H4 Wife - Things to do?

Thanks everyone for the wonderful suggestions and ideas.

A friend of mine also suggested that becoming a beautician can be a good option. If you have a passion for this and have some expertise, it can be a good one. We go for eyebrow trimming, pay a paltry $5 and think that it is not a lucrative business. However, successful beauticians seems to upsell to other higher-value services and are making good money. On top of it, all payment is in cash, tax-free.

Shakila

One easily-doable option is to work as an assistant to an entrepreneur. As a business grows, an entrepreneurs needs external help. Initially it might be a part time job, but as business grows it can become a full-time job. Since an entreprener wants low-cost, high-quality help, he might not mind paying you in cash. You will start out doing adminstrative support for him, but based on your competence, you can grow with expanded responsibilities.

We are happy only if we are productive and gainfully employed. Earning is what makes us feel that we are being productive. Making money also lifts our spirits. Given the H4 situation, we need to be aggressive and take calculated risks. If you apply common sense to anything you do, these are not huge risks.

Pooja

Hi Sheetal

that was really encouraging. i had the same plan in mind but i dont know where to start from. how do i collect coustomers? how do i let people know that i will provide such a service. i am staying in Waltham, MA. so if possible help me out.

thanking in anticipation

Kaumudi

Originally Posted by sheetal

A few years back I was in the same boat and was utterly frustrated with the "boxed" feeling I had as a H4. I am going to share what a friend of mine in a similar situation ended up doing. She started catering Indian dinner focussed on

a. Groups of bachelors living together
b. Families in which both Husband and wife work

I must say that she makes very good money doing this. The secret that she shared with me is that she focussed on the above two groups because this group had the scale and continuous demand to make catering very profitable. She avoids one-off requests as it consumes a lot of time for very little return. She also indicated to me that what sustains her is not just the money, but her passion for cooking and her long-term dream to start an Indian restaurant.

Just want to share this just in case it makes the light bulb go on for a few who are here!

Sheetal

Originally Posted by kaumudi17

Hi Sheetal

that was really encouraging. i had the same plan in mind but i dont know where to start from. how do i collect coustomers? how do i let people know that i will provide such a service. i am staying in Waltham, MA. so if possible help me out so that i can support my husband financially which will take a little presure off him.

thanking in anticipation

Kaumudi

Kaumudi,
a good start will be to post your services in the local indian/pakistani/Bangladeshi food stores. Have a flyer made itemizing your food offering daily/weekly and the cost. I will try to upload a sample that my provider sent us. Having a web site also helps. Goodluck with your endeavor

Pushpa

Hi pushpa

thanks a lot for that, will keep u posted abt the developments & will ask u if i need anything else?

thanks once again.

Kaumudi

Originally Posted by Blondie

Kaumudi,
a good start will be to post your services in the local indian/pakistani/Bangladeshi food stores. Have a flyer made itemizing your food offering daily/weekly and the cost. I will try to upload a sample that my provider sent us. Having a web site also helps. Goodluck with your endeavor

Pushpa

hi everbody,

I am joylava from Dallas,TX and on H4 like all u gals.. Coming to US was a dream as everyone says,but thatz only for our hubbies who go to work as they were doing in India...We take this dream and happily come to US and then after a year start feeling the effects of turning into a homemaker 24/7/365 days..

If you a non-IT person then all the more difficult to get good jobs.. I am from HR & customer service line and there is not much to do in the past years here..

Getting a masters or degree is not a easy job either..Registration takes lot of paper work -certifications etc and money in dollars which is difficult for an eldest son like my hubby.. He has to support his father-mother and brother & sister are still studying..

So i am a bit sceptical on doing anything that might cost him more money..So finally the options left are very few:

Cooking/Catering
Studying
gardening
yoga /exercise
or applying for H1 and search for a job
work in Indian stores(mostly which calls us on part-time with unsuitable timings and which needs our husbands to pick and drop us if u dont know driving)
having babies to keep us occupied

Any one who can suggest better suggestions reply..


All i have been doing so far is cooking,taking care of the house,getting books from the library,chatting with friends & family on the net,surfing for hours & watching movies and finally shopping

hi to everyone
well i m new in indus ladies. I am in Houston USA. Married and on a H4 visa. Graduate from delhi university. I started working in early age of my life and now it is a torture to sit at home and do nothing. In my knowledge person on H4 can't work in states, but can study. Can anyone please let me know what are my options here, what can i do to make myself busy!
will be waiting for a reply
thanks

Neha,
Visit the thread for Indians in Houston. We have a small gang already.Introduce yourself there....4 of us have met outside.U can catch up on the thread if that makes a difference....Are u a BE grad ?
Working and sitting at home, see the thread on H4 visa to meet people with a similar plight including me. Have u moved in recently ? You can do higher studies or u can do voluntary work.

Dear Akalya...
just one hour before i registered on this site...
i m also sailing on the same boat as you all..
i doing the same thing as you are..
but now i want to come up with more activities..
culd you help me..

bharati

Originally Posted by akalya

I was also getting bored as a H4 visa holder. I tried volunteering for a brief time, but wanted to do something that will benefit me. So, I ended up doing this.

Even though I wasn't fat, I was out of shape in many parts of the body. I didn't have the curves that we see in a lot of american women. So, I decided to take the next 1 year to get back in shape. My single minded focus was to to do just that. I concentrated on

- Reading diet/fitness books and magazines to know more information
- Worked out regularly with a weekly plan
- Controlled myself on eating the right foods at right quantities
- Picked up a sport to play during evenings and weekends

I am in descent shape now. Even though I started this as a 1-year project until I get a job, it appears that this mentality to be in shape is part of me. I have a job now, but I still find time to do a lot of physical activity to keep in shape. To me, that one year was well spent..more worthwhile than having a full-time job for a year!

Akalya

Hi friends,

Iam one like you.Iam mother of 3 years old daughter but still i used to find sometime.I initially loved shoppping,watching movies etc etc .,. but as the days went i started feeling bored ,more and more bored.So one fine morning i woke up with a great idea of starting a blog .I started blog for kids and post of kids stuff.Later i blog with movies ,tv-shows ,cricket etc.,.

So everyday iam busy with some work to do on my blog and this gives a great sense of satisfaction and relaxation .So you can also start a blog keep posting whatever you are interested .

Hope this is useful

regards,
Mitra