How can I earn from home with no skills

[stuck20]

Hi I made a post in chat yesterday but got no replies. I then posted it in money worries. Still no reply so I thought I would try and on here.

I cannot go out to work. I've tried. What could I do / sell from home with £5,000? I know it's not much but I don't want to waste this money and I'm hoping whatever I do from home can get me out of this mess long term.

I have no skills in IT / Writing / Crafts etc

My original post:

Hi I'm after some advice.

Please no one mock me and say to earn money you need skills / an education / you need to work hard / Nothing comes to you etc. I know all of this already. But I'm desperate.

I'm 35. My children are in school. I've had several jobs. To be honest I've been crap at them all. Doing silly things wrong etc. I haven't worked since I had my eldest 10 years ago. I've applied for lots but I don't hear back. I have autism and anxiety and since having the kids I rarely leave the house.

I've been selling from home for 2 years. I know what people think on here about MLM but as far as my experience goes I've not been conned and I have made a bit of spending money which is better than how I was before.

I do get orders and I've probably aren't £2,000 over the years. I think you have to make more than £4,000 in a year to pay tax so as yet I haven't. The thing is the items I sell are something people buy once every couple of months.

I know when I ask this question you will say "nothing" go and get a proper job.
I've tried that. My psychiatrist agreed that I have a case for PIP but I'm waiting on my tribunal appointment.

So here goes my question is if you struggle for money and was given £5,000 from a family member how would you use it to make money from home? This is the only option for me as I cannot leave home due to my anxiety. I know I can't live off the money I make but event £20/£30 a week would help.

I can't think of a single thing I could sell from home that people would want to buy so frequently.

I've not got another option to be honest and our outgoings are more than what we get so bills are going unpaid and I can't stand receiving the letters.

I will definitely use the money to pay at least all of the outstanding payments but I'm thinking how I could get out of this mess so I don't get into a situation like it.

Thank you.

You can earn up to £12,500 a year before paying income tax. You have to pay self-employed national insurance if you earn more than £6,365 but it's only £3 a week.

There's a thread in here giving ideas for earning from home - I'll try and find it.

I wish I earned that

And thank you for replying.

£10 a day thread, January part two http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/legalmoneyy_matters/3794190-10-a-day-thread-january-part-two

I've looked on their. It's too complicated for my little head.

Matched betting definitely

I earn from home. It does involve seeing people and leaving the house sometimes but it’s a good earner and if you’re in a good location you could avoid the leaving the house part. PM me if you’re interested.

What skills do you have?

For instance, someone I know has turned her creative skills into a way of making money by selling the jewellery she makes on Etsy and Not On The High Street and is now making a pretty good income working entirely from home.

If you tell us what you can do/what your interests are, maybe we can help.

I know someone who invested money in a background board which can be hired out for birthdays, weddings, christening etc. So simple! She just advertises it and then drops it off at the venue, people use it for selfies, group photos etc, and then she collects it later.

cup cake / celebration cake making? you can even print company logos onto cakes and see if you could get some corporate clients

Thanks all.

I don't understand Match Betting.

I don't drive so can't drop off or collect anything to hire out. We don't have a garage or storage either.

My kids don't want to go to school as they think it's unfair I'm at home and I can't have that. My whole family have great careers though so they know it's not "normal"

I tried making cards I didn't sell any.

I started to face paint for my friends party company. I was crap and I worried for days about leaving the house.

Taking in ironing or pet sitting.

Our cat sitter is studying and earns around 11k a year through building up regular ironing and also pet sitting.

She only started about 18 months ago so not exactly doing it for ages, but she found a real niche in our big town that not many people were providing.

The ironing is regular I.e. £10 per hour every week to x number of customers but the pet sitting is sporadic and concentrated around holidays.

We paid her around £300 for 4 weeks in December for cat and house sitting (visiting twice a day).

I'm crap at ironing.

I signed up on indeed to look after dogs. I didn't hear back but we got a kitten in August. My mum bought it for my daughter and pays the vet bills etc so it's not an added expense.

I just cannot see how to get out of this situation.

What about selling things on eBay or similar?

You can scour boot sales / charity shops / Facebook market place on days that you feel ok to leave the house. Then list everything online and pop to the post box a couple of times a week.

You can bulk buy something like DVDs on eBay and then sell them individually.

YouTube ironing tutorials. There’s loads of them.

Saying you’re crap at something isn’t the same as not having the ability to learn how to do something.

You’re putting very flimsy barriers in your own way.

I just cannot see how to get out of this situation.

Well, people are trying to make suggestions but every time they do, you say that you're crap at X and don't seem very interested in changing that. So what can you do? Tell us that and then maybe we can make suggestions that are more helpfully targeted.

Make a list of skills and attributes you have which could be utilised in some way.

I've heard quite a few mums do escorting now to make ends meet.

Quite apart from the fact OP can’t leave the house, are you really advising she becomes a sex toy?

Sorry the £10 a day thread seems a bit overwhelming at the moment OP. But it's worth reading. NOTHING on there requires any sort of special skills or ability, it's all opportunities anyone can do.

I do a mix of the following:

Crisp Thinking - it's a social media moderation company. Basically you apply, sit two 'tests' and if you're accepted you monitor pages for well known brands. It's easy, there's lots of support, and you can average £10 an hour easily.

Appen - offers lots of different work. You can do anything from rating ads for Facebook, to recording your voice to help train Alexa type devices. That's around £10.61 an hour. You can pick up long term projects, or micro tasks. So you can commit to whatever you feel able to do.

I also have a really small business on amazon selling print on demand journals and diaries I've designed. It's quite passive, you just upload designs and then amazon deal with everything else. But you would need to put effort into promoting it if you wanted to earn £5000 odd from something like that.

Cashback sites like Quidco are another source of 'income'. Last year I earned £350 in cashback by doing things I'd do anyway, like switching broadband provider, clothes shopping, house insurance, etc.

I hope that's helpful. Please do pop in the £10 a day thread if you need any more help or support.

Oh, another thought OP, there seems to be a huge market for vegan/eco friendly subscription boxes. Could be worth looking into?

Thank you all and say you have made suggestions that I've shut down.

Sorry I know I'm frustrating!!!

I do sell on eBay but only used toys / clothes so I don't make much.

I know someone who makes a small fortune doing retail arbitrage on amazon. She buys things in the sales and sells them full price on amazon I have looked in to it and am tempted though I suspect it's no where as easy as she makes it sound.

What about reselling op? eBay/depop/Vinted? People sell all sorts. There's lots of you tubers who share what they buy to sell, sales reports ext. I really like sparrows end for guidance