Are you considering being a stay-at-home mom (or you’re already one) and you want to find out how to make money as a stay-at-home mom easily? Then this post is for you.
Whether you chose to be a stay-at-home mom or circumstances made it so, you can make money from the comfort of your home. We will be exposing some of the ways to do that legally in this post.
What You Gain By Being A Stay-At-Home Mom
There are many benefits of staying at home as a mom if you make wise use of the opportunity.
Three main ways you benefit are:
- You save money by not going to work
- You save money in other areas of budget you would have spent if you were working, e.g. daycare.
- Then if you’re not idle and you make good use of the opportunity, you can earn from home and make a huge difference.
How Do You Save Money By Staying At Home?
It’s no news that working moms spend a lot of money. If you’re out of the workforce, you will discover how you’ve been spending money and in some cases, it is cheaper to be a stay-at-home-mom.
Some of the ways you save money from working from home are:
You won’t pay taxes
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Not getting the regular paycheck might be uncomfortable but you won’t be paying taxes or other withholding either.
Your tax rate will even decrease if your household income is down. A big portion of workers’ income goes into paying taxes.
Daycare expenses
All working moms know that daycare is a huge expense. The cost of daycare for just one infant can range from $453 to $2,020 monthly.
Then imagine additional children in daycare, the cost will increase. The cost of daycare for a 4-year old child ranges from $399 to $1,539 every month.
When you stop working and start looking after your kids by yourself, you save a lot of money.
Transportation
You won’t have to pay for transport to work every morning or buy fuel in your car every week just to go to work.
You will save that money and also have more time for yourself and your kids.
The US Census Bureau estimated that the average worker spends 53.2 minutes daily en-route to work. Also, most of them drive a single-occupancy vehicle.
Food
Most working moms end up eating out most of the time because it is quite tiring to make dinner after an 8 or more hour shift.
You save more when you eat at home and prepare meals for your family. You also have the time and energy to do so when you work from home.
Money will also be saved on lunches you buy out and the afternoon mocha that helps you get through the day.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics revealed that an average family of 4 persons spends at least $397 monthly eating out.
If you cook at home and for your family, you will be helping to save some amount of money.
Clothes
Do you also know that your clothing and dry cleaning expenses will reduce when you don’t have to go to work every day?
This will also help you cut your clothing budget. This doesn’t mean you should stay in nighties or yoga pants all day lol.
But working from home has a way of reducing your clothing budget.
Diapers and formulas
If you have a new baby as a mom, one expensive thing about that is diapers. One way you can save money is to stay at home and use cloth diapers.
According to a Baby Center Survey, the estimated average cost of disposable diapers and wipes for the first year ranges from $92 monthly while that of clothes is just $19 monthly.
You will save money this way and you have all the time to do the extra-laundry. You won’t also need expensive formulas if you stay at home.
The cost of breastfeeding is zero while the cost of baby formula is $105 per month. You also don’t have to go through the stress of pumping at work, filling bottles, and freezing milk.
Adequate care of kids
It is easier to breastfeed your baby properly if you stay at home. You build a better and stronger relationship with your kids and this will help improve their self-esteem and adult life.
Children psychologists agree that children grow up with better confidence when their mothers are always at home.
There are other factors to consider but these are the most common ways you save money by not going to work.
If you subtract all these costs from your salary, you may discover that it is cheaper to be a stay-at-home mom.
It would be easier to find additional ways to save money if you stay at home. Check out ways to save money and make your budget work for you using the Zero-Based Budgeting Template here.
Also, you will notice that there is just a small difference in the income you need to make up once you look at how much you are saving by working at home.
You can search for a better insurance rate, learn how to plan meals so that you can save money on groceries, make your own detergents, soaps, and cleaning products.
After looking for and knowing ways you can save money, you then move on to look for how you can earn money from the comfort of your home.
How To Make Money As A Stay-At-Home Mom
Yeah, we know that being a mom is exhausting. But the joy of earning your own money from home may outweigh the effects of the exhaustion. I know many moms who feel like picking a work-from-home job literally saved their sanity.
There are many businesses you can do from your home between endless changing of diapers, wiping runny noses, scrubbing sticky fingers, putting toys away, and even dealing with tantrums.
1. Start a work-from-home business
One of the great ways to earn money from home is to work for yourself. You can start a business that you can run and manage all from the comfort of your home.
This is not impossible in this era. There are lots of online courses that can help you get started. You will have the freedom to set your work hours.
Work-from-home businesses also give you the freedom to choose where you work from and how much you want to work. You can work while your kids are in school and be done for the day when they get back.
Your family will enjoy the dinner you prepared and you will also have the time to put your kids to bed. And to crown it all up, you earned something working from home that day.
Some of the options you can consider are:
- Making and selling essential oils from your home. If you are good at herbal therapies, this is a top-selling commodity in the world of natural medicine.
- You can make organic cleaning agents and sell them. This will bring in money as more people are becoming aware of the dangers of chemical-based cleaning products.
- The use of organic body care products is also on the rise. You can take an online course and learn how to make quality body and skincare products that you can use.
- Also, you can sow clothes, knit cardigans, and sweaters and sell them online.
- You can bake cakes, cookies, cupcakes, and deliver.
- You can start an online store where you sell what you have to offer and invite others to sell on your store.
- Teach musical instruments
Check out this post on business ideas for women to learn more about amazing businesses you can start from home.
2. Find a work-from-home job
There are a lot of work-from-home jobs these days and they are highly convenient for moms who have sticky schedules. Some of the options you can consider are:
- Teach English language or other subjects over Skype. You can do this when your kids are at school and your husband at work. Most online teaching jobs start at $25 per hour.
- Walking dogs and it starts at $5 per walk
- Selling stock images. This is very good if you are a lover of photography. Stock images sell at $19 per package.
- You can make prints and sell each at $9.
- You can sell items on eBay or Craigslist. The cost ranges from $10 to $100 per item.
- You can write and sell E-books on topics you know well. They can be stories, recipes, how to do certain things, or just on anything you know very well. The least an E-book costs is $7.
- You can offer courses on things you know best. How to cook, plan meals, how to write, how to take care of the home, etc. the cost of one course is from $9 to $97.
- You can offer virtual assistant services and this costs about $15 per hour.
- Engaging in direct sales business is also a wonderful idea and you can make up to $1,000 per month.
- If you are very good at artworks or painting, you can offer painting courses or other art courses. This starts at $10 per course.
- You can proofread or edit books or articles and it starts at $15 per course.
- Drawing journal spreads is also an amazing way to make money from home and this starts at $20 per page.
- If you are a yogi and you can teach people this, you can start your virtual yogi class and connect with your clients on Skype or zoom after they’ve paid for it.
- Website or graphic designer
There are many other ways you can make money not mentioned above. Check out this post on stay at home mom jobs that pay up to $10,000 per month!
3. Blogging
This is the most common way stay-at-home moms make money. And it is very easy to blog. If you can speak and communicate your ideas clearly, then you can be a blogger.
Though it takes a lot of work, blogging can generate a lot of money if you are dedicated to doing so. I also see this as one of the best jobs for moms.
You can share your ideas, offer solutions, tips, and even help solve people’s problems.
Blogging isn’t all about writing so you don’t have to worry if you’re thinking in that direction. You can make videos where you just speak and share your ideas or thoughts.
4. Virtual Assistant
One of the best jobs for moms is virtual assisting as this can be done during school hours or late at night when your kids are sleeping.
There are lots of skills you can offer as a virtual assistant. You can help manage someone’s emails or other businesses that take much of people’s time.
You get paid to help such people. This is one of the best jobs for moms who stay at home because it is highly flexible and it has endless opportunities.
A job can be assigned to you just within a week of applying. With this, you can make a few hundred dollars monthly.
Every day we see the growth of online businesses and this makes more and more people look for virtual assistants.
The least pay you can get is $15 per hour.
5. Freelancing
This is the act of finding jobs to do for clients. This can be writing, editing, creating info graphics, or even editing videos. There are a lot of opportunities and skills in high demand.
This comes with much flexibility because you work from home, you do it at your own time, and you have the right to say “Yes” or “No” to projects.
You are also free to take time or months off to look after your kids or do other things. You can decide how much or how little you want to work.
Freelancing will soon become a thing of the future. Forbes predicted that in 2021, over 50% of the American workforce will be a part of the Gig economy.
6. Photography
Don’t think photography is a men’s thing, it is not. And this is one of the most natural jobs for many moms with babies.
Most moms pick up this hobby after their little bundle of joy arrives. After a few months of practicing photography on their baby, they decide to take it as a career or part-time job.
Do you know that a lot of bloggers and big companies are looking for great photography and stock images to buy? If you are good with photography, you can sell some of your photos.
You can also be hired to take pictures during occasions like Christmas parties and the likes. The cost ranges from $50 to $100 per hour.
7. Social media manager
Do you love being on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and others? Why not get paid to do what you love?
There are busy influencers who need people to manage their social media pages. Many companies also are looking for social media managers because they know having an online presence is very important and they are too busy to do that themselves.
This is a great job you can do even if you have a newborn baby. The opportunities are large in this area. You can pitch up with smaller companies or larger companies or influencers.
The starting cost is $25 per hour.
8. Babysitter
If you’ve decided to be a stay-at-home mom and you’re taking care of your baby, why not run an in-home daycare?
There are lots of parents looking for help in this area and they are willing to pay. This is one of the easiest ways to earn money from home.
You can babysit more babies in addition to your own baby and get paid to do it. The least you can get from this job is $13.44 per hour.
9. Wedding planner
Every woman always remembers their wedding day, lol. You know, the pretty gown, the attention, and all the emotions that followed before motherhood hits.
Well, you can still relive that beautiful day through someone else and get paid to do it. Isn’t this amazing?
A lot of stay-at-home moms are into event planning and baking and these fetch them a few thousand dollars monthly.
You can become a successful wedding planner, all you need is the desire. Then you
- Get formal training. You can do this online without leaving your home.
- Attend a lot of weddings and you will get the experience
- Choose your type of wedding and set your service apart. Make yourself different.
- Promote your service and you will surely grow.
If you are good at photography, you can combine it with this skill and increase your income. Or you can give your customers a little thank you bonus, a book filled with memories of their most beautiful (and probably most expensive) day.
If you need ideas, Pinterest is full of them. I don’t think you can ever run out of inspiration. The rate of planning a wedding starts at $5,000.
10. Customer service
If you have a quiet space and some great listening skills, you can work from home as a customer service rep for a lot of different companies.
This is a good way to make money and it starts at $14.00 per hour.
11. Product tester
There are lots of companies out there looking for people to test and review their products for money. This is a cool way to make money from home.
I wouldn’t hesitate to do this especially if it involves chocolates lol. The rate starts at #20.41 per hour.
12. Voiceover
Do you have a beautiful voice? If yes, you can use this to make some cool cash from home.
A lot of companies are looking for voice-overs. You can search online and get a good offer which ranges from $20 to $100 per hour.
13. Hairdresser
Do you know that you can run your own hair salon from the comfort of your home?
If you have space, you can go ahead and earn in this way. Your friends and family members will be glad to patronize you for all their hair needs and even refer people to you.
14. Content writing
Do you know that there are people out there who are willing to pay for your words? This can fetch you $15 to $1,000 per article depending on the amount of research spent.
Almost any business you can think of needs written content like newsletters, brochures, blog posts, sales pages, social media posts, emails, etc.
Even Google Trends graph shows that the need for content writers is ever-growing.
You write and charge for the content you create. Also, you can do this from home even when you have a baby. You can take breaks to look after your baby and come back when done.
The rate starts at $23.99 per hour.
15. Recipes creator
Do you love experimenting in the kitchen and creating new recipes? Then why not earn from this? Many magazines and online publications are looking for recipes and creations to buy and feature on their websites.
If you have good cooking skills and you’re great at taking pictures, then this is a perfect way to make a decent income from home.
You can also share your organic baby food recipes or your grandma’s famous Italian recipes. A lot of niches are available in this sector, all you have to do is to create the recipes.
Just Google and you will see a lot of people looking for coffee and keto recipe writers. The rate of this online work is $17.89 per hour.
16. Copywriting
Do you love making research and putting it together in an interesting way for everyone to read and love? If yes, you can earn by copywriting from the comfort of your home.
Copywriting focuses on selling while content writing aims to build brand awareness. You can make a living if you put in more time in any of these.
The least you can get is $5 per hour.
17. Medical transcriptionist
If you can type a large number of words in a minute, then this job is for you. The medical field is looking for fast typists.
Though this job looks a bit more demanding and involved for stay-at-home moms, it pays well as you can make up to $60 per hour.
However, there are some steps you have to take before you can be a transcriptionist from home.
- You need to get your high school diploma or GED
- An associate degree is also advantageous (although this is not compulsory)
- You have to get certifications CHDS or RHDS
- You must speed up your typing
- Take the RHDS or CHDS exam
- Start working from home
This job is also flexible.
18. Email responder
There are a lot of businessmen and women who get many emails and can’t attend to all of them. They hire people to answer their emails.
If you love reading, writing, and responding, then turn your hobby into earning.
You can do this from the comfort of your home and get paid $15.69 per hour.
19. Iron clothes
If you love pressing clothes, then this is a great source of income for you.
This is different from a dry cleaner’s work. Many people do their laundry themselves but hate ironing and they are willing to pay people to do it for them.
All they do is to drop off their clothes and pick them up when you’re done. It is this simple. And one thing about ironing is that you can do it while watching TV.
You can turn this into a business that pays your mortgage. All you have to do to get started is to:
- Get a quality iron and an ironing board
- Watch YouTube videos and practice how to iron like a pro
- Meet a graphic designer to make colorful flyers that you can place around advertising your services.
- Put your contact information and home address on the add
- Try not to charge too much and don’t be too scared that you end up charging too little. $13 to $20 an hour is a good start.
- If the clients need delivery or pick up, you can charge more.
This is a very good job for moms who stay at home.
20. Company trainer
If you love training people or you have the gift of teaching others, and you’re an expert in your field, this job is for you.
You can train people for companies and get paid for it. It is highly flexible as it could be done in your spare time and also serve as a great source of income.
You can get paid $19.21 per hour.
Wrap Up
Staying at home can be fun. You have all the time to take good care of your kids, save some money, and also make some cool cash. You can pick any of the above jobs mentioned above and grow your home-based business.
