?

Andrewsgal · July 2013

You can't afford to stay home keep your job. You have free child care you are way luckier than most.

sschwege · July 2013

Have you considered watching kids in your home? I make close to the number you threw out, though we are talking Chicago prices here...

OceanBreeze1 · July 2013

MamaHanna:
All of the jobs I keep finding are in Detroit, Southfield or Dearborn which are all really far from me. This is just really frustrating.

Me again. I'm in Macomb County...not sure where you are but there are jobs here, you just have to take initiative and expand your search. Check Craigslist, go to direct company websites, market yourself, call businesses you drive past each day or go into them. Most jobs around here are posted on big job sites last.

There is no quick answer, but you have to be driven and persistent and you can find something.

bumpuser8448316 · July 2013

I think you should at least try it before you decide it doesn't work for you. 9+ hours doesn't seem unusual to me. A typical day is 9 hours, 8 hours of work and 1 for lunch.

dizzycooks · July 2013

As someone who also lives in a suburb of a major metro area, drive time sucks, but you make it what you make it. My DH takes the bus and uses the time to read, look over our budget, do a little work. I drive, but I make a ton of personal calls and enjoy the quiet between drop offs and work. I go 9 miles and I still need an hour to make it. As I said in another post, my DH needs an hour door to door to get to work as well. We are both gone at least 9-10 hours minimum from DD when we are working (and I'm a teacher who supposedly has 'awesome' hours!). This might just be a crappy new reality that you deal with while you look for something else. If you finish our your pregnancy at this company, deal with the commute, enjoy your maternity leave and start looking for another job at that point, you may find you are in a better position by next spring. In reality, it's a very short amount of time. If the extra 20 minutes to drop off at free daycare bothers you, then I would look for paid daycare near your home or office for the time being and take them up on their extremely generous offer down the road if it still stands. I say this as someone who went from daycare near home, cheap and misleadingly wonderful to expensive, out of my way care in exchange for high quality care I trust and the flexibility to pull DD whenever I am not working. We all make choices. It sounds like you need to make some choices you don't want to make.

stacymills99 · July 2013

try the website higheredjobs.com, you may be qualified to teach if you are interested in teaching.

Hmperez · July 2013

If you're like me, you want that perfect job that lets you stay home and raise your children. I have 4 boys and i certainly don't want to think about the cost of daycare. Money started getting tight and I applied for all types of virtual jobs, sadly being a SAHM doesn't give you much of a resume. I even looked into Scentsy, Pampered Chef, ACE, Advocare. ALL of them require at least $100 in upfront costs. I didn't have that much to invest and I certainly didn't have the ability to run around to all the parties they requires. Then I found out about Instant Rewards. No costs, no kits, no parties, and I don't have to worry about schedule conflicts. If you're as intrigued as I was head over to my website and check it out

Feel free to message me with any questions or if you need help getting started!! If you're willing to put 2-4 hrs in a day, you can easily make 1,400-2,000/month. Plus, after you get started you can work from anywhere. You can even work while sitting at the doctors office or waiting on your littles one to finish baseball practice!!! Oh and did I mention I will give you up to $20 after I get you all set up! That's right, you can make $20 just by signing up to work!!! How many opportunities offer that? So what do you have to lose?

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