How to Make an Income and Price Your Work Correctly as a Work from Home Mom

Everyone knows how hard mom’s work but perhaps you are now at a point where you find yourself with some free time and would like to find an extra source of income while remaining at home. It may be that your children are now attending school so you have a few extra hours in between other household tasks and want to put them to good use.

During 2020, the global pandemic from Covid-19 forced millions of people to stay home and many people looked at alternative ways to make money without having to travel. Here are a few ways you could find an extra source of income but there may be more to consider than just finding work. Depending on what type of work you undertake you may have to price up your work too. How do you do that correctly? And, what about tax? 

There are many options that you can consider depending on your own skill set, equipment owned and experience. Home working brings many benefits and in 2020 more people have discovered they are happier when working remotely.

Maybe before you had a family you worked in graphic design, or perhaps you have a talent that so far has been underused. There are many websites such as Freelancer that can let you list your skills and the type of work you take on,, such as logos, business cards and flyer designs. Some of these sites allow you to bid on projects and other ones may have the client request particular freelancers to work with them.

Crowdsourcing sites are another alternative. If you visit DesignCrowd or 99 Designs for example you can set up a profile and start entering ‘contests’. You will not need to set any prices or upload a portfolio. The drawback to this approach is that it is speculative and can result in you spending a lot of hours working for nothing. On the plus side you can practice on real-life projects and build a portfolio quickly.

This type of work will require a PC, software and a WiFi connection so there could be some outlay if you do not already own the required equipment. 

Again, you would need a laptop or PC and a WiFi connection but if your household already has this then you could start your own blog. This is no guaranteed source of income but it does allow you to be your own boss and have full creative control. Write about something you know and that will interest other like-minded people and pretty soon you could have a following and with that comes advertising and an income. 

There are many proofreading jobs available due to the high amount of written content on the net these days. It is possible to find remote proofreading jobs for beginners or professionals and the pay will depend on what you are actually proofreading. If you have a particular area of expertise such as law then you can charge more. Normally the client would set the hourly rate but as you become more proficient or specialise in a certain area you can advertise yourself with a small website and set your own rates. 

As you will know from surfing the internet there are an almost infinite number of websites out there. To remain popular and relevant all these websites need written content. To remain high up on Google searches they need fresh material that contains optimised images and great writing. That is where you come in. Look for sites such as Buzzfeed that are searching for freelance writers. There are many online magazines and blogs asking for submissions. Start small and get used to the writing process.

You should try and choose subjects that you know about and interest you. Once you have made some successful submissions you can start contacting other sites with your ideas and you can start to charge your own hourly rates 

There are different rules and regulations for tax depending on which country or region you are living and working in. You will need to research your local tax rules before you start any home business. There are also questions to ask yourself that will affect the way you pay tax. Are you working as a freelancer or are you setting up a small business and operating a design studio for example from home? You will be eligible for tax deductions from using the home as a business. You may have to employ an accountant to handle your financial affairs depending how complicated and successful your business becomes. 

As a mom working from home it is important that you get paid correctly for your time. You already work hard and want to make sure the extra work you are doing is valued correctly. There are many factors that will come into play here. Firstly, if you are submitting articles to a website they may have set fees they pay until you are more experienced. Crowdsourcing projects will have the price already set and if you receive advertising on your blog, again it is likely to be a set amount per click.

However, if you are operating your own design studio or writing for magazines then you have more control over your work. You can charge a set fee for a project if you believe you know how long it will take to complete (allow for amendments and other time factors) or you can price your time hourly. It may seem daunting trying to work out how much to charge when you are just starting out so research the average rates for the type of work you are doing and use online tools such as an hourly to salary calculator to help you work out the correct figures.

Working from home can be rewarding, allow you to choose your own hours and bring in some extra income.