Stay-At-Home Working Moms

[Mama MeMe]

The transition from being single to married to mother is quite a big step. A little overwhelming, I'm certain I'm not the only mother who feels this way. Before becoming a wife and mom I was an independent, hardworking person. Responsible but living life to the fullest. Enjoying all the pleasures of life was something I was happy to be able to do. I never imagined what a change it would be to become who I am now. I have no regrets but I'm certainly happy that I was able to enjoy the luxuries I was able to afford. I love being a mother and wife and I want to be there for my son every step of the way. I enjoy the great times and the tough ones. When my son is acting out and when he is at his sweetest and I wouldn't give up any of these moments.

My son is 15 months old and he's walking around, running, falling, laughs a lot like I do and it's the most precious part of my life. The most precious thing I have ever experienced. They say you never know true love until you have a child and I can certainly say this is a very true statement. My mother-in-law said it best, she said, 'No one can tell you how much to love your child, how to love them or how close to be to them because that child is probably what you really NEEDED.' And he was. He's all I need, I live and breathe for him and I want to give him all the best things. I want him to live life fuller than I did, without stress or strain.

My husband and I are both young and being that he is our only financial source, there is a bit of a strain. I reminisce on the old days and think of how much I would have been able to bring to the table if I was able to work like I did back then. I dream of a perfect life where I can be there for my son every step of the way and still be able to bring in an income. You can tend to feel a bit disabled without the ability to assist financially. No matter how difficult this parenting is, combined with being a house wife. Doing all the things it takes to be good at it: Cooking three meals a day, every day, cleaning, and taking care of all the responsibilities of the home and also living somewhat like a single parent, with my husband being gone for work for so many hours. Still I don't feel it's enough, I desperately want to earn, I feel I should.

I have heard so many mothers say that they work from home and make a good living of it. I've tried so many of these work from home jobs that turned out to be scams. Lost money and patience trying to find something that I can do, something to help me help us. I worry about depression and though I don't think I've been there, I fight the thought of getting to that point. Patience is really a virtue when dealing with a young child, trying to get back in shape, losing confidence, becoming insecure and trying to get back some sort of independence.

I'm still trying to find a plan for a stay-at-home working mom. I know it's out there. Maybe one of you can help me find it, help us find it. I'm hoping that this thread will touch those other moms, struggling with the same problem and hopefully I will get answers for us all. Help for myself and those other moms looking for answers about, how to find a job that can allow us to be stay at home moms and really bring in an income. If you know of something fitting please feel free to let us know. I'm sure we would all appreciate it.

[IdentityCrisisMama]

Mama, I moved this to "WAHM Well", the forum for Work At Home Moms. Does anyone have some suggestions for this mama? 

[CarrieAnn172]

I would love to hear some responses as well. We are in the same boat. It would relieve our household stress a lot if I could bring in just even a little extra money above and beyond what my husband makes! It's important to us that I stay a SAHM but some extra income would be a huge help.

[gitanamama]

Hi Mama Meme-- I can definitely relate to so much of what you wrote. For the first few years of my marriage, I made more money than my DH. I was used to having my own income and to contributing financially to our family. But once DS was born, I knew I wanted to stay home with him. Things were tight for us financially, so I also knew I needed to bring in some money...somehow!

For the first two years, I watched other children in our home. I put an ad on craigslist and ended up getting a great response. I watched a total of 10 different kids over those two years-- usually between 2 and 3 each day (along with my son.) Many aspects of the job were great-- my son had other kids to play with and I had some money-- but it was also exhausting! I was surrounded by kiddos around the clock.

I also started selling jewelry on Etsy-- it's definitely worth a try if you're at all creative. You can sell just about anything (as long as you make it yourself), but it does take a bit of time and effort. 

Other than that, I never found any great WAH deals. Most of the offers out there seem to be scams, like you said, or not worth the time they require. 

Maybe other mamas will chime in with more ideas. I hope you find something that works great for your family!

[surfmonkey]

Have you tried work-at-home forums?  For example, wahm.com and workplacelikehome.com discuss a lot of the legit options out there.  What are your skills?   I work as a transcriptionist and do pet sitting.  I was actually the sole breadwinner for a while when my husband was out of work.  I know others who sell on Etsy and some who do web/logo design from home.  If you have a quiet place in the house, there are companies that hire people to take calls from home.  There are more and more work-at-home jobs out there, but without knowing more about you or your skills, it is hard to make suggestions as there are so many different opportunities.  I would check out the different work-at-home forums and see what others are doing and see if anything interests you.  They are definitely not all scams.
 

Edited by surfmonkey - 3/23/13 at 10:41pm

[Mountaingirl79]

I know exactly what you're talking about, its such a strain to worry and look for work. 

I've been collecting a list of WAHM jobs for over a year now. The list is huge. Both DH and I work from home now, so I KNOW it can be done.

Check out my blog...I have the list up there in today's post. You can even copy it and save it to your computer to have as reference.   ( Blog link should be in my siggy, if not it's in my profile. Just click on my name) 

[C is for Cookie]

Originally Posted by surfmonkey 

Have you tried work-at-home forums?  For example, wahm.com and workplacelikehome.com discuss a lot of the legit options out there.  What are your skills?   I work as a transcriptionist and do pet sitting.  I was actually the sole breadwinner for a while when my husband was out of work.  I know others who sell on Etsy and some who do web/logo design from home.  If you have a quiet place in the house, there are companies that hire people to take calls from home.  There are more and more work-at-home jobs out there, but without knowing more about you or your skills, it is hard to make suggestions as there are so many different opportunities.  I would check out the different work-at-home forums and see what others are doing and see if anything interests you.  They are definitely not all scams.
 

I was a medical transcriptionist 2 years ago and made some grocery money off of that. It unfortunately didn't work out well because DS was diagnosed as FTT and needed me around the clock so I decided to let that go. It wasn't great money but you get something... Right now, I pet sit and make a decent amount of money from that. Before DS was born, I worked for Quicktate (general transcriptionist) on the side while going to college. There is something but patience is key.

[surfmonkey]

Originally Posted by C is for Cookie 

I was a medical transcriptionist 2 years ago and made some grocery money off of that. It unfortunately didn't work out well because DS was diagnosed as FTT and needed me around the clock so I decided to let that go. It wasn't great money but you get something... Right now, I pet sit and make a decent amount of money from that. Before DS was born, I worked for Quicktate (general transcriptionist) on the side while going to college. There is something but patience is key.

Sorry to hear about DS.  I actually got into MT because my son was born at 29 weeks and spent the first 2 months of life in the NICU.  We were told we could not put him in daycare for the first year because of the risks, so I had to find something I could do from home while staying home with him.  At the time, we needed the 2 incomes, so I had to find something.  I actually do really well with medical transcription, but I found a good company that pays decent and has good accounts.  I had to try several different companies before I found one that I could make good money with. I average about $20/hour and have been able to fully support my family on my income when my husband was out of work.  Now he finally has a full-time job again and I work part-time again.  I love it because I work as an independent contractor and decide how much and when I work.  If I only want to work 2 hours a day, I can.  I also get to make my own schedule.  If I want to work early morning one day and evening the next, I can.  It really works well with our homeschooling as I can take off days that we have activities planned and work more on the days we have nothing else to do. 

I have also done Quicktate, but I found the pay rate was too low to actually make any decent money from it.  It is a great place to start for those with no experience, but there are plenty of companies that pay much more for general transcription, even some that accept new transcriptionists. 

For me, however, I hate being tied to a desk all day, so that is why I went back to pet sitting.  I used to be a vet tech and pet sat for the clinic's clients on the side when needed.  I make much more doing pet sitting than I do as an MT and it gets me out of the house.  I used to try to walk for an hour a day before for exercise, but now I get paid to take walks with the dogs! :)   I just wish I had more clients so I could quit MT altogether, but that will take time. 

[C is for Cookie]

Originally Posted by surfmonkey 

Sorry to hear about DS.  I actually got into MT because my son was born at 29 weeks and spent the first 2 months of life in the NICU.  We were told we could not put him in daycare for the first year because of the risks, so I had to find something I could do from home while staying home with him.  At the time, we needed the 2 incomes, so I had to find something.  I actually do really well with medical transcription, but I found a good company that pays decent and has good accounts.  I had to try several different companies before I found one that I could make good money with. I average about $20/hour and have been able to fully support my family on my income when my husband was out of work.  Now he finally has a full-time job again and I work part-time again.  I love it because I work as an independent contractor and decide how much and when I work.  If I only want to work 2 hours a day, I can.  I also get to make my own schedule.  If I want to work early morning one day and evening the next, I can.  It really works well with our homeschooling as I can take off days that we have activities planned and work more on the days we have nothing else to do. 

I have also done Quicktate, but I found the pay rate was too low to actually make any decent money from it.  It is a great place to start for those with no experience, but there are plenty of companies that pay much more for general transcription, even some that accept new transcriptionists. 

For me, however, I hate being tied to a desk all day, so that is why I went back to pet sitting.  I used to be a vet tech and pet sat for the clinic's clients on the side when needed.  I make much more doing pet sitting than I do as an MT and it gets me out of the house.  I used to try to walk for an hour a day before for exercise, but now I get paid to take walks with the dogs! :)   I just wish I had more clients so I could quit MT altogether, but that will take time. 

That's also another reason why I didn't stay with transcription. I hated being at my desk all day. By the end of the day, my back, butt, and leg (from using the pedal) gets sore (even if I stretch every so often). But, for $20/hour, that is awesome. If I made that kind of an income, the sore back would be worth it. (I could get a professional massage then.) lol. I was 7 cents per line and had 2 accounts. I was also an IC which I liked. The most I made was about $200-220 for 2 week pay period. It wasn't liveable. I wish I could find a legit company to work for.

[Mountaingirl79]

I have been writing at places like writersaccess. ( sorry that looks like its spelled wrong...) And I also sell on ebay. 

I've tried just about every work at home job known to (wo)man. BUT! There are some legit ones out there. 

I would post the whole list I have, but it is literally pages long. ( But again, it's in my blog!) 

Both DP and I work from home, and we do make a living at it. It just takes a lot of time and research I guess. 

[NewYearsEve04]

Hi ladies! I am so glad to have found this thread/discussion group. I just started working this year after 7 years of not working! I promote health/nutrition awareness and an easy to use plug and play aeroponic gardening system. I'm having a blast doing it, making some money and most of all learning how to improve my family's health along the way. If you want to learn more PM me, maybe what I do would be a fit for you!