50+ Side Hustles for Moms: Stay-at-home Moms Looking to Earn Money

I may have been compensated for this post. Please keep in mind that it affects you in no way financially. If an item is being reviewed, I am not obligated to give a positive review and always use my own words. This disclosure is in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising. If you would like a review done contact Dannelle at op40k@aol.com

50+ Side Hustles for moms and none of them involve joining a MLM? We have been busy putting together this list for you – and if you see a * by it? It is something that I have personally tried and been happy with the results.

What is a Side Hustle?

A side hustle is a side business that you can do to earn more money, have more purpose in your life, or just something fun and creative. And if you’re a stay-at-home mom? Well, then side hustles are for YOU as well! In this blog post, we will cover some of the best side hustles for moms who want to make some extra cash while being at home with their kids.

Is it a SCAM?

Check out my article on How to Spot a Money-Making Scam
I’d also be a little leery of anyone sharing something like this to promote their business opportunity:

You are also NOT going to see me mention MLMs/Direct Sales/Networking Sales companies. I feel they are predatory, encourage people to buy their product more than sell it (build an inventory) and also really only pay off by encouraging people to “build a team” – in effect, recruit more users for them. It is VERY hard to be a 6-figure plus earner and yes, I was one of them who made six figures, when I had my 20-year Tupperware job. IF you added in the car, cash, contest gifts, trips, and team leader income…

The only one who had a “Tupperware Business” was Tupperware – no matter what any recruiting material might say…that is why I say it was a JOB.

But let us ignore my feelings on that right now – and dig into an extensive list of what is available for the 3.2 million moms who still aren’t ready to go back to a “normal job” since COVID shut down our country.

Keep Organized

I have a LOT of ideas here and you can’t do them all – so I whipped up a FREE printable download for you to take a few notes on and brainstorm your own ideas. Get it here: ideas to try free printable

Deliver Food

Door Dash, Grub Hub, Postmates, Deliver Pizzas – these are all viable options. I like the apps that let you see in advance how far you would drive and how much the tip is. You can skip the job that would be 30 miles one-way, and offer only $1.50 for your time. These are heavily reliant on your TIPS and that is important to keep in mind.

You would sign up for all four if you really like driving.

Deliver Groceries

This is once again, something you can do with apps like Shipt or Instacart. Keep in mind the weight of the order and how many stairs you may have to climb for the tip amount.

*Deliver Newspapers

This is one that can usually be done early in the morning – and, if it is a weekly paper? Be done when the kids are actually in school. If you do it when riding your bike vs driving your car? You save the gas money AND the gym membership costs.

Bonus – you usually get decent tips over the holidays.

Ride Share Services

This side hustle is perfect if you have the ability to work when and where you want. There are no overnight shifts or office hours, just your availability at that moment in time. You’ll need a car but this side hustle can really bring in some side money! Just drive when the kids are in school and run your errands in between. Uber and Lyft are the ones to look into here.

*Take Surveys

I don’t think this is a huge moneymaker – and personally think there are better uses of my time. That being said, if you are watching TV with the family, it doubles up on downtime nicely. Some popular ones are Survey Junkie and Vyndale Research.

Transcribe

This is a side hustle that can be done in front of the TV – and you get paid by the word. I personally like it because there are many, many programs out there that will pay for your time translating into other languages. Rev and Scribie are two reputable companies to try out.

PIN THIS FOR LATER

Tutor

If you have a degree and want to make some side cash – this is the side hustle for you. If not, then there are plenty of options out there. You can find tutoring jobs on Craigslist or through your local school district for local students or sign up with Tutor.com or VIP kid to broaden your reach and tutor kids online.

Teach English Online

This side hustle can be done from anywhere in the world, is a really good side hustle for moms, and usually has great benefits. One of which? You are not going to have any travel requirements like with most other side jobs. And if you do it full-time or part-time – that’s even better!

*Make Stuff

I have talked about this before and tested it out – I opened several digital item stores on Etsy and was pulling in $200+ a day. Since then, I have bumped up to 10 stores, fully stocked, and am starting to pull a few things over to Teachers Pay Teachers. I currently have a VA (Virtual Assistant) upload items, and then relist what sells. She does that weekly and it lets me keep going forward. SO, I basically make something one time, sell it in multiple locations, to multiple people. Repeatedly.

You can sell on Etsy, Facebook, and even eBay – with either digital or physical products. CANVA is my go-to source for this – it is easy to work with. Let me help you get started by giving you 40 FREE listings for your first 40 items to sell – making them pure profit! Give me 40 FREE Listings.

I can’t recommend this course enough to learn more – it is VERY affordable and detailed: Sadie’s course to Build Your Digital Etsy Empire

As for physical items, try learning more on your Cricut -or even a Glowforge. My $6,000 Glowforge Pro was less with the $500 coupon. I love the fact that there is FREE shipping right now – which saves almost another $300 AND that you can make payments instead of paying for it up front! Add in all the FREE patterns out there? It is like printing money as I add things to our ETSY stores.

–>Plus, for a limited time, get you’ll get a 40% off Proofgrade coupon! Check out Glowforge for yourself. There is a HUGE demand for things like personalized ornaments and even camping signs! I am working on a few “color your own ornament” kits for kids!

Holiday Craft shows are back now that COVID is to the point that things are opening up again – even if Delta is starting to shut a few things down.

*Open an online shop

This is easier to do than you might think. You can do it through THEIR system or your own website as Shopify is only $9 a month. (Lite version).

You do not have to make the items, just upload your images, and no inventory is needed!

Those digital items you are making and selling? They can go on your website too!

*Seasonal Hustle!

Another good version of an online shop is my Egg Your Yard Madison site. They can buy an Easter Egg Drop service online and then we coordinate delivery with our “bunnies”. Depending on how you scale this, you can make a few grand in roughly 6 weeks.

*Write

First of all – may I suggest a few tools that make you look brilliant and help you get rave reviews?

Grammarly – they even have a FREE version. Nothing says “I am a rookie” like bad spelling and punctuation. This will help catch all that – and the paid version catches a ton more.

A guide to Chicago Style writing. Most people go by this and the Oxford comma — know what it is! I really love this quick guide for Chicago Style writing on Amazon – it is less than $7

Get Jarvis!

Jarvis – While this is an Artificial Intelligence program with multiple templates, it will NOT write for you – it will seriously speed you up though. If you want to be a “VA” you will have access to creating the perfect social media campaigns, newsletters, blog outlines, and so. much. more. You can try it free with 10,000 credits through my link here: Try Jarvis Now

Now, who are you going to write for?

Write for others

You may want to look into creating gigs on Fiverr or even Upwork. While they do take a cut of your pay, and you often have to compete with people who will write 1,000-word articles for just $5, they reach a lot of people that could be your potential clients. If you are using Jarvis, you can add value with multiple title offerings, affiliate links, and more – to make you stand out.

*VA groups are all over Facebook with bloggers looking for content to help save them time and build their sites. The going rate for 1,000 words is $30-50. Jarvis makes those posts faster and you could make a good monthly side income. 20 articles at $50 is $1K a month – in 20-40 hours of your time.

*Write For Real Estate Agents

They may be good at selling homes, but they aren’t very good at writing enticing descriptions that help make their listings sell faster. $50-100 per listing – rock it out with Jarvis!

*Freelance writing

Many magazines, websites, and blogs are in constant need of new content. If you have a story to share, why not make a pitch?

For yourself:

*Start a blog

Niche sites can do really well and be profitable in 3-6 months. You need to focus on 40-50 GREAT articles ASAP and then they will start ranking and bringing you organic traffic.

I like Namehero as a host and to buy a domain – if someone is telling you to go with Bluehost – just RUN from them and any advice they have to offer. It is a high-paying affiliate so THEY are making money off of you as they promote a crappy company.

Blogs can make affiliate money – more on that later – and add income, besides garnering sponsored posts that pay $100-1,000 each.

• Know how to lose weight? Start a health and fitness blog.
• Enjoy cooking? Start a food blog.
• Have a prized pooch? Start a dog blog.
• Really love history? Start a blog with historically accurate fact sheets that teachers can use in their classrooms.

You get the idea… write about what you know – and you will go far. Hands down, as side hustles for moms, this is one of my favorites. I have 25 of them now… Here is a GREAT and budget-friendly course (Just $47) to learn the basics of starting a blog: How to Start a Blog the Easy Way. My only variation from her course is to stick with Namehero. You can buy your domain there and have them be your host. I have a lot more sites than she does, LOL – and it is great for building a site to sell. What is included in Sherry’s course? 22 videos, 9 files, and 15 text files full of great tips to get you off to a good start.

If you aren’t a huge writer? Try PLR. You can buy pre-written articles, tweak them, and claim them as your own. You purchase the rights to use them. My favorite site? PLR for Blogs. They are long, well written, have pictures or affiliate income ideas added, and are inexpensive. #winning

*Write books

Contrary to popular belief, these don’t take as long as many people think, and if you write romance? You can do Kindle unlimited series with 20-30,000 words each. Self-Publishing is VERY doable.

Short Stories are great for newer authors. Be part of a collection of works that 24 other authors help you promote and go out as a best-selling author on your first work. I love the anthology program with SOOPllc so much that I am now working WITH them. Bonus – enter your short story in their annual contest and win cash prizes on top of your quarterly royalty check.

Sell stock photos

Do you travel? Do you have a keen eye for photos? Basically, if you love taking photos, take a bunch and upload them to stock photography sites! Sell your photos and make money

Remember those real estate agents? Their photo skills usually suck. I have seen house listings showing literal garbage on the floor before – bad lighting, photos that made rooms look actually smaller, and sooooo many more mistakes. They need help and with the boom right now, you could get repeat work with a company, easily.

Rent Your Home

VRBO or AirBnB are options to look into

They take a cut of your profit, but this is another way to stay at home and still earn!

Earn a couple of bucks by renting out your spare room or couch on Airbnb – it’s basically the hotel industry but without all the rules and you can get paid cash daily, weekly, monthly! You’ll need to invest in some cleaning supplies (and maybe an extra bed), but this side hustle can be a great side hustle for moms! VBRO is my favorite.

For photos/movies

You can list your property with your state’s film commission. You can find your local film commission by searching on Google for “your state” followed by “Film Commission”.

State film commissions are there to connect filmmakers and producers with the local people. Their main concern is to facilitate the shooting of the project and publicizing it, while at the same time insuring some of the local businesses and people are incorporated into the whole process

So when production companies want to shoot a project in your state, your state film commission will give them your property information for consideration.

SetScouter.com is where you would want to list this – and they DO pay. You can charge extra if they want to move your furniture, etc.

I like that listing your home on Set Scouter is free and you keep 100% of the agreed rental rates. Set Scouter is paid directly by the production team — you never have to worry about commissions or success fees.

You can also try:

1. JJ Locations
2. Location Works
3. Film Locations Wanted
4. Filming Locations
5. NM Film

Rent your driveway – boats/festivals, etc

Some people have that boat or RV and don’t want a storage shed to park it – they want a driveway where people live for that 4–7-month window of inactivity. 

If you are near a fair or festival? People will pay up to $20 to not walk that extra 4-6 blocks. You could get 10-20 cars in your driveway/yard for each event!

*Dog Walk/Housesit

There are companies that do the work for you – they screen and bond people that they add to their network for house sitting and dog sitting. One company I like is Trusted House Sitters.

Trusted, Vetted & Insured. 24/7 Vet Advice Line Included. Connect With Like-Minded Pet Lovers And Exchange Pet Care For A Place To Stay. All the sits covered. 5* rated sitters… I could go on and on.

*Youtube Channel

Yes, you can make money with videos. You need to build up your viewer hours and subscriptions should be over 1,000 people – a few simple giveaways can do that for you.

Use SEO to make “mini-blogs” for your descriptions and make sure to use decent hashtags to help draw in other viewers. See what your “niche competition” is doing and do it better.

No laughing at my YouTube Channel – I haven’t really worked on it. Oops!

Editing

Books: Do you know the Chicago Style as well as the Oxford Comma? This could be a great side hustle for you! Upwork would be the place I check out for listing your job services – I know the Publishing Company I work with now uses them for projects.

Photos: Some people are GREAT at taking a lot of great shots, not so great at filters, lights, framing, etc. People pay to have their photos edited.

Video: Even I shoot it and hate to edit it – just ugh. Many bloggers and YouTubers know the value of video but hate the tech side.

*Virtual Assistant

Are you an organized person? This might be for you! You can set up appointments, verify calendars, upload and send documents, and so. much. more.

I pay VAs to add things to my Etsy stores, size and upload pictures to my blogs, schedule social media, upload articles that are written but need a personal touch, and more – there is a HUGE need for reliable people here that understand a time-sensitive concept.

How is this great as side hustles for moms? Some pay by task and some hourly, some are very time-flexible, and you never have to leave your home!

*Graphic design

Get paid to create that business logo, newsletter, Media Kit, or Social Media memes. You can sell book covers and more. Another option is to open your own account at Zazzle or CafePress and get your prints onto mugs and t-shirts.

Web design

Get paid to build that website – many have NO idea how to do this well.

App design/build

Yup – you can build apps for people. It helps with their niche – I could use one that spits out a money-making or money-saving tip of the day and links back to one of my articles. Maybe a 1000 meals app that gives a different budget-friendly recipe each day. Hmmm…

*Film/TV extra

Are you close to a major city? Chicago is often looking for extras and I have done it a few times – I have even been in a movie that was shot on location in Madison, Wisconsin! Who knows – maybe Hollywood is your true calling…

Research studies

This can be a good side hustle but it depends on your state of residence. You can get paid anywhere from $30-$100+/hour for a study and many times the side hustle is just filling out an online survey, watching videos, or doing some kind of short project.

Medical studies pay more but may have some side effects to consider. You may never learn if you were in the control group or not.

*Focus Groups

I love these through Wisconsin Survey and have done a few – you get paid for your time with either an in-person or online focus group. Usually, they pay in prepaid credit/Debit cards or Amazon Gift Cards.

They could be on anything from a brand looking at what entices customers, what food people tend to like, what stores need to reshape their offerings, etc. There is a large variety.

Translator

Do you speak more than one language?

This side hustle is great if you live in a place where people speak more than one language and many companies need translators. It could be to work with the legal system for things like wills or court proceedings, educate international clients about your company’s offerings, translate literature into another language – there are so many reasons why someone would pay for this side hustle.

Construction side hustles

If you are good with your hands and enjoy building or remodeling things, this side hustle can be a great way to earn some side money. You may need licenses depending on what state you live in but it’s possible to do small jobs for $200-$400+ without the time investment of other side hustles.

*Housecleaner

I don’t know about you but I am ALWAYS seeing people ask for recommendations on the local Facebook groups. You need a few supplies: a vacuum, mop, bucket, rags, cleaning supplies, and business cards. You also need to know how fast you clean to judge your time well – so you make money and don’t burn yourself out.

To give you an idea in Southern Wisconsin, my 3-bed room, living room, 3 baths, tv room, kitchen, and bar for about $100, and she is there about 2 hours – longer if she is talking, LOL.

Window Washing

Do you know how many cleaners won’t wash windows? You can make a killing in your own neighborhood doing this – for storefronts, and even homes. Most homeowners like this done in the spring and/or fall – stores usually like it weekly.

*Mystery Shop

There are a bunch of companies that you can connect with for this that pay you to scope out service in grocery stores, gas stations, restaurants, even hotels. The pay varies per job, and there is a lot of paperwork, but this does make for good side hustles for moms.

Stocks

Some people are big into trading. Personally, I leave that to the pros and have a guy who handles my money. I do know people who do “day trading” and make some decent cash.

Crypto

Along the same vein, Cryptocurrency is a huge thing right now. As an idea for side hustles for moms, you really need to follow a pro and then keep a close eye on it all.

Landscaping/Gardening

Do you have a green thumb?

Many side hustles for moms are gardening-related. You can plant a garden and sell produce. You can plant seeds and sell seedlings. You can plant flowers and sell cuttings. You can help design a flower garden and plant it. You can clean up someone’s overgrown flower beds…. so many different ideas here!

You can literally find a video on ANY garden topic on YouTube.

Coaching/ Sports/ Mentoring

Did you play sports? I know I am not the only one who has played sports or coached. You can be a referee and get paid per game, help train kids, and get paid as a trainer/mentor to take the kids to the next level, or even coach. I coached Junior Tennis lessons to get my kid FREE lessons and also got paid!

*Make your hobby pay

Do you love to scrapbook? Organize weekend crops at a local hotel. Find out what the room is going to cost for 3 days (usually Fri-Sat-Sun) and then figure out how many 6-foot tables would fit in there and you now know how much you can roughly charge.

For example, the room rent is $450 and you can get 18 people in there. You want to make a profit so if your cost comes to $25 per each of the 18 tables, maybe charge customers $40-45. That is a $270-360 profit per weekend. If you figure 4-6 weekends a year? That is over $2,000! Any side hustle with a comma in it is a good thing if you ask me.

What is YOUR hobby and how can you make it turn a profit for you? Check out How to Make Money From Hobbies That You Enjoy.

Paint

I have a friend who did quite the business painting – she tied up with apartment units that need rooms painted after long-term leases moved out. You need the basic supplies like tarps, rollers, brushes, and tape as well as needing to know the cost of the paint you would need and your time to do a job.

To sum it all up –

You are only limited by your imagination. There are tons of options as side hustles for moms, you just have to be keeping your eyes open for them. Figure out what YOU like, what time you have to invest in it all, and go from there. Start brainstorming on your NEXT side hustle – because, yes, you can do more than one. I have given you a list of over 60 ideas to check out – and jumpstart your ideas.

Other articles for making money we have shared:

• Are Spare Change Investment Apps Worth Your Time and Money?
• 20 Great Apps to Make Money From Your Phone
• How to Sell or Trade in Clothing You’ve Outgrown