Any SAHMs work from home?

yogahh

So DH floored me and said I can stay home, with the understanding we will be poor for a while  He totally will support my decision on this, and now I am thinking....

I really like my job. Its what I went to school for, and I love the company. I don't doubt that in 2 or 3 years they will hire me back if/when a position opens. My concern is money flow until then. In order for me to stay home, I really would need to bring in some money for the household. I have about 20k in school loans, and I don't believe that DH should be paying that for me. Also, we want to buy a home, and me not bringing in any money wont help make that happen.

Wondering what all of the SAHMs do? Do you have a source of income? Would love some ideas here, besides picking up some waitressing shifts. I am in the fashion industry, and would love to keep a toe in that pond if possible so when I am ready to get back into the work-force I still have some value. I know some companies will hire at home workers for data entry- anyone doing that? Doesn't it pay?

My other concern is not working and not contributing to my retirement fund for a few years. I just feel like I will never be financially secure if I don't work. But I would give anything to stay at home with LO for the 1st 2 or 3 years

Too too much to think about!!!

countrygrl5533

I have an Etsy shop and a blog that I make (very little) from. Being a WAHM is a ton of work. More than most people realize. I would highly recommend if you do work from home, you hire someone 1-3 mornings a week to help out with your LO. It can be difficult to get your work done around nap times, especially when baby gets sick, etc. Or exchange child care with a friend. It can be done, it just involves a lot of discipline and scheduling.

That said, I love my Etsy shop and I love writing. I'm taking a bit of a break from both right now because, well, 1st tri is kicking my butt. It is worth the discipline scheduling. I hope to some day go back to my "real" job but in the meantime, I love what I do and love that it gets to feed my creativity while bringing in a little extra.

There are different data entry jobs that allow work from home. Every now and then one of the blogs I follow (Money Saving Mom) will post a list of legit work from home job resources. I just can't add that on top of my other ventures. Only so much time in a day.

dsmith211

My step sister until very recently worked from home doing medical coding for local area hospitals. Not sure what she got paid, but as long as she got all her work done for the day she could work whatever hours she chose. She actually really liked it, but of course recently there were budget cuts for that hospital group and she got laid off. I do remember though that she had no prior medical knowledge though and they trained her completely and actually even hired her knowing at the time she was halfway through her pregnancy with her first. She said they were very accommodating.

Her and her significant other were able to live pretty comfortably doing that for just over 5 years though - by no means living paycheck to paycheck. She got to stay home with her first till she started kindergarten and the youngest is almost 3.

Just throwing that out there as an option if you were looking for something potentially data entry related.

laurenmdrn16

This doesn't really tie into the fashion industry, but after my son was born, there was no way I could go back to work. I had a much longer recovery than I expected due to complications and I didn't want my students to go without a full time nurse and have only subs covering. So, I quit and freaked out. I have always been the "breadwinner" while MH would do odd jobs and gigs. He got a full-time job, but we still needed more money. I ended up working as a nanny for another little boy a week older than my son. It was the best job ever! I got paid to spend time with my son and he got an instant playmate! I loved caring for the two boys so much! I actually am really kicking myself for going back into the public school system because when you take out the amount I am paying for daycare, I actually got paid more working as a nanny than a public school nurse! I am seriously considering opening a daycare with my younger sister so I can be with my children and still get paid. I think that is the ultimate goal of any WAHM...to be able to spend time with your LO and still get a paycheck. I am definitely doubting if I am coming back into the school system, even though I know it can be hard to start and stop like I have been doing. I really like being a school nurse, but I would give it up in a second if it meant I could work from home or at least be with my kids during the day.

mhc13

I do not, could not, would not work from home while being a sahm. Kids need all of your attention. If I worked from home daycare or an in home sitter would be necessary.

mhc13

Honestly @yogahh my unsolicited advice would be to continue working. Pay down those student loans as quickly as possible and max out your employer sponsored retirement plan.

I do stay at home but it's with great peace of mind that we are debt free (except for a small mortgage since we put 75% down), have a long term efund, college fund funded, and on track for retirement. If my husband ever lost his job we would be just fine. I'd have a really hard time staying at home if our financial ducks weren't in order and from your post it sounds like you are concious of the long term financial impact. You should be! Good luck in your decision.

yogahh

mhc13 said:

Honestly @yogahh my unsolicited advice would be to continue working. Pay down those student loans as quickly as possible and max out your employer sponsored retirement plan. I do stay at home but it's with great peace of mind that we are debt free (except for a small mortgage since we put 75% down), have a long term efund, college fund funded, and on track for retirement. If my husband ever lost his job we would be just fine. I'd have a really hard time staying at home if our financial ducks weren't in order and from your post it sounds like you are concious of the long term financial impact. You should be! Good luck in your decision.

I don't disagree. Just trying to see if there is a way to still make money and spend the 1st 2 or 3 years at home. Obviously we need to be financially secure (and besides the stupid student loans we are!), but if there was a way to still make 1-2k from home a month..??? Probably in a dream world only, huh  

nsouplynn

@yogahh Would going part-time be an option for you? Could it work? That way you can still keep your foot in the industry but still spend time with LO.

treebagel

I'm a claims adjuster for an insurance company and I work full time from home. I know a lot of insurance people who work from home so it might be a good option to look into. The licensing is easy.

Bltbear82

I work very part time for my family business (I'm responsible for researching, buying and selling wines at auction, so hardly a chore). That said, I left my previous career to do this with the idea of staying at home. Thankfully my family is understanding of my limitations. Also my husband has a very demanding job and there's no way we could both work without a full time nanny/childcare. He's never home before 7:30/8, and regularly travels, so it was the best choice for us.

I do have to say that I don't know if I could truly stay home without some outside stimulation, even if it is minimal. I like having a few hours a week where I have adult conversation, but my work doesn't pay our mortgage etc. it's more for me personally to have something.

nerdymama15

I work from home doing data entry, but the only reason for that is they downsized our office space so our entire department (of three people lol) works from home..  So technically my job isn't one of those true data entry work from home deals.  But there are things you can do on your own time.
Amazon Mechanical Turk pays per task.  I mean the rates per task aren't very much, but some of the tasks are super easy and I mean I have read online about several people using it as a supplemental income.
Freelance Writing -- there are some websites out there where you can do some freelance writing gigs.  You could probably even write about fashion. 
Maybe you could start a fashion blog and use Google Ad Sense on it too. 

Just some ideas. 

jdrdnr

I have worked at home for the last 3 years and love it. It gets harder as my lo gets bigger but I would not work over sending to daycare if I couldn't work from home. I still have over 50k in school loans that we pay on thanks to my many different degrees lol but thanks to an understanding hubby we get by just fine. I save enough while Prego that I can take a full year off and not worry about income and then go back part time when this baby is 1 is the plan. That's just my opinion daycare is for some and not for some. No means being disrespectful to those that use daycare it's just not for me. You have to do what works best for you and your family:)

mhc13

@yogahh I hope you find a way to bring in that income and be a wahm. I just couldn't fathom taking care of a newborn let alone a toddler and working from home simultaneously. Maybe my kid is just high needs?

saladflambe

I work from home 100%, but there's no way I could do this and care for a baby at the same time. Kiddo will be in daycare so that I CAN work from home.

Bluejay3030

I am a full time working and SAHM (other than a couple of days a month when I go into the office and I take DD to a drop-in daycare. It sometimes makes me crazy, but it's a great way to balance the desire to be home with your kid while still bringing in an income. I would definitely recommend trying part-time work as opposed to full-time, though, if you want to SAH.

I don't know about the fashion industry, but there are a plethora of low-level admin/data entry positions in other industries (I work in underwriting/finance). Warning though, many companies will expect you to have arranged childcare while working. Best of luck to you in making this decision!

Random side note--my current setup won't survive even through my pregnancy. There's no way I can keep up with 2 kids and a full time job while at home.

Eta: By "low-level" jobs I meant less demanding/time consuming, not trying to imply anything about your career potential

katykatykaty

I worked from home for a while after having my second, but other than the hour where both kids were napping, it would have been impossible to get work done without having our nanny there.  On days she wasn't there, it was incredibly stressful because I'd be getting work emails but there was no way I could respond because I was busy with my kids.  I was in a bad mood on those days and often felt like everyone would be happier if I was actually working in an office.  (Now that I'm back at work in an office and don't get to see my kids as much, I'd probably disagree... but you know...  grass is greener...)

katykatykaty

mhc13 said:

@yogahh I hope you find a way to bring in that income and be a wahm. I just couldn't fathom taking care of a newborn let alone a toddler and working from home simultaneously. Maybe my kid is just high needs?

Ha, maybe mine are both high needs, too. 

ETA: I wanted to add that I took off 18 months after my first was born and 14 months after my second, and even though things were financially tight for us, I wouldn't have changed it for the world.  I know it's cliché, but you'll never get that time back.  You could conceivably make the money back in the future.

kami09

Not sure how much they pay, but Stitch Fix has stylist positions that you can do from home.

I am part of a network marketing gig (won't mention what because I feel that's pluggish and annoying), but I feel like a lot of people turn their noses up at it for lack of knowledge/ignorance. We were in a rough spot, so I joined and thank God I did. It has been the biggest blessing and I'm about to double my husband's teaching income. Something to think about it yu can find something you are passionate representing.

yogahh

kami09 said:

Not sure how much they pay, but Stitch Fix has stylist positions that you can do from home.

*****

This would be PERFECT!!!! Of course nothing in my area, but maybe I will shoot them an introductory email to see if they plan on expanding. Thanks for the information.

missnc77

saladflambe. I work full-time from home, but I have to be 100% available for conference calls, impromptu meetings, and last minute needs from the director. The baby is going to have to be in daycare full time. There's no way I can do my job in the way I need to and also be a full time care taker for a baby.

Edit: For some reason it chopped my first sentence. I said I'm in the same boat as saladflambe. Sorry for the rando tag.

lalala2004

I intend to work from home if I can get a job at an online school, but my mom plans to come over and help me several days a week. Otherwise, I don't think it would work.

thismakes4

I think working part time at the place you love and plan to go back to is the best option if you can swing it. Especially if you have to hire someone or take your LO into daycare to just WAH and not spend time with your LO. (Not saying anything against mothers who do this...my sister does this).

I sort of WAH but it's not a 9-5 or get a certain amount of work done. I store and sell things for people. So sometimes I have to take a little time out of my day and meet with someone but I can take my kids because it's on the side and my own deal. The other day I sold a boat for a man and got to keep $500 profit. All I did was arrange a meeting but it's not like that everyday. Sometimes it's only $20.

LovingLife!

I have a blog that I make money from and a job managing other bloggers that I make more from! You should start a fashion blog & Instagram and doors will open up. It starts with free stuff, then sponsored posts, then working with brands in a larger capacity. PM me if you have any questions - it's very do-able from home with children  

countrygrl5533

LovingLife! said:

I have a blog that I make money from and a job managing other bloggers that I make more from! You should start a fashion blog & Instagram and doors will open up. It starts with free stuff, then sponsored posts, then working with brands in a larger capacity. PM me if you have any questions - it's very do-able from home with children  

But a ton of work, especially at the beginning. That's why I had to take a step back from my blog recently. I was burned out and felt like I wasn't keeping my "office hours" very well and was missing out on my DD's life. So if you decide to start a blog, get it started now and start learning and building before you are dealing with a new baby too.

Jules5611

I am in the process of opening an in home family daycare. I have had these plans for awhile. My dreams are finally coming true after finding the perfect home for my family and my business. I should finally be licensed by the state of Massachusetts in the next two weeks. I will be able to stay home with my babies while still making a decent income. Before this I worked nights bartending so I could take care of my kiddos during the day till DH came home from work.

laurenmdrn16

@jules5611 Can you give me any tips/suggestions about opening a family daycare? We probably couldn't do it in our home (we have a cat and too many stairs), but my sister has the perfect home for it. We are also in MA and have just looked at the process on a very basic level, but I would love to hear more about the process from someone who has been through it! Also, do you think we will run into issues if I keep my RN license? Someone had mentioned it could open up a whole liability problem. Feel free to PM. Thanks!

Jules5611

laurenmdrn16 I will PM you

SGPhotography

I'm a SAHM but do photography and graphic design on the side. I bring in anywhere from $200-800 a month with it. We don't rely on my income but it's nice to have that extra money for vacations, savings, etc. it took me about 2 years to build up a client base.

Pascal86

@yogahh I also immediately thought of personal stylist - going through another company, or starting your own (https://scarletchamberlin.com/ - I just googled local stylists, no idea who she is but she charges $1300!), could be a fun option. Good luck! 

proudparent2b

I work from home, but my company requires me to have other arrangements for childcare.

LovingLife!

countrygrl5533 said:

LovingLife! said:

I have a blog that I make money from and a job managing other bloggers that I make more from! You should start a fashion blog & Instagram and doors will open up. It starts with free stuff, then sponsored posts, then working with brands in a larger capacity. PM me if you have any questions - it's very do-able from home with children  

But a ton of work, especially at the beginning. That's why I had to take a step back from my blog recently. I was burned out and felt like I wasn't keeping my "office hours" very well and was missing out on my DD's life. So if you decide to start a blog, get it started now and start learning and building before you are dealing with a new baby too.

Depending on how you do it, it can be a ton of work, or it can be an enjoyable hobby that you end up making money from. Good for you for taking time to step back and get your priorities straight! 

colerich1

I manage a virtual call center with several customer service work from positions. Check out my site www.richardstaffing.com