Anyone here work at home? If so what do you do (other than cakes) ?
Dawn
Up until a few months ago I was working at home as a medical transcriptionist. I now work in a local hospital doing MT.
I work at home as a babysitter, but only for another week! All of my kids are now in scholl full time and I decided it's time for me to do something else!
Michelle- I was thinking about medical transcription.....did you take courses at a local college, or an online program? And -- was it hard to find jobs working out of your home?
TIA --- Margo
I was lucky enough to already work in the medical records department at a local hospital and I asked to be trained. Most hospitals outsource (either to US outsourcing companies or overseas) now and so I worked at home for a few years after that happened with my first hospital and now found a small hospital that is hanging onto their MTs. Fingers crossed! I don't know where you are, Margo, but in Fairlawn is one of the best MT education centers in the US. It's called M-TEC (Medical Transcription Education Center). I didn't go there, but I've heard about it online and it's listed as one of the top places to go. I do believe they have online training if you aren't local.
It's not difficult to find a job, it's difficult to find one that you like. Each company is soooo different. I've only worked for two companies from home and they were like night and day. Each had their own positives and negatives. Pay is also not what most people are used to. You are paid on production, so for a new MT it can be kinda low until you get your speed up. That varies greatly from company to company as well, but the norm is around 7-9 cents per line with a minimum of 1000-1200 lines per day, or 5000 week, etc. If you can type faster, well then obviously you make more money.
Check out www.mtdesk.com . They have a message board like CC and you can get a lot of info about where to take classes, where to get a job, and talk to other MTs.
No problem. I probably went on and on more than you wanted! LOL! I've heard it's a good job for people in your locale or for military spouses since you can work no matter where you are located.
Forgot to mention one thing about MT companies....they either want you to have 2 years experience or have graduated from one of the top training programs (M-TEC being one). Some companies have mentor programs for MTs with no training/experience. You get paid less, but you basically get on-the-job training. Also, high speed connection is preferred. Most places do not allow MTs to have dial-up or satellite (dial-up too slow to download voice files and satellite not secure).
There I go babbling again. 
this is a really interesting topic!!! I've been working from home for 5 yrs, since my first daugther was born. I now have three. This is my last week at my current job actually. I should be tying up all my loose ends but instead I'm on CC as usual : ) Anyway, I am a bookeeper for a real estate investor. I keep track of all incoming rent, pay all the bills, charge tenants for services, run the numbers for new purchases, etc. I'm bored though, I'm having trouble concentrating with three little ones running around so I quit. I definitely need another job though, I haven't figured out what though. I was hoping cakes could be a source of income but I haven't found a way to do it legally in my state so it's still just for fun for all my friends. After all the chatter of medical transcription, I'm going to do some research. I see ads in the newspaper for it all the time but I wasn't sure what it was. Thanks for the info!
Now that I have experienced it, I'm glad I get out of the house for two days a week to go to the hospital to work. I'm also wishing I had another place to bake and decorate too!
I had cookie orders and two cakes to do last week and my kitchen still hasn't recovered. The boys were banned from the kitchen and that meant eating frozen dinners or Subway a lot for them. My hubby pan-fried a burger the minute I said the kitchen was back open. LOL!
My kitchen is the same way EXPLOSION has occured... my guys walk in and say whats for dinner ... I say can you find a flat surface that doesn't have some cake decorating stuff on it. 
I just got done the 3rd big cake in 2 wks. This all after the week of mario and the apple cake....so everything is everywhere...
oh yea this is about working from home, i just do cakes and i teach jewelry making. My husband picked up a second job so i could work on these things.
My kitchen is the same way EXPLOSION has occured... .
I am glad to know it's not just my kitchen that looks like that! Of course the week hubby takes off so we can get Christmas lights up (we do a huge display) I get 3 cake orders!
BTW, I am a stay home mom of 3 and have a 4 month old grandchild who lives with us. I quit work 12 years ago and started selling on eBay full time. It's been a great way to make money, but with the bad economy it's not doing so great right now. I am seriously considering going back to work. 
www.etsy.com I love it! It's for handmade stuff only, so it might not work for your situation.
LOL! No problem. I was dead tired myself. I work until 2am and of course had to do a quick check of CC before I dragged myself off to bed! I do love Etsy.com though. I've bought a few things from them. One was a little pendant/necklace that is a decorating/pastry bag on a plate. She has cute things like mini pendants that look likes cakes too! I posted a link to her site a while ago, will have to look for it again. They are really cute.
that does sound really cute. since i teach jewelry making i love to see the hand made stuff.
Can i just voice off something....i have this woman that i use to live near and she was all upset about the turn out of the election....so i said oh than you voted for mc cann.... she said no i did not vote..... 
maybe she should not be complaining if she did not take the time to vote............oh well. 
people just frustrate me.
I agree, no right to complain if you didn't do anything to try and change it. I have extreme anxiety and can't handle standing in lines, but I dragged myself to my local poll when I thought the lines would be the shortest and I was in and out in less than 5 minutes. No lines....Thank goodness! There are times you have to put yourself out there and do what you have to do or live with the consequences.
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