Top 5 Jobs for Stay At Home Mums

As soon as your pregnancy test came back positive, you knew that you wanted to be at stay-at-home-mum—but who can afford it? Unless your partner's bringing home a six-figure income, one parent working isn't going to cut it. Sure, you can coupon, cook from scratch, garden and swap clothes and toys with other mums, but none of those are any good for paying tuition, sports registration fees and summer camp.

One option many women turn to is working part-time from home while the kids nap or play. This gives you the best of both worlds: watching your kids grow up, while being able to contribute to the family financially. Consider one of these options to help pad your bank account:

Child Care

Since you're going to be up to your elbows in nappies anyway, why not add a few more kids to the mix by doing in-home child care? Parents are always looking for top-notch childcare providers who provide a comfortable, caring environment at an affordable price. If you're a teacher, you can provide educational components for preschool-aged children and charge more. Some areas require certification, which you can get through online programs like pennfoster.edu or a local school.

Virtual Assistant

If you've got excellent communication skills, can make phone calls and complete computer-related tasks, you can work as a virtual assistant to a busy executive or offer retainer services to several clients. Getting your first client may require a lot of marketing, but being active on social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn can give you a head start. You can also market yourself as a social media manager for bloggers and online marketers, do graphic design for websites or be a webmaster.

Party Planner

Do you spend weeks scouring Pinterest for ideas for birthday and holiday parties and go all-out in making them one-of-a-kind events that people rave about afterward? Then transfer your love of organizing and throwing parties into your next career. There are plenty of overworked parents who would love nothing more than to be able to give you a theme, name list and budget and let you work your magic so that their child can have an awesome birthday party.

Crafting

Whether you're a seamstress, scrapbooker, knitter, crocheter, quilter, basketweaver, card maker or master of any other craft, consider opening an online store to sell your creations. You can sell locally at craft shows and festivals, offer your products to the world via your own website or Etsy store or do a combination of both for maximum exposure. If it doesn't make financial sense to sell the finished product, consider creating patterns or tutorials and selling them in digital form.

Consultant

In your B.C. (before children) life, were you a teacher, psychologist, doctor, personal trainer or financial consultant? If you love your work, but aren't willing to keep office hours once baby arrives, consider developing a consultancy so you can remain in your current profession (albeit in another capacity). In today's digital age, you can have clients all around the world and communicate via Skype, email or phone to have live chats. Or go the passive income route and start a blog to give free valuable information and then write—and sell —digital products like eBooks, audio recordings and videos to customers.

This article has been written for The Pregnancy Centre by: