7 ways to earn extra income as a SAHM



Being able to stay at home to raise our children has always been a priority for my husband and I.
The dream was always for me to be a SAHM but lets be honest,
living on one income, even a good income, in today's world is tough. 
It seems easy enough to say I should look for part time work to supplement our income, but by the time I factor in daycare costs for three kids I wouldn't be making any money.
I've thought about working evenings but my husbands work hours don't allow it and if I were to work weekends we would never have any family time together.
Ive been brainstorming some ideas to earn extra income as a Stay At Home Mom and I thought I would share my ideas and hopefully inspire some other moms who are hoping to stay at home and bring in some extra income.

1.
Run a Home Daycare
I ran a home daycare for a few years after we had our first child.
This is a really great option for moms who want to make a full time salary from home.
In our area you make anywhere from $30-50 a child per day. 
Your kids get to socialize and you are already at home with your kids doing kiddy things so it really doesn't feel like "work" to have friends over to play.
 There is really little to no start up costs as you probably have all the baby/kids necessities in your home already.
In the past couple of years I've personally found that this isn't the best option for our family.
My oldest and youngest go to Sick Kids for their Vision which requires me to be downtown for appointments.
I also have 2 children in different schools with different pickup/drop off times and after school activities that I just find it too chaotic now.
I do still babysit for one family as it is only a couple of days a month which helps me bring in an extra couple hundred of dollars a month.

2.
Sell Your Stuff
If your a mom you know how much crap you accumulate.
I honestly don't know where it all comes from but the people at Goodwill know me by name.
I mentioned here about our families journey to simplify and I am constantly making piles of stuff that I need to sell/donate.
There are a ton of great sites to sell your stuff on like Kijii, Ebay, Craigslist, Facebook Groups and Varage Sale. 
I sell everything from outgrown kids clothes, furniture, kids toys, jewelry etc. and I've probably a little over $2,000 this year through selling our stuff online. 
Whatever I can't sell in a reasonable amount of time gets donated.

3.
Be a Freelance Writer
We are so lucky that we live in this wonderful world of technology. 
Many companies are in need of freelance writers for blogging and other written content.
I've done a few freelance writing gigs and I am by no means a good writer.
The most I have been paid is $25 for a blog entry which doesn't seem like much but all these little side jobs add up.

4.
MLM Companies
I always joke that I'm the only mom in our community not selling Scentsy.
Seriously though, there are so many MLM companies that can help SAHM's make a great income from home. 
Some of the moms in my neighbourhood have even been gifted trips to Europe and Disneyland. 

5.
Start a Blog
Back in 2009 I started my first blog (that is no longer running) as a creative outlet for myself and a way to document my new journey in motherhood for my friends and family.
I had no idea you could make money blogging back then but now I am making a little bit of money from this blog.
There are many ways to make money blogging, through sponsorships, affiliate programs and google adsense to name a few. 

6. 
Get Paid To Grocery Shop
My last post I talked about money saving apps.
I mentioned the awesome app Checkout 51 that actually pays you to grocery shop.
Seriously, they will send you $20.00 cheques just for uploading your receipt.

7.
Start a Laundry Washing Business
I don't know how I would feel about other people washing my dirty laundry but there are a lot of people willing to pay someone to do their dirty laundry! 

I would love to hear some of the ways you make extra money as Stay At home Mom in the comments below.

Kelsey,
XO








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3 Awesome Money Saving Apps for Canadians



Last month I wrote a post about how I cut our Family's grocery bill in half.
Today I want to share with you some of my favourite APPS that save my family money each month.
A penny saved is a penny earned, right?
Last year I quit my job of 8 years working with adults with developmental disabilities, a job I loved and still miss everyday, to be at home more with my children. 
I did take a very casual job on the side that could work around my kids schedule but I have just found out that as of April I will no longer have this job so right now more than ever I am trying to be as frugal as possible.
I work really hard to make staying at home possible and although I may not be working outside the home my job now is not only to take care of the home and take care of my children but to make sure I am saving our family as much money as possible, which I really wouldn't have the time to do if I was working full time. 
Below are the APPS I use on a weekly basis.

1.

This app is incredible.
 It is so easy to use and actually puts money in your pocket.
All you do is check the app before you sit down to make your grocery list and purchase the items you need that are on the Checkout 51 list. Once you get home take a picture and upload your receipt when you get home to get cashback for the items you purchased. Once your balance reaches 20.00 they send you a check in the mail. 
They pay YOU for grocery shopping.
Amazing, am I right? 
:)
You can also use this app combined with coupons etc.

2.


Flipp has got to be my #1 go to app for saving money and price matching.
You can browse all your local flyers and make your shopping lists right in the app. 
I don't even take paper flyers with me into the grocery store anymore because of this wonderful app.
I simply make my grocery list and find the items in this app and add them to my clippings.
Once at the cashier I open up my clippings and show the cashier and voila, extra money in my pocket! 
With this app alone I've saved anywhere from $2 - $75 a grocery shop.
If I'm out and need to buy a last minute item that I haven't had time to sit down and price match I simply enter it in the search bar and FLIPP shows me where it is cheapest.
If you want to make your life easier and bank account happier you NEED to get this app 
:)

3.


This app is combined with the PC Points Reward Card.
I don't even carry the card with me and just show my card through the mobile app.
How it works is each week you load new offers PC sends you based on your previous purchases. 
Stores that carry PC products also offer points on certain products in store. 
1,000 points for every $1 you spend and once you reach 20,000 points or $20.00
you can start redeeming in 10k increments.
I love this program because not only does it help me save on groceries but you can use the rewards towards Joe Fresh as well.
You can earn points even faster if you link your cards to PC Financial cards.


These are my favourite money saving apps. 
Which apps do you use?

Kelsey ox. 



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Positive Motherhood


I've been getting a lot of positive feedback about this blog lately from neighbours, Friends of friends etc. saying how much they love reading it.
This is usually followed by saying what an incredible mom I am and how lucky my kids must be.
I don't know what posts they read to give them this impression but I feel like I am a Fraud.
I usually smile and say Thank you but inside I'm thinking 
"If only they were in my house when all three kids are screaming for me at once and in turn I'm screaming back"
I can honestly say that the first 3.5 years of motherhood I kicked butt. 
I was an AWESOME mom. 
The Mom I always wanted to be.
I was fun, involved and a had a very positive attitude.
I let the kids paint and get messy, I planned everyday so the kids were well fed and entertained.
 I don't know what happened, but somewhere along the way the mom I used to be went away. 
I became the mom I once looked down on. 
I became negative, selfish,overwhelmed and not emotionally involved at all. 
I didn't plan fun activities or let them paint inside the house because all I could think of was the huge mess I would have to clean up.
I found myself dreading the next day instead of waking up excited to see my children. 
 Did I have post partum depression? Was I just outnumbered and exhausted? Was it the stress of moving? The stress of my daughters vision problems and all the hospital appointments? Was it all the negative motherhood posts I had been reading  all over Facebook and Pinterest. You know the ones that light heartedly tell us we shouldn't be loving motherhood as much as we are. That we  should be counting down the minutes until the kids are in bed instead so we can have some peace and quiet and a glass of wine? Was it all the strangers that told me My Hands were Full? 
I think it was a combination of all the above and it was completely inexcusable of me.
Of course its not possible to enjoy every minute of motherhood, but I feel like it's almost the trendy thing to do to try to be the most uninvested miserable mom there is. How many times a day does a picture like this pop up on your Facebook feed?


My older daughter overheard me talking to a friend about how I couldn't wait for her and her sister to go back to school.
In the midst of saying it I saw her face change, her heart shatter.
I spend so much time trying to teach my children to be kind and here I was speaking unkindly about my own children.
 I had a great summer with my three babies home - and now second week into school I miss them more than they know but now all I can think of his her being at school probably thinking I'm at home

Throwing a party because her and her sister are out of my face.
 When I said that comment to my friend I had meant that I craved the routine back to school brings. Later that day my daughter told me she knew that I didn't love her because I didn't want her around. This was such a light bulb for me.
 How many times in the past year have I said little things out loud like this that my children have overhead?
 I hear moms all the time saying "God I can't wait until the kids go to bed so I can relax" 
I'm guilty of it too. 
I remember my own mother saying things like this and it crushed me. 
I get it - were all exhausted. 
Being a mother is hard - but our children are a blessing.
Let's start a trend of positive motherhood instead of focusing on the negative because with each negative comment towards motherhood or our children we are pushing our children away from us.
 Our kids are only little for so long and we only get one chance. 

I am writing this post as a reminder to myself to try to focus on the positive and I hope all you parents  reading this can do the  same.

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