Being a full-time parent is tough. You are juggling the kids and chores, and it gets worse when all those scam job opportunities for how stay-at-home parents can earn money keep popping up. Sometimes, one income may be barely enough to pull a family through. So, you may seek ways to add a supplementary income, but not all of them may work out. Can you find legitimate ways to earn money as a stay-at-home parent without clash your parental duties? This article will show you 15 approved ways of earn money (active income) as stay at home parent, so you will have the liberty to manage your time with a work-life balance.
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Table of Contents
1) Crocheting or knitting
You may do either of these skills as a hobby already. Well, it doesn’t have to be just a hobby; you can make items for sale. Crocheting is an art that uses a crochet hook to make items with yarn. The loops made from crocheting are usually quite tight. So, crocheting produces things like potholders, blankets, and placemats.
On the other hand, knitting involves using yarn with two knitting needles. Knitting is perfect for clothes like shorts, skirts, scarves, etc., because the knitted loops come off looser. Just think about the beautiful things you can craft. And when you’re done admiring them, you can go on a site like Etsy and sell them at good prices.
2) Quilting
Quilting is a beautiful art, and you need to invest a sewing machine. It may take a while for a stay-at-home parent to profit from this art. A quilt usually consists of 3 parts: the top, the bottom, and the batting. The top is usually made from skillfully sewing fabrics together in a square shape, whereas the bottom is just one big chunk of fabric. The plush aspect of a quilt is the batting, which forms the inside layer.
After all the “quilting,” you can cover the edges with a border cloth. Quilts can be done with good old needles and thread but will be much easier with a sewing machine. I have a friend, who cut every piece of her daughter’s old clothes, and made a birthday garland.
It takes time to make a good quilt, so people who sell them charge decent. It’s worth putting time into for a stay-at-home parent to earn money.
3) Baking
If you love making a chocolate cake and cinnamon rolls for the kids at dinner, it could be perfect for you. I’m not referring to invest a bakery from day one; you can start from home as a small business. Yes, it is legal to start without an actual store. Such businesses are governed by cottage food laws, which vary from state to state. Several state requires licenses or inspections while others required certain cake types cannot be made at home for sell. In UK, you need to register as self-employed and meet hygiene requirement.
Every day people celebrate birthdays, graduations or other special events with cake. All you need is an oven, ingredients, and an eye for sweets. You aren’t limited to cake, though you can also sell pastries, macarons, or parfaits from the comfort of your home.
4) Cake Decorating
Different from the baking, cake decoration take the existing cake and evolved into an art form. Many designs and techniques can choose from. This is why having this under your belt can result in a lucrative income for the family.
Learn to work your way with fondant figures or master the art of buttercream flowers, or do both. This is a surefire way for a stay-at-home parent to earn money, not only for selling the products, but also you can open workshop to teach others.
5) Making Jewelry
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Many people feel incomplete without jewelry, and you can take advantage of this. If you have an eye for fashion, then you should certainly consider making jewelry to sell on sites like Etsy.
Jewelry hardware is relatively easy to find since you just need wires, wire cutters, and whatever media you want to use (shells, beads, metal, etc.). Then you can get to crafting beautiful jewelry pieces.
It would help if you stuck to a certain jewelry style so you will be known for it and can subsequently build your brand around it. It may not bring in a full income, but it is one way a stay-at-home parent can earn a substantial amount of money.
6) Photography
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This one is perfect for you to practice when the kids are in school. You probably already take numerous pictures of your little ones so why not take it higher and earn for taking professional shots?
You may need to take some classes or read a how-to book to grasp the basics of professional photography. Once you get the hang of it, you can take wedding, birthday, or event photos. You could also pick a niche and post photos about it online: bloggers will likely pay to get their hands on those.
One thing you need to understand, though, is that photography may be expensive from the onset. That’s because you will need to invest in some quality equipment, but the cash can come rolling in when that’s done.
7) Blogging
Blogs can be about whatever interests you. You can start a blog on one of your passions; something like cooking will work perfectly well. You may even add another craft to this, like if you choose to practice photography, why not create a photography blog?
There are many ways to make money from your blog; you could put your hands on advertising, sponsored content, selling products, and advertising. But before that, you need a domain name, a Webhost, and a platform to build the blog.
And when you’re all set, you’ll find that blogging is a lucrative way for a stay-at-home parent to earn money.
8) Writing
Freelancing is becoming increasingly popular today and more so for writing. Every business in the world needs a writer. Writing spans so many niches but for simplicity’s sake, let’s look at the two most common; content writing and copywriting.
Content writing involves educating and boosting engagements, whereas copywriting involves writing to make sales. Many startups and established businesses are constantly looking for remote workers in this field.
Moreover, it can be your source of full income as both are considered high-income skills. You can practice writing on freelance platforms like Upwork, Fiverr, or LinkedIn.
9) Virtual Assistance
Many companies and professionals seek out virtual assistants to get their workload off them. It usually involves performing minor tasks like market research, scheduling meetings, etc. People pay good money to virtual assistants, and you could even get paid based on the hour.
Virtual assistance is a sure way stay-at-home parents can earn money since it doesn’t disconnect you fully from your full-time job as a parent.
10) Vlogging
I’m sure you can already tell that vlogging resembles blogging. Instead of written words, you use spoken words to provide educative content for your audience through platforms like YouTube or Tiktok.
You can post about anything on your YouTube channel. And just as with blogging, you could pair this up with another craft like cake decorating. To do this, you must be confident in front of the camera.
If your channel gets enough views, the ads shown could bring you a supplementary income. And as you build consistency and grow, brands can pay you to promote their products on your channel.
11) Drop shipping
The great thing with this craft is that you may not need capital to start it. If you find a company that says it sells shoes, you could be a drop shipper for them. What this means is that you will sell their shoes to your customers.
This is how it works,
- The company offers its product to you at a discounted price.
- You add your profit and sell it to a customer.
- The customer pays, and you send the delivery details to the company, who then delivers it. Of course, after paying them for the product.
At the end of the day, that little money addition you made becomes yours for keeps. Once you find a company to drop ship for can be a great way for a stay-at-home parent can earn money.
Note that you won’t even have to touch the product as you serve as a middleman in the whole transaction.
12) Daycare
Many working-class parents may need a place to keep their kids while at work; since you are a stay-at-home parent, you can take advantage of this. Parents will likely trust you to care for their kids since you are a parent. To open a daycare at home, you need a license to qualified yourself. You don’t need a Degree in Early Childhood Education, but valuable experience with infants and toddlers. In many states, being a parent is enough. Each state’s licensing process is different. Some do everything in an online portal. You may also need to update your furniture and equipment (table, bed, toys etc) based on the licensing requirement.
13) Selling Produce
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You can also make money by selling produce from your home garden. The only downside, though, is that you need adequate space for the garden, so it may not be a choice for every stay-at-home parent. If you have the space, though, you can plant a small veggie garden or start a chicken coup. Then you can sell the products you get to friends, family, and neighbors.
As a stay-at-home parent who wants to earn money, raising chickens can be a very lucrative path to take when talking about produce. That’s because you can get various products to sell from chickens: meat, eggs, or even feathers.
Best of all, you can tend to the garden in your free time as it’s right under your nose (in your backyard, I mean).
14) Making Soap or Candles
Handmade soap is becoming increasingly popular with a lot of people. It’s a great way for stay-at-home parents to earn money and doesn’t take a lot of practice to master. You just need to get your hands on a good recipe and play around with it, and you’ll be making really good soaps in no time.
The process requires a kitchen scale to accurately measure the lye and sodium hydroxide. Sodium hydroxide is very corrosive, so you must tread cautiously when using it for your safety.
Making candles is similar to soap, the candle-making process is usually straightforward since it involves solely melting wax into your desired shape. You can get any container of your choice. Jars, bottles, and the likes will work fine, but you can get creative with the shapes of these containers. You can sell these candles as decorations or light sources for many people.
You can start with a bestselling recipe and then build others based on your experience to keep your customers invested.
15) Making and Decorating Pots or Mugs
A lot of people crave beautifully designed mugs in their cupboards and pots in their gardens. People will pay good money to get arty spice to their surroundings, so let your creativity flow when creating these pots and mugs.
There are various painting techniques you can use to design them. Make sure to take gorgeous pictures and post them on social media for visibility. You could also market your products on sites like Etsy.
You have the option to buy plain mugs and pots from the store for decoration. Or you could make your own from clay, and you will need certain equipment and lots of practice for the latter.
Final Thoughts from Pragmatic Lifestyle
Here are our summarize the 15 active incomes for stay-at-home parents. The next article is about how to build a passive income stream while staying at home. Please note: there is other active income advertised as “earning by listening to music” or “doing a survey”, to be honest, the time invested and the outcome are totally unworthy of it.
It can get overwhelming when there is single income in the family, but it doesn’t have to stay like that. With these hobbies and skills listed in this article, you can become a stay-at-home parent that earns money right from the comfort of your home. In the meanwhile, it is also an excellent opportunities to teach kids about money and financial knowledges. Some of these methods will require some capital since your main aim should be to deliver high quality. A handful of others are absolutely free to start though. Regardless, any one of them will do well in supporting the inflow of funds into your family.
About Me
Hi, there. I am Lin. Together with my husband and two kids, we live in the beautiful Netherlands in Europe. I am dedicated to self-development, creating quality time for the whole family, and fully supporting kids with their potentials with all I have learned from engineering, MBA, and 10+ years of working experience in the energy sector.
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