I've always worked one day a week outside the home doing counseling for the school district while homeschooling the kids. After May, I will not be returning to work. However, I really enjoy having a little extra spending money. I've racked my brains and searched all over the internet for ideas on what I can do to make a little money while still homeschooling. Anyone have suggestions? To provide you with more info: we live in a rural area in TX, one of the poorest counties in South Tx. I'm homeschooling my 7 yr old son and my 5 yr old son. My background is in education (secondary and elementary), school counseling, and I'm a licensed counselor. I enjoy organizational type things, event planning etc. I am not much of a salesperson at all. Any suggestions? I'm wanting to get something started before May, so I can have things up and running.
www.care.com for tutoring, childcare, pet care, senior care or one-time gig jobs. (I have used them and got a good sitting job that was 2x a month). (You mentioned being in a rural area so unless you were closer to a bigger city or town, that might not work but I thought I'd mention it). Are you fluent in a foreign language? You can sign up with a translating website and get jobs through them. I hesitate to mention mystery shopping and merchandising because it pays peanuts. You can check out www.marketforce.com and www.certifiedfieldassociates.com as well as www.volition.com for job postings. I've been doing it off and on for 9 years. There were times when I had a great merchandising route that I'd go to 2 days a month but other times when it was realllllyyyy slow, hardly worth the effort. I would suggest staying away from any home party sales. People are pretty strapped right now and I know how I feel when approached with home parties. I just don't have the money to buy.
Thanks mom_2_3. I felt the same when I looked at home party things. I only came across a couple that I'd even be interested in..and I really don't want to do the evening parties etc. I'll look into the other options you posted. I wish I could come up with something creative and great -- its funny being in this predicament when I have all this education/certifications behind me...but no way to use it in a part-time way. No one here will pay for tutoring services etc. I found that same problem when I had my private practice and even medicaid clients would be no shows even though they didn't pay out of pocket. Now if I went to them..I'd probably get some business, but coming to me was too much effort I guess.
...is there any service homeschool families would need that I as an LPC could provide? I've thought and thought about maybe offering testing since some of those materials require a licensure to order...I don't know -- I think it would be good to keep my business/work focus also on homeschool instead of stringing myself out with different focus areas.
Doing something for homeschoolers would be a great idea. Could you create a class to teach in your home once a week? Are you good with art? Maybe teaching a Meet the Masters art class in your home, on a weekday, for homeschoolers. That program lends itself to multiple ages. Get a small group of, say, 6 kids at $60/mo and there you go, $360. You could choose some other subject to teach and take on 5-6 kids every week each month. That is something I would be interested in and seriously consider paying for. Another idea is one my friend did for a while. She liked to bake. She wasnt professionally trained or anything, mind you, but there were a few cakes she bakes really well. She went to a couple of local family owned resturants and dropped off samples of her cakes and they actually ordered from her every week. She did Boston Cream pie, Key Lime pie and Red Velvet and charged $30-35 each. Around Thanksgiving and Xmas, she made professional looking fliers and business cards and left them at businesses. She also added fancy-type cookies. She got several orders from banks and offices for cookie platters. She did this for about a year. Apparently, she said a licence was not required in our city. Hope this helps spark some ideas. I cannot think of anything regarding LPC except what you mentioned-test proctoring.
this summer let it be known that you are available for pet sitting/house sitting/farm sitting. Lots of farmers would like to get away but might need someone to go by and check that their cattle had water and their chickens had some food and water. I pay a boy to do this for me when we go away.
I found a job cleaning a Doctors office in our small town. Its a hour and half 5 days a week. I can clean anytime after 6pm. I love the flexibilty and I don't have to deal with co workers. Its nice and quiet!!
(palm to the forehead) Now why didn't I think of that? We live on a small acreage with chickens and such and we run into the same trouble. I never thought to advertise that I am available to do this for others. Thanks for the idea!
Is there a supported living agency in your area? You could apply to be a supported living staff. The hours are super flexible.
