For some moms, staying at home to raise the kids means making certain financial sacrifices to be there full-time for your children. If your budget is stretched to the limit, you may be wondering what legitimate money-making opportunities exist. If you're a stay-at-home mom who's interested in generating extra money, there are a number of things you can do to create a second stream of income without sacrificing time with your kids.
Freelance Writing
If you have strong writing skills, you may consider pursuing a career as a freelance writer. With the expansion of social media and online content sites, freelance writing has expanded to include a number of writers who lack previous professional experience. Websites will pay you to write articles for a flat rate or you can try earning through revenue share programs, which pay you based on page views or clicks. If you're not comfortable with selling the rights to your writing, you should also consider creating your own blog or website and make money by selling advertising space.
Virtual Assisting
If you have previous experience working in an office or in an administrative support position, you may consider becoming a virtual assistants. Virtual assistants are employed in a number of different industries and their duties may include transcribing documents, scheduling appointments, maintaining files, processing payroll, accounting, creating spreadsheets and presentations or proofreading, and editing documents. If you're familiar with these and other office tasks, and have a set amount of time available each day, a position as a virtual assistant can potentially be a source of steady income. According to Work At Home Moms, the pay scale for virtual assistants can be as high as $45 per hour.
Mystery Shopping
Mystery shopping typically involves going to a retail store or restaurant and following a specific set of guidelines when interacting with employees. The purpose of mystery shopping is to allow companies to evaluate their employees to ensure that their standards for customer service are being met. According to ABC News, mystery shopping is evolving to include at-home mystery shoppers who call catalog companies, customer service lines or call centers rather than visiting them in person. In exchange for submitting a detailed report of your experience to the client company, you can be paid anywhere from $8 to $30 per assignment. If you're considering becoming a mystery shopper, you should be aware that there are a number of fraudulent companies that operate mystery shopping scams. You can contact a professional organization, such as the Mystery Shopping Providers Association, to find legitimate mystery shopping opportunities.
Selling Items
Another easy way to make extra money is to sell unused or unwanted items on an auction or similar sales site. With these type of sites, you can sell clothes, books, children's toys, appliances, video games, electronics, CDs, DVDs or just about anything else you can think of. If you like to make crafts, jewelry or art, you can consider selling your products through your own website or creating a store on Etsy or a similar site. If selling online is inconvenient or impractical, you can always make extra cash by selling items to a consignment shop or hosting a yard sale.
