I myself was a stay-at-home mom when my children were at home. Yet I always managed to afford the same opportunities for my kids as my friends who missed those formative years with their children. I would like to share things which I did to make extra money without being gone every day.
1. Learn Cake decorating: Get a book and teach yourself. I never took a class. I have done many, many cakes over the last 25-30 years. In times when I most needed money a cake job came through. When you learn the skills, let your friends and acquaintances know. I never advertised although I may have made more, but word of mouth got me "lots" of cake decorating jobs.
2. Use your cleaning skills: I have friends for years that called on me for regular cleaning jobs. You set your own schedule and work when the children are at school or it's convenient with hubby. Don't take on really messy houses. You have the option of saying "no". There are plenty of jobs that are a pleasure to keep up. They help you, and you help them.
3. Babysitting: If you have children and are patient enough to babysit get a "good" child. Again you have the option of saying "no"! But another child can be real company for yours so you have the best of both worlds - you get to stay at home and a you get a play pal for your children.
4. Get into crafts: Explore different options. There's money to be made selling crafts and I found the best time to work on crafts or cakes was when the children were in bed. This was my time to wind down.
5. Yard Sales: This is the best thing since bubble gum! Clean out those closets and cabinets (which needs to be done anyway) and throw a yard sale. Two times when I needed extra money the most (my kids' senior trips) I made the extra I needed getting rid of things that I didn't need anyway!
6. Do tasks for others: Elderly and busy friends need help occasionally with shopping. I have a friend with a house and 10 ft. Christmas tree which I decorate inside and out during the holidays. Most of my extra money for holiday spending is made with this weeks worth of work. She's happy and so am I.
7. Secret Shoppers: One area that I have never tried but always wanted to was Secret Shoppers. They claim you get paid to shop and evaluate services. You do this anyway, so why not try it? Hubby wouldn't mind babysitting for shopping if it makes money.
I hope these money making tips have been helpful, as I said before they are "tried and true" methods of making money without working 9-5. Your kids will be happy and you'll have a sense of helping out the family financially as well.
By Sharon, KY
About The Author: Read Sharon's Author Bio
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Excellent tips!! I just have one quick question if you could help me.......do you recommend any certain book for the cake decorating? I really enjoy baking and up to this point with your idea I didn't really know what I could do with it, since one family and only eat so many sweets lol. Thank you very much again for your fabulous tip!!!
I was wondering if you could sway me in the right direction on the cake decorating book you suggest. I've looked around and even bought one or two myself and wasn't happy with the books once I got them. I would so appreciate it if you could steer me in the right direction.
Thanks A Million for your post!
Great Ideas!
Renee'
If you're still interested in doing Mystery Shopping, check out http://www.intellishop.com.
I've recently done two shops at Loaf N' Jug stores and made $20. Their only requirement is that you have a Paypal account for them to deposit your payment in, which they do on the 10th of every month :)
Renee, about the cake decorating book.. Walmart sells Wilton supplies and books in the craft Department.There is usually a Cake Decorating book.If they no longer have this,just buy the book that shows different cakes and in the back it shows different decorating TIPS,bags,etc.with a photo and short explanation of how to use that particular tip and the flower that it will make. I'd suggest starting out to buy a box of disposable bags (they do however last a long time being washed and reused.) They are just not as strong. Seems like they sell a basic tip kit which includes a bag and coupler, and I'd get a basic color kit.If not liquid food colors will work fine.(Just a drop or two for colors.) Using a paper plate or tray,(anything to practice on) make up a batch of icing (2 lb bag powdered sugar 1 cup Crisco (do not substitute) and VERY SMALL amounts of water added to mix to a good consistency .
How much money do you charge for cake decorating? And are you also baking the cake? Or is someone providing a cake and asking for something special, like birthday, shower, etc?
Allison
Years ago I had lots of special pans,Superman,football player,Smurfs,etc but they've long since been sold at Yard sales.But I have kept my big sheet cake pans and Wedding Cake pans and a lot of pillars and plates to stack them.I also didn't keep my fountain or bridges for wedding cakes. However those were really requested a lot back then and I'd charge between $150-$200 for them. That was a lot cheaper than stores so I did pretty good sales years ago.Now I only do Wedding cakes or shower cakes but honestly living in a small town ingredients are higher and I can't really underprice Walmart bakery prices,so I just do cakes anymore for Family and friends.I always used boxed cake mixes. Duncan Hines is the best.I think I'll RETIRE when I get my last 2 married,or Arthritis sets in--whichever comes first!!!
Can you please re-send the address for mystery shopper. I tried but got something different.
Thanks, Patti
I love to shop. This sounds like the job for me! please email me back thanks teenamcgeorge AT bellsouth.net
I did mystery shopping for a short while. It was not a 'scam', however, it was a lot of work for a little money. I would suggest you keep looking! Just my opinion!
These are great work-at-home ideas! Some of them require skills, while others just require your time. While you can certainly explore these options, if you want to look into something more conventional, then think about getting into medical transcription. As an MT, you will be given taped doctor dictations that youll have to listen to and transcribe into written reports. Of course, there are certain skills that this job demands. You can learn medical transcription at Career Step (http://www.careerstep.com) in a convenient and affordable way!
The link to the list of secret shopper companies is in the fourth paragraph down on the main page. www.volition.com/mysteryUSA1.html There is a discussion forum on the site, where you can get a shoppers eye view of how the various companies operate and how reliable they are. Volition also has information on paid to click programs, survey programs, coupon sites and a variety of email newsletters.
Different companies operate in different regions and do different types of shops. Where I am www.marketforce.com is active.
Another thing to look at is www.mturk/mturk/welcome. I work there quite a bit. The pay is low but it's not like there was something else I needed to be doing.
I get some money in the form of gift cards at www.mypoints.com and www.swagbucks.com
Make money doing what you love..
Koocam is the perfect site for those who wants to work from home by selling their knowledge( hobbies , skills, etc ) Any knowledge is required.
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