How to Make Extra Money as a Homeschool Mom

A big challenge to homeschool families can be the single income, and the question of how to make extra money as a homeschool mom (or dad, in some cases!) can be a struggle. There are so many variables to take in to account- from time, resources, skills, interests, fears and goals.

I know so many creative women who have found uniques ways how to make extra money for their families. From using their talents – sewing, painting, writing, etc., to doing in home childcare, to working a few hours in the evening outside the home mom’s are incredible at solving the issue of how to make extra money to meet whatever unique needs their own family has.

Questions to Consider When Contemplating How to Make Extra Money

1. What are some of my talents, skills and interests that I could channel into streams of income?
2. Consider which platforms do I have to market those talents, skills and interests to?
3. What can I start learning now to help me make extra money in the future (for example, building a website, Photoshop, typing skills, etc.)
4. Do I know what my goals are for bringing in some extra money?

Considering these questions, and coming up with a response for each one, will really help you narrow in on how you can make extra money. Ask your spouse, or a close friend, to help you work through these questions.

Charles Spurgeon has this excellent quote – “The way to do a great deal is to keep on doing a little. The way to do nothing at all is to be continually resolving that you will do everything.”

The little efforts hold the potential to build bigger and stronger and result in incredible results. Whereas doing nothing will get you nowhere and trying to do everything will cause exhaustion and burnout.

Of course we need to be intelligent about our little efforts and the reward that they reap. Sometimes the little isn’t worthwhile and a little contemplation, knowing your goals, and conversations with others will reveal if perhaps the energies exerted aren’t going to produce something great later on. But often times we just need the encouragement to continue on, to be faithful, to let the little grow until it becomes something great.

It can be so hard for us to press on. Especially when the efforts exerted aren’t paying off in big or exciting ways.

I always feel a bit like my little efforts aren’t very exciting or worth noting, but as I look over the past year I can see growth and that the efforts have paid off, so I thought I would share about what I do over a series of posts this year and hopefully inspire those looking for little ways how to make extra money in their own homes.

This isn’t meant to be an exclusive look on how to make extra money, but rather encourage you to think outside the box and consider how you can make extra money given your own life circumstances and your talents and your limitations.

The Details

In short, my efforts to make extra money are concentrated in a few arenas, and almost entirely based on the internet;

Ebay (and Poshmark)
Etsy
Stock Photography
Affiliate links
Google Ads
Making dinner for a bachelor

To give you a real-time look as to what these earnings look like, as I am writing this my income stats for the day are as follows:

Ebay – $17 profit
Poshmark – $21 profit
Stock photography – $2 profit
Etsy – $5.40 profit
Adsense – $1.94
Affiliate links – $29.58

Those numbers go up and down and I don’t strive towards any sort of goal with those numbers. Perhaps I should, but I haven’t had the time or concern for that.

More Details

In the past I have also operated a small photography business and taught photography classes, however it has been over 18 months since either of those were pursued. I found that coordinating my schedule with my husbands schedule was far too challenging, and I lacked the time and energy to really boost either of those markets.

My efforts became focused on at home positions where I could work within whatever hours worked best for me. Apart from shipping items for Ebay and Poshmark, my money making ventures hold zero obligations to other people’s schedules. This was really important to me when considering how to make extra money as a homeschool mom. (side note: the dinner making does have a time commitment and an obligation to a person, but I feed him what I am already making for us and can walk it to his house each evening and it is super laid back – if I can’t feed him that evening he has a stash of freezer meals as back up.)

My time is most valuable to me, and I wanted to invest it where it counted – which for me meant combining skills, interests, and things I was already doing or easily able to do and turning them into streams of income.

From time to time I do design work for people – even doing some work for one of Beautiful Feet Books Publishing guides!

Once a year I spend a week cleaning homes for people who rent out their homes for the week to guests who come in to town for a sporting event. It’s a lot of work, but has a huge payout and only takes a couple hours each day. This opportunity came about because I put it out there that I was looking for ways to make money – it’s not glamorous, and while it is only a couple hours a day, it does work out to a pretty generous hourly rate while still giving me most of my day.

I think being willing to put yourself out there, being observant of opportunities, working hard, working faithfully, and trusting the Lord to provide are keys to finding ways how to make extra money.

You can check out my etsy shop here!

Focus & Future

This year I am focusing on building my presence, and thereby income, on all of these platforms, but in the past there has been minimal efforts exherted – I even stopped my Ebay listings for a large portion of this year when we had some stressful months because I just couldn’t do one more thing. And while that may be a huge character flaw in myself, I simply cannot balance too many things when life gets overwhelming and it is nice to be able to ditch what I need to when I need to.

The income I have made has been our fun money. It’s paid for vacations, gifts, and little fun things. It’s also being saved for a second vehicle. It is in no way a full time income for us. It is entirely possible to create that, especially with Ebay, but it would be a trade off for time and so far I haven’t been able to give it that much time.

If you have questions I will happily address them in future posts!
See my next post on selling on Ebay for a full run down on how I make extra money selling on that platform!