My husband still works at his full time job, the same one he has had for many years, so he is making a good salary except that we live in expensive Southern California. It has been an interesting and challenging journey but I have made a small income from this blog and some of the other methods listed on this page so that I never had to go back to work for anyone full time. This has not only allowed me to stay at home with my children before going into school, be home for a my husband's frequent travel, as well as pour much of my time into activism, growing food on our property, focusing on our sustainability, and doing activism and volunteer work.
I'm hoping some of these tips and ideas will allow other people and parents who find themselves without a job.
what we've really found is that making food from scratch, eating whole foods plant based diet growing your own food, meal prepping is both a way to be gentle on the environment AND save money.
So here's our list of tips, gigs and creative ways to make money - especially as a stay at home parent.
Jump down to ALL our past blog posts on:
Making Money
Saving Money
If you are a blogger or thinking of starting a blog, check out our post:
I have used most of these sites and apps to make extra cash during tough times and still do some of these or make some sort of residual income from some of these today.
*If you sign up for any of these opportunities, I may receive a commission.
Offer Services
Babysitting - Your house or theirs
Pet-sitting - Offer safe and comfy pet sitting in your home or as a drop by service
Dog Walking - Great way to get in shape, make some money, and get a little guy some exercise.
Sell Something
Become an Etsy Seller - If you are clever or crafty, this might be for you.
Sell on Ebay - Sell everything from flea market finds to thrifted fashion.
Become an Amazon Seller. You would be surprised at what you can flip (buy and sell and sell quickly to make a profit). I used to sell books I got at garages sales and thrift stores and toys that I bought in Walmart.
Sell your used clothing - I have a list of sites where you can sell your used clothing (and buy some too!) I suggest checking that out.
*If you sign up for any of these opportunities, I may receive a commission.
Offer Services
Babysitting - Your house or theirs
Pet-sitting - Offer safe and comfy pet sitting in your home or as a drop by service
Dog Walking - Great way to get in shape, make some money, and get a little guy some exercise.
Sell Something
Become an Etsy Seller - If you are clever or crafty, this might be for you.
Sell on Ebay - Sell everything from flea market finds to thrifted fashion.
Become an Amazon Seller. You would be surprised at what you can flip (buy and sell and sell quickly to make a profit). I used to sell books I got at garages sales and thrift stores and toys that I bought in Walmart.
Sell your used clothing - I have a list of sites where you can sell your used clothing (and buy some too!) I suggest checking that out.
Teach Virtually
VipKid is a company that will pay you to teach online. They pay well but they do require a degree.
Writing and Creative Sites that Pay
Hubpages.com - This is one of the two sites I started writing on and the other one was acquired by this one. I still make about $100 a year and haven't written on there in years! It is a fantastic place to start if you want to try out blogging but they have a $50 threshold to payout so you will have to work for a while before you will start getting paid.
Fiverr - Although I haven't done much more than open an account and browse the site, you can advertise your writing AND creative services and I've heard good things about hiring people through the site but not much on making money through them so please let us know in the comments!
Transcription, Caption, Translate
Rev.com - If you are a fast typist and excellent at grammer, you can try transcription work at Rev. It doesn't really pay all that well at first but pay increases once you hit a milestone.
Teach a Language online
Be an online Tutor
Transcription, Caption, Translate
Rev.com - If you are a fast typist and excellent at grammer, you can try transcription work at Rev. It doesn't really pay all that well at first but pay increases once you hit a milestone.
Teach a Language online
Be an online Tutor
Stock Photo Sites
Photo sites are great for aspiring photographers and graphic designers. I've put up photos on both of these sites years ago and still receive a small check every now and then. Just know that they are very particular and they rejected a lot of the work I submitted before accepting just a few images.
BigStockPhoto.com - If you take a lot of nice pictures, or do artwork, graphic art or 3D design you can submit them to this site. If they sell, you get a commission. I haven't made the big bucks on this site, but I have a small portfolio with pieces that sell on occasion.
Fotolia.com - Another photo/graphic/art site where you can submit and sell your work. Like BigStock, they are choosy about the artwork they approve, but if it's something you are good at, you may find your niche, there.
Monetize things you normally do or buy.
Use Bing to Search Online
Make sure you change your search engine to Bing right away. They are run by Microsoft and deliver the same results like Google or Yahoo searches but without the ads.
Follow instructions to make them your default home page and search engine so you can accumulate points. Points add up to Amazon or other gift cards or rewards of your choice. You can also have fun and earn points with tasks and games but simply a normal amount of searching will pay out.
Follow instructions to make them your default home page and search engine so you can accumulate points. Points add up to Amazon or other gift cards or rewards of your choice. You can also have fun and earn points with tasks and games but simply a normal amount of searching will pay out.
Class Action Rebates
Class action settlements are posted on ClassActionRebates.com and if you check the list now and then, you may find something you qualify for. At the time I wrote this article, Vitamix was paying out a wide range of models for $70 each and I have TWO of them that are affected. I have received checks in the mail for up to $400 for some of these.
Save Money Shopping
Save Money Shopping
Coupons - I have a coupon page on this site.
Use Ibotta - It is like using coupons but it is all done via app. There are a lot of HIGH VALUE coupons there.
Use Ebates - When you shop online, many stores will have a % cash back that will be sent to you via check. Get $10 when you sign up with my link and spend at least $25 at any available retailer.
ShopAtHome.com - Similar to Ebates but check to make sure you are getting the most possible cash back at each site for your purchase.
Survey Sites
I think these are arguably the worst way to make money. They can be tedious and BIG time wasters BUT perhaps one of the easiest ways to cash in right away on work done at home that anyone can qualify for and perfect if you are on bed rest or breastfeeding a newborn.
I thought I'd explain what I think about survey sites in this Q&A style section:
Q: Are survey sites scams?
I've tried all three of the ones below. A good survey site will be clear and follow through on their payout threshold amount, date, and have a way for you to see the money or points you've banked.
Q: Can you actually make money on survey sites?
I made a couple hundred bucks or Amazon gift cards on these sites when I really had nothing else going on.
Q: Which survey sites are the best?
Q: Which survey sites are the best?
Pinecone Research - I've gotten plenty of surveys at $3.00 each. The money is cashed out through points through Paypal, which is a little bit of a pain, but they never disqualify you from a survey. They email regularly with "household questions" but these are VERY short 5-10 questions each. Their surveys are short and their trials are super fun if you get picked.
EPoll.com - Surveys involve the entertainment industry and watching episodes of tv shows. It is not too difficult to make $30 every few months or so keeping up with these. Surveys are interesting and entertaining and you never get disqualified.
OpinionOutpost.com - I haven't been on this site in a while, so I hope they've improved because it was a big time waster BUT if you have nothing but time... I powered through a bunch of them when I was pregnant and made a few hundred bucks. After the baby was born, I did get an amazing cloth diaper trial with 8 diapers through them and it set me up to start exclusively cloth diaper for both of my kids!
Swagbucks.com - I used to get $5 Amazon gift cards rolling in 2 to 5 times/month. ($25 is the max.) You can make points by searching or doing tasks or taking advantage of savings. If you use a lot of national brand coupons, I used to print through their site because they get you 10 points per coupon used. Points can really add up this way with minimal effort.
Free Stock
When you sign up for Robinhood or if you are already an investor, you can give your friends a referral link like this one and they will get free stock when they sign up. You will get free stock too!
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