Working from home is a tremendous opportunity to make an income but also to save on everyday expenses. You can save money on gas, clothes, lunches out, and childcare. But before you go ahead and think you can get rich working from home, be prepared for a few out of pocket expenses.

Most work at home opportunities involve computer work, so be sure you have an updated and virus-free computer. A trip to the local computer specialist to clean off your hard drive might be in order or you may have to update your software. A good bookkeeping software program is a must now that you need to track your own earnings, taxes, and expenses.

Keeping your computer in good working order and virus free is extremely important if you want to successfully work from home, so the purchase of anti-virus software may be necessary too. Do some research and make an informed decision rather than just purchasing the cheapest software. If the cheap software does not protect your computer, you may be unable to work for many days, or even weeks, for which you will not be paid.

High speed or digital internet access is a must for people working at home. Trying to download files of any kind, written or audio, will be a nightmare with dial-up service. Check your local telephone or cable companies to determine who offers the most reliable service for the least monthly cost.

Typing or transcription work is a very popular work at home opportunity but some companies require the use of a foot pedal and/or a headset. A special software program may also be necessary, depending on the company and their practices. Although the company will offer a referral or links to these items on their websites, these purchases will be out of pocket costs for the new employee.

When you start your search for work at home jobs, you will undoubtedly discover various directories of companies that offer work from home opportunities. Even though this is another expense, these directories will cut down your research time tremendously! After all, someone already scoured the internet looking for these companies to add to their directory. The boring work has been done for you, which makes a directory such a useful tool.

Another way to work from home is to choose a multi-level marketing company (MLM) or a network marketing opportunity. With MLM you will do less computer work but your expenses will come with whatever consultant package your company requires you to buy. Catalogs and business cards are additional expenses. With network marketing, if you are selling a product or service, very often you must also be a customer with a monthly purchasing quota.

No matter what type of work at home opportunity you choose, be aware of possible upfront or monthly expenses before you enter into any agreement. Do the math and also figure out how long it will take or how many new customers you will need to earn that money back so you can start seeing a profit for your hard work.

No matter if you work a job or run a business, the loss of income be difficult. When you provide a service and you work from home it’s even more difficult to handle. This very thing can also be a deciding factor in working from home.

While this is a scary thing to think about or deal with, there are a number of things you can do so you don’t worry when it happens.

1. Saving extra money is one way to handle the loss of income. Each month when you receive your income, pay your bills and put the rest in a savings account. While the interest won’t be a lot, you’ll still have the money if you were to lose the income for a while.

2. Affiliate marketing is a great way to earn money with very little work on your part. Place a button on your blog and website. Write blog posts to promote products and send out information to your newsletter subscribers. If your newsletter is set up in a way where you can promote an affiliate product, you should do that regularly.

3. Ebooks are a great way to earn money and not do anything after the initial work is finished. You can promote them in articles you write, in blog posts, and in your newsletters.

4. Create package deals for your services and send an email to your current clients letting them know what you can do to make things easier for them. Business owners love it when they can get all of their things done by one person rather than several. It’s also a good way to introduce services to them that they’re not currently using.

5. Increasing your rates is another way to deal with the loss of income. In a job setting, this happens all the time, but some small business owners struggle with this because they’re afraid they’ll lose business that way. You need to make sure you email or call your clients and advice them of the increase so they’re prepared for it.

As a service provider working from home, you don’t have a guarantee on your income. Anything can happen at any time and that income can be gone. The best thing to do is prepare for it in advance so you’re not panicking when it happens. These five suggestions will help you, but you may be able to come up with some of your own. Just remember, it happens, but if you’re prepared you’ll be ok.