Working From Home: My Journey, The Beginning

Last night, I dreamt that I was on my way to work. Somewhere along the path, I realized that I didn’t have shoes on my feet. Instead I only had pantyhose. I had to turn back and go home. On my way home, I took a picture and wrote a caption to show Facebook how silly I was for leaving the house with no shoes. Then I woke up. All this to say, I’ve made the brave and scary decision to not return to my job as a high school teacher.

I’ve decided to stay home with the baby. Staying home and not working is not a luxury we cannot afford. And further, it’s not the direction I want to go in. For a long time, I’ve wanted the flexibility and mobility of working from home. The baby, Ariella, has given me the motivation I need.

There are about three months left to 2017. The rest of 2017, I’ll be establishing multiple ways to earn money from home. And although I don’t usually talk finances, I’ll be as transparent as I can along the journey. This is a way for me to track the journey and also for me to share with all of you. Maybe you can share ideas with me too.

What I’ve done so far to make money online:

  1. I started working for an online ESL teaching company . I teach via my webcam and the program’s portal and make about $20/ hour, in addition to incentives. I’m an independent contractor so I have to “sell myself” by an appealing introductory video and a couple professional pictures. I started with them 11 days ago and I’ve taught a few students so far. My schedule has yet to fill up because it takes time to build regular clients. My schedule is open from 7am to 10am generally. It seems like a great company to work for, but the hours you choose could be booked up or not because the parents choose. Although I have a lot of open slots, so far I’m loving the experience. I will employ patience for that schedule to fill up.
  2. I’ve started an eBay store in which I resell clothing, collectibles, and other items. So far so good. It also takes time to build. I’ve only listed 130 items out of 500, which the basic subscription allows. My 60 day total is only about $236.07, which does not exclude the cost of goods. Although that probably sounds pitiful, I’ve learned a lot about the process and what sells and will be sourcing better items.
  3. I have other interviews set up for other work form home positions.

Plans:

  • I plan to learn about selling on Amazon and I want to find out about drop shipping.

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    Amadella Clarke-Gonzalez

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