New to this - looking for ways to earn money from home

pjs493

Short version: looking for something I can do to earn some money working from home while juggling two little ones. 

Long version: My husband died suddenly and unexpectedly last year. I have two small children aged one and two. I’m qualified to PhD level, but just don’t have the mental capacity to return to my job for the foreseeable future because of the toll the loss of my husband is having on me. 

My husband and I were both previously working remotely so we could be at home with the children and used to juggle childcare between doing our jobs (eg he’d be in a Teams meeting so I’d look after the children or vice versa, we’d both sit on our laptops after the children were asleep, etc) I’m now looking after the children full time. I’m currently on compassionate leave until the end of the year (and likely to extend this depending on how I feel). I’m not getting paid whilst I’m on leave.

I have a decent widow’s pension and income from a rental property but I’m planning on selling that soon to buy a forever home, hopefully with as little a mortgage as possible. Hence the desire to earn some money working from home.

While I don’t feel like I have the mental capacity to return to my job, I do feel like I’m often at a loose end at home when the children are occupied or sleeping. I even think it would help my mental health to have something ‘mundane’ or straightforward to do remotely with flexible hours (eg I have more capacity in the evenings once the children are in bed). It needs to be something I can do from home because anything that isn’t mentally too taxing (like a job in a restaurant or bar) doesn’t pay enough to cover childcare costs. 

I have a small business that my husband and I started together that I’m continuing with as childcare allows, but often what I make in a day is cancelled out by paying a babysitter.

What options are there for me? I don’t really mind what it is (I’d happily sit and stuff envelopes for a few hours a day or do some data entry work on my laptop). I want to keep myself busy for my mental health and save as much as possible so that I can have as small a mortgage as possible when it comes to selling the rental property and buying a forever home within the next year. 

sevenhills

Do you have a spare room/bedroom for a lodger?

On-the-coast

With a phd you should be able to do some higher-end proof-reading?

gwynlas

Sorry for your loss family member was in similar situation. Rather thanseeking minimum wage role is there any aspect of your former role that you could fit around current committments? Rather than placing children with childminder could you pay a babysitter to keep an eye on children whilst you work at home?

pjs493

sevenhills said:

Do you have a spare room/bedroom for a lodger?

Unfortunately not, I’m still currently in accommodation provided by my husband’s employer so I’m not allowed to sublet. 

pjs493

On-the-coast said:

With a phd you should be able to do some higher-end proof-reading?

Most people in my field will have a friend proof read for free in return for the same favour. The publishers I know of employ experts in this area to do it in house. I’m not really up to professional proof-reading standard, unfortunately. But this was a good idea. 

pjs493

gwynlas said:

Sorry for your loss family member was in similar situation. Rather thanseeking minimum wage role is there any aspect of your former role that you could fit around current committments? Rather than placing children with childminder could you pay a babysitter to keep an eye on children whilst you work at home?

I’ve already explored this, but haven’t found anything that pays more than I need to pay a babysitter. My children are very young, so too young to have a teenage neighbour look after them while I go out (for example). I can work from home and look after the children at the same time, that isn’t a problem. I just don’t have the mental capacity to do my usual job as it’s very mentally taxing and it’s just too much with what I’m dealing with. 

Brandee2024

Have you thought about the banking sector? Not mega wages, but maybe a start off point where you can work from home until the children are a bit older? x

kimwp

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. I guess it needs to be flexible work, due to the children? Otherwise something like tutoring or being an octopus money coach could be an option.

I'm not sure where you would look for this, but I wonder if there is money in coaching people who want to do a university course in the area of your PhD? My brother in law did something like this, but it was for medical doctors in training wanting coaching for applying to some speciality.

Could you partner up with someone to do the face to face side of your business so you don't need to pay for childcare? Or could you buddy up with another mum and swap childcare? (Might need to double check if this gets taxed as income or if childcare license needed, I vaguely remember there being something in the news about this a long time ago)

An alternative is to sell crafts. I think it can be a lot of work to start to make money from these, but you currently have access to one of the big customer bases- people with young kids. Cute hair clips and headbands with bows and flowers on, jazzy lil bow ties?

pjs493

Brandee2024 said:

Have you thought about the banking sector? Not mega wages, but maybe a start off point where you can work from home until the children are a bit older? x

I wouldn’t be able to take calls in case the children are being loud in the background. It would need to be entirely email or online. What kind of banking jobs are available to do working from home?

pjs493

kimwp said:

I'm sorry to hear of your loss. I guess it needs to be flexible work, due to the children? Otherwise something like tutoring or being an octopus money coach could be an option.

I'm not sure where you would look for this, but I wonder if there is money in coaching people who want to do a university course in the area of your PhD? My brother in law did something like this, but it was for medical doctors in training wanting coaching for applying to some speciality.

Could you partner up with someone to do the face to face side of your business so you don't need to pay for childcare? Or could you buddy up with another mum and swap childcare? (Might need to double check if this gets taxed as income or if childcare license needed, I vaguely remember there being something in the news about this a long time ago)

An alternative is to sell crafts. I think it can be a lot of work to start to make money from these, but you currently have access to one of the big customer bases- people with young kids. Cute hair clips and headbands with bows and flowers on, jazzy lil bow ties?

What’s Octopus Money?

Unfortunately there isn’t really a market for coaching people with university applications. Schools usually offer this service via dedicated guidance from teachers, etc. Anything beyond that is moving into the realms of being unethical (I’m reminded of the US college admissions scandal that came to light a few years ago).

All my friends pay for childcare because they work and qualify for the free hours that have just been extended, or their children are school age. To be honest it’s sometimes quite lonely during the day because I don’t have any friends nearby who are unemployed or housewives. 

I have a business that plans events such as craft fairs etc, but without regular reliable childcare it’s becoming hard to keep that going. I’ve been let down at short notice a few times which has been a disaster. I do dabble in crafts to sell at these events so that does keep me busy during some days. Unfortunately it’s not really making much money though by the time I factor in paying for childcare. 

I’m still trying to find reliable childcare for weekends so I can continue with this, but it’s proving hard because the increase in the free childcare provision (which I don’t qualify for) means there is a lack of reliable and good childcarers looking for work on weekends. Most prefer to just get a job in a nursery and work more sociable hours.