Maternity Leave Money Making Suggestions

drudolph11

So i will be taking between 6-8 weeks off for maternity leave depending on how the birth goes. We have been saving and what my SO makes alone is enough to cover our expenses but things will definitely be tight for us because i won't have any kind of maternity pay and won't qualify for short term disability. I know that taking care of a new born is like a full time job but was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on any kind of money making ventures that i could do during my leave. I'm not talking about making thousands of dollars or anything just something to earn some extra cash while at home. Did anyone have any luck with Avon or 31 or scentsy maybe? I don't know how those work so i don't know if that would be feasible. Or anything else would be helpful

Thanks

gnomemom

I was going to suggest Etsy as well. I used to have a business on Etsy, but it got to be too busy and I couldn't keep up.

If you're crafty at all and think this might be something you could do, I'd start preparing soon. While you are on maternity leave, you're not going to want to spend a lot of time crafting and customizing items. I would suggest make everything now and take pictures for your listings. Box it up and make it ready to ship. Only sell things that are already made and ready to go. You can make your listings in advance and go public with them when you're ready. Don't offer to customize or alter anything; sell it all as is. Then when you get an order, you can slap on a shipping label and send it off without having to do a lot of work.

 

lawsonellis

I am in the same boat. I don't know what I'll do for money. I'm an Arbonne consultant but that shizz is expensive and no one wants to buy it (skin care/nutrition/make up).

I'm wondering if my job will let me work part-time from home, that way I can do work while the baby sleeps. At least, that's my hope.

Speaking of this- when do you gals give notice of your maternity leave date intentions and duration? I can take UP TO 12 weeks, but haven't decided if I want the whole thing? (Definitely based on money) but I feel like I need to tell them soon, and with this placenta previa, I may deliver earlier than my due date by a couple of weeks.

Suggestions?

gnomemom

Also, my DH does surveys for money sometimes. It does not generate a lot of income at all, but it gives him a little extra amazon spending money. He makes $1-$2 a day. Again, not a lot, but it's an easy way to make a buck or two if you do a survey while nursing or something like that.

JCWhitey

I was able to get a part-time home based job lined up through my current company.  So I'll be doing that once the baby is born.  Not sure if your employer offers any sort of home-based opportunity but it's worth asking!  

drudolph11

I have heard of Etsey but didn't really know what it was. My mom and grandpa have an eBay business on the side and they go to auctions to buy stuff to resell. I was hoping to maybe start doing this with them. I am def not crafty but I will have to look up suggestions on things i might be able to do

@lawsonellis‌ i plan on working until my due date. I work for a small family owned restaurant so luckily we have it all worked out that my maternity leave will start when i go into labor lol I'm trying to work as long as i possibly can. My boss, with the best intentions possible, thinks im crazy and thinks i should stop working now because of the snow since my job requires me to trek around in the snow all day and really my SO would love for me to do that but unfortunately financially we can't afford for me to take any extra time off than i need.

drudolph11

@JCWhitey‌ lol i work for a small Italian restaurant so unless i can convince him to let me make pasta at my house then nope prob not! Haha but i can def do some online research and see if there is maybe some other kind of part time at home opportunities out there

JCWhitey

drudolph11 said:

@JCWhitey‌ lol i work for a small Italian restaurant so unless i can convince him to let me make pasta at my house then nope prob not! Haha but i can def do some online research and see if there is maybe some other kind of part time at home opportunities out there

Yeah... you'd probably need a commercial kitchen for that!  

I'm actually working on my company's website and social media accounts during my maternity leave.  Would that maybe be an option?

kaydedid

On the other end, you can also look into saving some money. We recently switched car insurance companies and were able to cut our payments in half. If it's been more than a year or two since you looked at rates, it's worth looking into. Geico tends to have good rates, but shop around. Calling and talking to salespeople is easier and often more accurate, if you can resist their 'sign up now' spiel.

We also had a Menards rebate and used it to buy LED light bulbs (to replace incandescents) and lowered our electricity bill by 40%. The cost upfront was large, but will pay for itself in just a few months. FYI these bulbs sell for $10-$15 a piece, but last almost forever and use a fraction of the electricity without mercury (CFLs release mercury when broken).

You also might want to check your credit cards for monthly subscriptions - some are a pain to cancel and just a few dollars a month, but it all adds up.

Since we're all looking at big medical bills next year, see if your or your partner's company offer something like a health savings account, and sock away as much as you can (up to your insurance out of pocket max). For us, putting $2400 in this account saves us $600 since this money isn't taxed (our tax rate is about 25%).

Mrmoneymustache.com is a great site for tips on cutting waste out of your life while still living comfortably. Some of the suggestions might be too extreme, but there is advice for people of many different incomes and lifestyles, so pick what works for you.

beatlesgal4

Pearson has some opportunities to score assessments from home in the spring. I haven't done it before, but my coworker has for a little bit of extra money. The application would need to be in by this Friday, so if you are interested, make sure you hurry on that.

_____________________________________________________________________

If you would like to be considered for distributed (at home) scoring projects in the spring 2015 season, please update your application by clicking the link provided below. Your completion will ensure we have accurate information related to your qualifications, interests and availability.

​

 

If you would like to refer someone for a scoring position please direct them to www.pearsonassessments.com/careers to complete the application to score from home.  

In order to be considered for the spring 2015 season, please update your application no later than Friday, November 28th. If you have any questions, please contact us at scoringreen@pearson.com.

Sincerely,

Pearson Human Resources​

JennyP0222

I do a walk from home job, I started Sept 2013 when we needed some extra cash and its been great. You make your own hours and essentially just login and pick up work from an online queue whenever you have a little block of time. You make an hourly wage but are an independent contractor so no taxes are paid upfront, meaning you have to be smart and put some aside each month to cover taxes when you do your taxes. I work between 15-20 hours a week on average and make a decent amount of money. You sign a NDA when you work for this company though so I cannot put more detail or the name here on the bump otherwise I would give you more info right here. PM me if you want the website and details for how to apply! 

peeppeeppeep

I will try to pick up some proofreading work, and I may also look into some transcription work.

drudolph11

@JennyP0222‌ as soon as i am not on mobile i will PM you. Thank you!

drudolph11

Yea we are def doing all we can to cut down on expenses. We downgraded our cable plan cuz we really only watch 2 channels. We're about to re evaluate our cell phone plan cuz i feel like we pay way to much for it. We had to move which took a big bite out of what we had saved but in the long run it will be cheaper where we live now. We had to get a small loan from my grandpa to get the place we have which will be all paid back right when the baby is born so that will help a lot. My employer doesn't offer insurance so i have State insurance which lacks in some sense but covers absolutely all pregnancy expenses. Before, during and after including the hospital which is freaking wonderful. So luckily that's one thing i don't have to worry about.

Thanks for the great advice so far everyone!

PHNJenna

I work for our state WIC program and most likely you are already or will be eligible income wise when you are on maternity leave, this would help a lot with groceries and formula (if you formula feed- that stuff is expensive!). I fully plan on applying to WIC when I am on maternity leave b/c we will only have one income too.

drudolph11

@PHNJenna‌ lol already on that! Signed up as soon as i found out that i was pregnant. It's a great program but oh god trying to figure out those damn checks... lol its rough. The first time we went to the store we just messed everything up... wrong brand this and wrong size that lol we were in line for 45 minutes just trying to figure out what to get haha hopefully the next trip will go a little smoother lol

Bluebell0315

I haven't done it, but I have several friends that sell Scentsy, and they say it's fun and easy. I know I'm addicted to it I have a couple of friends that sell those 31 bags, but I don't think they sell too much because that shiz is expensive. Not very helpful, but good luck to you!

Aeml1985

Newspaper routes here can pay up to $1000/mth and only take a few hours in the early am (maybe your SO could watch LO). Also I do secret shopper type (showhomes, restaurants, etc) things that pay $50/shop, so one a week could be fun money or a bill or something,

Joon+

Furniture refinishing seems to be a big thing these days... Especially using chalk paint and then distressing things to look antique. You can get cheap pieces at a thrift store and mix the paint yourself instead of buying the expensive Annie Sloan stuff. It can be a bit labour intensive, but it's a simple enough process and you can sell the pieces for a lot more than your initial investment. I've been thinking of doing this myself, but I'm too OCD - been working on my china cabinet for three weeks (the whole process is designed to be doable in a day).

jap618

I sell Tastefully Simple and unlike some of the other in home businesses you get your 30% off your orders so you make the money instantly (rather then putting the money in upfront for the parties and getting your quarterly check).  I had to put in some money for the start up pack (but if you are actually interested PM me and I can see if there are any half off deals coming up or we can explore other options for you to save on the start up).  I got my start up pack for $100 off or 50% off (I don't remember).  It's been fun & easy & I've enjoyed it.  I don't do it full time but there are ladies that do.  I mostly focus on friends & family and it has been profitable for me. I plan to take the month of March off but then do parties in April & May for extra cash.  And I'll use some of my sales to order the freezer meal kit to stock away for while I'm out

cafecreme

Start couponing to save a little money. Avon is a waste (I did it for a few months and LOST money), and I'm not sure about scentsy or tastefully simple.

If you have a crafty talent, I suggest Etsy as well.

Sell pregnancy tests @ 20$ a pop? Lol

drudolph11

@cafecreme‌ i heard that selling pregnancy tests can be a very lucrative business Bahaha :P

KT416

Small Ideas for extra spending cash gift cards:

Swagbucks: Join Swagbucks and get points for surfing the web, surveys, printing out coupons, etc. 450 points = $5 Amazon Gift card. You could prob get one per week depending on usage.

Viggle: Get points for checking into TV shows (although redemption of points is really hard)

Shopkick: If you go shopping a lot, use your smartphone to check into stores

Ebay/Amazon FBA: Sell things online. The nice thing about Amazon FBA is that you send everything at once in one large shipment and then get paid when people order (I haven't done it yet)

Etsy: Already mentioned but good for crafters

Zazzle, Cafepress, etc: If you are creative, punny, artist, etc. you could make t-shirts/designs etc and sell them

Blogging: Set up a blog now and try to drive some traffic and have affiliate links in popular posts, this is definitely not a guarantee or get rich thing, but could be something over time, especially if you get a lot of repins.

Mystery Shopping: You can get paid $20-$50 for reviewing different places as a mystery shopper. Mobee is a mystery shopping app that pays less and in gift cards but it's easy to use.

PerkTV: Watch videos on your smartphone

Amazon Mechnical Turk: Do very small jobs for Amazon that computers can't do. They pay very, very little but you do get paid fast.

Elance: It's a freelance site where you can apply for freelance jobs but it is really competitive especially administrative and entry level jobs

Become a Virtual Assistant or something similar: Maybe you could find a VA job or call center for a few hours?

You can also do surveys but I find them really boring. I'd recommend Pinecone Research though if you do try one. It pays $3 per survey and pays timely. 

I've done most but not all mentioned above, so let me know if you have any questions. Good luck

cafecreme

Oh, on the topic of freelance writing, contentrunner.com is a great site. I haven't done it recently, but I've written 4-5 articles and got 10$ for each. Not bad for about 5 hours of work. 

lisap0924

The house right across the street from me is a buisness. Commercial plumbing. They are very friendly and my H talks with the owner quite often (we use their driveway on the weekends when they aren't there and we have friends over since we don't have a huge driveway)
I'm thinking about asking if they have any work I could do from home. Stuff and address envelopes ect

KateHack

You can always sign up for Swagbucks. It's an online website where you complete tasks online and earn points, then redeem for gift cards. So far, I've been able to stock pile a ton of diapers/wipes/and other things for free. It's not cash, but you can get paypal, walmart, cvs gift cards to purchase every day needs.

stellarsoundz

Aeml1985 said:

Newspaper routes here can pay up to $1000/mth and only take a few hours in the early am (maybe your SO could watch LO). Also I do secret shopper type (showhomes, restaurants, etc) things that pay $50/shop, so one a week could be fun money or a bill or something,

This is exactly what my current job status is. Newspaper route also brings good tips if you really take care of your customers. Secret shop and such is great fun once you get good at it!