Can anyone suggest something I could do from home?

trace_567

I may have posted in the wrong place, wasn't sure if it should be this board or employment and job seeking. But as I'm not necessarily looking for something full time, more something to get me started in the right direction, I thought maybe here was best.

I wondered if anyone might have any idea's or advice on what I could do to start earning some money. I'm currently on income support, I'd love to be able to either come off this completely, or find something that would pay enough to at least reduce the amount of benefit I receive.
For the last 10 years I've had several health problems, both physical and mental. The physical one's sadly are here to stay for the rest of my life. The worst problem is that I have a bladder condition which is at times extremely painful and means I need to use the toilet very frequently. Due to this I have over the years become quite agoraphobia and am scared of leaving my home because of the toilet issue. Since Xmas eve I have left my house twice.

However I really want to start doing something home based that can bring in some money. I'm fed up of being looked down on by others for being on benefits. If I had my own way I'd have my body and bladder back to normal and be like I used to be, but that can't happen. As I can't drive and can't even afford to learn to (although even if I could I would struggle to make it through a 1 hour lesson with my bladder) this makes matters worse job wise. If I had a normal job I would have to use public transport (buses as I'm too far from the station) to get there, this in itself would be a nightmare. People don't want to employ someone who needs the toilet every hour, or every 15 minutes when it flares up.

My references are now 10 years old making them pointless and out dated as they wouldn't even remember me now.

I trained at college prior to becoming ill in Health and social care GNVQ and Beauty therapy NVQ. I left college 10 years ago.


I sent an email off for the AQA texting, only for the application you need to state either current employer or past employer as references. You need 2 references for them to even consider you.

Right now it feels hopeless. My references are well out of date. The training I did at college is also now out of date. I can't go back to the beauty therapy as for some treatments you need to be there the entire hour of it. You can't just run off for the toliet half way through an hour body massage.

I can't even consider cleaning work as I'm now allergic to dust mites. Care assistant work and domestic work in nursing homes which I did part time whist at college wouldn't be good either as anything too physical sets my bladder off in a big way.

I have no funds to start up a business, but then I wouldn't know where to begin with that anyway.

There are two things that do interest me (other than the beauty therapy that I've had to give up on). I have always enjoyed writing, although my spelling and grammer needs a bit of work and with having depression as well I can't manage too much in one go. I'm also very interested in eating disorders. I suffered with them for about 7 years and now I'm almost completely better, I'd like to do something one day to helps others.

Sorry this is so long. If anyone has any idea's of what I could do from home I'd be really grateful.

destiny_star2006

i suggest you read through all of the pages on here and see which suits you best as all the info on here is for ppl from all walks of life!

frivolous_fay

trace_567 wrote: »

I sent an email off for the AQA texting, only for the application you need to state either current employer or past employer as references. You need 2 references for them to even consider you.

I'm pretty sure they say that if you haven't had a job they'll accept a personal references. It can't hurt to try, at least.

G-G_4

What are your interests? This may help people help you in a certain industry? I worked from home and earnt a good living, unfortunately personal debt and spending eventually made me bankrupt and now i'm going to get a job as I feel it would be easier for me to manage..

As for your bladder, sounds very difficult to deal with, sorry to hear that.. I'm sure it is something you have thought of so sorry to patronise or pry, but can you get a catheter fitted at all?

XX

hornetgirl

As you enjoy writing, you could try writing letters into magazines. I know it's not guaranteed money, but your post is clearly written so I'm sure you could easily earn the odd £25 here and there doing this. If this is successful, maybe then you could try moving on to writing short articles and perhaps find your niche. I did the letter writing thing a few years back and probably got half a dozen published, but never really took it any further.
Good luck!

NigeWick

trace_567 wrote: »

If anyone has any idea's of what I could do from home I'd be really grateful.

As you have internet access and a medical problem, how about something internet based? Internet Marketing is making many people enough to live on (some are getting rich and some are spending money to no avail). There is some free information at http://www.thirtydaychallenge.com/ and if you search you can find more.

You could try writing about something you are familiar with, like your illness and mental health problems. Then by providing people with excellent content, you can then let them know about things that have worked for you. I suffered from depression a while ago and took prescription medication. It did not work for me and it was only when I completely removed the cause from my life that I got better.

Once I have saved some money, I shall be looking to invest in the stock market using knowledge gained fromt a seminar I attended some time ago. One of the speakers was AJ Monte http://www.themarketguys.com/ and I have also found information at http://www.onlineoption.com/ Obviously there is risk attached, but you can learn how to minimise it and be profitable.

Nigel.

ali1972

hornetgirl wrote: »

As you enjoy writing, you could try writing letters into magazines. I know it's not guaranteed money, but your post is clearly written so I'm sure you could easily earn the odd £25 here and there doing this.

Yes, you can earn £10 a time by writing letters to The Sun. You can read the paper online to see what's in the news, then send your letter by email. No need to go out to buy the paper, no need to buy a stamp or walk to the post box. Just keep the letter succinct (make sure it doesn't exceed 30 words) and don't duplicate your letters by sending them to other papers - they don't like that. Of course you can write to other papers and magazines, just make sure you write something different each time.

The address is [EMAIL="letters@the-sun.co.uk"]letters@the-sun.co.uk[/EMAIL]

Also "top tips" to magazines like Take a Break and That's Life can earn you a bit.

foreign_correspondent

If you want to polish up your writing skills, have you considered doing an Open University course? You should get the fees paid if you are on benefits, and many courses can be done entirely from home, often online. The OU is also well regarded so the courses and tuition tend to be of a good quality. Some other students will be in similar circumstances which you may well find supportive and encouraging.
http://www3.open.ac.uk/courses/about/index.shtml

MrsTinks

Do you have any hobbies you could turn into a cottage craft? Soap making, candles, hand made cards etc?
Do you have enough experience with your NVQ thing to do small treatments from home? A friend of mine has her own business doing peoples nails (acrylics) at home - ok you need a training course and the materials etc but maybe other options are a possibility? or try applying to the princes trust for a grant to buy the equipment and set up your own from home business?
Good luck!

Chollita

How about voluntary work - that could help you feel more productive. Sounds like you would be an ideal person to do counselling or work on a helpline. Try contacting the relevant associations and see if you could get calls re-routed to your house, or answer emails.

I also urgently need to find work from home for health reasons (although I am luckier than you in that it is something that will hopefully get better soon). I don't even get benefits, so things are really tough ...

NotAnExpert_3

Hi trace

I've read your post and feel that you genuinely want to do something. Firstly, don't feel the need to 'answer' others that look down on you; you have done nothing wrong. Only do this because you want to; you don't have to do this as something to justify yourself to others.

I know there are many factors which need to come together to make home-working a possibility, and yet, even when most of those factors are there, something still seems to be missing, which means you can't do it.

That's why I feel, going by your talents (good quality of writing), your restrictions (bladder situation), and also by the fact that you just want something to get you going, I feel it'd be best for you to start with slicethepie (there's a long thread about it on here).

This is not too demanding, and it is probably the easiest thing to 'get the ball rolling'. Once you have the 'security' of this (you will actually enjoy it, too), you can then attempt other things knowing you have this to fall back on.

I'd suggest you then try AQA. Yes, you need references, but a) as someone up there said, that doesn't have to be an employer; b) they don't actually check-up!

I know, I'm going on here, but I do wish you the best of luck. You are making an effort, and that's all you can do.

Good luck.