As a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom, I have to be very careful to budget our money. It drives me crazy if I am not earning money for my family. I think if my kids went to school I would have gotten a part-time job. Since I am their teacher, I have very little spare time to make money. Here are a few ways that I save money or make money with very little extra time or the ability to commit to a regular, schedule job.
Save Money
- Swagbucks
Swagbucks is a site that you can use while you are shopping. Every dollar you spend, earns you “Swagbucks”. Swagbucks can then be redeemed for things like gift cards.
I save these Swagbucks until I can redeem them for a gift card to places like Amazon, Children’s Place, American Eagle, Texas Roadhouse, Apple, Home Depot etc. This helps save money when I need to buy clothes, have a house project, or it means I can have a free night out!
Does it really work? Currently I have 7,904 Swagbucks which translates into $79.04. I earned these Swagbucks when I bought a Dell computer for my kids’ schoolwork and when I tried Hello Fresh. I have earned Swagbucks in the past when I bought my running shoes from Asics and Christmas shopping at various stores.
- Meal plan
Another way to save money is by meal planning. I will never forget the shock I had when I was teaching full-time and the kids were in public school. We were constantly running and I felt so rushed, it seemed like I was only cooking on the weekends. After a month and seeing how much eating takeout cost, I started meal planning. I make time on my weekends to plan the week’s meal, make sure I have all the ingredients and I prep things the night before. I keep the menu for the week in the kitchen so everyone can see it. This helps keep me on track and it keeps others from eating the ingredients for the meals. Although this takes a little planning, I love not having that stress over what I am going to make for dinner. Seriously, that question should not haunt you all day long! - Plant a garden
I love my garden! Eating healthy can sometimes be hard because produce can be pricey and it goes bad fairly quickly. Every year I plant a garden and I am stocked with tomatoes, beans, potatoes, cucumbers, peppers, garlic, cabbage, onions, and squash. I can and freeze the excess so it doesn’t spoil before we can use it. This saves me money all throughout the year. - Stay home
One thing I found out during the pandemic was how much staying at home didn’t bother me. It also saved me a ton of money in gas! I paid for a tank of gas and it lasted me all month! I spent $40 that month instead of $120 in gas. I also noticed that staying home meant I didn’t spend money on fast food, coffee, or other impulse buys. The kids and I started making time for different activities at home that we hadn’t before. “Pizza movie night” is now a thing in our house. We found a love for board games and sitting on the porch while I read to them. I love making these memories at home and I love that they are free!
Make money
- Upwork
Upwork is a free website where you can bid for work-from-home jobs. Just create a profile that highlights your skills and start bidding on jobs. Some of the jobs are writing/editing, computer programing/website design, social media assistance, and more. Currently I am writing for a blog 5 hours a week at $15/hour. This is great for extra income that I can work around my schedule. - Monetize your skills
Is there something you do really well? Maybe it is baking or crafting. Have you ever thought of setting up a table at a farmer’s market or craft show to sell what you make? If you have a skill in something you enjoy doing then you can monetize that and make some extra money. - Get a “here and there” gig
What I call a “here and there” gig is a job that isn’t daily or even weekly and can be temporary. For example, there are times that a local farm needs a few extra hands making pot pies. About once a month when they plan on making the pies I get a call to work for 2 days that week. I also help out during their busy season where I may work 3-5 days a week for 2 weeks or so. This job doesn’t require a large commitment of time but I make extra money, talk to other adults and learn a new skill. Other ideas could be pet sitting, house cleaning, taking older folks grocery shopping or shoveling walkways when it snows. Really there are a lot of odd jobs that people need help with.