Jill A. Chafin
Stay-at-home parents often feel liberated when their kids start school. If you’d like to use some of that extra time to earn some extra cash, you’re in luck! We found 10 job options you can explore.
After your kids go to school, you suddenly have blocks of time off from parenting. It’s at this time that many parents start to look for work.
A full-time job means you also have to coordinate after-school care for your children. But a side job (or several) usually allows you more flexibility to handle your kids’ schedule.
Let’s take a look at some common and accessible options.
School Jobs
If you can get in with a local school, you’re all set! The hours will most likely match your child’s class time—especially if you work at her school.
If you’re not qualified to teach, you might be able to work as a teacher’s aide or administrative assistant. You could also drive a bus, or join the cafeteria or cleaning staff.
Some schools only require a bachelor’s degree to be a substitute teacher. This can lead to steady work in schools throughout the district. And you can turn down days that don’t work for you.
If you work at your kids’ school, you might also look into running an after-school program they can attend with you.
Freelance Work
The best thing about being a freelancer is you’re the boss. You can set your hours, decide how much work to accept, and go on vacation whenever you want. You can even take off the whole summer while the kids are out of school if you want.
The downside is it can take a lot of effort to drum up business, and work can be sporadic. However, once you get a steady stream going and land some regular “anchor” clients, it’s an ideal way to juggle work with the school schedule.
There are many freelance jobs out there. Consider your skill set and go from there. Some options include writer, editor, proofreader, artist, graphic designer, data entry, photographer, and the list goes on.
It can be hard to get started, but once you have some online clips, you’ll be well on your way.
Selling Online
The online market is booming, and you can take advantage of it in tons of ways, all from the comfort of your home. For example, you can resell used clothing or other items, create a line of jewelry, knit funky hats, the sky is the limit here.
If you do create your own wares, you can open your own Etsy shop.
Tutoring
You don’t have to be a teacher to teach English or to tutor (either online or in-person). If you want to teach locally, check with local schools and homeschooling groups, and advertise your areas of expertise. If you’re a whiz at math or know a foreign language, highlight that.
The most popular option to tutor online is VIP Kid. However, they only need tutors at specific times. If that won’t work with your schedule, be sure to check out other online tutoring jobs.
Childcare
If you have kids, then (hopefully) you know how to take care of children—which is a skill! If you miss having little ones around, you might want to consider becoming a nanny or opening an in-home daycare.
You could also be a teacher’s aide or substitute teacher at a local preschool.
Test Websites or Take Surveys
A website tester clicks through the pages on a website and provides feedback. You can also take online surveys to make some extra cash.
These jobs don’t pay a ton, but assignments usually only take around 15 minutes to complete. This makes it super-easy to squeeze in some work between school drop-off, and a trip to the gym.
House Cleaner/Organizer
You can also probably get work if you offer a service different from traditional house-cleaning. For example, you could help people do dishes, fold laundry, run errands, go grocery shopping, wrap presents, or organize their houses.
Most working families are overwhelmed by daily chores, so you’ll definitely be in high demand!
Fitness Instructor
If you like to stay fit, why not get a fitness certification? There are plenty of things you can teach, like cardio or Zumba. Most gyms offer daytime classes, and it’s pretty cool to get paid to work out!
Dog Walker
If you love dogs, why not join an official dog sitting site? Or you can share your services on social media.
Just think of all the calories you’ll burn from all that walking! Plus, you’ll get lots of fresh air.
Temporary Tax Season Jobs
If you’re good with numbers, you can help people prepare their tax returns. This type of work typically occurs between January 1 and April 15 each year, and it can be part- or full-time. Depending on the position, you might need to have previous tax experience or specific certifications. However, there are some positions for which no experience is required, including data entry and admin work.
If you want to take it a step further, H&R Block and Jackson Hewitt offer tax preparation courses for those who don’t have any credentials. Taking a course doesn’t guarantee you a job, but it does raise your chances with companies that require experience. You can also go solo and offer these services on your own.
You don’t have to limit yourself to just one side gig. Why not take on several to fill your week? You can teach a fitness class in the morning and walk some pups after lunch.
It’ll make your day more exciting and interesting. Plus, all that extra cash will surely come in handy!
