In the last year alone, the number of women choosing to remain at home has fallen by 50,000 and since records began almost 20 years ago this number has fallen by almost 1 million. So why are mothers, like yourselves, choosing to return to the work place?
Perhaps you simply love your job and enjoy having a career - in which case, fantastic!
But a lot of people I personally know feel they have no choice in returning to work because of the ongoing crippling impact of the financial crisis.
Choosing to be a stay at home mom doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t provide money (however small) to the family pot. Not only can you contribute by looking to save money where possible, but you can also look at creative and rewarding ways to earn money from home without neglecting your other priorities.
Here are just a few ideas of ways you can earn some extra cash:
1. Sell stuff
If, like me, you have cupboards that you can’t fit anything else into or draws that will hardly close then maybe it is time to consider having a clear out. Why not try and sell some of those belongings on eBay? Whether it be old clothes, furniture or electrical’s, simply clearing out some of your stuff that you aren’t even using the average household can earn £300 or £400. We’d also recommend taking a look at Music Magpie if you’ve got old DVD’s and CD’s lying around that you want to sell for a few extra pounds.
2. Can you type?
If you can type (fast and accurately) and are good at grammar and spelling then becoming a freelance transcriber could be the job for you. There are a number of sites out there that often require freelancers to transcribe audio files into written documents. Most require that you can transcribe 1 minute worth of audio in 3 minutes – which isn’t long trust me. But even at that ratio, it will take 45 minutes to transcribe a 15-minute tape, or 3 hours to transcribe a 1-hour tape. If you are a fast typer, you have the potential to earn some decent money as the standard industry rate for transcription is around £0.85 per audio minute. That’s £8.50 for a 10-minute file. If it takes you 1 hour to type out a 10-minute file, you’re going to make £8.50 but if you can do two in an hour you’re looking at £17.00 – not bad huh!
3. Unveil the mystery behind secret shopping
You aren’t going to get rich with this option but it does provide the platform to not only earn some extra cash – you normally will get paid between £10-20 per assignment – but it will also allow you to get out of the house and experience surroundings that you wouldn’t necessarily experience otherwise. Searching for UK mystery shopping on Google returns a number of sites that allow you to sign up but try and stick to the reputable sites that allow you to sign up for free. Examples of the kind of thing to expect is going into banks to find out about mortgages, dining out or testing out shops customer services.
4. Focus groups
One fun and interesting way to spend the day or evening. The activity may require you to leave the kids at home but provides some much-needed and stimulating adult conversation AND you get paid to boot. Often you are required to participate in 1- 2 hour discussions about a range of topics or brands that are often interesting. Again search engines are your best method in tracking these down, simply search “focus groups” coupled with a nearby major city.
5. Take surveys
You won’t become a millionaire taking surveys, but you can certainly earn a little side income – usually something like £3-6 per week. But this can soon add up and in the meantime you are entered into monthly prize draws to win extra points, cash or voucher prizes. One good one is SurveyBods which pays between 50p and £3 per survey and you are also entered into monthly prize draws (where you can win up to £500).
All in all, if you are passionate and want to earn money then you will find a solution that works for you without necessarily having to go back to full time employment. Just make sure that you don’t sell yourself short and keep trying different things until you find something that works for you.
