6 part-time job ideas for stay-at-home mums and dads

There are plenty of reasons why people choose to be a stay-at-home mum or dad. Some do it because of the high cost of childcare, and some simply believe that having at least one parent at home with a kid is essential for a child’s normal development. Personally I quite liked the idea of being able to stay in my pyjamas watching kids’ TV and eating raisins out of tiny boxes.

However, staying at home does mean sacrificing a good amount of income that you would have brought home if you were still working, and those mini raisin boxes aren’t cheap. Lots of stay-at-home parents then are looking for that elusive part time job that mixes flexibility and a decent extra income, so that they can maintain the raisin dream for as long as possible.

Here you’ll find six part-time job ideas for stay-at-home mums and dads, many of which I’ve actually done myself. There are another 20 work from home jobs for mums over here at The Money Shed too, so no excuses!

Do you have any part-time job ideas for stay-at-home mums and dads that you can add?

Selling crafts online

If you enjoy things like knitting, sewing, jewelry-making, woodworking or any other creative craft, you might want to think about selling your creations online on sites like ebay and etsy. All you need is a computer, some crafty materials, a good dollop of creativity and ability to pack and send orders by mail. The easiest way to pay is using a Paypal, and if you have an account, check the settings and you can print the shipping labels straight from your home laptop or computer. Selling online doesn’t have to cost a lot either – make the most of visual social media channels like Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram to promote your wares.

I don’t think I have done this one, as I’m a bit hopeless when it comes to crafts. I did make some Christmas gift tags once for my mum to sell with her felted bags at craft fairs, but I’m pretty sure that doesn’t count.

Hosting an exchange student

This is one that I’ve done. It’s a great way to maximise unused space in your home and can also be really beneficial for you as a family, as it exposes your kids to new cultures and types of people. Hosting students can be a more long term thing, or it could just be for one-off trips. About four years ago when we dabbled with it, with hosted two French girls as part of a trip for ten days; they were very sweet, and Belle loved writing them notes and knocking on their door every five minutes. You’ll often find ads in local papers, or contact local colleges, universities or language schools to see if they are looking for host families.

Top tip from my own personal experience: don’t get zapped by a speed camera on your way home from picking your students up as it really cuts into your profits.

Start a freelance business

Done!

Think about it, there must be something you’re good at or have a passion for? It could be making cakes, drawing illustrations, taking photos or creating nice postcards, or maybe you believe you can write better articles than all the crappy pieces that are on the Internet today? You probably can. Making your hobbies and creative abilities work for you and your bank account is a good start-up idea. Start a simple website or blog using WordPress so that potential clients can find you, and start taking small, cheap or free jobs to build up your portfolio. Keep in mind that word of mouth is the oldest and the most effective means of advertising.

Monetise a blog

This is one that I do, obviously, and isn’t as scary as you think. If you’re a stay-at-home parent you’ll probably find that you’re already doing things like taking pictures of the meals you make, so why not just go public and turn it into a money maker? Income on a blog comes from things like advertising, affiliate schemes and sponsored content but it can also be an indirect money maker as it’s a place to showcase your writing skills and potentially gain other work.

I actually offer a course in making money from your blog – let me know if you’d like more details!

Tutoring or teaching

I’ve done this one too.

When I was at university and Bee was a toddler I needed a bit of extra income but of course couldn’t do the bar job thing, so had to come up with something I could do flexibly from home. I was doing an economics degree, had studied maths at A-level and was generally a bit of a geek, so offering maths tuition seemed like a great idea. I had about half a dozen students, each having an hour’s individual tuition a week, ranging in ages from 5-18, and it worked really well for me. You could offer tuition in an academic subject, something musical, or even cookery or crafts, both to adults and children.

Top tip from my own personal experience: know your limits. With hindsight I was a little ambitious at 20 years old taking on an 18 year old student studying advanced pure maths.

Babysitting and daycare

I’ve done more than my fair share of this one. As long as you are a parent and you have an experience of taking care of children, it’s pretty easy work, especially if the children aren’t babies anymore and can entertain each other.

When I finished my A-levels and Bee was about a year old I took a gap year before university to spend some time with her and save some money. During that year I looked after the children from my local pub. It was hard work looking after a baby, a whiney three year old who refused to use toilets and a hyperactive seven year old boy, but in those days we didn’t worry about things like ratios in swimming pools, so it was much easier.

Top tip from my personal experience: Don’t take a group of small children to Wookey Hole Caves on your own – they will ALL get scared and you will have to carry them all at once.

So these are some of the professions that might work for you if you decide to earn some money while being a stay-at-home mum or dad. Do you have any ideas or recommendations for jobs that have worked for you? There are loads of options so you should be able to find something to suit you – ask your friends, look through the papers or visit some local classifieds website like Localmart to see what professions you can find for yourself. Good luck!

Disclosure: this is a sponsored post but all content and opinions are my own