Being a mum is a lot of things. It’s a full-time job, it’s expensive, it’s exhausting, it’s scary, but it’s also fun, exciting, fulfilling and enriching and most times out of ten, you will find that mums wouldn’t have it any other way. A lot of us mums choose to take it on and stay at home, eliminating expensive childcare costs and being heavily involved with the early years of our children’s life.

This lifestyle does however, put a strain on many households who are forced to survive off a single income. With the cost of living constantly on the rise, many mothers feel it’s important to find ways to earn extra money and supplement the family budget from home. Here’s 6 ways you can do just that.

Look after more kids

Stay-at-home mums babysitting sounds either genius or crazy, or maybe a bit of both. It will depend on the age of your own child and if you want to take on the responsibility of more children, but if it sounds right for you, babysitting can be quite lucrative.

The fact that you’re already at home looking after your own children, with all the necessary equipment, makes it the perfect time for you to babysit some more children. Essentially, you can be paid for having play dates for your own kids.

Your schedule will likely be flexible but it’s important to remember you need enough time for your own kids, and of course yourself.

Deliver packages

If your kids are at school or kindergarten, you aren’t necessarily bound to your house or their side, however you might want to stay close-by and be relatively free. The sharing economy has provided countless options for mums in this position to earn money. The most popular example of a job in this industry would be Uber.

If driving passengers around doesn’t interest you, you can become a part-time courier. Zoom2U is a marketplace where people can sign up to deliver parcels for people who need things delivered. A job like this is great because you can choose when you work and which bookings you want to take on.

Rent out your spare room

This one will likely only be practical if your child is past the stage of crying through the night, because let’s face it, no one wants to pay to stay in a house with a crying baby, but this option can see you bring in a decent income.

Chances are, you have a spare room in your house which is probably only used for when a relative comes to visit once or twice a year. You could be earning money from this room.

Renting rooms out on Gumtree is now quite a common and successful way to find tenants while avoiding the need for real estate agents. Check out similar listings to get an idea on how to advertise your spare room.

Provide parking

If you’re a stay-at-home mum, it’s safe to assume you won’t be using your driveway every day. If you live in a central location, close to a town centre, a train station or a University, for example, you will very likely be able to find someone who will pay for the privilege of using your driveway.

In busy areas, parking spaces are limited, hard to find or expensive. Parkhound connects people like you, with an empty garage or driveway to people who need a parking space. It’s free to list your space and you’ll be earning money for doing practically nothing, giving you more time for the kids.

Tutoring

This one will depend on your experience and career history but if you have skills in relation to specific school subjects, you could become a tutor. Of course, you will need to understand the curriculum and how the subject is taught, but these things are easy to access with the internet.

Tutoring can be done from home and you can plan and organise a schedule that’s easy for you to work around. Tutoring can pay quite well but it’s important to know, planning lessons, solving issues for your students and carrying out sessions will be time consuming and require your full focus, meaning someone else may need to watch your children.

Being a stay-at-home mum is anything but simple. There’s a lot to do around the house with a child and finding time for yourself and the family budget can be difficult. These 6 ways can be used together or individually to help boost the family budget and ease the pressures faced by young families.