If you recently looked at your income vs. your debt and came to the conclusion that you just have to do something about that debt, you have two choices. You can either cut your cost of living and use the money to pay down your debt or you can find some way to increase your income. Many US families have found that it’s actually easier to earn more money than to reduce their standard of living dramatically.
Be a remote worker
I haven’t been able to find out exactly how many remote workers there are now but did see one recent study that 63% of all information technology workers are now remote workers. One of my sons is a network architect for a major communications company who works remotely. He works out of his home, at coffee shops and from his RV when he’s on the road. He has never met his manager face-to-face and some of his team members live in places like Estonia.
Remote worker, telecommuter or Webworker?
There are a number of different terms used to describe people who work remotely. Telework and telecommuters are about the same thing – people who work for a company from their homes. Web workers (sometimes called iWorkers) are called this because of the high-tech or Internet-based nature of their remote work. Another difference is that telecommuting is generally an arrangement for work between a company and its employees while web workers or iWorkers are often free lancers or contract workers.
Get a job as a customer service rep
More and more companies are hiring remote workers to serve as customer service representatives. You might even be surprised at the names of some of the companies who are doing this. Progressive Insurance, Nestle, Direct TV, Intuit and Citi Bank are just a few of the companies that hire people for customer support.
Other types of work at home jobs
Another type of work at home job that is becoming increasingly popular is called virtual assistant. This usually involves administrative, secretarial and clerical support and sometimes creative or technical services – much like an administrative assistant in an office.
Medical transcriptionists are another type of work at home job. These are usually independent contractors. Their job is to transcribe and edit report –usually medical reports–and then e-mail the results back to their employer. This is a great job for stay-at-home moms because in most cases you can choose your own hours.
If you are good in math, English or a foreign language you could become a tutor–either out of your home or online. Tutors who work online generally work for Internet-based companies. You could charge up to $40 an hour for reading tutoring of middle school students. Do this a few days a week for a couple hours each day and you could make a nice second income – all from the comfort of your home.
Become in Internet Entrepreneur
The way that many people are supplementing their incomes is via the Internet. They create websites or blogs and then either promote other products as affiliates and earn commissions or sell their own products. These can be either real products or informational products. Thousands of people have made thousands of dollars in their spare time by promoting Amazon’s products.
Are you an artist or crafts person? You could create and sell your own wares on the Internet. Etsy.com and Artsyshark.com are both good sites for selling handmade, vintage items, art and art supplies. If you’re not much of an artist, you could make extra money selling items on eBay.
When neither work
If you’ve already cut your costs to the bone and just don’t have the time or skills required to earn extra income, you could let us help you pay off your debts. We have counselors who can negotiate with your creditors to reduce your balances as much as possible. We can also help you with a settlement plan that would get you debt free within 24 to 48 months from the time you start your debt settlement program. There are no upfront fees so you have nothing to lose by giving us the opportunity to help you settle your debts.