Are there Legitimate No Cost Ways to Work at Home?

Can you really work at home and make legitimate money with no cost? Absolutely.

I've worked for my state government over 10 years in the my two college majors accounting and computing. In Kansas, which is a low cost living area, a good job will earn you $700 per week, or $2800 per month. After taxes and health insurance, I was left with about $2100 a month. From that $2100, I paid daycare expenses of $350 per month, $50 per month for a parking permit, $200 a month in gas and car maintenance to commute, and $100 a month for the dress clothes I needed to work. Leaving me with $1400 a month to pay my share of the household bills, make student loan payments, and hopefully have money left to buy a soda now and then. I was making a decent salary for my area, but I didn't get to keep much of it.

Working Full-Time
$2100 Net Earnings
-350 Daycare
-50 Parking Permit
-200 Gas and Car Maintenance
-100 Clothes
============================
$1400

In 2007, my family circumstances caused me to work only part-time. I now work only 2 days a week at my regular job. At the time, I didn't feel like I had a choice, or I probably wouldn't have reduced my hours. But, it worked out BETTER for me and my family. Here is why:

Working Part-Time
$1100 Net Earnings(Working part-time dropped us into a lower tax bracket.)
- 0 Daycare (Only working 2 days a week, family and friends do this for free.)
- 0 Parking (I work outside the normal 8-5 hours so I don't need a permit.)
- 75 Gas and Car Maintenance (Same distance but now 2 days instead of 5.)
- 25 Clothes (I work from home in my regular clothes most of the week.)
=============================
$1000

What I need to earn working from home to make up for the income I lost by working only part time is $400 a month. ($1400-1000) I now earn that from my writing. This year, I expensed all of it for the use of my home office and supplies. Any additional money over $400 that I earn writing means I am financially better off than I was before. It has taken me almost 2 years of writing when I had free time to build my monthly residuals up to $400. But, the keywords here are "writing when I had free time."

• I work when I want.
• I have time for my family.
• I have just as much money as I did before.
• In the next few years, as my residuals grow, I expect to exceed what I was making working full-time away from home.

eHow, Squidoo, Suite101, and many other writing websites allow you to earn for your writing and work at home. They are legitimate and there is no cost to get started. Just sit down and write something. :)