Stay-at-home-mom's guide to making extra $$

     Whether you chose to be a stay at home mom, or it is just a temporary situation, there are ways to make money at home, even with those ankle biters attached to your hip.  It may only be pocket cash, but depending on the amount of time you put into it, some of these ideas can make you pretty profitable.

Create something - This is obviously the route that I chose to go.  I am The Crocheting Mom after all.  If you are like me, you may not think you are very artistic at all.  I thought "There's no way I can make money selling something I've made."  I was wrong, dead wrong.  I started crocheting, not as a way to make money, but as a way to give baby blankets to family and friends.  I was NOT good when I first started but I just kept to it and learned how to be profitable from it.  People sell anything and everything they make.  Don't know where to start?  Check out sites like Pinterest, and Etsy to get those creative juices flowing.

Child care -  If you're a mom, you must like children, at least to some extent!  Why not care for another child and give yours a playmate at the same time.  This can be anywhere from part time to full time.  Usually you will be able to find someone who's schedule needs match yours.  Check out sites like Care.com, Sittercity.com, and even Craigslist.com.  As always, with these sites, make sure you meet somewhere in public first.  These days you need to be super careful.

Blog -  This one will take a lot of work I am finding out.  From doing readings online, I've found that to make anything substantial with blogging, you really need to stick with it.  Most people will not start making money with this until they've done it at least 6 months to a year.  The way to make money is applying for something such as GoogleAds.  Every time someone clicks on your page, that person will see ads, and you will get paid.  You only get pennies on the dollar, if that, for these, but when you have hundreds of people going to your page daily, or even monthly, it will add up.  Also, you can do reviews and put in amazon links, through Amazon Associates.  Every time someone clicks on your amazon link, and buys something, you will get a percentage of it.  There may be more ways to earn money through blogging, but these are the ones that I've found that are pretty easy to incorporate.

Online Surveys - I have not personally done this one in a while, but I have in the past, and it's legit.  There are lots of sites that will pay you to take surveys.  Companies need to find out how their consumers think and what they want, so they will send surveys to certain sites, to get this information.  You may only get 25 cents for completing a 30 minute survey, or maybe 2 dollars, but like most of these ideas, it adds up over time.  Some good sites to look into are inboxdollars.com, mysurvey.com, swagbucks.com and tuluna.com.

Direct sales - This one is a great one if you love people and hosting parties.  I have not ever done it myself, but there are a lot of people who do.  Find your favorite products, whether its 31, Scentsy, Pampered Chef, etc and go to their websites to find out how to sign up.  A great way to earn money and products at a discount!

Secret/Mystery Shoppers - This one seems to be more prevalent in bigger cities.  When I lived in San Antonio, I did this and it was a lot of fun.  Managers and store owners want to get a customer's opinion on many things such as cleanliness, friendliness, and overall atmosphere of the store.  They can not always get that when they walk in themselves, because everyone is on their best behavior.  Therefore, they hire people to check it out for them, and complete surveys.  In exchange you may get a monetary payment, or free products from the store.   There are many sites out there so go and find the right one for you (beware of scam ones though)!

Sell your "Junk" - I'm sure you've heard the phrase,  "One man's junk, is another man's treasure."  Well, use this to your advantage and sell all of that stuff that has been in your closets, garage, basement or attic for years.  If you haven't used it in over a year, most likely you won't use it again, so get it out of the house and get some money for them.  Sites like Ebay, and Craigslist are great for this.   Also look on FB.  There are a lot of groups and I bet you will find a FB online yardsale group for your area!