Debt Help Ideas

When my kids were young, I was interested in earning money at home so I started a desktop publishing business and was able to earn money typing at home. I didn’t get rich, but it did help with the bills and I was thrilled to be making extra money at home and have a flexible schedule since I had to take one daughter to therapy due to an injury to her wrist.

I focused on resumes and college papers and stayed fairly busy. I still remember walking all over the college campus putting up flyers (make sure you get permission from the school office first). As a 30-something, I felt a little weird hanging up posters at the school, but it really paid off. I had a steady flow of students who needed their papers typed and one teacher who used me fairly regularly until we moved out of state.

My favorite resource book at the time, which I still have in my collection, was Resume Pro by Yana Parker. I loved her resumes and so did the people who hired my clients, not to mention my kids’ business teacher in college. She gave them an “A” for the resumes I helped them prepare, using Yana Parker’s book.

I don’t currently earn money typing resumes at home as a business, but I am occasionally on call for my kids and their friends and that’s still the first book I turn to. It’s available as a used book from Amazon, among other places, and is a terrific resource for those interested in being able to earn money typing at home!

Up till now, I’ve mostly focused on practical and creative little and big ways to save money as we work towards our goal to eliminate debt. Another way to to work towards that goal, however, is to add money to the budget. When my kids were little, I was always on the look out for jobs for moms who want to stay at home. It was never easy, although I did find a few. That was all before the internet though.

Nowadays, thanks to the internet, work from home jobs for stay at home moms abound. Some are good, some not so much. I’m going to start a new category, Stay at Home Jobs. I’ll be sharing what I’ve done in the past, along with what I’ve been learning over the past few years about the reality of making extra money at home.

I’d love to hear from you as well. Have you succeeded at making extra money at home? If so, we’d love to hear your comments. If you’ve tried unsuccessfully, that would be good to know as well.

So pull up a chair, grab some coffee and a donut, and join me in this ongoing journey to find creative and practical ways to save money, including  earning money at home ideas, and together we can have fun as we work to eliminate debt.

If you send books, CDs, and/or DVDs to friends or relatives (great ideas for long distance grandkids or elderly shut-ins), you are eligible for one of the most practical little ways to save money on snail mail.

Media Mail is ultra cheap and quite easy. Just package up the books, CDs, and/or DVDs in a sturdy box. Don’t include anything else, especially not magazines or personal letters. The post office does do regular spot checks and if you accidentally include those, your package might take a lot longer and will cost a whole lot more! Wrap the package and address it. I usually write Media Mail in big letters on both sides of the package.

Take the package to the post office and request that it be sent via Media Mail. As an example of the great savings:

• 2 pound package from the West Coast to the East coast – Parcel Post would cost $6.97 whereas Media Mail is only $2.58
• For a 7 pound package – Parcel Post would run $12.81 while Media Mail is only $4.33

Think of the possibilities, particularly if you are working hard making extra money at home and have to mail these types of items. Mailing by media mail is definitely one of my favorite and very practical ways to save money!