Five ways a stay at home dad can make some money

In my last post, I introduced myself and gave you a little heads up as to my thought processes. I mentioned in a few months I will be joining the fold of at home dads.  One of the reasons that a dad stays home is because the wife has more income making potential. Another is that he simply can’t find a job in this economy. Not enough recovery I suppose. However, just because you are at home does not mean that you cannot bring in some cash. Here are five things you can do to help pad the income in your family.

1. eBay is your friend. Now, I am not talking about setting up a room and collecting junk from people to sell (you can do that if you like, promote it as an antique store or something). For this to work you have to be interested in what you are dealing with. Do you like to play paintball? Are you a tech nerd? Find what interests you and then set up a store on eBay to buy and sell this stuff. Why will it work? It will work because it is what you like. You know your stuff. Now capitalize on it.

2. Go Solo. For those of you who do have skills that can be utilized anywhere, go solo. Odds are you know someone, who knows someone. Set up a simple site to let the world know what you do. Are you good with numbers, do some book keeping. Do you have web skills? Great! Start doing some solo gigs. You never know when the gig may turn into something that is flexible and pays well.

3. Open a bed and breakfast. Yes this is an expensive option, but if you live in an area that is even the slightest bit touristy, you can capitalize on the visitors who visit. Yes, you have to have the home for it and certainly have to have wife buy-in, but it can make a huge difference when it comes to paying the mortgage.

4. Build something. Are you the crafty sort of gent who is good at making things with his hands? Build something to sell in local craft or furniture shops. The more you have out there the more people are likely people are to buy something. Don’t sell your hobbies short, sell your hobbies. Those hobbies can turn into income if you set them free to do so.

5. For you creative types, saturate. Let me explain. If you are a painter, paint. Get as much exposure for your work as you can. If you are a musician, write songs and produce music. There are more than enough places to offer your talents online and you don’t need the big labels to distribute your work. Are you a photographer? Take pictures and then sell them online.  The difficult thing for creatives is that you get caught up in the art of it and never get around to the sale. Hence, you become a starving artist. Your new mantra should be produce and release. Produce your work and release it for consumption.

There you have it. Five ways to earn money from home. This is not going to be easy but you are the one who wants a little extra cash. To get the cash you will need to work. If a man doesn’t work he doesn’t eat. Sure you have kids to take care of but it is time to step up and do something about it.

Do you have additional money making ideas from home? Share them in the comments. Be careful though, if I catch the slightest hint of spam or self-product-promotion, I will drop your comment into a black hole never to be seen by the light ever again.