Where to go next? Help Please

Madaboutmoney_3

I'm in a bit of a dilema at the moment and hoping you guys can give me some good advice. I was made redundant at the end of August and am trying to decide what to do next. I have 2 children, 2 year old and an 8 year old. Have worked in an office all my life, part time for the last 4 years. I was on about £8.50 an hour, and if I find another office job it would have to be about the same to make paying childcare worthwhile, or working from home. I think working from home would be the best thing for me to do, then there are no worries about school holidays etc, but what to do???

Does anyone have any ideas, is anyone working from home at the moment with small children to look after, it would be lovely to hear from some of you to know how you are coping. I have thought about childminding and have sent off for details, has anyone gone down this route, how long does it take, any things I should bear in mind that I may not have thought about.

The wierd thing at the moment is not getting up and getting dressed and out to work, it has been such a routine for the last 16 years and working from home would change in that way. I know it has only been a few days since I was made redundant, but I need to decide what to do and that is the hardest part.

Savvy_Sue

Mostly just wanted to send you a hug, 'cos you sound as if you need it ... Always remember it was the JOB that was made redundant, not you - for one thing with kids you will NEVER be redundant, even if you're not quite so desperately needed as time goes by ... and for another you're still as good as you ever were, and just because one company doesn't need you any more it doesn't make you a write-off.

Now, to practicalities.

Madaboutmoney wrote:

I was on about £8.50 an hour, and if I find another office job it would have to be about the same to make paying childcare worthwhile, or working from home. I think working from home would be the best thing for me to do, then there are no worries about school holidays etc, but what to do???

Couple of things to think about: one is that from the age of 3 children get some free hours in nursery now so the cost of childcare should go down then if you can cope in the short term. And one thing to remember about working from home / for yourself is that although you can choose WHEN to work, with some kinds of work you still have to do it, even if you don't feel like it, even if the children are ill, even if you're ill. So think carefully before committing yourself to something where you HAVE to meet deadlines, fill orders promptly etc, because you can end up working harder for yourself than you ever did in an office!

Temperamentally, this suits some people, but it doesn't suit everyone, so deciding if it would suit you or not is one place to start.

As for what to do, the BEST thing to do would be something you love! If you have a hobby, or a passion, think about whether you could make money from them. Cake decorating (but see above - if I've ordered a child's birthday cake from you I don't want excuses!); knitting; making cards; dress-making, making curtains etc ... well I'd be pants at all of the above, but I LOVE typing things and laying documents out consistently and proof-reading and picking holes in spelling and grammar, so if I was thinking about working from home I'd see if I could offer my services in those areas.

Madaboutmoney wrote:

I have thought about childminding and have sent off for details, has anyone gone down this route, how long does it take, any things I should bear in mind that I may not have thought about.

Good childminders are, IMO, the salt of the earth, and worth their weight in gold! Never let anyone say a good childminder charges too much! (My friends used to moan sometimes about how their childminder charged almost as much per hour as they earned, but none of them wanted to swap jobs!)

I don't know how long it takes to become registered, and I don't know whether you can start to work before your registration comes through (you used to be able to, but I'm a few years away from needing a childminder now!) At the very least you would have to have had a CRB check carried out, and that might take a few weeks.

I presume you've looked at the Ofsted website - have you also found the NCMA? They'd be helpful, I'm sure.

Things to think about: do you like small children? and enjoy spending lots of time with them? is there already a glut of childminders locally? Is your home and garden already very safe (or would you need to spend money up-front!) are you willing to work 'full-time'? and do school / nursery pickups as children grow? (I know it's obvious, but if parents need to be at work by 9 am, they need to drop children earlier than that, and if they work until 5.30 pm, they pick up later than that!)

If you didn't want to childmind full-time, there might be some mileage in linking up with another local minder and working together - you do some days and she does some. I don't know - obviously some parents only want part-time care, and others who want full-time care want consistency. Just thinking aloud here really ...

Madaboutmoney wrote:

The wierd thing at the moment is not getting up and getting dressed and out to work, it has been such a routine for the last 16 years and working from home would change in that way. I know it has only been a few days since I was made redundant, but I need to decide what to do and that is the hardest part.

I hope that you will be able to establish a new routine quite quickly, even if it's only in the short term. Of course now you'll have to get up and get dressed and get the older one out to school, and after that - have you considered becoming an old-style mum? Forgive me if you're already a devotee of the Old Style board, I don't go there very often myself. But you might find that such fun that you don't WANT to work, and even find you can save enough money not to NEED to work ...

Sorry, I've rambled ... hope at least some of it helps!

Madaboutmoney_3

Thanks Savvy_Sue, some great replies there. I like your reply about the OS board as I was thinking the same thing myself, so will definitely start browsing there myself.

[Things to think about: do you like small children? and enjoy spending lots of time with them? is there already a glut of childminders locally? Is your home and garden already very safe (or would you need to spend money up-front!) are you willing to work 'full-time'? and do school / nursery pickups as children grow? (I know it's obvious, but if parents need to be at work by 9 am, they need to drop children earlier than that, and if they work until 5.30 pm, they pick up later than that!) ]

I do like small children and am definitely going to look into this. My children had a childminder until I was made redundant and she was always getting calls and having to turn people down, so I suppose it must be in demand. There are probably things I need to do around the house, but some things are in place already having a 2 year old. There is a grant on offer for anything that does need doing, so that will help. I also wouldn't want to have too many children as I would like to be able to spend as much time with them as possible. Also the hours would be fine.

I sent off for the information on Friday, so hopefully that should come through within the next few days and I can have a good look through and make my final decision.

Thanks again

joggyb

I'd recommend a little book published by LawPack called 'Working from home'. It guides you through all the bits and pieces you need to know about in order to work from home in a really straightforward and practical way. It's a handy guide, and costs £3.99. And no, I didn't write it, and no, I don't have any connection to the publisher!

As for the child-minding bit - sorry, can't help you with that, I'm afraid. But I'm sure someone around here will offer some words of wisdom to help you out on that front.

Good luck!:)