I would like to find something to earn $$$ at home but I'm so afraid of getting into a scam.<P>Any advice would be appreciated.

HI there-to my understanding (I haven't done this myself)you can take a very short course in medical transcribing and use your computer at home to enter doctors notes from their daily appointments. I have heard it pays well enough. Sorry I don't have more info but this might be a start!<P>Do you have to work out of your home? I mean-are there small children that you don't want/can't afford to leave at day care while doing some part time work outside of the home?<P>I clean houses for people-it is good money-under the table and I can basically make my own hours to fit my needs-I love it!!!<P>------------------<BR>*heartache*<P>"Life's A Dance<BR>You Learn As You Go.<BR>Sometimes You Lead<BR>Sometimes You Follow!<BR>Don't worry 'Bout What You Don't Know<BR>LIfe's A Dance <BR>You Learn As You Go."

Gosh...there's so much I don't know where to begin.<BR>Since the children I've had two 'home businesses' and both paid pretty well, but managing the time with the kids and the work was tough.<BR>I guess it depends on what your interests and skills are, and whether you want to start your own business or work for someone else.<BR>The first thing I did was to call headhunter firms and placement agencies.<BR>I told them I was a 'stay at home mom' and wanted to earn extra cash without having to 'punch in' at an office. They came back with a few temp. positions that could be taken care of at home. Things like typing legal notes, basic data entry by logging on to company mainframes via the internet, small business bookkeeping, and typing papers for college/university students.<BR>If that's not the sort of thing your looking for you could try the papers...read the classifieds for people wanting to earn money at home - then call the better business bureau and run a check on the company. They'll let you know if you're at risk for any type of scam.<BR>I hope that helps, and good luck.

If you don't mind being confined to home during work hours and have the patience for it, child care can give you a pretty good income. Usually, you can keep up to a certain number of unrelated children in your home without a license. You could probably do pretty well just keeping kids before and after school, if you have a reliable way to get them to and from your home. I used to have a day care in a separate place from my home, though, and I preferred keeping preschoolers. I had some "problem" older kids, and had to quit keeping them because they were destructive and a bad influence on the little ones.<P>I really enjoyed my little ones, but if I had it to do over again, I'd have opened the day care with fewer kids in my home instead of a separate building.<P>If you have children, you probably already have most of the stuff you'll need. Just make sure your home is as safe as possible, and restrict the child care areas to certain parts of your home. Check out the cost of day-care insurance, though--you'll need that. It was pretty high at one time (due to the McMartin cases), but it may be more reasonable now.<P>Check your state regulations and give it some thought.<P>LC

If you are fluent in a second language, you can work at home doing translations. I have a friend whose wife does that. There's a central office that negotiates the contracts and assigns it to independent contractors (like her). The rate depends on the level of difficulty and the quality of translation needed.<P>There are deadlines. It's not always compatible with her wife/mother responsibilities. But she doesn't have to dress up and go to an office, and she doesn't punch a clock.

Thank you all very much for your replies, I really didn't expect to get much except "they're all scams".<P>Work outside the home is not an option, I have 4 children and daycare would be way too expensive. Also, I homeschool so the 2 older kids (which I just can't bring myself to believe are old enough to leave alone) would be very hard to get someone to watch because of their ages. And we are 'out in the middle of nowhere' so to speak. <P>I think I would rather work for someone else rather than do my own business, but that is not out of the question either. I am the type of person that can do alot of different types of things and I learn very easily.<P>Where do you find a headhunters type of place? And do you have to have anykind of formal training? I have very little college.<P>Again, thank you all very much for information.