5 Ways I Make an Income at Home

I quit working the grind to make an income at home and life is so much happier.

After being a classroom teacher and having close to zero work-life balance, I am finally able to make an income at home and decide what works best for me and it feels glorious. I am two years into the remote work life and I dabble in quite a few things to gather up enough income to live a pretty comfortable-for-me life.

I often get a little squirmy when people ask what I do for work. I worry that because I don’t have a clear-cut, black and white answer, it doesn’t sound valid. There are times when I answer the question of what I do and am met with an interesting look and asked if and how these gigs give me enough money to live. What some people don’t realize is that my old job as a public school teacher provided a crap salary, especially when you calculate how many hours I actually worked.

I’m trying to become more comfortable talking about what I do now because it works for me and works very well. I’ll take being a freelancer and throwing a bunch of gigs together to make ends meet any day if it means that I can take time off when I need or want to and I can pick and choose what work I do (instead of being forced to do a trillion things that aren’t in my job description).

So, let’s get to it. I have 5 jobs that I consistently do as a freelancer: teach English online to students in China, teach for an online private school based in the states, write for clients found on Upwork, sell clothes and other goodies on Poshmark, and write here on Medium.

Online English Teacher

Teaching English online to students in China was my introduction to the world of remote work. I was a classroom teacher at the time and I was pretty miserable with the chaos that is the United States’ education system. A friend of mine shared something about teaching English online on her Facebook page and the company (VIPKID) looked familiar to me. I had gotten a message about this job on Linkedin once and thought it was a scam. I messaged her for more details and I liked what she had to say. Knowing there were other options out there to teach, but not deal with the many difficulties of the job I had at the time, I finally got the courage to quit.

Fast forward 2 years and this job is incredible! I love it so much. At first, I did it very part-time because building up regular students takes time. This is also when I decided to pack up and move to Southeast Asia. Teaching English online allowed me to work while traveling.

Now that I am back home and it’s been some time, I have many regular students who I teach often. Being home means I have to teach early mornings and late evenings because of the time difference between the states and China, but I’ve adjusted and the 30-second commute makes it a lot less difficult.

“…start over. It’s a chance to rebuild your life the way you wanted all along.”

Online Private School Teacher

This is my newest gig for how I make an income at home. I’ll mention Upwork next, but I found this online private school job via Upwork. Or, it found me rather.

My Upwork profile displays my background in education and writing and about a month ago in the midst of hoping something else would come up for me so that I could reach the amount of income I’d like, the founder of this school contacted me. At first, I didn’t feel the pay was good enough as it’s a tiny bit less than my other teaching job but I decided it would be a good experience for more remote work and the teaching times are more ‘normal.’ It’s about 10 hours a week of work so that adds a good chunk to my money flow.

School starts next week but so far, considering the setup and communication, it looks like it might just be a good fit for me and I’m glad that I didn’t write it off because of one issue. Sometimes, especially in the world of remote work, you aren’t so sure about things. I am learning more and more every day that giving chances and doing things out of my comfort zone can often result in more good than bad.

Upwork

As I mentioned, I am also on Upwork. This is a freelancing platform where freelancers offer skills that clients may want. Almost anyone who’s interested in remote work can find something they’re able to do here if they’re willing to put in the work. I use Upwork to find writing jobs.

There are many people who don’t like Upwork and even advise against it. I read this almost daily. I really like Upwork. Yes, there are some clients on there who want to pay freelancers close to nothing. Not a day goes by that I don’t see someone offering $5 for a 1,000–3,000-word article. If I’m writing a high-quality piece and I always am, 3,000 words can take me an average of 5 hours, sometimes more or less depending on the topic. So, yes people want to get away with paying someone $.80 per hour because Upwork takes twenty-percent and that’s because there are people who will do this. I am not one of those people and there are plenty of jobs listed that allow you to be picky.

I will say that since I am able to work from home and don’t spend money on gas or time on commuting, I am willing to take a little less than if I was going to a job every day especially since I’m still gaining experience. It’s all about perspective.

The good parts of Upwork outweigh the bad for me. I have found several clients here, two of which I regularly work for writing blog articles plus my new teaching job that was listed on Upwork.

Poshmark

Another source I use to make an income at home is Poshmark. This is a marketplace for buying and selling clothes and many other items in the U.S. If you’re looking to make big money, I’m not sure if this is your answer. It hasn’t been for me anyway, but it’s easy cash and it is a way to get rid of things I don’t need or use anymore and make a little something off of it.

Yesterday, I made enough to almost fill up my gas tank. I sold a swimsuit that doesn’t fit, gym shorts that I haven’t worn in a year, and sandals that I wore once all for about $20. I probably could’ve made more than this, a downfall of Poshmark. However, I made something, got rid of ‘stuff’ which I love to do, and I’m allowing someone else to reuse instead of buying a new item which I also really love. Again, it’s all about perspective.

Medium

Well, I guess most of us writing here on Medium are using it as a way to make an income at home. While I can’t pay rent with Medium income, the incoming funds have increased each month and I can buy wine and dog treats with said funds. Writing here allows me to do a few things I love — remote work, write, and make money. So, why not?

Other Side Gigs I Enjoy

I guess these two don’t fall into the category of ways to make an income at home, but they are remote work because you can do these two just about anywhere so I thought I’d include them as a bonus.

First up is Rover, a dog walking/sitting app. Of all the jobs mentioned, I think this is my favorite. I am not doing Rover now because of the current pandemic. Rover is great because you can change your location to wherever you are, set competitive rates to the area you are in, and get paid to hang out with pets! I’ve stayed with pets for extended periods of time, I’ve checked in on a dog once when the owners had a busy day, and I’ve had regular gigs where I stop in for daily walks. It’s so easy and fun if you’re a pet lover like me!

The other side gig worth a mention is babysitting. This isn’t as easy to do from anywhere as it takes time to find families who need a sitter and get to know them, but it’s always a possibility. Kids are everywhere, right? It can be another easy and fun way to make money if you like kids and it’s flexible. I find these jobs on area-based Facebook pages and through word of mouth.

When I was working a 9–5, there was no flexibility. I worked Monday-Friday, I was rarely ‘allowed’ to take days off if needed, my happiness and wellbeing were put on the back burner, and work was always number one.

Now that I have found various ways to make an income at home, life is much better. If I need or even want a day off, I have that flexibility. Doing things that bring happiness and foster a positive state of mind like journaling, meditating, and getting outdoors doesn’t have to be for holidays only. I have the ability to incorporate these activities into my everyday life. I have the option to create the work-life balance that I see fit.

I have been working remotely for about 2 years now so I’m still fairly new to the game. Maybe this is why I have quite a few jobs in order to make enough money to live. Or maybe it’s just the name of the game whether you’re a newbie or a pro. Either way, I’m happy to put in the effort of finding work and to get creative when it comes to feeding my bank account.