Make money while spending time with your kids
- Staying at home with the kids doesn't mean you can't make money.
- Make money from your computer, home or skills.
We regularly get asked how to make money when stuck at home with the kids. Well truly - there are loads of ways. We’ve come up with a bunch of in which mothers (and non-mothers!) can make a decent income by using the skills and facilities that they already have. You can have fun with it too.
Making money from your computer
Online surveys
A handy little pocket-money earner is completing online surveys in your spare time. You won’t necessarily make oodles of cash, but if you have 15-20 minutes to spare online once or twice a week then why not spend that time making some money? Sign up to the following survey sites, which pretty much pay you for giving your opinions.
You can expect to earn between 50p and £2.50 for every survey you take part in; most sites send you a cheque once you’ve reached an amount such as £20 or £50. Take a look at our article on surveys for more info. How much money have you made so far from online surveys? Tell us on our messageboard.
Cashback sites
If you’re looking to buy pretty much anything at all on the net, search for what you need from one of the cashback sites we list. They give you a percentage of what you spend back, and you can even get deals on online grocery shopping. Take a look at our article on cashback sites for more info, and have a flick through these sites to decide which ones you’re going to save money with.
Zubka
If you fancy trying your hand at being a recruitment consultant then pay a visit to zubka.com. All you need to do is find out which of your friends are looking for a new job – then have a browse around the site to find a role you think would suit them. If you successfully place them in a job you’ll get paid a fee, relating to their new salary. You can potentially earn thousands from this but it means ensuring you get the right people into the right jobs. Take a look on zubka.com for more info.
Virtual assistant (VA)
A virtual assistant is a self-employed person who carries out admin work for companies from their own home. This could involve making and taking phone calls, sending out emails, transcription and a wide range of office tasks. You’ll need to be really confident with computers because you won’t have anyone to help you out if things go pear-shaped, and you’ll also have to have a great telephone manner. If you’re considering making this a real business idea (thousands of people successfully have) then you could take part in our business brains workshop in London. Click here for more information on how to sign up. Take a look at our article on how to become a VA and take a look at iceni-it.co.uk for further info on how to get started.
Make money from your home
Let your parking space
If you have a driveway or a garage that you don’t use and live in an area where parking space is in demand, you can rent it out and make money from doing nothing at all. Parking is more desirable in London and you can charge a lot more than anywhere else, but if you live close to, say, Manchester United’s football ground you could charge huge amounts on match days. Have a look at our article on renting out your driveway for further information and if you want to register your parking space then go to Parkatmyhouse.com.
Rent out a room
Depending on the size of your home, it’s possible to just rent out one room to someone. You can earn up to £4,250 in a year without having to be taxed so you could just rent out a room until you reach the tax threshold. You can make anything from £40-£250 a week (people really will pay that much in London!) and you can choose who you’d like to accept as a tenant. Read more about it in our article on renting out a room.
Rent out spare space
If you have an attic or a cellar you don’t use, you can rent out the space as a storage facility. Again, you could use your garage for this, and could charge more because the renter could have their own access. You would have to draw up a contract with whoever’s renting out the space, just to set some ground rules, but other than that it’s really easy money. You can make anything from a fiver a week to store a few boxes, to £50 for filling up a central London garage. Read through our storage space article for more information.
Make money from your childcare skills
Childminding
If you’re one of those people who loves children, and you're at home all day anyway looking after your own, this might be the job for you. Anyone with a clean criminal record can be a childminder but if you’re on your own you can look after a maximum of six children at a time. You’ll usually be charging per child per hour and the amount will vary based on the ages and where you live. Our article on how to become a childminder should give you all the information you need. If you used to, or still do, childminding then why not let everyone know your experiences on our messageboard? Is it rewarding? Or was it too much effort?
Be a doula
Anyone who is a mother can be a doula. This is someone who has had a baby herself and is hired to assist in the birth of a new baby and then help out in the first few weeks. Lots of new mothers don’t have people around to help them look after the baby, especially in the difficult first few weeks. A doula is like a surrogate mother to the newborn’s mother; they help with cooking and cleaning around the house, assisting in looking after the baby and providing tips that only a real mother can give. You have to take a course (see information here) but from there on you’re self-employed and can earn up to £10 an hour – find out more info about courses and how to get work in our be a doula article.
Make money in other ways
Be an Avon lady
An Avon lady is someone who distributes and sells products from the Avon catalogue. You can buy them at a discounted price directly from Avon, and sell them on at the full price to make your profit. If you know a lot of people that already regularly buy from Avon then it's easy money. If you’re a talented sales person so much the better, although it really is a job for anyone. You can do this in your spare time, or as a full-time job, so it’s great if you’re looking for flexibility. The sky really is the limit with the people right at the top making tens (occasionally hundreds) of thousands a year. Your discount increases from 20% to 25% when you sell over £135 worth of goods – so for every £400-worth of products you sell, you get £100 back. Have a look at our article on being an Avon lady for further information.
Do other people’s laundry
Do you sometimes feel that you’re not appreciated for all the washing and ironing you do in your household? There are people who would appreciate you doing theirs - so much so that they would be willing to pay you up to £8 per load. You will have to be good at ironing and quite quick at it to make any real money. If you sign up to an agency which organises laundry delivered to your door then you’ll be getting paid for something you already do. Alternatively, you could set up your own business collecting, washing, ironing and delivering loads. Read our ironing/laundry article to find out more.
Other helpful money-making articles - Write letters to magazines - Magazines will pay you if they publish your letters. Write a few a week and you could make a fair bit of extra cash or win some prizes.
- Sewing, dress-making and altering - If you’re a dab hand with a sewing machine you can make some money by advertising your services in local newspapers.
- Sell your photos - There are a few sites around that will host your photographs online, and pay you money every time someone buys the picture.
- Dog walking and pet-minding - If you’re looking for some exercise during the day then walk the dogs in your local area for a fee. Look after animals when people go on holiday and make even more.
Got more ideas? Tell us about them on our messageboards.
What next? - Need help getting out of debt? Click here to read our step by step guide.
- Need to get your finances in check? Click here to read our article on how to get rich on half a day a year.
- Need a bit of extra cash? Click here to read how to make some extra cash in five easy steps.
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