Working ideas...

[tangotanya]

I have been pondering for a while now as to what kind of work I can look at doing, and in my current situation its a bit of a challenge. I thought maybe someone on here may have an idea or two for me as I really want to be doing something.

Firstly, I have looked at returning to full time work, but with my situation (having my daughter shared care one week on one week off) I would have to firstly not only put her in daycare full time, but also pay for full time care for every week even though I only have her every second week. Plus the fact that I will lose the already limited time I have with her. So ruling out full time this leaves me with the option of trying to find part time work, however, everything I have looked at so far, when I do the math, it really works out the same or even less than the income I receive now.

So, my options I guess are something from home, I have looked over the net at all these work from home options but they all appear to be scams . I'm considering being a babysitter or nanny of some kind, or a house cleaner, or an ironing lady (although I really hate ironing lol) just not sure where I would start with these things.

It's just come to the point where I am not getting ahead in my situation, me and my fiance want to get our own place (i.e. not live with his dad any more) and we just cannot get ahead to save the $$$ we need to to move. I feel responsible for this by the fact i don't work and he is the main income earner.

So like I said I thought maybe someone might of been in a similiar situation and maybe had some ideas of what I could look at doing, my background is office work etc so Id love one of those work from home typing kinda things but there doesn't seem to be anything genuine out there.

I'm also limited because I am pregnant again now and I guess I don't really want to be jumping back into full time work when I will have to leave again a short while later.

Thanks for listening, I guess I'm just venting as well, we just really want our own place because we have a bit of conflict with my fiances dad at times, plus he also smokes indoors which I really dont like especially now being pregnant, but because it is 'his' house we cant say anything about it. It's making me feel ill, and I absolutely 100% want to be out of here before our baby is born for this reason.

Thanks for listening to me whine.

[lotusutol]

Since you mentioned about office work, how about being a virtual assistant (VA)?
It's like being a secretary/personal assistant but off location, you have your own office set up at home. Not too sure of the specifics, but you get the idea I hope.
It's a bonafifde work from home job.

by the way, Kathie Thomas is the pioneer of VA in Australia and the principal of a VA network called A Clayton's secretary, try contacting her if you want more info? (GOt her name from her book 'Worth more than rubies')

[mummygeorgie]

The week on/week off thing can be really tough for that, friends of mine were doing it for a while as they were both not working (he was studying, she was taking care of her sick mother). But once they were both working, they found the arrangement didn't really work for them, unfortunately.

Does your ex work? If so, who cares for DD while he works? How far away does he live from you? One option my friends were looknig at was having their DD in a daycare partway between their houses, so she could go there whichever parent was caring for her that week.

House cleaners I know there are always tons of ads in the local community paper looking for them ...

[KristyMum]

mmm I'm kinda in a similar spot, Zeke is still only 2 mornings a week at Kindy (not the same as shared care but in terms of being home for your child), and pregnant due start of 2009

I currently do night-fill 3 nights a week (avg 12-15 hours a week) and may help out Sat mornings
I also do email support for an online company
it works well at the moment. The nightfill will of course stop at the end of the year but my online work I can continue to do as I do it from home, and I enjoy it.

[missymoo84]

You could look for night work. Would your DP be able to watch her while you did a few hours at night?
Otherwise why not use this time to go to Tafe? You can do part time study and if you would like a home based job like nannying why not do Childrens Services and be a Family Day Carer? That way you wouldn't have to be putting the baby in care and you could work from home.
Look into your options. If night work is one try doing a short course to get you qualified in something that is primarily night work? I did my Bar and Service of Alcohol certificate at Tafe here in Hobart. It was a night course (6-9) and went for 3 weeks and now I can work in a bar if I wanted

[mum2squish]

I am a nanny and I take my kids to work with me
I love what I do and though sometimes it is challanging having my kids with me at work, for the most part it is a fantastic job that works for me.
This is my 8th year as a nanny for this family and when I told my boss I was pregnant with Squish she begged me to stay and just bring him with me, I was supposed to finish when Pickle was born but I was wooed again . The children are older (all are in high school now) and don't really need me, but are very attached and the mother likes them having someone to come home to. You also don't have to be 'established' with a family in order for them to be ok with you bringing your little one/ones to work with you, I have had several mums that know the children I nanny for try to 'poach' me by offering me more money to work for them (no thanks I'm too attached... a personal choice )
If you didn't want full time, there are usually jobs around that just require after school pickups and the dinner run...
Housework/house cleaning is also an option, years ago when I went to enquire at an agency (dial an angel) they had a system where you rang at the start of the week and told them the days you were available, maybe if you did this you could just work the one week on one week off.
Night fill is another option if your partner is home during graveyard shift to look after the little one.
Another alternative is cleaning at night. Supermarkets, offices and even schools are almost always cleaned at night. Offices usually give you a larger window in which you can work in, often just required to be done after 6pm and before 7am (or similar). You can pick up work as a night cleaner either as an employee or by getting a ABN and working as a subcontractor (more money in your pocket if you are not worried about holidays and long service leave, though not as much job security but you can also leave without any notice if you find its too much while you are pregnant... but offices are pretty easy to clean).

[Elliemadcase]

no suggestions - just wanted to say congrats on your pregnancy Tanya!!