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Hi, everyone.
Lynda, this thought came up after reading Norm's suggestion about 'admin by the hour' and your enthusiastic response. I have a friend who is in probably even worse financial shape than you describe, as she has never had a home and owes more than $100k in student loans (mostly accrued interest over more than 25 years).
Long story short, I gave her that same suggestion, and she's running with it. We call it 'virtual assistant' on this side of the Atlantic. If you Google that search term, you'll see that there is a thriving industry in it, and even a professional organization. That too, though, takes some time to set up and gain clients, unless you already have a few contacts who might be clients.
So I'll tell you what else she's doing, with similar health issues to yours. In almost any large city you can find customer service centers for just about any kind of business you can think of, many of which are telephone (i.e., sit-down) jobs.
Here in the Salt Lake area, it's a major industry. The pay isn't high, but you can live on it if you're frugal. The best part is that most of them hire through temp agencies, and there's quite a bit of turnover (mostly of the younger workforce) so they're almost always hiring. After a time, some companies hire you away from the temp agency. Once you are hired directly, there can even be subsidized health insurance and paid leave.
Typically you only need minimal typing skills and the ability to sound pleasant on the phone. They train for everything else, and they typically have at least two shifts, so your hours can be flexible.
My friend chose an evening shift so that she can get to networking events to drum up business for her virtual assistant business.
I, too, sent you private mail about what you might do to help the foreclosure issue.
I'm so glad you posted here, where there are plenty of good-hearted folks who won't lead you astray. Hope this outpouring of suggestions isn't taking all your time!
Cheri
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