Affording the Work From Home Lifestyle

Budget

Working from home is a growing trend among the working class. It offers many advantages compared to the typical 9 to 5 office employment. While there are also some disadvantages, you can work through many of them and enjoy the freedom that comes with this lifestyle.

Making Enough to Support Your Lifestyle

The idea is to work from home and make the same amount or more than you did. Venturing out on your own pursuing your passion is your dream. Thankfully, many professions now support the work-from-home platform. Consultants, real estate agents, bookkeepers, and graphic designers are a few. Many people also have lucrative careers as writers, editors, and tutors.

Making Use of Your Skillset

Whether you will be self-employed or working for someone else, it’s a good idea to consider what you know, what you’re good at and what you enjoy before making the move to working from home. If you’re going to be self-employed you have a little more flexibility as you can pursue any dream you have – like becoming a home baker or an artist. When working for someone else, consider where your talents lie. For example, you might spend a lot of your spare time gaming, so you’ve inadvertently become an expert gamer without even realizing it. Bingo! You should pursue a career in gaming which could involve anything from game testing to game boosting. The latter is when a player uses their knowledge of the games they are good at in order to help complete other people’s games for them. For example, new dota players may need help reaching the next level of their game and might try to find a dota mmr boost service. This means that you as the booster would be paid to play their game for them whilst they watch online from their home. It’s as simple as that. Analysing where your talents lie can be one of the easiest ways to make use of your skillset in order to find a paying job that you love.

Making Use of Your Resources

When you work from home, not every month is fruitful. If you have a tight month you can bring in additional money from other sources. Clean out the basement, garage, and attic and have a yard sale. Go through collectibles and inherited items such as antique furniture, antique rings, old coins, or stamps and check their value with an appraiser.

Saving for Paid Time Off

Unlike a typical job where you work for a company when you work from home, you are the boss. This means that it’s up to you to establish a savings account to enjoy time off. Taking a portion of your weekly earnings and allocating it to a savings account will ensure that when you need down time, you can get away.

Healthcare and Retirement

Healthcare is something you need not only for yourself but also for your family. With healthcare costs rising, it can be difficult to secure a plan that provides all the benefits previously enjoyed. However, there are ways to find adequate coverage. Most states offer affordable health care plans for those who work from home, work part-time, or have no benefits through their employer. Medicaid is another option available. But what about if you’re unable to work as much, or at all, due to a disability? Life insurance won’t cover your income during this time, so you may wish to look for a disability insurance definition and see if you could benefit from getting a policy started. It’s better to be safe than sorry, especially when you’re self-employed and relying soley on yourself for your income. For your retirement, a personal 401K or Roth IRA is something that you can set up now and contribute to weekly or monthly. This way when you reach your retirement age you’ll have a sizable nest egg.

Unpredictable Income

Most people that are self-employed have months that are lucrative and months that fall short of their goals. One way to remain in control and maintain a healthy credit report is to take the average for the year and divide it by 12 months. This way you’ll have the money each month to keep your bills current and avoid paying additional fees for late payments. It’s also wise to invest some of the yearly earnings so that there’s a cushion of money to fall back on if needs be. Investing in stocks, shares or even digital currencies requires little experience but often provides a cushy profit. There are some investments that are more sound than others, like buying Amazon shares, for example. Amazon is one of the world’s biggest distributors and is not going anywhere any time soon, so in amazon investieren is bound to bring in some extra cash for those tight months.

Saving on Expenses

When you work from home your commute is a few steps down the hall. If you’ve previously had a commute of 30 to 45 minutes, you’re saving $50.00 weekly on gas. Additionally, you won’t need to change the oil very often and your tires will last for a few years instead of one season. You also don’t have the morning coffee stop or lunch out which can add another $50.00 or more easily. On top of that, you no longer have to update your wardrobe with professional attire, another huge saving. You could go a step further by ditching your debit card, opting to use one or more credit cards for purchases to take advantage of the rewards programs offered by said cards, usually coming in the form of points, rewards, and even cash back. All in all, you can save $500.00 or more in a single month.

Available to Enjoy Living

When you work 9 to 5 Monday through Friday, you have to alter your life. You no longer have to schedule doctor’s appointments late at night or over the weekend. You have time to attend school functions, family events, and make dinner on your schedule. If a child becomes ill, you are there to tend to their needs. You can spend your lunchtime any way you want. You control your life.

Working from home provides many opportunities that you won’t have working in an office. However, before you give notice, make sure to factor in things like healthcare, vacations, and retirement.

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Sam Roberts

My motto in life is 'a busy household is a happy household', and my family of seven certainly keep me busy! I'm a trained chef with a passion for creating nutritious meals that are easy for everyone!My five kids are my life and everything I do is for them.

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