One of our subscribers asked a question:

My husband and I are currently in America. My husband makes about, given the current conversion ratio, 50,000 peso per month. Give or take that is. And my question is, is there any entry point in online work that could potentially provide that much, or near that much, on a monthly basis? If so, how would one find said route and pursue it? He is very technical and computer savvy, and also very well-equipped to handle customer service needs.

First of all, P50,000 is roughly 1100 dollars a month, which is pretty low for US standards. $1,100 in the US is barely getting by in most cities, while P50,000 is living comfortably in the Philippines. By my non-scientific estimates to maintain the same standard of living, you'd need to earn around P20,000, or if we wanna stretch it, P30,000.

But to answer your question, yes, P50,000 is very realistic. That's around $7 per hour. How easy or how hard that is to get there would depend on two main things, his skills and his dedication.

You mentioned that he 'is very technical and computer savvy, and also very well-equipped to handle customer service needs.'. Based on his current salary, I'm going to assume that his current job doesn't utilize these technical and computer skills. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I want to gauge his current skill level. And based on the information I have, I'm assuming he's not yet at the level where he can market his computer skills as an expert. You mentioned he also has customer service skills, that can be useful in a lot of areas. Taking in that he's a native speaker, there are several paths that he can explore.

First of all, he can become a virtual assistant. This is probably the easiest path he can take. A virtual assistant usually helps out small business owners with emails, calls, research, some writing, updating websites and other miscellaneous tasks. He may need to learn a few skills (which I'll outline in another post), but that's the easiest route.

The other appropriate jobs I think he can do right now that pay well are as a writer or a salesperson. Considering he's a native speaker, if he can write, he could get a decent rate (I'd say around $8/hour). As a salesperson, he could earn like someone living in the US if he has the skills (which could be several thousands of dollars).

Now, I don't think he has the technical skills to make a living off of them yet. But what living in the Philippines will give him is the lower cost of living that will allow him the flexibility to enhance his skills while working.

While we're on this topic, I'd suggest YOU start looking into working from home as well. It doesn't need to be fulltime. In fact, you can control your hours. If you want to work for just one hour a day, that's fine. Aside from bringing you income, working online will keep you active and give you and your husband something that you can do together and talk about.

If you don't know where to find work, I'll link my blog post on where to find jobs online HERE.

As early as today, your husband can start getting experience and doing work on freelance sites. Have him build his reputation, increase his skill, and gain experience so that he can slowly build up to earning at least $7 per hour and likely even more.