Need a Side Hustle? Here are Work from Home Jobs You Should Consider

With inflation on the rise financial stress may be on the rise too. Many women are looking for a work-from-home job or to start a side hustle to help ease the financial burden.

Usually, when you hear “Work at Home Jobs for Moms,” you think of selling something or making a significant financial investment in something with no guarantees of returns.

Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom looking to make extra money or someone looking to transition to a full-time work-from-home job, I think you’ll find this post helpful in giving you some ideas of what you can do.

The rules around daycare and schools and the need to keep your kids home with you more often than before are real. More and more mothers are finding it hard to juggle a job and their kids needing to be home more often.

It’s a question that we often hear in the group. “How do you do it?” and “I’m getting in trouble at work for being absent so much.”

Technology has evolved so much in just the past 10 years. It has opened up so many opportunities for telecommuting and working from home. 

Before you make the leap to switch jobs to work at home, you may want to talk with your boss or HR department to see if telecommuting is an option for you. The pandemic certainly changed the landscape of this.

Not all of these jobs take place all the time in your home, but for the most part, offer flexibility and the ability to work weekdays 9-3.

At Home Jobs for Moms

Virtual Assistant

You’ll hear lots of people telling to you, “start a blog!” and tell you that you can make money blogging. You can, but chances are, those folks also have a blogging course of some kind to sell you. Or web hosting and other services that will be profitable to them if you sign up. Building a blog is a lot of work. But, many successful bloggers use Virtual Assistants. 

Virtual Assistants do everything from scheduling social media, making graphics and ‘pins’ for blogs, writing posts, editing, writing and answering emails, replying to blog comments, and so much more. Think about what you’re good at and my recommendation is to specialize in something. 

I know one Virtual Assistant who literally makes thousands each month because she taught herself to be an expert in running Facebook Ads for clients. There are Facebook groups for VAs or Virtual Assistants that you can join where site owners and VAs exchange jobs.

Customer Service

Big companies such as Amazon, American Express, and Humana now offer Customer Service positions that are telecommuting jobs. Any of the big job posting sites will have multiple listings.

Non-Profit Work

I have many, many friends who work online for a non-profit. Fundraising, social media, copywriting, outreach, membership, and advocacy are just a few things they do. Small non-profits and NGOs work with very limited budgets. Many are happy not to have to have office space for all employees. 

Special Education Advocate-If you have a child with an IEP, learn everything you can about the process. Then start volunteering to help friends and family. You can take classes and attend conferences to become a Special Education Advocate. I do most of my consulting, research, and writing between 9-3 and after the kids go to bed. Occasionally I have an early morning or late afternoon meeting that requires a sitter, but most IEP meetings are held during the school day.

Online Teaching or Tutoring

have a friend teaching for VIP Kid and putting all the money toward her student loans. It’s all online. Most companies require at least a bachelor’s degree. And online tutoring is huge right now! There are lots of companies that offer this.

Stuff other people don’t want to do-Or, I should say, have time for. People are busy! And some are willing to pay others for the chores they don’t want to do. Grocery shopping, taking cars to service centers, taking pets to the vet, and other errands. 

You can pick your customers and make your hours. I see people in my town advertising their services in Community Facebook groups. And they always have people inquiring about their offers. This is also popular if you have a senior citizen community nearby as sometimes they no longer drive. 

Thrifting Side Gig

Yes, this is a thing. And thanks to Marie Kondo, you can be more successful than ever. I have this friend. She goes to the local Goodwill outlets, where they sell the merchandise by the pound. (You have to sift through it in large bins) 

Having 3 kids herself, she knows what moms are looking for. So when she finds something good, she buys it for pennies. Then, she takes it home, washes it, and resells it at local consignment sales. With everyone joining the “decluttering trend,” you can find some really good stuff now. Start in your own home first. Clean it out and sell your stuff. You can also offer to clean out your parents’, friends’, or neighbors’ homes and give them a percentage of what you sell.

Cooking or Baking

Love to cook? Are you good at it? I have a friend, and a few days a month, she rents a commercial kitchen. (most churches, fire companies, etc. have them) She makes healthy, locally sourced, home-cooked meals and sells them. She sells them on Facebook, and everything sells out every week. People love home-cooked, healthy, locally-sourced meals!

Freelance Writing

Maybe it’s time to polish up those writing skills or that English degree you never used. There are all kinds of online writing gigs available thanks to the internet. Want to work for yourself? Find a niche and go with it. Some writers do only cover letters and resumes or college applications. 

Side Hustle Passion

I have a friend who makes hair bows and sells them online. Another makes custom designs with her Silhouette machine and sells them. I have a friend who is just starting to make decorated birthday cakes and sell them to close family and friends.

What is your passion? How can you monetize it? It might have to be a side hustle as first, but you can make it work if it’s your passion.

Staying at Home

Deciding to stay at home is a big one. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that it takes a lot of planning and cost-cutting. However, we have found that no longer having the stress of “who’s going to call in to stay with Kevin” is priceless. That being said, there are material things we do without. It doesn’t bother us but it was an adjustment. 

About the Author:

Lisa Lightner is a Special Education Advocate and Mom who lives near Philadelphia. You can visit her website A Day in our Shoes, to get free IEP advice.