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It may seem like an impossibility, but you can make money and still be a stay at home mom. Spending time with your children and raising them yourself is its own reward. When I was younger and my mother went to work full time, my brothers and I absolutely hated it, we felt alone and we wanted our Mommy! I won't go into the various opportunities for doing office work from home, telemarketing, etc. but will cover two easy ways that anyone can implement with a simple ad in the newspaper.
One of the easiest ways to make money at home is to provide day care yourself. A small ad in the newspaper will get you more inquiries than you can handle. So many moms work, there is a great demand for day care and more and more families are preferring private homes with less children. Even if you only care for two extra children per week you can make as much money as a week in the office, after taxes and day care expenses. You don't have to leave the house, your children will have someone to play with and you are making money! Rates vary by area, you can call a few ads in the paper and ask what other people are charging to get an idea of what to ask for if you're not sure. Some states have child care certificates you can apply for which will give you more credibility. You'll want to provide a clean play area with plenty of toys, (educational ones are the best!) Get your 'day care' area in order and some references, and place that ad!
Another way to make money is to clean. Most working women these days do not have time to clean their own houses. The house cleaning market is booming! If you find another stay at home mom, you can work tandem, trading a few hours of babysitting for your friend while she cleans a house and vice-versa. Put a short ad in the paper and soon you will be getting calls. We usually ended up turning people away because we couldn't handle all of the requests. When you get a call, they will want you to come out to the house and give them an estimate. Depending on your area, you can make up to 20$ an hour cleaning a house, and that is still cheaper than the big services charge. Figure out how long it will take you to clean a room so you can give a fair guess on your price. My basic rule is 1/2 hour for each bathroom, 1/2 hour for the kitchen and fifteen minutes per each room that needs only dusting and vacuuming. For ten hours per week, you can bring in a nice amount of money and be home before the kids get off the bus. Now, you might be saying, CLEANING??!! Are you NUTS?! Well, trust me, when your work is paid for and appreciated, it makes all the difference in the world, plus, you don't have to be around when it gets messed back up again!
Both of these work ideas are cash businesses, that means there are no taxes taken out. It is your responsibility to claim this money on your income tax returns using the self-employment tax forms. If you do child care, some people deduct child care expenses on their tax returns and will put your name on the form, so make sure you claim the income. The plus side is, this money will be counted towards your social security benefits if you claim it on your tax return. The real benefits will be seen in the children, raised by their own mothers and loving it!
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