You CAN Stay Home: Earning Money From Home
So what to do if you have saved all the money you can save and it still seems difficult to stay home on your husband’s income? In a Proverbs 31 fashion, you can add to the family income and be a huge blessing to your husband; it can also be a valuable teaching tool as your children learn first hand the nuts and bolts of finance, profit and work ethic.
The same principle applies here as to saving: a little adds up to a lot. So don’t neglect the day of small things! And remember, if you have debt, paying that off as intensely as possible will greatly relieve the strain of the finances. For your inspiration…
***I just read a sentence from Dave Ramsey’s book about building a $1000 emergency fund as fast as you can before you start tackling debt. He says:***
“Twist and wring out the budget, work extra hours, sell something, or have a garage sale, but quickly get your $1000. …Get crazy…If the Joneses (all the broke people) think you are cool, you are heading the wrong way. If they think you are crazy, you are probably on track.”
Our Skin Product Business
Obviously, many home business are started out of a need to earn extra income. Our skin product business got started one Christmas when I was searching for recipes to make homemade gifts. The more I found, the more I kept thinking that not only would they make great gifts, but a lot of people would be willing to buy them! So in a few months, I had collected and tested recipes, gathered supplies, and began marketing our products. That was four years ago, and the business continues to grow.
If you would like more information on how we make money selling these products (and how you can start a similar business), I sell an e-book explaining everything and since I’m so excited about helping anyone interested, I’m going to knock that one down to $1.00 through the weekend (that will cover my download site fees and if I offer it for free, it will only allow a certain number of downloads). Just click HERE to learn more!
Win $25
I entered this contest a few years ago and received a $25 check. Easy and fun! Thought you might like to enter your best frugal tip for a chance to win…Better Budgeting
Internet
The Internet provides opportunities for stay-at-home moms like never before. If you are willing to learn, the ideas are virtually endless. There are e-books, writing e-how articles, affiliate programs (selling other people’s stuff for a commission), buying wholesale products to resell, domain purchasing and reselling, and all sorts of opportunities along those lines.
-Affiliate selling is a popular way people are earning. If you have a web page, blog, Facebook or lengthy email list, you can sign up and earn money by selling other people’s products–it costs nothing, and once you’re signed up, you do nothing, except get paid for recommending stuff!
-E-bay or Craigslist is an easy place to start. Everyone has things lying around the house they could get rid of. Why not earn some extra money while you’re at it? It’s much easier than a yard sale!
The very first thing I sold on E-bay was an old Shakespeare book that I bought at a yard sale for .50. I didn’t even have a digital camera yet, so no pictures or anything. The book sold for $27.00! Needless to say, I was hooked! Of course it doesn’t always go that well, but you never know! One time I sold 12 very old, used accompaniment cassette tapes for $100! I was jumping up and down!
Other Ways to Sell Stuff
Of course there are still the old-fashioned methods of yard sales, and consignment shops. Don’t forget those! A good place to sell text books (and you can see before you bother how much they will pay you) is cash4books.net
What do you love? Sweet Potato Pies.
What is it you enjoy doing? Ask yourself if your interests could be turned into a profit. I’ve spoke often about a year funds were really tight at Christmas. My husband’s grandfather had given us a heap of sweet potatoes, so we scraped up some grocery money, bought the remaining needed ingredients for sweet potato pies, spent a few days baking and the kids and I drove from door to door in our neighborhood selling them. We had people call us the next year asking if we would be coming again 
I treasure that memory and I’m glad the hardship caused my children to be able to partake in an industrious response instead of a defeated one.
A word of caution, though:
Don’t let a home business consume you and therefore destroy the very reason you’re at home! Be very careful, and of course your husband should be the “President” and overseer, for your protection. I must carefully limit my time and parameters blogging and at this point, am able to maintain regular posts, check email and answer our wedding business questions spending about 6 hours a week. If I find extra time late at night or early morning, I use it if needed.
What are your money-making ideas?
Related posts:
frugal living/saving money | Word Warrior | 
June 18, 2010 3:05 pm
Audio available soon!
Ihave been throwing everything twards the debt.Then going into more debt because we need tires ect…Having the emergency fund firt seems so obviouse to me .Now that you’ve clued me in.THANK YOU!!
But… but… but… if a wife earns money like this then aren’t they a two income family?????
sorry Kelly, I just couldn’t resist
Diane, you’re a woman after my own heart. I’m glad I’m not the only one who noticed. A whole 6 hours a week – rough!
Dianne! Ha….
I’ve been teaching sewing classes. It’s not much money but I’m using my earnings to buy next year’s curriculum.
Great ideas!
Kelly,
Your past posts have been so encouraging! I am due November 30 (two days after our one year anniversary) with our first child and will be quitting my part-time job at the end of September. One thing that has worked to my (growing) family’s advantage was doing some “family planning.” But not in the normal sense. Because my husband and I assumed we would be raising a family and knew that I would be staying home when we had children, we planned ahead financially. My wonderful husband looked and looked for a house that would not have us “strapped” once we were married. Just before we were engaged last June, he bought an old farm house (for a great price) which we are still remodeling as the cash comes in. He also worked hard to pay off any debt before we were married and now the only debt we have is the mortgage. When we were married, we decided that my small income would not contribute to any of our bills/necessities. (It is amazing the things we think we need, but really don’t)
Now, I know that we have not made all of the wisest financial decisions up to this point. But because of God’s graciousness, a little planning, and my husbands unwavering patience and wise choices (beginning before we were even engaged) the stress that typically goes along with qitting work and staying home has been greatly diminished.
Thank you for your wonderful, timely posts!
Jessica
Selling at home is a very fun hobby. My sister and I are both stay at home moms and we sell online.
We share our knowledge on our blog:).
Lizzie,
Aren’t you a smart cookie!! LOVE the idea for the site (by the way, my favorite “selling on-line item” is information
)
Your blog design is so smart. A great resource to any reader here who is interested in learning more about selling online!
Having been a full-time missionary for many years, I can tell you that you might find it AMAZING how simply you can live. I HATE debt, and have never gone into debt, thank God. My mother taught me soooo well by her example, God bless her.
If you don’t have debt now, try having the mindset that debt is simply unacceptable. If you don’t have the cash, you don’t buy it.
And yes, I have kids (but they’re grown now.)
I have been minding children since they were little when my friends went back to work part or full time. I often can’t believe I am getting paid WELL to be looking after my son’s friends, which actually makes my days easier in many respects as he has people to keep him company all day long. Some days I have 4 or 5 little 3 year olds happily running around oustide. Much fun.
I also teach piano and tutor primary students from my home, which is great as I don’t need to find a baby sitter for my little boy.
Thanks for your post, I will be checking out some of those sites when I get the chance
God gave me a talent for painting & drawing & I am hoping to be able to sell my art to help out that way. I’ve already been commissioned to do some portraits & a big sign for a farmer. Hopefully God blesses it even more because we could really use the money! (It’s just hard finding time to do it
)
Emily,
I have no artistic talent whatsoever, but a friend of mine does various things with his…such as pen&ink drawings/notecards of antebellum properties and taking commissions to paint murals in people’s homes. (he once combined a child’s twin love of soccer and medieval tims tosin a soccer mural of the Huns vs. King Arthur’s court!) Also, I occasionally see lovely stencil-like drawings of sunflowers or roses above garage doors or on mailboxes. Just some thoughts
oops…meant “Medieval times with…” not sure where those nonsense words came in
I have really been enjoying all these posts. And I completely agree about keeping a careful watch on how much time a home-based business is taking. I taught piano for years and years while my older children were growing up. It worked out so well in the beginning… my husband had a flexible schedule so could be around some of the time I was teaching and my mother-in-law was available the rest of the time. It was such a good situation in that my children have such wonderful memories of significant time spent with her. But then she became ill and went to be with the Lord. I taught one more year after that since my oldest were able to keep track of everyone while I taught, but my children’s attitude toward my teaching changed significantly. It had become a burden for them, especially my 2 year old. Even though we relied heavily on the extra income, we made the decision for me to stop teaching. The money wasn’t worth it. Plus we were completing an adoption and our new son needed my presence and would not have been able to emotionally tolerate my teaching… even if I was in the same house. God has been good and we have somehow paid our bills every month since I stopped.
Thanks for offering that ebook so cheap… I have been wanting to get it…..
I love your sweet potato pie story. So inspiring. I would have probably curled up in a ball and cried, but you turned hardship into a blessing.
I’ve been a long-time reader, but never commented before, so I just wanted to say hello first!
Also, Amazon runs a website called Mechanical Turk (mTurk for short) where companies post small tasks for people to do. A lot of major universities post psychology research surveys on there – those can be fun to do. You don’t make much money – if you were working really efficiently, you might be able to make minimum wage per hour. But, I like doing it because it is a fun way to earn a few dollars in my spare time. I like to work on tasks while I watch interesting documentaries, then I can learn and earn money at the same time.
It takes a little bit of practice to learn which tasks to accept and which ones are just scams, but once you get the hang of it, it can be a fun way to earn money. I started at the beginning of this past April and as of today, I have earned a total of $180, which although it doesn’t sound like much, makes a big difference in my budget.
I probably didn’t explain it very well – sorry about that! Oh, and you can get paid in either Amazon gift cards or have the money deposited to your bank account. Amazon runs the whole thing so it isn’t some scam. So, although it definitely isn’t a get rich quick scheme (far from it!), I think it can still be a useful way to get some cash.
Madeline,
Thanks for the great info–didn’t know about that!
I think that it helps to check websites for work-at-home moms.They usually mention work-at-home opportunities in their message boards. I was able to find a work-at-home job writing for Internet Brand Publications from checking those sites.
Hi Kelly
My husband and I are going to start selling some of my all natural skin products to raise money for our hopefully futre adoption. He agreed that I could buy your e-book.
Are you still offering for $1.00? I could not find it to buy.
I have been making my own homemade lotion for 1 1/2 years – I have about 8 people that buy it, but would love to market it better. I also sell chapsticks, lotion bars, and a sugar scrub. I have all of the ingredients to make my own soap – but fear has kept me from trying it on my own. I wish I had a buddy to come over and teach me.
Well, anyway – I love your blog and site. We have a family friend coming to set ours up on our blog this Friday. We are excited, and very nervous.
Sending love to you – hoping to promote, Jesus’s love, Godly submission, Family Discipleship, Fruitfulness, Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, Children who love their Parents and Each Other, Growing to our family through Adoption – You have been a blessing to our little family as we get started on this journey the Lord is taking us on.
With love
Kristi Gullett
Ohio