Earn money while you're home with the kids

In an ideal world I want to earn lots of money while still being home for my children. I have put an enormous amount of thought into this (after all there's a lot of time for thinking and not much time for doing when you've got a baby to look after) and I have to say, I don't have the perfect solution.

The main problem, which is blindingly obvious really, is that as a new mum you will have no spare time, and if you find your baby asleep for an hour, you will either need to join them for a nap or will have a list of a hundred things to do around the house.

I think, realistically, you should not be dwelling on making money for at least the first 6 months of your baby's life. You should just enjoy it, and look after yourself.

It is tempting to look at those work from home ads in the paper and think they're the answer, but really, if they don't tell you what you are going to be doing to earn all that money, are you really going to want to be doing it? And how many of them are purely and simply scams to get money out of you?

I've tried to be a bit more realistic. I'm not going to earn a fortune all of a sudden in the few hours I can spare, but I might be able to get some extra cash, which would be nice.

I've also come to the conclusion that if you genuinely want to be home for your kids, then you don't have enough time for a serious work from home business or part time work until your kids are at pre-school or school. Of course, there are compromises. We use Occasional Care one day a week while the kids are little. Other lucky mums out there have family who are also happy to help out.

If you want to be home, there are a few jobs that it is possible to do with the children. Family Day Care is one. If you love looking after the kids, then you can set up a Family Day Care business through your local scheme and look after up to 5 kids under school age (including your own) in your own home. This can be a serious business opportunity, but is also hard work. I know because I did it from the time Holly was 8 months until Michael was born.

Another option I can think of that would include the children, is pet minding. Other possibilities such as party plan businesses e.g.Tupperware or Nutrimetrics, tutoring, writing, editing, online surveys, transcription and telemarketing, definitely need some child free time. It may be possible to do this of an evening, but you need good sleepers and a lot of self discipline.

I have a friend who does hairdressing from home. She has a 2 1/2 year old and manages to work with her around, but a lot of her clients are mums who understand the interruptions, and she also swaps babysitting with a friend to allow her time for the business.

If you want information on any of these work at home options, and others, I have more details on my website www.athomemums.com under Work at Home - Career Options.

The idea I am trying, is making money through affiliate marketing, and this blog is part of that. As you'll see, I have Google ads on my blog. If you were to click on any of these ads, the advertiser then pays Google an agreed fee per click, and I get a commission. There are many other affiliate schemes out there, and I have more information on making money through affiliate marketing on my web site.

The ad below is another example. The Rich Pom has made a lot of money through internet based businesses and he has written a guide to how to do it yourself. I first heard about him on an ad on Mix 106.5 on the radio, and I had a look at his web site. I have to say I hesitated, but eventually succumbed to his sales pitch and bought a copy. I convinced myself it was research for my web site, but in actual fact, his approach is right. If you followed it step by step, or just took the basics, you could make money. I have the advantage that the other half already uses affiliate marketing on his web sites, so we have some knowledge of this area, but we have been able to pick up some marketing tips from the Rich Pom to help increase traffic.

One worth thinking about if you have an existing web site, or a topic you can write about that you think might have an audience out there...