How to Make Money When You’re A Family Caregiver.
The life of a caregiver is a tough, tough gig.
I get it, you would love to quit your job, you might even have to and devote all of your time to taking care of a loved one with cancer. But, the reality of life is this…
You have to find a way to pay the bills even when hard times fall.
The key to making good money as a caregiver is flexibility and the ability to work from anywhere. This way you don’t find yourself living on credit cards.
And jobs that focus on flexible hours is the ONLY reason that I was able to help my dad fight cancer for 21 months (and make sure that my husband and I could still pay the bills and feed the kids)!
Caregiving is a full-time job and then some. And cancer journeys can last for a long, long time.
If you’ve recently become a caregiver and you are trying to figure all of this out, you’ll realize pretty quickly that caregiving is above all else, a HUGE time commitment that can make working a 9-5 job very difficult.
You might find yourself panicking about how you’re gonna to pay your bills if there comes a time when you can’t work.
The good news is, with a little bit of planning, you can make a really decent living while you are running around fighting cancer. The answer lies in work that provides flexible hours, so you can put the well-being of your loved one first.
Heads up: Feeling overwhelmed by everything that comes with this disease?
The Cancer Binder Pack will walk you through the quick and easy system we used to organize our medical information. Step-by-step instructions, printable forms, and monthly calendar pages so you can ALWAYS find what you need when you need it.
And, the best part… it’s 100% FREE when you sign up for our weekly emails which are packed full of quick tips and inspiration to help you keep going through this insanely stressful situation (from someone who is living it)…
You can grab The Cancer Binder Pack here…
How to Make Legitimate Money As A Caregiver
Savvy Cooperative
The easy way to make money when you’re a caregiver (or when you have cancer) is to use the knowledge you already have. One of the best ways to start making real money is to use this situation to make things better.
Savvy Cooperative offers a great opportunity to do that. It’s a patient-owned co-op that empowers people to use their health experiences to help create new products and services (or make them better) through paid gigs (which could be surveys, interviews, and product testing…).
Savvy Cooperative was created by two life long patients and works with companies who need market research but who also want to avoid wasting time and money on products and services that won’t work.
Companies who are…
- Making healthcare better for the patients who are enduring it.
- Making the products you need better and more functional for your life.
- Making the services they offer better and more in line with what you need as a patient.
They’re helping to get real and incredible feedback from the people who are going through medical issues (and the people caring for them).
If you want to know if something is working, ask the PATIENT.
Savvy Cooperative helps get the information companies need to make better products and offer better services and allows the patients and caregivers to get paid money (or gift cards like a prepaid Visa Debit Card) for their insight. It’s one of my favorite ways to make some easy money, and you can do it in your spare time.
As a bonus, you’ll be changing health care. Finally, we’re creating products and services that are actually working for the patients who need them. This is not like Survey Junkie, or typical online surveys…
Think about it.
- You are the EXPERT in your own care or the care of your loved one.
- You can make money just for sharing your experiences and opinions.
- Plus you get to make this situation easier for someone in the future.
Savvy Cooperative offers paid gigs, where you can sign up (for free) to take surveys, interviews, product testing, etc, and make money.
The gigs change all the time, so what’s there today might not be there tomorrow.
And there are a lot of Gigs related to cancer for both patients and caregivers. But they are also looking for feedback on other medical issues. Maybe even something you have yourself (like I have A-Fib).
How Much Money Can I Make?
I saw a gig last week that was paying $500 for 9 hours of your time. Basically, you had to read some medical jargon and let them know if you could understand it.
That’s $55 an hour for questions you can answer from the comfort of your home in your pajamas. That’s not “spare change,” that’s a lot of money without much effort.
There are other Gigs paying $110 an hour! What was the last job you had that paid you $110 an hour? ????
You can see a full rundown on Savvy Cooperative here…
This is a smart way to make a little money. It’s definitely worth checking out and it’s free to sign up.
You can see the gigs they have available right now by clicking here…
Get Paid to Be A Caregiver
Again, the easiest way to make money is to do the things you’re already doing. In certain situations, your loved one may have the option to choose you as their paid caregiver allowing you to receive money for the care you’re already providing.
If your loved one is eligible for Medicaid or Medicare, I would urge you to contact them to see if this is an option for you.
We were not eligible for this, so I have not used either of these programs, but they are a pretty hot topic in the world of caregiving.
If your loved one is eligible, this might be a good way to get paid for the work you are already doing.
Services and eligibility depend on the state you reside in and will require your loved one to be assessed in the areas of risk and needs. You will also be required to write and provide a plan of care.
Te first place to start is AARP. They are the best resource we have found on this subject and they have information on eligibility requirements for each state.
You can check out more information here…
You can find more information about Medicaid Self-Directed Services here…
Find Flexible and Remote Jobs in Any Field
Flex Jobs
Flex Jobs is hands down my best recommendation for remote, part-time, flexible and freelance jobs. That’s because they do the hard the part for you by tracking down and finding legitimate work from home jobs in almost EVERY FIELD you can imagine.
They have a huge data bank; I mean HUGE that includes 40+ fields such as Human Services jobs, Government and Politics jobs, Research jobs, Consulting jobs, Science jobs, Medical and Health Jobs, Freelance Writer, and much, much more…
The job bank includes entry-level and freelance positions all the way up to managers and other professional and administrative positions. A good job, with flexible hours that allows you to focus on the important stuff and still manage to make a living.
There is a small fee of $14.95 a month to apply for positions on this site but it’s totally worth it because they HAND SCREEN each job to make sure that they are legitimate and flexible for your life.
That process alone would take HOURS of your time, and energy and only be successful if you knew enough about remote jobs to avoid a scam (which most of us don’t).
With Flex Jobs you can find jobs that you already have the skill set for and you can apply right online.
You can check out Flex Jobs here…
Get Paid for Skills You Already Have
Virtual Assistant
Everyone can use a virtual assistant. Even the traditional brick and mortar or small business that you might already be working for can use the services of a VA. And for a caregiver, this type of job provides a workload that can be done from anywhere.
Except for providing face to face care, pretty much everything else can happen from “home” (or from anywhere).
- Correspondence
- Phone calls
- Meetings
- Analysis and Analytics
- Social Media
- Writing
- Bookkeeping
- Marketing
- Graphic Design
- Web Design
- Research
- Bookkeeping and Finances
- Spreadsheets and Data
- Logo Design
- Programming and Tech Services
And these are just a few of the jobs that can be done online. Simple tasks, complex projects and everything in between can be done by a VA.
The only things that you need to get the job done are…
- Laptop
- Good internet connection
- VPN (if you plan to work from unsecured/public networks).
I am a VA and my job is done 100% ENTIRELY online.
Work Place and Training
This change in career is one of the sole reasons I was able to help my dad battle cancer for 21 months.
VA’s can work from anywhere!
Hospital rooms, hotel rooms, doctors’ offices. This is a great option for breaking into online work, and more than likely you already have several skills that will make this possible for you.
The best way to get started is to take an online course on becoming a Virtual Assistant… They have them on Udemy (the leader in online skills training).
Udemy allows you to take courses on your own time and at your own pace. They also have frequent sales, where you can get $150 courses for $20 bucks. If you’re looking to advance your work skills, Udemy is the place to go.
(Hint: I choose courses on Udemy according to the number of students enrolled, the highest ratings available and I usually go for the “bestseller” classes).
Proofreading
Anyone who writes anything online is going to need this service. And, if you’re one of those people who reads a document and can find every error, this is might be the job for you. Online businesses are always looking for proofreaders.
Proofreaders help writers keep their content amazing and help make sure they don’t look foolish or send the wrong message. It’s actually pretty easy to do. Proofreading is a great example of flexible hours jobs that someone can do from anywhere.
You can find courses on proofreading or editing on Udemy…
Udemy allows you to take courses on your own time and at your own pace. They also have frequent sales, where you can get $150 courses for $20 bucks. If you’re looking to advance your work skills, Udemy is the place to go.
(Hint: I choose courses on Udemy according to the number of students enrolled, the highest ratings available and I usually go for the “bestseller” classes).
Graphic Design
If you have design skills, there is a HUGE online market for that.
Social media and blog graphics, professional web design, printables, landing pages (or sales pages) for courses and products…
The list is endless. If you have design skills, you can develop those skills and make some quick cash.
And designers are not cheap. That’s why most new bloggers fumble through this area on their own because hiring a designer can get expensive quick.
I am NOT a designer but platforms like Canva make it easier for someone like me to create amazing graphics using stock photos. And with the help of someone like Kara who literally walks you through everything a blogger or social media platform manager would need to know to create stunning graphics and printables, you could be unstoppable.
You can check out Simplifying DIY Design here…
And if you’re a beginning artist and you’re looking for different ways to expand your skills and knowledge in the graphic design arena, Creative Live has the classes that everyone is talking about.
You can check out Creative Live here…
Where can you get hired for this kind of work?
(Most of these places are highly recommended, beginner friendly and provide flexible hours jobs)
- Fiverr
- Upwork
- Fancy Hands
- Virtual Assistants.com (US based jobs)
- Freelancer.com
- 99 designs
Start a Side Hustle
This might be a little trickier and take more work because it can take time to build momentum. However, it can be a pretty lucrative way to make enough money and a lot of people do it in addition to their full-time job (which for you is probably caregiving!).
The absolute KING of side hustles and information is Nick Loper from Side Hustle Nation. He has endless ideas and information on how to get started creating a lucrative side hustle.
Flexible Hours Odd Jobs
These are a form of side-hustle that will probably make money faster once you can get the word out because there are people looking for these services right now…
I’ve cleaned houses to make money on the side for various periods throughout my life. It was a great way to make extra cash and I could schedule it around whatever I had going on for the week. No matter how bad things are in the economy, house cleaning seems to be something people will pay for.
Think about it…
If you’re working a full-time job and you can’t seem to keep up with the housework or the kid messes, paying someone $10-$20 an hour to clean your house might be worth it to you. Because everyone is trying to successfully manage a HUGE to do list and there just isn’t time to do everything.
I’ve cleaned…
- Houses
- Apartments
- Funeral Homes (not as disturbing as you’re thinking)
- Doctors’ Offices
- Gym’s
- 10-bedroom mansions with guest houses
So, there is no limit to what kind of home or business might be looking for these services.
I did house cleaning but why couldn’t you provide other services or additional services for extra money…
- Laundry
- Ironing
- Deep Cleaning
- Organizing
- Yard Work
- Cutting and Stacking Fire Wood
- Grocery Shopping (in an area that doesn’t provide grocery pick up or grocery delivery)
- Dog Walking
- Pet sitting
- Snow Removal
- Dump Runs
- Assembling furniture
- Painting
- Decorating
- Odd Jobs (like cleaning an attic or garage, hauling items to the Goodwill, etc.)
Flexible Schedule
The biggest advantage to jobs like this is they can be consistent, but flexible.
Meaning people want help consistently (weekly, bi-weekly, monthly) but they also don’t require the work to be done on a strict schedule. So, you can adjust the times and hours that you work to meet your needs and the needs of your loved one.
The most popular places to advertise these kinds of jobs online are on Task Rabbit (if this app covers your area and on Craigslist.
But don’t underestimate the power of a good old-fashioned flyer placed at your local coffee shop, lunch spot, Walmart, bank, grocery store or church. People totally respond to that. In fact, I called a lawn mower from a flyer that was placed at my church just last week.
And there you have it. Keep in mind, there are a ton of legitimate ways to make money from home (or from anywhere) giving you the ability to be available for the important stuff…
Like helping your loved one fight cancer.
Did I miss any? Tell me your easiest w comments below!
P.S. If you’re ready to get organized so you ALWAYS have the medical information the doctor needs when they need it, The Cancer Binder Pack will get you on track.
Step by step instructions and a quick and easy setup means you can spend your energy on more important things and still get the results you want. You can get The Cancer Binder Pack here…
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