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Parents can make money from home
If you are reading this you are probably looking for an answer to the question 'how can I make money as a stay at home parent?' Making the choice to stay at home with your children rather than returning to work can be a tough one, and by opting to go down this route there will naturally be an impact on the household income. The resulting situation means that your outgoings go up because you now have little person in your family to feed and clothe, yet your income goes down because you are no longer bringing any money into the household. This can cause immense worry and stress, causing friction with your partner (if you have one) and putting stress on your relationship as you frantically struggle to cut costs and save money.
I wrote this hub because I know that there are ways to make money from home, even if you are a busy parent. You might not make the equivalent of what you earned in a full time job, but you can certainly bring in enough money to make a noticeable difference to the household finances. Let's face it, even if you can't easily earn a full time living from home, bringing in enough to provide a few meals per week or cover the cost of the diapers/nappies is still worth doing. Maybe you will make more than this, it all depends how much time you are willing to spend using the methods I suggest here to top up your household income.
Below is a list of methods I know of that are proven to make money from home. You can fit these in around parenting, and you can include your slightly older children in many of them as educational activities. All in all many of them can offer a 'win win' situation i.e. bringing in money and capturing your children's imaginations.
- Growing mustard and cress at home to sell to local shops and restaurants. Trust me on this one as I have done it, (and it does earn money quickly.) Each crop is ready in around five to seven days, so you have a quick return for very little investment. All you need are a few sunny window ledges, some kitchen roll/paper towels, some mustard and cress seeds, and a number of trays or tubs to grow them in.
- Growing Mung Beans (bean sprouts) is virtually exactly the same principle as above, although you will need jars or bean sprouters rather than trays to grow them in.
- Write an eBook or write for a site like this one. It really is possible to make a good part time income from writing online if you persevere and don't give up in the first few months. If you want to join Hubpages and look at writing for this site click here.
- Dog sitting can bring in a few extra pounds or dollars, and as long as you know the dog is good with children it can be the perfect opportunity to get your children used to pets from an early age. Many people go out to work and don't want to leave their beloved dog at home alone, and this is where you could provide a very helpful service.
- School runs are another service you could offer to parents who work. As you are not under any pressure to hold down a job and raise a family at the same time, you could charge a small fee to take other parent's children to and from school for them.
- If you get the recognised qualifications you could also set yourself up as child minder for toddlers and very young children who have not yet reached school age. This way you could take in several children a day as well as your own, and earn some extra money at the same time.
- Consider becoming a virtual receptionist/virtual assistant from home. There are organisations out there where you can be the answering service for multiple companies, and depending on which company's light illuminates on the phone, (or whichever system they choose to use), you answer with the appropriate greeting.
- Start a wormery/worm farm. These can be kept in your garden/yard and fed on your kitchen scraps such as veggie peelings. Loads of fishing tackle shops and suppliers will be happy to buy your worms off you as fishing bait, plus you can sell the liquid the wormery produces as plant food because it can be hugely diluted, (so a little goes a very long way.)
- Depending on your educational and writing skills, why not offer your services as a proof reader, either online or directly through a publisher.
- Data entry is another job you can do from home, and you can do this all on your computer in your own living room.
- Offer a writing service to people who need short pieces written which they can use for back links to their main articles.
- Set up your own website on a topic you are knowledgeable on, because this way you can make 100% of any revenue you generate from Adsense adverts, Amazon adverts etc. Make sure you get an Adsense account and an Amazon Associates ID as quick as you can once you begin publishing, or the adverts you place on your site won't earn you anything.
- Are you any good at bookkeeping? Well this is a service you can offer from home for a fee, and many small businesses will love the convenience of this.
- Offer an ironing/clothes pressing service. You would be surprised how many people (mainly single men) who are in full time employment that are incredibly grateful to find someone that they can pay to iron and press their shirts etc. Quite often they will even deliver the clothes to you and collect them afterwards.
- Make sandwiches. These can be used in a variety of ways, you can sell them privately as packed lunches for people you know, you could drive around with a supply of them and go to different companies and sell them to the employees, you could sell them to a local retail outlet, or you could use them for company buffets and add to your range with other savory nibbles such as homemade sausage rolls or sausage pinwheels. Be aware you may need to check out with your local authorities that your kitchen meets relevant local hygiene regulations prior to selling food items you have prepared at home.
These are just a few of many suggestions that can allow you to make money as a stay at home Mom or a stay at home Dad. In fact whichever stay at home parent you are you can probably generate at least a decent part time income, (and if you are really determined who knows what you can achieve.) If you check out the first site I link to below I believe you will find it a valuable resource of current jobs for stay at home parents.
Useful Links
- Online Jobs and Work at Home Jobs | Money Making Mommy.com
Find out how to work at home. Resources for moms include online jobs, online work ideas & telecommuting company reviews. Find ways to make money! - How can I make money from writing online?
Are you wondering if you really can make money from writing online, or possibly even earn a full time income? Well the answer is yes you can, but this is no get rich quick scheme and it will require hard work, however, if this doesn't put you off the
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#23 of 30 in the March 2012 Challenge