Friday, February 17, 2012

Working from home....through the Zombie Apocalypse

In a perfect world we would be able to work from home and our children would never have to go to daycare unless we wanted them to, you know, for that much needed break. But for most of us this world just isn't perfect.

I have tried a number of the "work from home" things like selling Tupperware, toys (kids toys that is), a music program and I realized I am just not cut out for them. Either that or I haven't found the perfect one. And no, I am not interested in selling make-up. Please don't ask! I have also tried earning money from doing surveys and mystery shopping. Those weren't too bad, if you didn't mind waiting more than two weeks for your pay and if you didn't mind driving around. Sometimes that costs more than what you get paid so keep that in mind.

Nonetheless I "make" money from home, and no, I am not copying it on my copier. I am couponing. Spell check doesn't like that word by-the-way and neither do some grocery stores. I started a year ago and have saved my family a lot (read A LOT) of money.

I am the type of personality that when I get into something, I get into it hard core. Good and bad I suppose. I researched like crazy and came upon a few websites, www.livingrichwithcoupons.com , and www.thekrazycouponlady.com and a forum www.weusecoupons.com . They are my favorites and the ones I go to prior to stepping out the door to go shopping. They are also the ones I subscribe to on my Facebook page. There are a few blogs I follow but I only subscribe to them by email feed so I get a daily update of what they posted.

So, how do I "make" money with this? Well, it's simple. Our grocery bill for the 6 of us used to be over $1000 a month for groceries, personal care, etc. When I started couponing I really didn't see the savings in the first few months but what I did see was a stockpile growing. It just so happened that I started couponing when my local grocery store had their best sales. It was about 3 months before I saw the "savings". I didn't have room in my pantry for the foods I had bought and I didn't have room in my upright deep freezer for them either. That's when I really started seeing the savings. I wasn't going to the grocery store as often and when I did, my savings were over 60% every time.  We used some of our savings to buy the wood to make more shelves and another upright deep freezer.

Now I budget $400 a month for everything grocery and personal care. And yes, that is still for 6 people. What that means is I basically "make" over $600 a month "working" from home. I get to sit in my pj's with my hair going every which way. I get to drink my coffee and eat my breakfast while working. I get to have my two year old at home with me. I can work when I want to work or when I can work, mostly nap time and bedtime, and I don't lose half my pay to childcare and gas. I get to see his firsts and be there when he is sick. And that goes for all of my other kids as well.

My final advice, buy the newspapers every Sunday that there are coupons and buy multiples at that. I usually buy 4-8 papers depending on what coupons are in them. My papers run about $2.00 so that is about $7-$15 a month (one I get on subscription at half off) and that comes out of my grocery budget. Or, the other option if you hate getting all the papers or coupons you don't use/need like I do, order online from either eBay or a coupon clipping service. Yes, there is controversy over that and no I am not going into it but until it's definitively said to be illegal, I will do what I need to do to feed my family and save money.

My stockpile is big and growing weekly. As my 17 year old says, if there is ever a zombie apocalypse, we can just board up the doors and windows and live in the basement on our stockpile for over a year.