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1. The Background:
Thinking about becoming a stay at home mom? Many parents find it rewarding to stay home with their kids when they’re young, especially when child care is expensive (plus, your kids will love it, too). But how exactly do you make that transition? In this article, we’ll tell you how to plan your budget to afford living off of one income. We’ll also give you tips for thriving in your new role as a stay at home mom so you can make the most of your time with your children.
2. Things You Should Know
- Calculate all of your expenses to decide if you and your family can live off of one income. Weigh the cost of child care against your own salary.
- Create a budget that you and your family can stick to.
- Focus on paying off any debts and creating an emergency fund before deciding to be a stay at home mom.
- To thrive as a stay at home mom, get out of the house at least once a week, and make friends with other moms close by.
3. Calculate your expenses and create a budget.
Figure out whether or not you and your family can live off of one income. Write out everything you spend in a month, including food, rent or mortgage, car payments, household items, and entertainment. Then, subtract that cost from your partner’s income.
4. Cut down on expenses.
If your partner’s income isn’t enough to keep your family going, try narrowing down what you can do without. Cut down on things like take-out meals, vacations, and luxury items to tighten up your budget. You might also consider moving to a smaller home or a cheaper neighbourhood.
- Get creative about the things you can cut back on. For example, if you and your partner both own cars, could you sell 1 and share the remaining car?
5. Set aside money for an emergency fund.
It’s always good to have a nest egg to fall back on just in case. As you plan out your financials, be sure to set aside some money just in case someone’s car breaks down or you or your partner have to pay off medical bills.
- Experts typically recommend setting aside 6 months’ worth of income just to be safe.
6. Identify a skill you have that could translate into a home based business.
- Assess how much money you need to make. Determine how much money you’ll need to make in order to live comfortably. In some cases, you may need to factor in overhead costs, initial cash outlay to get the business started and the amount of time it will take to turn a profit. Tally your monthly bills to help determine the total amount you should make and decide how much money you would like to add to your savings account.
- Determine if you have the equipment/tools to make your home-based business a success. Knowing what you need in terms of tools should be included in the cost. In some cases a simple computer and certain software will do the trick. However, if you are running another type of business, such as an embroidery or catering company you may need to purchase certain equipment to get your home based business off the ground.
- Decide if you need assistance or if you can perform this task as a one man or woman show. Another cost to consider is whether you can do this on your own or if assistance will be required. For example, if you are starting a house painting company you may need to hire one or two employees to help you complete larger jobs.
- Find a specific space in your home that you can call your “office.” Even if you plan to do most of your business in the field, you’ll need to have your own space for paperwork and invoicing. Whether it’s the kitchen table or you can allot for an entire room for an office, identify a space before you begin work.
7. Learn how to create an organized day.
- Obtain a comprehensive planner or use the organizational system software on your computer. No one else is going to keep you on track so you’ll need to write down every appointment and/or deadline in your planner. Avoid trying to just “remember” because you will only set yourself up for failure.
- Examine your day to determine which hours you will work. If you are a busy parent and need to leave the house throughout the day to drop off or pick up children, identify quiet hours during the day that you can dedicate to work. It may be possible that you’ll have to work well into the evening if you are busy with childcare during the day.
- Create an organizational system that will help you stay on top of work/clients. If you are juggling numerous clients, create a filing system that makes sense to you. In some cases, placing all paperwork and information in one large folder per client may help, whereas pinning information to a corkboard in your office regarding that client may work.
- Set up a professional invoicing system and send invoices either bi-monthly or monthly. Use your computer software’s invoicing templates or you can create an invoice using Excel. Decided when you plan to bill and be sure you send invoices on the same day of the month to ensure consistent payment. Institute a 10 day late policy, if possible, to make sure payment is received promptly.
8. Do tasks for websites.
There are several websites, like Amazon’s Mechanical Turk which will pay you a dollar or two to complete a basic, quick task. This can be a great way to make a couple of extra bucks in between homework assignments or to supplement a part-time job.
- Jobs like these are usually intended for people overseas, in places where that amount of money goes a lot further. Don’t be surprised about how little it pays. However, if you can’t find other jobs that fit with your hours, this really isn’t a bad option.
9. Start a blog.
Start a website, put ads on it, and start churning out content that will amuse people. You’ll need to do some advertising and SEO (search engine optimization) in order to ensure that you get enough viewers to really make some money, but running a blog is very easy to do if you’re a good, entertaining writer.
- Make sure your blog covers something that you know a lot about, but that also covers something that’s interesting to a fair number of people. You’ll probably get a lot further with a blog on parenting advice than you will with a blog on 1980s model train re-paints.
- You have to understand very well what your intended audience is like and what is important to them.
10. Take care of people’s pets.
If you’ve got a good set-up or location, you can make some quick extra cash by walking dogs or pet-sitting. Just make sure that the owners know if you’re dealing with more than one animal at a time. Some dogs don’t get along well with others.
- You can begin by taking care of the pets of people you know. Once you’ve built up some references, advertise at your local grocery store. Once you’ve got a decent client base, you can always advertise online too, with websites like Yahoo or Craigslist.
11. Take care of people’s houses.
You can also do something similar and take care of people’s houses. Work part-time as a house cleaner or maid. Alternatively, some people are nervous about leaving their house alone if they go on a long vacation. Develop a good reputation with lots of references and you can get paid to live in people’s houses!
- Start by working for people you know, like friends and family. Build a reputation and then advertise online or around your neighbourhood.
- This may not be working from home in the traditional sense, but you will be able to make money while staying in a home. It that way, it’s better for college students than stay-at-home moms.
12. Sell people’s junk.
Run garage sales for people (for a cut of the profit) or take free items from Craigslist, refurbish them, and then sell them. This can be a great way to make some supplemental cash. Start by working for family members and then advertise to do it for other people.
- Look through your own junk, too. You can sell books, toys or anything that can give you a reasonable profit. If you only need to make enough money to buy yourself a new Play Station, try combing through your own belongings and downsizing before taking on other people’s things.
- Make sure you advertise for the garage sale, too! Your profit will likely increase if you can increase the number of people who come to the sale.
13. Do stock photography.
Stock photography is where you take high quality photos of all sorts of basic things and sell the rights to use those images to companies and websites. There are lots of websites that will buy your stock photos; all you need is a good camera and a good eye.
- A point-and-shoot is, under most conditions, not a good camera.
14. Write articles.
Websites like eHow and Listverse will pay you a small amount to produce content for them. If you’re a fast writer and you have an idea for some content, this can be a great way to make a few extra bucks.
15. Become a Virtual Assistant.
You can make money from home by being an assistant who works for one or more people over the internet. Your job will entail tasks that regular personal or corporate assistants do at an office. Quite a number of employers hire part time assistants to do errands such as typing documents, taking calls, and sending out marketing emails to clients. If you want to be a full time assistant, then you can take more than one client.
16. Become a Freelance Writer.
Another way to make money from home is to write online. There are a lot of work opportunities for freelance writers on the net. Many companies today rely on internet marketing and writers who can do SEO and web content for their websites. You can also blog for a living and earn from advertisers or blog for someone else and get paid a steady income each month. Online writers can also write news, e-books or act as ghost writers for their clients.
17. Become a Transcriptionist.
There are lots of reasons that people may need documents digitally transcribed, from visually impaired people to doctors. You can find a job or make one for yourself by offering transcription services to everyone from graduate students to lawyers.
- Keep in mind that for more specialized transcription, you may need to have a background in that field. Medical transcription and legal transcription are examples of this.
- Since you will likely be paid by piece, you will need to be a very fast, accurate typist and reader. Practice!
18. Become a Graphics or Web Designer.
Due to increasing needs to conduct business on the internet, the need for people who can create websites and graphics on the net also increases. This will be ideal for people with knowledge in various computer languages, graphics designing and image creating software, and programming. Stay up-to-date with the latest technology to make your talent in demand.
19. Write academic papers.
There are lots of people, from middle school students to people working on their doctorate, who have more work than they can handle. You can get paid to do it for them! Writing other people’s school papers can be a great way to make money if you’re a good writer and willing to learn lots of different subjects. There are many companies that provide this service for which you can work if this is what you want to do.
- It’s technically legal for you, though less legal for your customers. If you’re okay with that, then go right ahead.
20. Become a software engineer.
This is a job where you will be required to make entirely new (or fix or overhaul existing) pieces of software for companies or individuals. This requires quite a bit of skill and training, but if you’re the kind of guy or gal that prefers working in your pajamas and not dealing with coworkers, it’s great.
21. Become a money person.
Financial adviser, accountant, tax assistant, you name it: people hate dealing with the boring parts of having money. If you’ve got a good head for numbers and you’re willing to learn how to manage money effectively, starting a business or working for a company doing this kind of work can be great.
22. Become a translator.
If you speak more than one language fluently, you’re good as gold. You can easily get work translating documents, websites, books, and other written works into whatever languages you speak. This means actually being fluent in both languages though: four years of high school Spanish isn’t going to work.
23. Become a daycare provider.
If you’re a stay-at-home mom, you can create an at-home job by taking on a few more kids in addition to your own. Make sure to charge enough to cover your wage plus the money it costs you to care for the children (food, toys, etc). Just keep in mind that in most jurisdictions, you will need to get a license for this.
24. Become a teacher.
If you have the qualifications, you can work as a teacher or professor at online schools and colleges. You can also, with fewer qualifications, work as a tutor for online schools or test prep services. There are a number of schools and services online, so check out all your options before taking a job.
25. Actively promote your business and seek clients.
- Social media. Promote relevant information on social media channels–especially news or interesting information that would spark conversation. For example, if you are running an organic food catering business from home, post articles about the benefits of organic food or offer an easy recipe.
- Traditional advertising. While traditional advertising has its place, TV, radio and print can be expensive. Instead, consider using flyers or posting your business card at stores or places you visit.
- Networking. Join the local Chamber of Commerce or industry groups to attract new clients. For example, if you are a financial blogger, hit the bank and credit union expo or marketing seminars to build your network.
- Scanning online classifieds. Places like Zaarly or Craigslist may offer some leads, however consider Googling your profession. For example, if you are a writer, Google “writer jobs” or “writing jobs” for job boards.
26. Make a realistic schedule that works for you.
- Weekends and holidays may not be possible. Believe it or not you may need to review an order on a Saturday night or after Thanksgiving dinner. Most independently owned, home based business revolves around delivering the product on deadline–if that deadline falls on a Monday or the day after a holiday you may need to work when everyone is off.
- Nights and working while on vacation are a reality. Even during vacation you may still need to work, so be ready to be accessible by phone or email.
- Be available to your clients 24/7 to stay ahead of the competition. Regardless of your business, you will need to differentiate yourself from the pack. That means being accessible constantly and going the extra mile to deliver a highly superior product. Your want your clients to completely trust and rely upon you, never failing to meet a deadline.
- Continuously learn and integrate new skills into your business. Another way to get ahead of the competition is to constantly be learning new skills or ways to enhance your business. Take courses or webinars to expand your horizons.
27. How do I start doing tasks for websites?
If you’re interested in assisting in the development of a website you’ll obviously need to know the basic coding languages such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript and pHp. If you’re looking to assist websites in marketing or areas like that, knowledge is also required. If you’re looking for sites that are requesting help, join online forums dedicated to your area of expertise or interest. You could also start your own website to promote your services.
28. More tips
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Most home-based jobs are done through the internet, but you can also make money from home even if you’re not tech savvy by running a day care at home. It is important for you to find a home-based job that you are happy with and are also good at so you can earn a significant amount that can sustain your lifestyle.
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Give your home based business time to take off–building a new client base doesn’t happen overnight so cut yourself some slack and give it time.
Conclusion:
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Working from home has tax implications. Consult with a tax advisor about what you can and cannot deduct and how to approach paying taxes on your earnings.
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