Parenting to Young Children

Are you looking for ways to make money as stay at home mom? Are you looking to become a SAHM but need to make some extra money first?

I’m a Stay At Home Mom and always introduce myself as one whenever people ask for my occupation. However, I do try to make money as a stay at home mom, and feel like so many other SAHM do some kind of side hustle to make some extra money.

Raising kids are so expensive and finding different ways to make money as a stay at home mom can be so helpful to the family budget!

But, don’t feel guilty if you struggle making money or simply don’t want to. Raising small children is A LOT of work and already a full-time job!

However, if you want to make some money I have compiled a list of ideas that are perfect for moms who want to make some extra money and are flexible for the crazy mom life.

Here’s a few different ways to make money as a stay at home mom:

*Please note that some suggestions below may include an affiliate, please see my disclosure policy if you have any questions.

Be a Caregiver

If you are home with your kid(s), watching other children is a great way to make some extra money. You can become a nanny and bring your kid(s) along, watch a child in your home or even open a daycare in your basement.

There’s a lot of different options for being a caregiver, nanny, or babysitter to another family with kids.

I know a lot of stay-at-home moms in my area that will watch another child while they watch their own, or they watch little ones while their older ones are at school.

This is such a great option, especially if you love kids and are use to watching children all day anyway!

Before or after school care is also a great option for someone who may want a shorter or easier option, especially if a child can take the bus home to your house and play with your child.

Looking to find a job as a nanny or caretaker? There’s a lot of different ways, but a simple way is building a profile through Care.com, SitterCity, or connecting with moms in your community.

Dog Walker or Dog Caretaker

Walk your baby to sleep a lot? See if a neighbor needs a dog walker and baby wear your little one or use the stroller instead.

Even if your little one takes naps like a champ in the crib, stroller walks are a great way to see everything along the way + making some extra money walking a furry friend.

Not for everyone, but a dog walker may be a good option to look into if you love dogs and walks.

If you’d rather, you can also take care of dogs (or any animal) while someone is out of town. Some people prefer someone watching their dogs in a comfy house with a backyard from a family.

If you are looking for more information on becoming a dog walker or pet sitter, check out Rover or even Care.com for all kinds of opportunities or ask a neighbor or community member.

Teach for VIPKid

I feel like I know so many moms that do VIPKid that I’m intrigued but not sure if teaching ESL is my forte.

If you have a Bachelors degree and any kind of teaching experience, you may want to look into teaching ESL from the comfort of your own home.

You do not need to know a second language to teach English, and you don’t need to create your own lessons as they are provided.

I believe the students are children from China so you would need to have availability early in the morning or late in the evening, but the hours may work well if you have small children so you can do teaching while they are sleeping and have a quiet house.

You can earn up to $22, but I would expect $14-17 to start, especially as you build up experience, clientele, and hours as I think bonuses and such are included in that $22 rate.

There’s also other options as well, but I always see VIPKid mentioned from other moms.

Sell Stuff

Need money quick? Selling your stuff that you are not using, is a great way to make some extra money and quickly too!

You can sell stuff on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Ebay, Yard Sales, and many more places!

You can also pick up stuff at yard sales, store clearance bins, flea markets, dumpsters, etc. and “flip” them for more money.

For example, on Prime Day, Amazon had a $700 camera for $97 due to a glitch. If I was on top of my game, I would have snatched them and then resold them on Ebay for a similar wholesale price. If I sold 2 for $500 after expenses, I would have made $1,000 for some quick work!

Although, the example above doesn’t always happen magically like that, you can still “flip” stuff that is undervalued for a higher value.

I had a friend that got a pottery barn hutch for $300 on craigslist, but it ended up being too big for her space, and she sold it on craigslist for $500 a month later. She quickly gained $200 because she knew the value of the item.

Selling stuff you already have is a great way to get started and then move on to purchasing some inventory as you get your feet wet and figure out your niche.

Drop Shipping and FBA

Drop Shipping and FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) is similiar to the reselling option above.

However, you don’t need to keep any inventory or stand in line at the post office to ship anything out.

With Drop Shipping, you need to create a store front and find items to sell. Once you get a sale, you would then purchase it through another source and they would ship it to your customer and everything. You would be the middle man.

Some people set up a store front with Shopify and then use a service like AliExpress to buy the product from and ship it out. I personally don’t have experience with dropshipping, but there’s many different ways to handle it.

FBA works a little different, as you typically buy inventory and then send it to Amazon as a bulk box. They would then sell the item for you, and it would be marked as a Prime item with 2-day shipping.

With FBA, you would need to do a little legwork in the beginning, but after it leaves your home, you just need to check your sales!

Virtual Assistant

Be an assistant from the comfort of your home! A Virtual Assistant assists clients in a variety of tasks, and every Virtual Assistant job is different.

If you have ever been an administrative assistant or office manager, a Virtual Assistant could be up your wheel house!

Some VA’s concentrate on one skill like mastering Pinterest Marketing as Pinterest VA and others do a little bit of everything. It really depends on your skill set and what you like to do and work on.

Virtual Assistant can sometimes set their schedules and do everything from home, which makes a great job for moms!

A lot of moms will find their own jobs and have their own VA business, but others will work directly with a company so they don’t have to search for clients.

Freelance Your Skills

Got skills? Be a freelancer! When I think of a freelancer, I think of a freelance writer, but you don’t nee to write to be a freelancer!

You can do freelance writing, freelance graphic design, freelance editing, freelance bookkeeping, freelance coding, freelance interpreter, freelance igloo designer, freelance whatever.

Use your skills to get specific jobs and work on the projects whenever you can!

You can find freelance clients through networking, referrals or online sites like freelancer, fiverr, upwork, flexjobs, or even craigslist. For more ways to find freelance jobs, check out this helpful freelance job roundup here.

Get Crafty

If you are a crafty mom, you may want to consider making and selling crafts for some extra money.

You can sell on Etsy, set up a store on Shopify, or even create your own Facebook page and sell directly from there, or a little bit of everything.

Keep in mind supply costs and the cost of time to determine how successful your venture will be, as craft items sometimes come with a lot of overhead. However, items like printables and designs have low costs but a lot of competition.

Create Something

If you are looking to create something other than crafts, there’s a lot of different options.

I love the idea of creating something once, and then selling it.

E-Book, book, script, song lyrics, etc. can all be created and then have little maintenance later and can pay long after a book has been written.

Writing a whole book or movie script does take a lot of talent and time, but there are other easier ways to make money from creating something.

If you are an expert in something, you can create an easy an how-to guide, manuel, e-book, etc. You could make printables, signs, or anything that makes anyone’s lives easier. You can even make a one-page of information for someone to download, as long as there’s value there.

Think of things that you like to do, what you are good at, and what there’s a need for.

I’ve bought party supplies like invitations, tent cards, and decorations because it was more cost effective to buy from an expert than me spending two hours making something half decent.

Think of things that are easy for you and time savers for other moms that might make them spend some money on your product.

You can also make and create courses as well, or even create an App.

There’s so many different things you can create to make something profitable– you just need to come up with an idea and make and market a product!

Social Media Manager, Marketer, Influencer

If you love social media, you may want to look at different opportunities at making money through Social Media.

You could be a Social Media Manager and manage social media accounts for businesses and brands. You would need to find clients and manage their account(s), add content, reply to customers, etc.

You could decide to be your own boss and find your own clients, or work directly with one company as a Social Media Manager.

A Social Media Marketer is also an option and you could do affiliate marketing and other marketing through social media channels.

I know some moms have Facebook groups and about shopping deals, for example. They will post all the hot deals from Amazon and more and then put Amazon links in the group.

If someone clicks on the link and makes a purchase, you’ll typically make around 5% of the sale. If someone buys this #CatButt Coloring Book for $6.99, you may get around .34 for the sale but if someone buys this Cat Condo for $700, you may get around $35 for the one sale.

If you have a large audience, those amounts can add up, especially with the bigger purchases!

I know Amazon does allow links in Facebook groups, but they do have a set of rules that you would need to follow, as well as other companies with affiliate programs.

The commission % also changes depending on categories, # of sales, and other factors.

You can also make money on social media by working with brands as an influencer. You would recommend a product to social media and you would be paid a set amount for it.

You would need to create a loyal following for brands to be interested and you could do it as yourself or your own brand.

It may take a little work before a brand is interested, but you don’t need a big celebrity to get brands interested in working with you.

Just keep in mind that you don’t want to work with any company that will pay because you could lose your credibility as an influencer. Only work with brands that you believe in and make sure it’s a fair price for services.

You can also do a mix of influencer, marketer, and manager and concentrate one one social media platform or a bunch!

I know YouTube and Instagram are two channels that people do very well in without being on every social media platform or having a website. You just have to do well at connecting with others and building an audience, and you can make money just through YouTube or Instagram!

It can definitely be hard to find a balance with social media and figuring on what to share and not share as a parent though!

However, there’s so many different ways to make money through Social Media. You don’t have to be a big celebrity, big business, or big blogger to do so!

Give your Opinion

You could give your opinion to make some extra money.

I hate survey sites, but you might not find it as mind-numbing boring as I do.

The only survey site that I remember liking was Pinecone Research and they paid around $3 a survey when I used to do it. It wasn’t big money, but it definitely helped when I had more time than money.

However, you can do things like Mystery Shopping to make some extra money instead of surveys, or both. Mystery Shopping can be a fun side gig, and you can read more about it!

I also heard about UserTesting.com, which I need to check out. I’m just adding it to remind myself to do so, then I’ll post an update about it. I haven’t done so yet, but heard it’s about $10 for about 20-30 minutes of work.

Sell Photography

If you love photography and take great photos, you can sell it. You can become an actual photographer and do head shots, family portraits, newborn photography, wedding photography, etc.

I know some moms that will just do family sessions around the holidays and do mini-sessions. They will do 15-minute sessions and schedule multiple families at a fun location for one-day.

In our area it’s normal to pay $100 (for experienced photographers) for a 15-minute family mini-session + the pictures, so if you did 6-hrs of mini-session with all full spots you could make around $2,400 for a day of sessions. You’ll have to figure in editing time, e-mailing clients, marketing, etc. in that amount though.

Of course, you have to be a good photographer and some interested people in your area, but could be a great opportunity for mom photographers.

Another way you could make money through photography is by selling photos you’ve already taken– even years ago when you were younger and had more time on your hands or create new images at home or during family adventures!

Businesses and bloggers are always looking for beautiful and unique images to use on websites, magazines, ads, and much more!

Some places to sell your photography:

• Shutterstock
• iStock
• Etsy
• Dreamstime
• Getty Images
• Stocksy
• Your Own Website

Become a Publisher/Blogger

I can’t be a mom blogger without mentioning a blog. If you love doing a little bit of everything and your own piece of the web, you may love blogging.

However, if you want to make money as a blogger, you need to be in it for the end game. It will take a few months, or even longer, before you make any money.

Also, a lot of ad networks and affiliate programs cut checks 60-90 days out, so even after you make the money, it will take a little bit to get it. You also will have to earn at least $25-100 from a network before they will even cut a check.

Sometimes ad networks will require a blog up and running before acceptance as well as a minimum amount of views, depending on the network.

So it takes time to make money with a blog.

If you need money quick, I would go with a service option like freelance writing that will pay immediately after you perform the work. With blogging, it takes awhile to see the payout.

However, if you have the patience and the desire to learn new things, blogging may be a great option for you.

The beauty of blogging is that you can do it however you want.

You can do a free blog and spend zero money or you could invest money and go big from the start.

I recommend doing neither, and spend some money, but start slow.

You can get blog hosting for $3.95/month through SiteGround (what I currently use) or get a similar price with other hosting companies. You’ll need to buy the domain, and I recommend domain privacy, but you can keep everything under $100.

I recommend buying a domain, preferably a .com, and then using wordpress to support your content, and using SiteGround to host it.

I’m going to be honest, it can be a little overwhelming at first because you need to learn everything. You need to create content, do web design, figure out technical errors, monetize, market you site, social media, and much more. You are a one-man machine, at least at first. (Unless, you have money to hire out!)

However, it can be very rewarding and you will learn so many valuable skills. You may also learn that you may just want to focus on one area, so you switch gears and focus slowly on freelance writing, Pinterest marketing, web design, or whatever it may be.

Blogging is a great way to go out your comfort zone, learn new things, and connect with other bloggers and readers!

It can be a lot of work, especially in the beginning, but once you get going, you will hopefully reap some rewards.

The beauty of blogging is that you could be on vacation with your family and have done absolutely nothing that entire week, and find when you return you made $700 or whatever it may be! Your blog and previous content is always working for you!

There are so many different ways to make money with blogging through placing ads on the site, affiliate marketing, sponsored content, creating a product, event appearances, ebooks, and so many other ways.

I personally focus on advertising and affiliate marketing when blogging, because they are more passive and fit my personal style the best.

There’s actually SO many different ad and affiliate networks to choose from, but here are a few good options for beginners:

• Google AdSense: Banner and display ads, get paid per click per click on ad. Good for beginners, easy to apply and get accepted but pay will be low and slow. (Media.net is another beginner option that I’ve never personally used)
• Sovrn formerly VigLink: Add a plug-in and links that are not optimized will turn to an affiliate when possible. Easy to get accepted and good for beginners so you don’t have to apply to many different networks & worry about affiliate links in the beginning. There’s so many affiliates there if you’d rather do manual links instead of automatic ones too.
• Amazon: Easy to get accepted but you do need 3 sales within 90? days or you’ll get kicked out. You can apply again, but you may want to wait until you have little readership before applying to Amazon, but there’s so many different products to choose from with Amazon!
• Mediavine: Work on getting readership and pageviews, then apply to Mediavine once you get 25,000 pageviews for Ad Management.

However, that’s just a small sample of options, and once you grow bigger you’ll have a lot more affiliate networks to choose from.

Blogging can be a lot of work, especially in the beginning, but it is very fun and a great little side hustle for a stay-at-home mom or hopeful SAHM.

I hope you got a few ideas of how to make money as a stay at home mom and will inspire you to start your own mom business!

What are your favorite ways to make money as a Stay-At-Home Mom? Have you had any successes so far? Any ideas on the list that you are going to try?