How I did it: I started working as a text guide with ChaCha for a little extra side money.  When I decided to leave the job that I had loved as a student advisor due to some very negative office politics, I really wanted to be able to work exclusively from home.  I am not the type of person who cannot motivate myself and I don't mind being alone.  In fact, I work better that way.  It's not that I don't like people; I was just getting tired of the gossip, lies, and other (for lack of a better word) utter crap that goes on in most work places.  I did a lot of research and visited a lot of forums dedicated to people who work from home so that I could talk with them and learn what I needed to know to get a LEGITIMATE job at home.  There are so many out there I literally could not believe it.  I think most people, like me, who have never worked from home and who have never really put in the RIGHT research think that working from home is just some big scam.  It really isn't, though there are a lot of scams out there.  Don't expect to get rich either.  Generally you can expect to make between $10-$14/hour with most of the legitimate companies.  That's not a lot of money, but with the money I save on gas and eating out and clothes I end up about breaking even, though I technically took a pay cut when I started working at home if you look solely at hourly wage.  All in all, I LOVE working from home and unless there is no other way, I will never again look for work outside the home.

Lessons & tips: Apply everywhere you can!  It only took me a month to secure my first work at home job, but I applied to over 70 companies.  The majority of them I did not hear back from at all.  Don't let that discourage you.

Resources: Check out these forums and sites for some great job leads and information:

www.workplacelikehome.com
www.workathomemafia.com
www.wahm.com
www.ratracerebellion.com

Nov 17, 2008, 09:03AM PST | 5 comments | 9 cheers