Reduce Expenses and Make Money

My husband recently lost his job. So while he is looking for work, I want to help out by earning money on my own. However, I can’t go to work because we have three kids that I have to take care of. Is there a way that I can earn while being at home?

There are two ways you can help your husband.  One quick way is reducing your expenses to the strictest basic Needs at least during these difficult times.  Needs are those that you can’t live without.  Everything else is considered Wants.  You will be surprised that you are probably still buying Wants without realizing it.  Just to emphasize what strict means, for example, any kind of dessert would be considered a Want.  Even coffee is a Want.  Choosing nutritional fruits and vegetables are Needs only if these are made part of your family’s daily nutrition.  Just buy those that are priced lowest for the season.  Taking a shower and wasting expensive water is a Want if you can use water from a bucket.  You get the drift, I’m sure.  You can just choose the best value for your money.  But I am not saying this is forever.  This is only in a state of emergency, which is where you are now.

Definitely your husband should be included in this exercise of reducing expenses.  It is important that you both show your children a good example.  “Practice what you preach.”  Depending on how old they are, you should include your kids in your budgeting exercise.  Make a game of the entire process.  Try not to introduce sweets and junk food to them except to taste, if it is already available at no extra cost to you.

The second option is to work at home as you are asking.  I think that working at home can only be through the use of your household capabilities or through the internet.

Household capabilities would probably mean cooking, sewing, washing, ironing, and handicraft.  Only you can identify what you are really good at.  In some situations, you can include your family’s needs in the process of doing the service for others.  For example, if you cook well, you might have neighbors who don’t cook and just buy their cooked food.  You could offer them your own daily home-cooked meal for a price that will give you a little profit but would still be worth it for them.

Just a thought, perhaps you can offer to take care of the children of your co-parents who also need to be at work and may not have the time to bring them to and from school.  You could look into running a mini-school bus-cum-nursery (children care) service to parents in the same school as your children.  Financing for acquisition of a school bus is quite available.

On the internet on the other hand, there are so many offers if you just go through a Search Engine like Google with a question on what you can do at home.  But you need to be careful if the opportunity will really work for the Philippines.  Most of them are really for the U.S. even if they claim to be internationally.  Be extra wary when you are asked to make an investment, no matter how reasonable it might seem.  If you are not sure but want to gamble, just understand that you are gambling so that you will not be disappointed.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.