The internet and newspapers are filled with scams. In fact, sometimes it is hard for me to even market AllFreelance.com - because many people see "Work at Home" and they instantly think that I am trying to sell them a "scam job". This article will outline how to tell which jobs are scams before you invest your time and heart into any venture.

Have you ever seen something like this in classified ads section?

$5000/$6000 A Week From Home Work from home, work part-time or Full-time. Your Choice. No Experience Necessary. SASE to PO Box 1455, etc.

It sounds too good to be true, doesn't it? Lets face it, who makes this much money in one week other than doctors and lawyers? If it sounds too good to be true, than it IS! Another thing that you might take notice of with above job listing is "SASE to PO Box 1455". The reason job poster wants you to send an envelope is because he is going to probably send to you more information about job, mainly an order form so you can buy supplies to begin working. NEVER send money to anyone offering you a job. Another rule of thumb is to never apply for a job that you have to send a self-addressed envelope without mention of having to send your resume too.

Here are a few examples of Scam Jobs:

1. Envelope Stuffing - The envelope stuffing scam has been around for as long as I can remember. The way this job works is that job seeker will see an ad in newspaper for something like this: "Make 100s of Dollars Stuffing Envelopes from Your Home". This person will send a self-addressed envelope with $5 - $30 to individual who posted job. In return job poster will send to job seeker information on how he/she can also post these ads and make money. It is all a big scam, there wasn't ever any "actual" envelope stuffing position open. The individual who started this envelope stuffing scam in first place gets about 95% of whatever profits are made from this "ad posting". This "scammer" might even refuse to pay you any money at all because you didn't adhere to strict guidelines (even if you did).

2. Assembly of Crafts - In this scam, you will need to purchase hundreds of dollars in supplies in order to start your craft business. You will need to spend countless hours assembling crafts by hands. In most cases you will not get paid for what you have submitted. In many instances, craftworkers will receive back a letter saying that crafts didn't meet their quality standards. In fact these fraudulent craft operators never intended to pay money. All that was intended was to sell to you machinery for your home craft business.

For people with a salaried job, budgeting their income and expenses is an easy task. A regular paycheck comes in for them every two weeks with taxes and benefits already taken out. For them it is easy to predict how much income will come in and what expenses will go out. But when you leave your full-time job for a freelance career, you also leave behind your stable paycheck. So how do you make sure that you have enough money to pay your rent? You need to learn how to create a budget. This article will explain to you basics of budgeting for your freelance business.

ADD UP YOUR EXPENSES

The first step in creating a budget is to add up your monthly expenses. If you are new at freelancing, then calculating your expenses first few months is going to be tough for you, but stick with it. Below, I have provided you a chart to fill out. For personal expenses listed, take a look back on last year's checks, bills, and credit card statements to see what you paid out last year. Figure out what average month was for each expense by writing down all twelve month's expenses and then dividing this number by 12.

For example:

January --------------- 112

February --------------- 84

March ----------------- 96

April ------------------ 130

May -------------------- 65

June ------------------- 98

July ------------------- 101

August ----------------- 59

September --------------- 75

October ----------------- 84

November ---------------- 96

December ---------------- 115

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TOTAL ------------------ 1115

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Divide Total by 12

92.92

$92.92 = Average Monthly Phone Bill

In above example, you would use $92.92 as your monthly phone expense on your budget.

MONTHLY EXPENSES ==========================================

Utilities (Telephone, Electric, Gas, etc.)

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Mortgage / Rent

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Cable

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Food

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Loans

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Transportation

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Entertainment