How To Boost Your Income When You Are a Stay-at-Home Mom

Being a stay-at-home mom has a lot of great benefits. Being there to watch your children grow up, nurturing and helping them every day, helps you to perform your best as a parent. You also get time to look after the house, look after yourself and make sure everything runs smoothly for your whole family. But when money is tight, not having that second income can feel like a bind. Here are some ways you can grow your income when you need to.

1. Make cakes

If you’re a dab hand at baking, you can actually make a little bit of extra cash on the side by making cakes. It’s expensive to go to a bakery or cake maker and get something made up for a birthday or other special occasion and many people are stuck between saving money and not getting something just bought from a store.

That’s where you can come in as a great middle option, cheaper than the professionals but handmade with love. Start spreading the word by making cakes for your kids’ birthdays and those of their best friends. Before you know it, you’ll have lots of referrals coming in – especially if you can handle different dietary requirements and allergies, like gluten-free or vegan cakes.

2. Invest online

It’s not just men in suits who are great with numbers. If you have a good head for math, statistics and a bit of nerve, you can try investing online. This is something you can do from the kitchen table or lying in bed looking at your phone, so it’s flexible around your lifestyle.

First you should spend some time learning the ropes, possibly trying out a test account which uses virtual money but real statistics and figures. Then when you’re ready, you can dive in with whatever size of initial investment you can afford.

3. Be a parent

You’re already a stay-at-home mom, so why not make money from doing it? You can look after other peoples’ kids as well as your own to make some money on the side. In many areas you will need to get checked out by the local authorities and you may need a qualification as well, but once you’re set up you can become a nanny or babysitter. Having a few extra kids around the house is bound to be a bit of a headache, but it will give you extra income and help your own children develop their social skills, which is a great bonus.

4. Become a PA

Surely you can’t become a personal assistant without leaving your house? Well, these days you can, thanks to the power of the internet. You can get work as a virtual assistant and set your own hours, so they don’t clash with school runs. The kind of tasks you need to do depends on who hires you, but after organizing your children’s after-school activities, you probably have all the skills needed. Answering emails and phone calls, organizing trips, setting up schedules and meetings – this is all the kind of work you could expect. Easy, right? Plus, since it’s a freelance position and not a formal job, you can stop the work whenever you like if it gets to be too much or you no longer need the extra cash.

Being a stay-at-home mom can take up a lot of time, but if you even have an hour free a day, then you have time to try one of these ideas. In fact, some of them you can start with just half an hour! There’s no excuse not to get started.

Thank you to our guest writer for these wonderful ideas:

About Alana:

Alana Downer is an avid blogger, a self-improvement fan, and an editor supporting Learn to Trade – finance and investing experts. Alana might often be found online, sharing her tips for escaping debt and reaching financial independence with her audience.

Do you have any suggestions on how a stay-at-home parent can earn extra money? 

FT&PD

Suz

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