Would you send your children to childcare for 45 hours per week so that you could work 40 hours per week to make a measly $3.80 per hour? Of course not, you say. But that is exactly what I was doing and didn’t even know it.

When I worked outside the home as a social worker, I made about $28,000 per year. Not a great salary but, combined with my husband’s, was a decent income. So why was I always broke? The reason was that I had no clue how much I spent to work outside the home.

Here is what I paid each year so that I could work:
- $3,000 Taxes
- $6,000 Childcare
- $2,400 Car expenses for new car

- $1,700 Commuting 10 miles a day.
- $1,000 Professional appearance (clothes, dry cleaning, etc)
- $1,000 Lunches.
- $2,600 Convenience foods and dining out (because I was too tired to cook).
- $2,400 I-deserve-this-because-I-work-so-hard items and guilt treats (toys, special outings) for my kids.

Total cost of work: $20,100!

I spent $20,100 to work! That came to a take home pay of $7,900 per year, $152 per week… a full $3.80 per hour!

How much do you pay to work?

Use the list below to calculate how much you pay to work.

Yearly Salary:
Work-related Expenses (listed below):
Federal Taxes:
State Taxes:
Local Taxes:
Social Security:
Medicare Tax:
Child Care:
Commuting (toll, parking, 2nd car):
Gasoline and mileage:
Car insurance (extra car, nicer car):
Clothing expenses (cleaning, new):
Gifts, special friends etc at work:
Convenience food for meals:
Eating Out:
Housekeeping help:
Grooming needs (hair, nails etc):
Guilt items for kids and family:
Extra cost related to lack of time to research cheaper prices:
Extra cost related to hiring help instead of making repairs yourself:
Total Expenses related to work:

Actual contribution to family income (salary – total work expenses = family contribution):

What did you discover? Is one-third, one-half or more of your income going to pay expenses just so you can work? It can be pretty depressing to learn you work hard but reap little reward for it. However, if working outside the home is costing you too much money, working at home may be the answer.

But before you quit your job, you need to determine how much your family needs to survive. This requires making a family budget and using it to calculate how much money, if any, you would need to earn from home if you quit your job.

After doing the exercises above I discovered I could work outside the home 40 hours a week to take home less than half my salary or I could work from home part-time, be with my kids, and earn about the same amount of take home pay. It wasn’t too hard a decision to make.

This week’s Work-At-Home Success News and Reviews Podcast shows you how much traditional jobs cost and how you can afford to work at home.

You can listen online here:

Or Download here:

You can also subscribe through iTunes.

Resources provided in the podcast:

Cost of Work Information

This week’s Work-At-Home Success News and Reviews Podcast I interview Nicole Porter, The Tax Coach who explains the tax benefits to working at home.

You can listen online here:

Or Download here:

You can also subscribe through iTunes.

Resources provided in the podcast:

The Tax Coach

Over at MSN Money there is a blog post on 52 ways to make extra money to reduce debt and cover expenses. While there were some good ideas, I questioned the wisdome others. If you’re already working or looking for a career job full time, do you really want to have the time and expense of a job like pizza delivery? Now I’m not saying that pizza delivery is a bad job. All work the helps pay the bills is good in my book (as long as its legal). But jobs don’t just make money, they cost money too. In the pizza delivery case, even if you’re reimbursed for mileage, it probably doesn’t cover wear tear on the car. And then there is time. The average job is 8 hours, but the actual time related to the job (getting ready, getting there, getting home) is always longer. Some families may need childcare. Once you factor all that in, does pizza delivery pay enough? Expecially since pizza delivery probably offers shifts much shorter than 8 hours.

Waiting tables might be a better option, except waitors are paid less than minimum wage which means they need great tips. The post even suggests a program called CashCrate that apparently pays people to try free offers although according the author of the post “the real cash comes from the referral program.” The option that disturbs me the most is #50 “Credit card bonuses. Like the bank accounts, many credit cards will give you bonus cash for opening an account.” We’re in this mess because of credit. And while you can open an account and not use it, odds are that people who are in financial trouble don’t need the temptation of a credit line. Further they may not be approved AND simply applying will lower their credit score.

I’m not trying to put these opportunities down, but when money is tight you have to make sure that any part-time endevor doesn’t just make money but the money made will cover the time and expense involved in the job. Extra income work must get you the most bang for the buck in the least amount of time.

The ideas I like best on the list are:

1) Selling your stuff on eBay or Amazon. Its a great way to make quick cash with stuff you’ve already got. It only costs time as you don’t pay anything until after a sale.  Sell bigger items through Craigslist for free.

2) Sell your skills either to your local area or online. Local services can include childcare, pet care, tutoring or handyman work. Or you can provide a service that can be done virtually such as accounting, writing, customer service, and transcription. Jobs can found using quality job search sites, and using common sense and your skills in sniffing out scams to find freelance or contract work online.

List of extra income ideas can be a help, but odds are you already have what you need to make extra money at home. Tapping into the skills, experience and interests you already have is the best way to find or create extra income, especially if you need it quickly.

The economy is in crisis. People are seeing their incomes and their benefits disappear with no relief in sight. Even families that are not currently struggling are concerned and looking for ways to insure their financial stability as the difficult days draw out.

One way to offset income losses or create an emergency nest egg is through a home business. Cheaper and more flexible than a second job, a home business can be built from the kitchen table without taking time away from a traditional job. And with careful planning, a home business can be started with very little monetary investment. Below are tips to starting a home business with little or no money:

1)      Choose a business that doesn’t require a huge investment. Offering services (tutoring, consulting, baby sitting, etc), selling at online auctions, and creating information products are great low-cost home business ideas.  These options require time and use of tools and resources you probably already have such as a computer. Even in the auction option, most people start by selling items that are cluttering the home. The result is that you can start today for nearly nothing.

2)      Choose a business that you know. The fastest way to make money is to tap into your current knowledge base. There is a learning curve to starting and running a business. Don’t slow yourself down by choosing a business idea that may be fun, but will take too much time for you to learn.

3)      Use what you’ve got to build and run your business. Don’t buy a new computer and expensive software. Even if your current computer and software don’t quite meet your needs, use them until you’re making money and can use some of your business profits to invest in the equipment you need.  The same goes for any other tools or resources you may need to get your business going; use what you have on hand if possible before investing in something new.

4)      Borrow or barter for products and services. There are ways to get the resources you need to build and run your business for nothing or a simple exchange. Barter in particular is growing in the small business sector as people trade their skills or products to get the services they need.

5)      Use free resources unless it compromises your professional appearance. There are a host of free tools and services you can get online such as voicemail, fax services, blogs, conference calls, PDF file makers, audio editors, and more. However don’t use free resources if it will sacrifice the quality of your products or services, or undermine your credibility. For example don’t use a free web host for your business website as they tend to look unprofessional.

6)      Choose low-cost marketing tactics such as business cards, blogs, email, social networking online and off, press releases, and articles. Several of these options are free and often the results can be better than buying traditional advertising.

7)      Don’t spend everything you make. The idea of a part-time home business in a tough economy is to create financial stability. Use only what you need to fill the income gap and save as much of the rest as you can. If you need to invest in products or services to keep your business running, research to find the best lowest cost options.

As the economy continues to fall, many money gurus are advocating cutting back on spending and learning to live within your means. No doubt, that is an important tip, but too many families are struggling to stay afloat even with cutting expenses. The answer is a part-time home based business that can create the extra income needed to pay the bills and store away for an emergency.

Its been a long time coming but now its finally available! The guide that shows you everything you need to know to design the home-based career of your dreams!

The Work-At-Home Success Bible is now available through local bookstores and online through Amazon.com and other major book retailers.  Think this is just another work-at-home book? Think again! The Work-At-Home Success Bible offers:

• Three chapters on Telecommuting including how to turn your job into a work-at-home postion AND how to find and get a work-at-home job online or off!
• How to find the best, most profitable business for you!
• How to decide if you want to start a business from scratch or buy an exisiting business, business opportunity, franchise or direct sales.
• How to make money online using eBay, Amazon, Affiliate Programs, and
• Information products.
• How to find the time, money and energy to find or create a successful
• home-based career.
• How to get your family on board with your plans!
• How balance working and living under one roof.
• 100′s of work-at-home job resources, home business tools and more!
• And much, much more!

This week’s Work-At-Home Success News and Reviews Podcast I answer questions regarding home business, work-at-home jobs and scams.

You can listen online here:

Or Download here:

The podcast is also available through iTunes.

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:
IRS Small Business Information

Telework.gov

Canadian Telework Association (has lots of great info on telecommuting in the US as well.

The Better Business Bureau

Direct Selling Association

Special Offer:
WEB 2.0 MARKETING SECRETS Build Traffic and Increase Profits with FREE Web 2.0 tools.

This week’s Work-At-Home Success News and Reviews Podcast covers how you can survive in this touch economic times with tips on making quick cash and saving the money you’ve got.

You can listen online here:

Or Download here:

The podcast is also available through iTunes.

Resources Mentioned in the Podcast:

Frugal Families

Miserly Moms

America’s Cheapest Family

Tightwad Gazette

Sell Your Stuff on Amazon.com

eBay

eBay Stores

Special Offer:
WEB 2.0 MARKETING SECRETS Build Traffic and Increase Profits with FREE Web 2.0 tools.

Its not very often the government is handing out money, but this year in an effort to jump start the economy, its sending qualifying families $600 or more. The government wants you to spend it. Financial gurus want you to pay off debt or invest it. Why not do a bit of both by using to start your own business? In fact, its so cheap to start a business, you can probably spend, invest and start a business.

Why start a business? Because jobs don’t offer the security they once did. Aside from saving and investing, most financial gurus are recommending home business, even just a small side business, as a way of reaching financial security. And with the economy struggling, the financial experts are right in suggesting that you use the money in a way that will help you not just the day you receive it, but in the future as well.

Today you can start a home-based business in a matter of minutes. And it can be nearly free. The key to success is to learn all you can about running a business, tap into the skills or interests you already possess, and do something every day that will move your business forward.

Work-At-Home Success has a lot of free information on starting a home based business. You can also check the archives of this blog for more ideas and information.

Now that my kids are in school, some people ask when I plan to return to work.

Huh? I work at home I remind them. But I can see in their eyes, they don’t think it’s “real” work. Nevermind that I telecommute in a job that builds families (adoption work) or that my work-at-home experience landed me a book deal.

Some people think that if you don’t get up, get dressed and commute to an office, its not real work. But I think that people who do that are are missing some really important benefits that come with working at home. Here are my top 10 reasons why everyone should work from home.

1) Its cheaper than going to an office. For many years I earned less working from home, but had more money!

2) There are tax advantages.

3) You don’t have to wear pantyhose or a tie.

4) You can work where you want often when you want.

5) You can more easily avoid office conflicts.

6) You can get more done in less time thereby working less hours.

7) You can listen to any music you want to, not just what is piped in.

You can sleep when you’d normally be commuting.

9) You can take a nap during the day.

10)  You can do the work that brings you joy, nurtures or spirit, or at least pays you what you’re worth!