Being a stay at home wife and Mom after being in the corporate world my entire adult life has been quite a change and one that has been, at times, hard to deal with. I am very much a workaholic and LOVED working in the corporate environment. At times I miss it...a lot of times. I am definitely fortunate and appreciative of the fact that we are financially stable enough for me to stay home with H without having to bring in an income. My sole responsibility is taking care of H and keeping our house a home.
But I have also been fortunate enough in the last couple of weeks to pick up a job with a well respected financial institution as their meeting planner for an awards event in October. I am thrilled to be working again - especially since I can do it from home AND earn a great second income! But it is definitely more than just the money. Technically I don't need to bring in an income (I'm not saying that we are rich but we have been managing our finances on one income for over a year) so the money is just a cherry on top. What this job is doing for me is helping me get my "work fix." I get to use my brain for more than which load of laundry to do today or what to fix for dinner.
I saw an article the other day regarding get rich quick scams. Most of these target stay at home wives/moms who are looking for a way to have the best of both worlds - stay at home AND bring in an income. These types of jobs really are hard to come by but there are plenty of scam artists out there who would like for you to believe that you can work from home and make a five digit (or more) salary a year. There are envelope stuffing jobs that require you to pay for the materials, there are too many to name "jobs" that require you to pay a hefty fee up front in order to make millions. Most of these "jobs" are multi-level marketing scams that require you to try and suck in your family and friends in order for you to make more money. In my opinion, multi-level marketing = SCAM. I even worked as an event planner for a company exactly like this and, sure, there were a couple of folks that made a kick ass living but the majority of the poor saps that got sucked into the get rich quick world had to pay more than they ever made and probably lost friends in the process.
The article that I read on MSN was about "freebie trading," which is an internet, "work from home and make millions" scam. Like other MLM scams, there are some who make a good living off of it but only a handful. Maybe even a hand that is missing a couple of digits. Most people are being taken and feeling like they paid more in effort, dollars and friends than they ever got in return. If you are interested in reading about it, here is the link: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/ConsumerActionGuide/internets-biggest-work-at-home-scam.aspx?gt1=33010.
There are companies out there that support work from home folks such as Staffcentrix. They seem to be somewhat legit (with what little glance I gave their website) but you have to figure that, if it were that easy to obtain a work from home job, everyone would be doing it. But, if you are wanting to join the rat race, take a look at their website http://www.staffcentrix.com/. Why not...right?
I guess the way I have always looked at it, if I have to PAY up front in order to work a job and make money, something is fishy. And, like I said, if there were THAT many legitimate, work from home jobs, wouldn't more people be doing it? And, if they paid like the scam sights say they do, would the economy REALLY be in such bad shape? Just some thought to roll around in your head.
I am really glad that I have found an event that will probably (hopefully) be an annual gig for me that will make a nice second income and help my brain cells stay hopping. There is another organization asking me to bid on their silent auction management so we will see how that pans out. I really don't want to take on more than I can handle with a little one. I don't want to miss any of her special moments and I don't want to jeopardize my reputation as a planner if I get too overwhelmed with work and personal. So we will see how much I take on and where I go with my re-established business.
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