Many of us dream about working from home and getting away from the daily 9-5 grind and long commuting time. For many of us it has been a way of freeing up our lifestyle and working in a more flexible way. We explore a range of ideas to help you set up a home working business.

1. Set up an online website
This could be an online shop or it could be an online magazine. Either way it is not a job for the feint hearted and you will have to learn a degree of web programming and web promotion. Luckily there is free open source software such as wordpress or joomla that could help get you going. You could start getting a web site going within a week or so. The harder bit is making money from it. Until you get to at least 2,000 visitors per month to your shop or 15,000 visitors per month to your website the results will be meager. It took us around 4 years (albeit working part time) to bring in a modest income.

2. Become a virtual assistant
This is like being a secretary for a small business but where you work from home and only work when there is work to do. Most virtual assistants have around four or five regular clients and do anything from spreadsheets, chasing up invoices, putting together presentations, adding content to websites. Pay rates vary but tend to be in the range of £10 - £18 per hour ($20 - $36) depending upon the skills offered. But remember you only charge for the direct hours worked. For more information visit iava or alliance of uk virtual assistants

3. Freelance Editorial and Journalism work
If you are any good at writing, editing or proof reading then you may be able to set up a writing or editing business. The biggest challenge will be to find customers but if you look on websites like Reed you will often find these types of roles advertised. The advertisers on Reed get loads of people bulk applying and so just sending in a CV won’t get you very far. Sending a portfolio of your writing would get you further. I would say (as a publisher that uses freelancers) that the best way to try and get work would be to write a piece for your target publication. Have a look at the type of articles that they publish and write one that you would fit in to their style. Freelance journalism work ranges from £40-£100 per 1000 words ($80-$200) or between £10 and £20 ($20 - $40) per hour.

4. Photography
Photography can suit many people for working from home. The easiest entry level is to start by supplying images to photo libraries. Istockphoto has a facility to do this and you get paid a royalty any time that someone downloads an image. At its smallest size a download costs 50p ($1) and you can expect to get royalties of around 20% or 10p ($0.20) per image downloaded. For a list of photo libraries visit top-10-image sites Business images sell the best, but it will take a while to build up an income. More lucrative would be to do freelance photography for weddings, local businesses or various publications. Finding a niche can work well in photography. For example I had real problems finding freelance photographers in India to take call centre photos. Freelance photography rates can be between £100 and £500 per day ($200 and $1000).

5. Professional services
Business services are ideal candidates for home based businesses. Database programming, graphic design, web design, book-keeping are all in demand. You can generally also find sites like elance where you can find work or offer your services.

6. Telephone sales
If you are any good at selling then telephone sales could be a great business for you. Many companies need to regularly contact their customer base or need to find sales leads. You may be able to offer your services to help find new business for them. You will however need to be aware of the distance selling and cold calling regulations first.

7. Keep your overheads down
Before rushing headfirst into your business idea it pays to keep your overheads as low as you can to start. Try to use whatever computing power that you already own. You can get an answering service from a company like alldaypa and free business banking from abbey. If you need a web site you could try to build your own site. You can start with a simple hosting package - these can be obtained for less than £10 per month from 1and1. Open source software such as wordpress or joomla is free and could get you set up. You can always buy in some freelance services to get you going. You can get some free business cards from vistaprint. Try to keep the overheads as low as you can until you are sure that things are going well.

8. Borrow as little money as you can.
The most healthy way to grow a business is through positive cash flow. This means that you make a profit before you invest for the next phase. This could potentially slow down your business growth in the early phases but you will have a very healthy business platform to work from. Your business will be much less likely to fail.

8. Watch out for franchises, training schemes or scams
There are lots of people out there advertising for you to work from home. Many of them say that you can earn £400 per day/ week. While there may be some good franchises out there, most franchises and training schemes require a substantial investment up-front. This could cripple the business even before you can get going.

9. Test market your ideas - is your idea sound?
Before you kick off your project it is probably worth checking whether your small business idea is sound. Just as people will never tell you that your baby is ugly, you will seldom get an honest opinion from friends and family as to whether your business idea is sound.

Try to find prospective customers and ask them if you should set up in business with your product or service. If the results are promising then you will be on to a bit of a winner.

Read this article on test marketing your idea

10. Know when to carry on and when to give up
Many businesses fail because they do not know when to carry on and when to give up. Because people have invested so much in a business there is an overwhelming need to do double or quits and get more heavily into debt. If you keep the business in profit you will know when it starts to dip.

• junk jewellery

  (Thanks to Anonymous)

• Start a homebuyers information service.
  One of the problems with moving house is that you can never be sure what your neighbours are going to be like. They could be noisy or have mischevious children terrorising the neighbourhood . There may be other numerous drawbacks too. Unacceptable periods of busy traffic, smells emanating from nearby farms or industrial complexes, things that never come to light until you move in. Some individuals are making a good living from offering a service which provides a detailed report of these types of problems. They make a regular survey of the area at different times throughout a specified period. The information and service they provide can often make a big difference in the homebuyers final decision as to whether to buy or not. This is a business that is simple to start and run, but the hours can be unsociable

  (Thanks to Anonymous)

• sms, mms, j2me programming

  (Thanks to abdul hamid dhaiban)

• designing,making,and selling bags,and table runners.i have not tried this yet,but i am thinking seriously about it.

  (Thanks to Anonymous)

• buying and selling on mobile phones, i think this has good potential as many peole dont do anything with their old phones and even broken mobiles have a spares or repairs value

  (Thanks to Anonymous)

• Belly Dancing Lessons

  (Thanks to Anonymous)

• personal fitness trainer

  (Thanks to Anonymous)

• I joined Kleeneze 18 months ago - delivering & collecting the catalogues (around my full time job as an accountant) - which paid for me to get married on Concorde in March this year - we were featured in Full House Magazine.

  http://www.fullhousemagazine.co.uk/ruys_arc.php?id=45

  (Thanks to Sarah)

• Home CD selling, $3 per cd

  (Thanks to Jessica)

• Stay unemployed and claim state benfits…you get to watch loadsa telly, things like The Jeremy Kyle Show, which always makes you feel you haven’t messed up life as much as others have!

In today’s economy, it can be pretty tough to make money anywhere, but some intrepid folks are earning money hand over fist online and they’re doing it in some crazy ways. There’s a lot that can be learned from these people, especially if you’re sitting on your own idea but think it’s too out there. As these people illustrate, there’s no end to the insanity when it comes to making money online!

1 . Virtual Farming - Nearly half a million people in China are making money by playing a game, earning gold and selling it to other players with too much time on their hands and a credit card burning in their pocket! The phenomenon that is World of Warcraft, a massively multi-player online role playing game, has spawned some of the most creative ideas for making money. The game’s currency is gold, but a lot of players don’t want to take the time to earn it themselves. So, these people in China, and all over the world, spend their days playing the game, making gold and selling it in the game for actual cash.

2. Doggles - If there is one thing dogs don’t need, it’s a pair of goggles, but this idea, which got its start online, has made millions of dollars and real stores have opened up all over the world. They took their original idea, of UV protective doggles and continued expanding their product line to include vests, other eyewear and even jewelry. People will spend countless dollars on their pets and this site more than proves it can pay off big time if you have a pet related product or idea. money, make money, ways to make money, crazy money, money maker

3. The Million Dollar Homepage - This is probably the most iconic of all the crazy ideas that have ever been born. This guy decided to set up a site and sell one million pixels for $1 a piece. He got a huge amount of publicity and ended up making his million dollars. He has since gone on to other money making projects.

4. WhateverLife - This teenage girl who had a flair for the creative set up a site to offer layouts for MySpace and free tutorials. The idea took off and she now gets around 7 million visitors to her website every month. She’s managed to land some major advertising contracts and has received offers to buy her site that have exceeded $1.5 million.

5. MyYearbook - Two teens had a simple idea; why not create an online yearbook for people? The idea turned into a social networking site and they’ve been able to raise more than $4 million in venture capital. The company now has 45 employees, 3 million members and some heavy duty advertisers. money, make money, ways to make money, crazy money, money maker

6. Cameron Johnson - This young entrepreneur got his start at the age of nine making greeting cards, expanded into reselling Ty Beanie Babies on eBay by the age of 12 and finally sold his online advertising company for an undisclosed sum after making $3 to $4 million a month. His latest venture, CertificateSwap, that allows people to swap out unwanted gift certificates just sold for six-figures. He’s now working the lecture circuit and focusing on helping others strike entrepreneur gold.

7. LuckyWishbone - This has to rank as one of the craziest of all time ideas. Why wait around for thanksgiving when you could get a wishbone whenever you feel like it? This company manufacturers and sells plastic wishbones. They are producing 30,000 of them a month and sales have exceeded one million dollars.

8. Steve Pavlina - This guy uses his blog to write about life hacks and by all accounts he makes a ton of money doing it. He covers everything under the sun from personal development to astral projection. He makes at least $300 a day for a few minutes of work.

9. Hungry Pod - Catherine Keane decided to make a business out of loading music on people’s iPod’s and it has paid off big time. She’s making more than $100k a year, after helping out a friend and realizing the kind of market that was out there.

10. Antenna Balls - You know those little things you see on the top of car’s antennas? Jack Wall turned this into a multi-million dollar industry by selling them online.

11. The Laser Monks - These guys really saw an opportunity and turned it to their advantage. Print cartridges are expensive and old ones clutter up the environment. Refills are cheaper and help reduce pollution. Viola! They made more than $2 million in 2005.

12. I Do Now I Don’t - Joshua Opperman got stuck holding the bag, a very expensive one, after his financee returned her engagement ring. Stuck with a ring that he couldn’t get the value back on he started a service online for everyone in this situation. He now runs a very successful home business.

13. SantaMail - Ok, this one takes advantage of little kids, but you got to hand it to Byron Reese for making millions off of this idea. Parents send him ten bucks and he writes their kids as “Santa.”

14. Amazing Butterflies - Selling butterflies and making millions? Doesn’t seem conceivable, but Jose Muniz has managed to pull it off. You can get your very own live butterfly from Jose, who started the business on a bet. I guess it paid off.

15. FitDeck - Playing cards with an exercise theme. Never work, right? Well, Phil Black made $4.7 million off of this little idea. His cards all feature fitness workout vignettes from his personal experience as a Navy SEAL and a trainer. They sell for $18.95 a pack and obviously, people are interested.

Going hand and hand with an effective household budget is saving money on those things that you truly need. To start saving, take an inventory of your needs to see where you can shave the dollars. Begin with the biggest items first, where the most potential for savings is, and move down the scale to the less expensive items. A moderate savings on one of the big items (houses and cars) combined with savings on the smaller items (food, clothes, etc.) can reap a large reward in your total budget. The following are some thought starters:

General Tips

Distinguish between Wants and Needs: You will save a ton of money if you don't mistake wants for needs. Needs are pretty simple to identify--those items that are necessary to sustain: Shelter, food, clothing, transportation. Wants are those things that enhance or possibly improve our family life. A car is a need. Unless necessary for your business, a $40,000 Sport Utility Vehicle is a want, even if a lot of people don't see it that way. Have you ever heard (or said) "I absolutely need...?" when the actual meaning was "I really want?" This is not to suggest that you shouldn't be able to have the things you want--only that to delude yourself into believing that a want is a need--and busting your budget in the process--is a recipe for financial disaster.

Is less better? Perhaps it was due to the booming economy, perhaps "keeping up with the Joneses", maybe its ego, but for many of us, we often seem to insist on the biggest and the best, no matter what the cost. When a $15,000 new car may be more than acceptable, we stretch the seams of our budget to afford a $25,000 vehicle. We buy $25 shirts with $35 designer labels attached. We opt for the $100 dinner at the trendy restaurant when a $20 meal would have been just as delicious. Think about where you are spending the family money--and how--to see if there couldn't be savings found with minor changes in habits.

Try before you Buy: This goes a long way in helping to avoid the silly purchases of things you rarely or never use. Before you buy something, especially items with big price tags, borrow one, rent one or try one out before you plunk down the cash. If you are bored with it, or determine that it truly is not something you need before you buy it (and you will be on a certain percentage of items) you will definitely be bored with it, or find it not that necessary, after! Example: You feel that you absolutely must have a new Jet-Ski, at a cost of $4500 (and that is before financing and taxes). You go to the lake, rent one, and 45 minutes into a one hour rental you are saying, "geez, this is a long hour." Saved: More than $4500 (perhaps a year of college fees for the kid!)

Specific Tips

House Mortgages. In all probability, your mortgage will be the largest single expense in your budget. Obviously, getting the best deal here is of ultimate importance. Not comparing could cost you thousands of dollars over the term of the mortgage. An excellent resource for comparisons is LendingTree Mortgage LoansLendingTree Mortgage Loans where you can submit one easy and quick loan request form and within 3 business days get up to 4 offers from competing lending institutions. Find more information on LendingTree Mortgage LoansLendingTree Mortgage Loans here.
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Cars. For most families, the next biggest expense is their car(s). Mistakes made here can often be as costly (on a monthly basis) as mortgage miscues. Take a look at the vehicle(s) you presently own. Do you own too much vehicle for your needs? Do you have equity in a car that you no longer use frequently? Could you downsize and save money, not only in monthly payments but also in maintenance, insurance and operating expenses? With the vehicles that you do own, are you getting the best deal on your repairs, maintenance and insurance?

Once your finances are under control, with secured assets, a well balanced budget, and major purchases planned for, you will want for options to invest any additional disposable income instead of throwing it away. Investing can take many forms, but regardless of the approach, it is usually a meeting of your risk tolerance and your desire for short or long term growth. The more common types of investments are either related to the financial markets, like stocks, bonds, indices, and options, or related to assets which appreciate in value, the most common of which being real estate.

Financial investing can either be done independently or through a broker. It is often desirable to work with a broker, who will carry more skill and experience to the table, and help you balance your expectations and risk to determine the right mix for your investment portfolio. You will often pay either an annual fee or a per-transaction charge, but it is usually worth it as most brokers can leverage their experience to help you avoid common financial mistakes new investors make with greater visibility to larger market trends that often go unseen by the average consumer. If you do decide to invest in the financial markets by yourself, the Internet has numerous sources of information and online trading sites that may minimize trading fees while making trading possible from your couch. An important tip is to try to avoid timing the market, while it is sometimes possible to pick the .best. time to sell an investment and make a profit, the best investments are usually the ones with the lower, and more secure, rate of growth. These kinds of investments avoid the risk that often accompanies more volatile investments. A good investment portfolio is normally one that balances steady slower growth investments with riskier higher growth investments, and matches the risk and reward ratio to your predefined goals and comfort level.

If you look to real estate as an investment vehicle, there are often two different strategies used. One is to purchase real estate to provide a steady income, for example, purchasing an apartment or condo building with the intent of renting out the units as both an income stream, but also as a way of offsetting the cost of borrowing. If you adopt this approach, it is often preferable to have a larger number of units available, as this helps to cushion any vacancies when some individual units are unoccupied or are being renovated and can't be rented. The other strategy, often referred to as ‘flipping', is to purchase real estate with the intent of quickly reselling at a profit. When taking this approach, the goal is to find diamonds in the rough - many prospective buyers will look for properties that can be purchased at a discount. For example, properties that have been repossessed by the bank, ones that are in need of minor repairs but are structurally sound, or properties that benefit from a good location or will increase in value due to zoning changes, are all solid investment choices.

By far the most important reason to budget, save, and invest, is to prepare for your own retirement. To do this effectively, you will need to define at what age you hope to retire, and what standard of living you hope to have. Do you want to retire and split your time between northern locations in the summer and a warmer climate during the winter, do you plan on having a simpler lifestyle close to family, or do you hope to have a home base from which you travel around the world? With these two questions answered, you will be able to identify how much you need to invest and for how long in order to meet those goals. Again, the best strategy is to start investing and saving earlier to leverage the power of compound interest to accelerate your plans for financial freedom, which also allows you to meet those goals at a smaller monthly impact to your budget.

To facilitate saving towards retirement, most countries have tax breaks targeted specifically to retirement investments and savings. This can be a major advantage as your tax rate is normally tied to your income, which will be higher during your peak employment years and drop after you retire. This allows you to defer paying tax on the money you saved until you actually need to use it and when your income tax is lower - you not only get an increase to the investment with compounded interest, but also a decrease in your overall taxes paid throughout your life.

Once you retire, you can then start to draw on this income, with the benefit that the balance of your retirement investments will still continue to generate interest, which will provides an incremental income stream throughout your retirement years

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