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31 Legit Ways to Make Money As a Stay-at-Home Mom

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Wondering how to make money as a stay-at-home mom? Lucky for you, there are tons of side hustle gigs out there — everything from a little spending cash to a full-time income can be yours with one of these opportunities. And, lots of these let you work remotely.

For more smart shopping tips and savings hacks, text HACKS to 57299. Or, download the Krazy Coupon Lady app. Make sure to also check out our favorite side hustle websites.

1. Take surveys and earn Amazon gift cards.

Yes, this is legit. When you head to Product Report Card, you can sign up for free, fill out a short questionnaire, and start taking surveys to accumulate rewards. These rewards come in the form of Amazon gift cards and sometimes Visa gift cards.

2. Become a pet sitter and make up to $800 per month with Rover.

If you love pets, become a dog host with Rover. Set your own rates and choose which breeds you’ll accept.

You can choose whether you’re available to watch dogs during the day, for overnight boarding — or both! You can also do house visits and take them for walks while their owners are out!

Rover includes premium pet insurance and 24/7 customer care if you happen to run into any issues. Talk about a flexible way to earn money when you’re at home. Note that Rover takes a 20% service fee, so if you work enough to earn $1000, you will receive $800.

3. Download Paribus and they’ll help you get a price adjustment.

I freaking love Paribus. It works by tracking your shopping at select online retailers for you. If you buy something that drops in price within a specific time frame, then Paribus alerts you and helps you request a refund.

It doesn’t work for all stores, and everything is subject to a store’s individual policy regarding refunds when they change the price of something you’ve bought.

Paribus compensates us when you sign up for Paribus using the links provided.

4. Take the plunge and start couponing. Use the Krazy Coupon Lady app!

Woman holding and iPhone displaying The Krazy Coupon lady App, inside a Target store with a shopping cart filled with products in the ...

Shameless plug: before you add extra tasks to your day, why not try to cut costs in your grocery bill by couponing? You’ll basically give your family a little raise with the savings you’re getting at the store.

Download the KCL App to see all the best deals at your favorite stores.

5. Clear out some clutter and earn Amazon gift cards with Amazon Trade-In.

With Amazon Trade-In you can send in your old Amazon devices and electronics, plus non-Amazon video games, gaming consoles, and cell phones in exchange for Amazon gift cards.

You’ll need to enter in your item and its condition via the Amazon Trade-In site. Then Amazon will email you a shipping label so that you can send in your items free. When Amazon receives your package, it can take up to 10 business days to process.

Once they’ve verified your item and its condition, they’ll post a credit to your Amazon account that you can use on anything Amazon sells!

For example, you could get $75 for Apple AirPods Pro! Totally worth it.

6. Earn a part-time income buying and selling used books with BookScouter.

Earn a part-time income buying and selling used books with BookScouter.

I met a guy who literally makes $12,000 per year selling books.

If you’re up for taking your kids on book-finding treasure hunts with your BookScouter mobile app, this could be a great way to make easy money at home! BookScouter helps connect you to over 30 vendors who regularly buy and sell books (including those expensive textbooks), so you can pick which vendor has the best offer.

If you’re looking for an all-in-one company that will buy your books, check out Sell Back Your Book.

7. Take a minute to try new products or take surveys!

Yes, it’s a way to make easy money at home. No, it’s not a scam. Advertisers pay to have their products tested by normal people like you. Seriously. Moms are a crazy-important demographic and your voice matters!

We don’t recommend all survey apps, but here are a few that we think are legit and perfect ways to make money as a stay-at-home mom.

For more info, check out what we think are the 10 Best Paid Survey Apps for Your Side Hustle!

8. Rent out a room in your house through Airbnb.

Depending on where you live, what your accommodations are like, how you choose to price your space, and of course, how much demand there is for your digs, you can make anywhere from $200 per week or more for one guest in one room when you list your home on Airbnb.

Nervous about doing this with small kids living with you? You could also rent out your whole house when you’re away on your family vacation.

Read up on some Airbnb Tricks & Hacks for ideas on how to get started listing your property.

9. Complete flexible, remote projects with Appen.

Woman sitting on a couch with her laptop on her lap while online shopping.

Appen has something for everyone, as long as you’re willing to be detail-oriented. Appen’s clients are companies looking for freelancers to complete tasks and answer short surveys to improve their artificial intelligence products.

As an Appen contributor, you can work on long-term or part-time projects. You might transcribe audio, categorize social media, moderate content, or just draw boxes around images; every project is different and you choose what you’re interested in.

10. Flex your muscles as an entrepreneur — take on freelance projects through Upwork.

If you’re a writer, tech-savvy, good with people, into accounting, or someone who can design like a boss, there are a lot of freelance gigs that might be just right for you, courtesy of freelance platform Upwork.

Set up your profile (which is basically like a resume), and once you’ve been approved, you can start trying to get work.

11. Get cash every time someone buys your original photos on Foap.

Want to get your children outdoors? Have an eye for beauty?

Put the two together and you could have success selling your photos on Foap. Companies are always looking for fresh stock photography that doesn’t look like a stock image.

You’ll get paid per download of your image. Yep, you read that right. It means you could sell the same image over and over. Point and shoot, mama!

Foap will take a 50% commission on every download — so if your image sells for $10.00, you’ll make $5.00. Some people have made as much as $2,000 a year in extra income!

12. Do your online shopping through Rakuten and get cash back on your purchases.

A person holding an iphone with the Rakuten app open on on it.

When you sign up with Rakuten you’ll get a $10 bonus when you spend $25. Did you hear that? Free. Money. (Sort of.)

Once you start making purchases, stores you shop at will give Rakuten a commission and then they share it with you! Totally legit and totally easy.

We’re talking popular stores, too! You can get up to 6% back when you shop at Walmart, Macy’s, and Sephora, and up to 15% back from Carter’s!

Every quarter Rakuten will send you a check in the mail or deposit your earnings into your PayPal account, whichever you choose.

13. Run errands for other people as a TaskRabbit tasker.

Make deliveries for other people on your own schedule and at your own pace with TaskRabbit. You can choose which tasks you want to take, and you can “nope” the ones you don’t. You could even complete tasks while you’re already out shuttling kids to and from activities!

Here in our hometown of Boise, you could make $19/hr for running errands, $17/hr for laundry, and $21/hr for deep cleaning. (But rates vary based on location.)

14. Sell your crafts on Etsy if you’re artsy.

Sell your crafts on Etsy if you're artsy.

I know I’m not the first one to recommend this. If you’re crafty and you’ve been talking yourself out of selling your creations on Etsy, let me give you a nudge — just do it!

Keep in mind, you’ll pay three fees: a listing fee, a transaction fee, and a payment-processing fee. You’ll pay $0.20 per listing you publish in the Etsy marketplace.

This gives you four months to sell your item, and once it sells, you’ll pay a 5% transaction fee on the sale price (which doesn’t include cost of shipping) plus the amount you charge for shipping and gift wrapping. After that you’ll pay 3% plus $0.25 for payment processing if you use Etsy Payments.

15. Re-sell your brand-name used clothes and shoes on Poshmark and ThredUp.

Clean out all the closets! I tend to do this naturally at the end of each season, but you could do it as often as you want. You already have to clean them out — you might as well sell your old clothes to make money. Here are two of my favorite options:

ThredUp

Order a “clean out kit,” which is a bag for you to load with all of your unwanted (but still in good shape and on-trend) items and ship them to ThredUp. They price everything as consignment, so you won’t get paid until someone purchases your item.

The payouts are rather low, with the average payout at 3% – 15% of the price they sell the item for. If you want to get rid of a ton of clothes with very little effort, this is the way to go. You can choose to be paid in ThredUp credit, credit to other select retailers, or get a payout to your PayPal.

Poshmark

If you’re willing to put in a bit more work to make more money, you should go with Poshmark. You will have to list the items individually with photos, a description, and respond to comments asking questions, but you can control the price! You can also sell beauty items and home decor, so there are more opportunities for clearing your house while stuffing your wallet.

Poshmark will provide you with a pre-paid, pre-addressed label that you just print and put on the package, then you drop it off with USPS.

For sales under $15, Poshmark takes a flat-rate commission of $2.95. For sales of $15 or more, Poshmark keeps 20% as commission and you get the rest. I once sold a Vince Camuto purse for $75! Score!

16. Earn up to $22 an hour to teach English online with VIPKid.

You can literally use VIPKid from anywhere as long as you have these seven things:

  1. A college degree from any accredited university

  2. A Mac or PC — a Chromebook won’t work

  3. Stable internet connection (consider using an ethernet cable)

  4. Headset with a microphone

  5. Camera for your computer

  6. Work Authorization in the U.S. or Canada

  7. Recommended 2 years teaching, tutoring, coaching, or mentoring experience with children

On August 5, 2021, China banned the practice of hiring online foreign tutors. VIPKid is still running because they have programs in other countries, but since their tutors can no longer teach English to students living in China, there are much fewer students and thus less need for classes. They’re still accepting applications, but be aware there may be slim pickings!

17. Comb thrift stores and estate sales for furniture you can flip for a profit on Craigslist.

Stay-at-home moms have been doing this for years. And yet, there’s still a market for it.

As long as you have creative ideas for upcycling out-of-style pieces, there’ll be a market to purchase your creations.

For mid-mod treasures, be the first to visit estate sales. Be sure to drive a truck to go shopping in case you find a larger item you want to flip!

18. Get paid to do other people’s laundry through Laundry Care.

Get paid to do other people's laundry through Laundry Care.

It’s really as simple as it sounds. Sign up to be a home-based launderer, and start taking clients in your area. If you enjoy doing laundry and you have good attention to detail, then Laundry Care is one for you.

You’ll be an independent contractor, paid about $20 per bag, and each bag has 2-3 loads of laundry. You will also have to provide all your own detergents, fabric softener, stain treatments, and dryer sheets. To get started, you have to purchase their $100 start kit — but it’s easy money from then on.

I mean, you’re probably already doing laundry, so you might as well make money as a stay-at-home mom doing it! Best of all, you don’t have to go anywhere.

19. Download the Drop app and earn money back just for linking your debit card.

Here’s how to make the magic happen:

  1. Download the Drop app

  2. Link your credit or debit cards

  3. Shop! You can buy groceries, make a Costco run, or even take an Uber!

  4. Redeem your points for Drop rewards

What I like about Drop is that you earn for literally doing the stuff you have to do anyway. Since you link your card, you don’t have to think about scanning or entering any extra info — just swipe and earn.

20. Write an eBook and self-publish using Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

Getting published used to be hard; self-publishing used to be expensive. No more.

Once you’ve written your manuscript, simply upload it to Kindle Direct Publishing, set your sale price, and start earning 70% royalty.

It’s free and your eBook shows up next to everything else on Amazon within 24-48 hours. In order to really be a successful self-published author of an eBook, get cozy with social media, because you’ll want to tell everyone you know to go check out your new book on Amazon.com.

21. Cash in on your academic skills by working with Tutor.com to tutor K-12 students.

Cash in on your academic skills by working with Tutor.com to tutor K-12 students.

If you’re a teacher taking a break to be home with your kiddos, or you just have a lot of smarts in areas like math, science, or foreign languages, Tutor.com is a great way to earn some side cash.

If you’re available to tutor at least 5 hours per week, you can pass a test in your chosen area of expertise, and you’re passionate about education, then check this one out!

The exact pay rate depends on several factors, like difficulty of subject and how many hours you’ve racked up tutoring, but you can expect somewhere between $10.00 and $19.00 an hour.

22. Have experience as a voice actor? Become a voiceover artist with Bunny Studio.

If you’ve started a career or gained experience as a voiceover artist, continue from home with Bunny Studio.

Obviously not for everyone, but if this is your cup of tea, then go for it!

23. Get paid to do what you’re already doing online with InboxDollars or Swagbucks.

Read email, watch videos, browse the internet, or play games online? Make money while you’re at it.

You can earn up to $40 per month with InboxDollars (with a $5 bonus right now!) or $100 per month when you use Swagbucks ($10 bonus right now!).

If you want more in-depth guides to making cash with these sites, read 10 Ways To Make The Most Money With InboxDollars and Swagbucks: Save More Shopping With This Rebate App Guide.

24. Give attorneys feedback about cases as an online juror through Online Verdict.

Attorneys used to rely on focus groups and mock trials exclusively when trying to decide whether or not to take a case. Now Online Verdict offers attorneys a chance to get feedback about cases from people like you, while you’re sitting in the comfort of your own home.

What if you could make between $20-$60 per hour for 20-60 minutes of your time at your own convenience? I’m thinking once or twice a week during nap time (as opportunities are available) could turn a nice profit!

25. Sell your skills on Fiverr and make at least $5 per gig.

A person sitting on a couch, shopping online using a laptop.

Have copywriting or graphic design skills? Know SEO? You can sell just about any skill for at least $5 on Fiverr. Quick, easy, and low commitment.

26. Join Women for Hire and get access to flexible and remote jobs.

Women For Hire makes it easy for companies to find stellar women to fill vital positions from entry-level to executive leadership using their comprehensive job search tools. You get to choose what industry you’d like to work for, based on what you already know about products and services available.

Positions may be in person, hybrid, or remote and highly flexible. Women for Hire also provides career guidance and webinars to help you find your dream job and grow your skill set. They have an entire section dedicated to working from home to make your search that much easier!

27. Make $10 per 10 minutes spent testing websites with TryMyUI.

Testing websites through TryMyUI is a great way to make money while you’re at home. A huge part of actually getting gigs testing websites is being available to test right when you get the email invitation.

You’ll most likely only get a few tests per week, but it’s a great way to make extra cash!

28. Become an evening or weekend Lyft or Uber driver.

So this isn’t one you could do at home exactly. But with Lyft and Uber’s flexibility, you can easily drive a few hours a week. Not only is this a great way to get out of the house and meet new people, it’s lucrative too! Do as many or as few hours as you like — you set your schedule.

With Lyft, I made about $200 driving 10 hours a week. Be prepared to drive around the hot spots to increase chances of picking up a ride.

Uber is another great option, and they have added opportunities to deliver with Uber Eats, meaning you stay busy and make more money! I easily made $31 an hour during peak times driving in Boise — weekend nights downtown, lunch/dinner times, and morning/evening rush hour.

If you start ridesharing, just be aware that you’ll be an independent contractor; these companies won’t take income tax from your payout.

29. Interact with more adults as a part-time virtual assistant with Flexjobs.

This isn’t for all of you. But if you crave adult interaction or are thinking about getting a job, consider being a virtual assistant through Flexjobs.

Working from home has so many perks! It may take some juggling and scheduling, but if you have administrative or project management experience, being a part-time VA may be a great fit.

Doesn’t sound fun? Flexjobs offers a variety of other positions and many fields, so be sure to thoroughly peruse their listings for your dream job.

Based on Glassdoor reviews, you can expect to earn somewhere between $13 and $17 an hour, depending on your experience.

30. Shop for or deliver groceries with Instacart and make up to $25 per hour.

sams-club-instacart-media-image-01

Become a shopper, cashier, or driver with Instacart in order to make some side cash and interact with all kinds of different people.

Be aware that while this is a legitimate way to supplement your income, there are a lot of negative reviews of the company online.

31. Get paid to shop with Shopkick.

In addition to getting coupons through Shopkick, you can earn “kicks” or reward points for completing shopping-related tasks.

Earn kicks for walking into certain stores, scanning products with your smartphone (no need to buy the product!), using your credit cards, or scanning your receipt. Cash your kicks in for gift cards!

Make a game out of using the Shopkick app with your kids. Let them find and scan products! Anything to distract them while you enjoy Target.

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