Working from home

[firstlane]

Due to various health issues I might have to quit my job very soon. I won't receive any benefit from govt because of the stupid rule that my partner has a full time job and she earns above their threshold amount (although not by much). What she earns is maybe enough for living expenses but not enough to pay my medical bills. So I am searching for ways to work from home and at least earn some money to pay my medical bills. I have come across numerous online advertisements about working from home but never trusted them enough to look into their websites. Recently I read an article in Prothom-alo about success story of a girl who earns well working from home through the internet. She mentioned the website freelance.com for getting jobs. I went to that website and found that most jobs are IT related. I am a partly qualified accountant. I didn't see much jobs there related to my occupation. The few ones I found required lot more skills and experience than I got. I am willing to work outside my field providing that the jobs are within my capacity. Can anyone help me with information related to this? Any kind of input will be appreciated.

[iDumb]

where you live?

if in us, apply for medicaid, disability (unfortunately majority of disability claim are rehpjected, then u get a lawyer, read up on it).

yes your partner earning is a problem. you can read up the rules on earning criteria and can attempt to let her file tax on her own but then taxes would be significantly higher....

you are an accountant, punch in all the numbers and do what makes sense.

regarding work at home, i dont think there is any easy solution.... programmers can make money this way..... other ppl not so much....

the best is if you can convince your current conpany to have you work from home if possible....

otherwise your last option is to marry another girl who earns (ok this is a joke)

[mufi_02]

I am sorry to hear about your situation and health problems.

I read that article too about that girl from BD who makes good income. A lot of people from BD are doing freelancing from BD and I would suggest to use www.odesk.com. This is a good site, mostly IT related but you might find something in your field.

As you are an accountant, you can try to work from home too. I don't know how system works in AUS, but I am assuming they have tax forms and filings. You can try to do individual or some business' tax returns from your home. I know this guy who lives in Canada who is an accountant. He does the tax and financial management for few Bangladeshi restaurants. You can turn your home into some form of office. You have to get few clients through networking, deshi or Aus community and can expand.

I hope all this helped. In the end, may Allah make it easy for you and your family and for all of us. Take care brother.

[iDumb]

oh he lives in australia. then we are useless. australians can chip in.

just move to bd bro and live like a king....

or you can try fund raising drive like some ppl do online.... given savar tragedy raised less than 1500 bucks, you might friend will be lucky to raise 50 bucks...

i am obviously in my chikdish mood...

and bc is so slow or is it my internet, havent paid internet bills past 3 months now....

i am thinking of selling my body to pay my bills...any offers?

[Dhurr]

You could try odesk, elance, freelancer.com etc to find freelance, online work. The pay is good, but it takes time to find work. Here's the problem though: the pay is good from a Bangladeshi perspective. I am not sure how good it would be from an Australian perspective.

A girl I know who went to Australia as a grad student used to sell things on eBay, became a powerseller and now she's doing something similar after returning to Bangladesh. You could try it. Get items from Bangladesh and sell them at a markup on eBay.

I like iDumb's ideas: you could move back to Bangladesh, if it's an option, and do all sorts of work here from home. If you have _some_ capital (say 10-12k AUSD), you could start a small boutique/a franchise restaurant (CP fried chicken)/imported cosmetics store (online store, on FB).

Don't know if any of those ideas are worthwhile for you. You know your situation better than any of us. In any case, good luck, bro. Hope you find a financial solution soon.

[One World]

Most freelancer jobs are low paid. As I do not know much about your requirement, not sure whether it would help you or not. I am generally less ambitious when it comes to money if the job intrigues me enough. For example, I turned down offers double the rate the work I was doing only because of finding it interesting. If you are an accountant you might be familiar with the requirements of this job, you may have to sign up before you can view it.

Why would you go back to BD if your wife is earning enough, which seems more than tax exempt. Besides if you are ill, then only for better healthcare and medical support you should be where you are. I went to BD and was appointed in a highly honorable position only to experience dismay and dissatisfaction.

Here is the link, the site is called elance.com, more like odesk but richer in terms of rate and quality.

https://www.elance.com/j/payroll-hr-...AlMjBwYXlyb2xs


Good luck.

[Blah]

Originally Posted by firstlane
Due to various health issues I might have to quit my job very soon. I won't receive any benefit from govt because of the stupid rule that my partner has a full time job and she earns above their threshold amount (although not by much). What she earns is maybe enough for living expenses but not enough to pay my medical bills. So I am searching for ways to work from home and at least earn some money to pay my medical bills. I have come across numerous online advertisements about working from home but never trusted them enough to look into their websites. Recently I read an article in Prothom-alo about success story of a girl who earns well working from home through the internet. She mentioned the website freelance.com for getting jobs. I went to that website and found that most jobs are IT related. I am a partly qualified accountant. I didn't see much jobs there related to my occupation. The few ones I found required lot more skills and experience than I got. I am willing to work outside my field providing that the jobs are within my capacity. Can anyone help me with information related to this? Any kind of input will be appreciated.

I used to work from home for about ~10 years, freelancing in the tech market, while living in NY.

There is a common misconception that it is relatively easy, its not. There is a steep learning curve if you are not tech/internet savvy already. If you are not naturally talented or gifted, even after putting a lot of hard work it can take several months to years to make anything worth mentioning. You occasionally hear about successful freelancers, because they are the exceptions not the norm.

Instead I would suggest looking for remote working jobs. For instance in NZ, there seems to be a lot of people working from home. Also known as "telecommuting jobs", depending on your skill and type of job the company doesn't even have to be in the same country.

I see some telecommuting accounting jobs here:
http://www.flexjobs.com/internationa...commuting-jobs

You can also look at here:
http://www.careerjet.com.au/telecommute-jobs.html

Also do some google-fu of your own.

Good luck.

[bujhee kom]

My dearest Firstlane brother,

I am so very saddened to have heard this, you being not well, health-wise. I will ask aorund to a few friends to see if I can find out anyhting of help. You are in my prayers my dear young bro, hang in there, you will, InshAllah, prevail and your health shall, InshAllah, return to its original shape. And also some of the points made heer by other bros and sis, please follow those for the time being. Allah bless.

[WorldCup11]

Originally Posted by firstlane
Due to various health issues I might have to quit my job very soon.

First of all I pray to the Almighty to recover you from whatever health issue you may have so that you don't have to quit your job. I'll remember you in today's Jumma and will ask for your cure in between khutba (when Imam takes very short break). Inshallah you'll get well soon.

Can anyone help me with information related to this? Any kind of input will be appreciated.

I'll send you a PM whenever I get a chance, few things I did from home to earn extra money in Australia.

[firstlane]

Dear Worldcup bro, I am sorry to disappoint you, I resigned from my job yesterday and today was my last day. I couldn't go on anymore. I needed immediate medical attention.

Blah, I agree with you- making money from outsourcing is not as easy as it sounds like, at least not for me. My skill sets are not as high as I mentioned before I am only partly qualified and so far worked as a junior accountant.

Mufi, I originally thought of doing bookkeeping for small businesses from home but due to my health I have zero networking. I am not in touch with anyone. Currently I only have one active friend in Melbourne. My movement has become restricted due to my physical condition. BC is the only people where I meet people now.

Dhurr, making money through eBay by bringing stuffs from BD is not really a viable option. It has become very competitive due to Chinese, Hong Kong manufacturers selling directly to Australian customers for extremely low prices and in most cases with free shipping. But there could be some products that are cheaper in BD than China (including postage). I have to keep looking. And moving back to BD is not an option for me for the reason One world mentioned- treatment.

I am not losing hope though. I know I have to keep trying different things. Something will work out eventually. I will check out the links provided by everyone. Basically, that's what I was looking for. Thank you all for your responses and specially BK da for your kind words.

idumb, a little bit of humour is always good. So, don't worry.

[iDumb]

let me be the first one to congratulate you for quitting your job. this is a new beginning.

[Blah]

Keep us posted if possible, would love to know how things turned out (hopefully for the best).

Good luck!

[AsifTheManRahman]

Sorry to hear about your situation, hope things work out for you.

I would echo some of the suggestions already made on this thread, however, I'm not an accountant and am not sure about the options in that profession. Techies generally have many WFH opportunities. Sorry for not being of any help.

[Rabz]

Firstlane bhai,
May Allah bless you with complete recovery from your medical condition.
May Allah give you and your family the patience and strength in this tough times.
May Allah give you source and means for Halal income.

Sorry for not being able to help you with your query.

What I can do from my part is to suggest you few dua's which I hope would help you to seek Allah's mercy and cure your illness.

Allahuma rabbi-nas adhhabal ba'sa, ashfi wa entashafi, la shifa' illa shifa'uka shifa' la yughadiru saqama.
Oh Allah! The Sustainer of Mankind! Remove the illness, cure the disease. You are the One Who cures. There is no cure except Your cure. Grant us a cure that leaves no illness.
(Recommended to touch the area of pain with the right hand while reciting this supplication.)

'As'alu Allah al 'azim rabbil 'arshil azim an yashifika.
I ask Allah, the Mighty, the Lord of the Mighty Throne, to cure you. (Recommended to repeat seven times.)
Prophet Mohammad (SAW) said that by reciting this dua seven times, the ill person will regain his health and if ‎death occurs then that (death) is a different issue.

Rabbana 'atinaa fid dunyaa hasanat wafil aakhirati hasana taw wa qinaa azaaban naar.
Oh Allah! Our Lord and Sustainer! Grant us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and save us from the Fire of Jahannam (Hell).

A'oozu bi'izzatillaahi wa qudratihi min sharri maa ajidu wa uhaaziru.
I seek protection in the might of Allah and His power from the evil of what I am experiencing and of what I fear.
(Recommended for the sick person to place right hand on area of pain, say Bismillah three times, then recite this supplication seven times.)

[simon]

First of all I am very sorry to hear about your health issues Prothomgolli bhai and hope & pray U get well soon insha Allah.
2ndly I am sorry as I couldn't help you out with any idea.

Posted via BC Mobile Edition

[ammark]

Very sorry to hear of your situation. I am relatively new in Melbourne so I cant really suggest any ideas for working remotely. I'm sure you've probably looked into this but assuming (since you're an accountant) your superannuation is with Australian Super, see if you were enrolled in their income protection inusrance. I'm not certain but medical conditions may be covered for income insurance for up to two years (or even up to age 67). Best to check with them.

p.s: my wife confirmed that all industry superfund accounts come with basic income protection insurance upon joining unless you have voluntarily cancelled it since joining. You will be eligible to claim income protection insurance if you have had to leave work because of an illness or injury after a certain period of being out of work (90 days/60 days/30 days depending on the terms of the insurance). I would suggest you look through Australian Super's PDS and call them up and find out what paperwork you will need to provide to make the claim.

[ReZ_1]

Dear firstlane, it is quite heartening to know about your health issues. i hope you are taking good care of your health, you will be in my prayers insha-allah
I wish i could help you with information about home jobs and so, but i am afraid i have very little knowledge about it and that too in australia.
About the freelancing jobs- these are quite boring and it takes a quite lot of patience out of you if you are not familiar with programming languages and with photoshop and designing tools.
You will lose interest if you get involved with those data entry and writing jobs(only if you are not having such passion) and for a starter it is also quite tough to get that initial contract, just like your first job. (not disappointing you but sharing some facts)
So i propose you search for some groups or companies who are willing to take people for their work in doing freelancing jobs on projects they bid in a group. You may find them in fb/ twitter or by other means and if you share your profile and be able to present yourself then i guess it will be easier for you at first to learn and work on a project within a group.
second thing is you start learning some basic programming languages first and if you find it your piece of cake then focus on one single area initially. You will get thousands of tutorials and just remember it is quite possible with only dedication. Also you can develop your skills on adobe photoshop and other designing tools. These sort of works are quite interesting and competitive to do in web. It is never late getting skilled.
i feel that the unemployment in the world is not for that we do not have enough jobs but also it is for we do not have qualified and practically skilled person to fetch the lucrative jobs available. People are more concerned in getting their fancy certificates without giving attention to their skills. And that creates a shadow crisis in job market. There are enough jobs for those who CAN.

I love this bengali saying:

দক্ষতা ছাড়া সততা শক্তিহীন
সততা ছাড়া দক্ষতা অর্থহীন

Having said that i pray for your good health. I don't know if you are practicing believer or not. if you are then follow rabz's post. When all paths of fortune are literally closed HE creates better paths of fortune we imagined not.
I think one should concentrate more on one's health issues first as It is said by Prophet (sm) that health is one of the greatest fortune from Allah (sw) to mankind.

I am not good in giving suggestions. It seems you are quite senior than me both in maturity and by age,and i believe you are quite aware of all these. but i just tried to, so that if anyone else having familiar situation, can get an advice or two from your thread.

[Roni_uk]

Sorry to hear about your situation bro.

If you are a qualified accountant, then set up your own company and try to own personal/business accounts.

If you want to do anything else, learn about trading - buy and sell currencies etc.

[Gladiators]

Wow, that really is shocking.

Sorry if it is too personal a question and you don't want to answer - is your illness permanent, or is this something you can overcome?

Pray that you find the strength to face the challenges ahead.

[iDumb]

Originally Posted by Roni_uk
If you want to do anything else, learn about trading - buy and sell currencies etc.

and the prize for the worse advice goes to.....

[firstlane]

Originally Posted by iDumb
and the prize for the worse advice goes to.....

lol. He wanted to help me I am sure. I have tried my hands in shares. Lost a lot of money. Still holding some shares. Can't sell because price went down badly. Its hard to do well in shares and currencies at this time of volatile economy.

Anyway, thanks everyone for your kindness. Means a lot to me at this difficult time.
AmmarK, thanks for letting me know about the super. I didn't have any idea about this. Will definitely look into it.

[ammark]

Originally Posted by firstlane
AmmarK, thanks for letting me know about the super. I didn't have any idea about this. Will definitely look into it.

Contact them, and they will provide you with the necessary forms and information to make a claim. The income protection insurance is meant to replace govt/centrelink's unemployment insurance burden to people who go out of work. By law, the industry superfunds come with mandatory basic income protection insurance unless you voluntarily cancel it. But you must claim as soon as possible, because once your employer stops putting in your superannuation money, your superannuation account will start becoming inactive. You cannot claim if your superannuation account is considered inactive.

I have renewed appreciation for the superannuation system because of these perks and benefits. Industry Superfunds provide these benefits at a much cheaper cost than if you were to seek private insurance. The payments might be very modest, but the SMSF industry does not give these benefits included in their offerings as far as I know, and you have to take the insurance separately at a higher cost I think. I hope your employer did not operate their own SMSF and in the process remove insurance to lower their maintenance costs. Most small accounting and financial services firms just subscribe to Australian Super's Finance Division for their employee's superannuantion from what I've seen.

p.s: The industry superfund basic insurance has both unemployment insurance, and life insurance too. In case of terminal illness or death, life insurance claim can be made by a nominated beneficiary. See this link

[BengaliPagol]

Hope you get better soon Firstlane bhai. I will never forget the convo we had on BC chat. LOL funniest s***