How can I earn some extra money? Any ideas?

[Claralara1973]

Hi there all.

I'm trying to find something that I can do for a few hours a week whilst my children are at school. My youngest is only four and my oldest is nearly 12. I could really do with earning some extra money as I now have some time free during the day. My only problem is school holidays. I can't afford childcare and have no family nearby who could help. I've thought about homework but finding something that doesn't need me to pay them first is impossible. I've tried a Betterware round before but that didn't work very well. We have too many holiday homes and student properties where my round was so half of the houses were empty. One week I had no orders at all!

Does anyone know of any proper homeworking companies. I really don't mind what I do but could really do with doing something! :)

A friend of mine does elderly care work on an ad hoc basis, she works for an agency and tells them when she is free and if there is work for her then she does it.

Could this be any good?

I've recently met 2 people at separate events who were working from home for the same utility company as sales reps. One of them mentioned that it would be great for SAHM's. Not sure if I can mention the name here, so send me a message if you think this might be helpful. Good luck :)

I do Phoenix Trading - It's a direct selling company selling cards, giftwrap and stationery. I love it. Totally flexible, low start up (30 quid business kit) and no targets/territories. Let me know if you'd like more info. Oops, sorry, just realised you didn't want something where you have to pay anything up front. Anyway, let me know if you want to know more.

Er - looks like a music blog?!

Hiya!

Thanks everyone for all your threads. I don't really want to sell stuff 2madboys but thanks anyway. I'm not very good at that kind of thing. I used to be a typist so the data entry work might be worth trying. I enquired about something like that before though and they wanted me to pay them £10! I asked why and they never responded! I suppose agency work is an option if I can just do three or so hours per day. Thing is I don't want to be out all day and my husband works some Saturdays so weekends are out. Hmmm, definately some things to consider so thank you all for your thoughts.

2madboys, could you pm me some info? I might be interested, thanks!

Hi Boohoo - sorry I don't have the facility to pm. If you email me at [email protected] I can send you a link to my Phoenix website (not allowed to put it on here) and you can request an info pack if you like the look of it. There's some more stuff I put on another thread called 'Am I past it?'.

Child minding
Dog walking
Cleaning
Ironing

2madboys - I've had a look at the Phoenix website today following your post and am really interested, having been a Sahm mum for so long though I'm not sure my social circle is wide enough to make a business out of it. How do you find the links to sell? Do you do it as party plan? Thanks

Hi Loopy - I do a bit of allsorts! Give catalogues to everyone I can think of, I go to toddler groups and sell, parties, school fairs, etc. It doesn't take too long to build up contacts. I was quite surprised myself. Also, if you can get some repeat customers, that works quite well too. The start up is only 30 quid now so when you compare that to buying a pair of shoes or something, not that much. Email me if you'd like more info (address further up).

Back in the day my mum did typing for folk. Things may have changed with PCs now (my siblings range from 49 to 36), but with lots of students, there may be an oppurtunity for typing up dissertations etc.

Please can I just make sure if anyone wants Phoenix info on here that they either get the info directly from me or google me to get my Phoenix Facebook page (Sharon Brightman Independent Phoenix Trader) otherwise if you join, someone else gets the credit! (or email me on [email protected]). Thanks.

Boohoo and Loopy - I have PM'd you.

OP take a look on MSE site on the Work & Benefits forum. Search for threads with the word 'home' in the title. Quite a few work from home suggestions come up. Also have a browse through the 'up your income' for other non work from home suggestions.

I think any companies that ask for a payment first are scams.