Drowning

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-11-2003
Drowning
5
Sat, 11-12-2005 - 8:18pm

Hi Everyone,

I'm a stay-at-home mom to a two year aold with a baby due next month. My husband has a great job, but a lot of debt leftover from before we got married. We've also accumulated a lot of debt since I left my job. Most of it is medical bills. We had great insurance prior to the birth of our first, but we moved to a new state for him to start a new job that doesn't have wonderful insurance, and I lost my insurance when I left my job.

I am really feeling a need to make some money to contribute to bills. I feel like my husband has a lot of pressure on him (of course, it's pressure on me too) and a lot of the medical bills are mine. Does anyone have any ideas for making extra money from home. I'm already considering a garage sale. Any others?

Also, does anyone have any budgeting ideas? We're not on a budget, but I'd like to get one started.

And one more :) Any ideas for ways to cut expenses at home?

Thanks everyone!

Edit: PS. We don't own our home - we're renting!




Edited 11/12/2005 8:29 pm ET by newisumom
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2004
In reply to: newisumom
Sat, 11-12-2005 - 8:44pm

A budget is a great place to start.

Photobucket

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-05-2004
In reply to: newisumom
Sat, 11-12-2005 - 10:39pm

It's wonderful that you are looking for ways to increase income and cut down on expenses! That's the best way to get started towards a debt-free life. :-D

The yard sale is a great idea, and you should probably do that before the colder weather arrives (unless you're lucky and live in a warm climate ;-D). Also, if you have any crafting talent...anything at all...you could rent a table at a Christmas craft fair (churches and some community groups hold them) and sell what you can. My Mom did this for awhile, and she made some good money at it. Do you have a sewing machine, and if so, can you do a normal straight stitch? If you can, you can buy some inexpensive fabrics and either some pillow forms or fiberfill (large bags are sold at Walmart's craft department or fabric/craft stores for next to nothing) and sew pretty pillows! :-D Holiday prints would go over real well, I'm guessing. Or a child's print so that a Grandparent on a fixed income could give a special pillow to their grandchild.

For cutting out household costs, you could consider decreasing cable TV services, or if you're not big TV watchers, maybe you could discontinue cable completely. Cut back on cellphone services, or maybe do what my husband and I did and cancel your home service completely and go totally cellular. :-D Cancel internet access and use the library computers for web surfing. :-D Reduce the amount of meals you eat outside the home (including coffee or ice cream trips). Get library books rather than buying books new. Go to parks, rather than expensive kiddie places like Chuck-e-Cheeses, use thrift and consignment stores for clothing (and toys too!). Do all your errands in one day rather than making trips out each day. Use coupons for groceries, and cut back on extras at the grocery store (junk foods). Let magazine subscriptions end and do not renew them. Just read the magazines at the library. Most libraries will let you check out past issues! :-D

That's a start. :-D I'm sure others will post some more ideas. :-D

Pat :-D

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-12-2004
In reply to: newisumom
Sun, 11-13-2005 - 5:47pm

Hi, NIUM. Pat had wonderful ideas on cutting down expenses, so I wont add to that. However, I do know firsthand about medical bills---once, when it was over $50K and the ins. refused to pay it, and it took us 5+yrs to pay it off. Recently, I ran up over $5K in medical bills with ER visits, doc and x-ray visits, etc. Here's what I did:

l) Negotiate with the docs. You dont have to be a medical professional to do this. Just ask. When the meds I take cost over $200-$300/month, it adds up. The drug reps are always handing out samples, starter kits, etc. (and pens). Since you are going to have a baby, the hospital should give you some stuff, too. So, ask about formula, vitamins, etc.

2) Check with insurance beforehand. Get it in writing. Do it before the baby is born. Find out what they will pay. Give them copies of your insurance card and preregister. That way, they cant "claim" that it wansnt pre-authorized.

3) Pack a "going to the hospital" kit. One of the girls at work is getting ready to have her baby. Sooo, her mom and MIL packed a cute kit for her with basic stuff---shampoo, lotion, toothpaste, a book, music CD's, and got her a nice gown and robe, and those fuzzy slippers. (we had a baby shower for her, and the kit was soooo nice).

4) When you get your hospital bill, go over it with a fine-tooth comb. Why? There are usually errors in it.

5) Write your insurance co's and docs to negotiate payment plans. I took the advice here, and sent everything certified mail---to the insurance company, to the claims center, to the ER docs, x-ray dept, etc. Have I heard anything? Not yet. But I did call the claims center, and was told it takes 30-45 days to process stuff. And, I also called the one place where the bill is over $1900 and they will accept payment plans.

Best of luck to you during this happy time. With hugs, WHiz.

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
In reply to: newisumom
Tue, 11-15-2005 - 9:12am

Hi and welcome!

I'm a stay at home mom, too (although possibly not for long--that's in another post--I may be trading with dh, and he may become the stay-at-home dad--anyway...). My kids will be five and two in Jan and Feb, respectively.

This is a beautiful time, and you should definitely make sure to take some time to relax and enjoy yourself.

A yard sale is a great idea. And you've gotten some good suggestions on cutting back on expenses too. I usually recommend taking a careful look at grocery expenses, as this is a terrific area to cut back in, but please make sure you are feeding yourself well (meaning, enough food and of the right sorts) first. This is critical all during pregnancy, but specifically in these last months it can help you have a good and safe labor, which means also a less expensive labor (complications are expensive to correct!).

I think tracking your spending for a few weeks--writing down every penny you spend--may help you a lot. Usually, people discover that their money is leaking out in places they didn't even realize, and it makes it easier to correct. Sometimes, as someone posted recently, they realize that they aren't spending as much money as they thought in one area, so they can focus their budget-cutting efforts somewhere more productive. Almost always, it reveals things that can be addressed to great effect.

As someone already said, I wouldn't worry too much about making money right now, until you've had a chance to settle in with the new baby. You'll need time to relax. But, I will suggest some things for after the baby is born and settled into your family, and make some suggestions for things *not* to do.

There are many opportunities for working from home, but you have to really go after them with an entrepreneurial spirit. I write marketing and PR materials. If you're not of a writerly bent, you can take in typing, transcribing (I would love to have a great transcriptionist to hand off that part of my job to), medical records work, data entry, etc. The hard part is getting the work, and the only "quick" way I know of doing that is to make a lot of phone calls. It's hard and disheartening work, but it will pay off. When I started my copywriting, I targeted design companies because they often have writing needs for their clients, and I made 300 phone calls in about two weeks. From those calls, I netted about four jobs, of which two clients turned into long-term customers.

There are other ways of gaining customers, but most of them involve either spending money or leaving the home--networking events can be helpful. Also, getting yourself published in a trade magazine is great because it establishes you as an expert. Once you have two or three happy clients, you can start asking for referrals.

Anyway, it takes time to build a business from home, and you really have to be a self-starter, but it can be done.

What I *don't* recommend is joining an MLM like Primerica, Pampered Chef, Avon, etc. Don't get me wrong--some of these organizations (but not all) are respected and viable businesses, and you can do well at them. There are probably ladies on this board who do one or another of them and are quite successful. But first of all, nearly all of them require an upfront investment of $200 or more, with additional expenses as you get into it (purchasing your marketing materials, etc.). And most of them require you to be out of your home part of the time selling. And nearly all of them require you to sell to your friends. Personally, not my cup of tea. Oh, and the two I'm most intimately familiar with (because dh and I each got sucked into one in the past) use high-pressure tactics to keep you involved and selling, almost cult-like. I know others have had positive experiences, so don't take this as a blanket condemnation. I just don't think it's a good place to start for people who are seriously in debt, if for no other reason than it involves a significant upfront investment.

The cold-calling work-from-home industry, however, involves one expense (besides the phone bill, which presumably you have to pay anyway)--business cards. You can print them from home on Paper Direct type paper, and spend probably $30 in ink and paper. Maybe less, depending on how fancy you want them to look. Later, when you have cash flow, you can upgrade to something from Office Store Extraordinaire, or even from a small biz PR place like PRStore. But in the mean time, the print-at-home type is quite adequate.

One more note: You will probably find that some people you cold-call will ask you to send materials. Don't bother. Most of the time it's a delay tactic because they don't want to say no directly. If they really want to work with you, arrange an in-person meeting to go over your qualifications (and portfolio, if applicable). If they'll do that, there's a strong chance they'll hire you. If not, thank them politely and save your pennies on sending materials.

Good luck and have fun (and congratulations on the upcoming baby!).

Blessings,

Heather

iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2004
In reply to: newisumom
Tue, 11-15-2005 - 10:34am
Hi Heather.head! You seem to know quite a bit about starting your own business. If you have the time, would you mind e-mailing me with more detail about how to get started? I'm very interested in making some money from home. Thanks!! myboys636@yahoo.com Heather