How To Make Money On Maternity Leave

In this article, we will be looking at how to make money on maternity leave or paternity leave. We all know that you lose a lot of money while you can’t work, and the stress that can cause is certainly no good for you or your baby.

However, now that we are entirely into the age of the internet, remote work makes making a living online easier than it has ever been. Therefore, you will have fewer worries about affording what is the happiest time of your life. Whether you are in your maternity/paternity leave now, or it is coming up, there are specific steps that you can take to ensure that you get the most flexible option for you.

How To Make Money On Maternity Leave

First things first: The earlier that you plan for your maternity or paternity leave, the better. However, that does not mean that you are too late after you start your leave. It may be a little more challenging, but certainly not impossible.

If you are in the planning stage of trying to make money on your maternity leave, you need to set out a few guidelines for yourself. If you are a parent already, then you will know how difficult it can be to get eight hours straight to work. When you are the parent of a new-born, it will be impossible. Never trick yourself into thinking it will not be. You will lack sleep, and you will want to get a quick nap at points throughout the day. Therefore, you need to look at this in a different way to how you usually would get a new job.

Define Your Abilities

Although you may think you will be able to do eight hours of work a day, it is highly unlikely. Even if you can, they will be in chunks throughout the day and night. There are some basic guidelines that you need to consider:

• Find a job that will allow you to work day or night. – As you already know and have just read, you will not be able to stick to certain hours of the day. Being able to be as flexible as you can, will mean that, even at 2 am, you can get some work done while the little one is falling asleep. It may take you all week to do a part-time job, so make sure that you can scale your work up and down according to abilities.
• Don’t pick something that requires silence. –  Although this point may go without saying, it can sometimes be overlooked. As a parent myself, I rarely get quiet time to work. In fact, halfway through writing this article, I had to stop my son from falling off his bike! As a new parent, you may often have some background noise. For example, a TV or music on.
• Find a portable job. – Being able to take your work with you will help. Whether it is to a park, or even in bed, on the sofa, or in the nursery.  Not everyone has a laptop, but in this situation, it will be highly beneficial.
• Don’t choose a job that you need to do all in one go. – You are likely to have to get up and do some parenting at the least appropriate times. You are likely to need to get up and do something. Therefore, being able to pick up work as and when you can is a huge advantage.

Finding Jobs To Make Money On Maternity Leave

Of course, there are ways to save money while you are on maternity or paternity leave. However, this article is going to focus on making money. Depending on your level of skill, some jobs are better than others. Furthermore, some require a lot of planning. Others are easier to jump straight into. So, if you are looking at this before you are pregnant, you are in a better position than you are if you just had the baby.

Talk To Your Current Manager

The absolute first thing that you should do is talk to your boss. You already have a job there; you do not need to prove yourself capable of doing it, either. If there is any way that you can work from home, that should be your priority. However, not all jobs will allow it, and some are just not doable. So, if you can do your job remotely, then ask. What have you got to lose?

Freelance Writing

Freelance writing is one of the most flexible jobs that you can get. If you can use a laptop and write, this should be one of your first calls. There are numerous ways to get paid for writing. However, you will need to find the right one for you. If you feel like you would be better with a specific niche, you can find companies that will pay you for those. If you feel a little more adventurous, you can look for generic writing jobs. However, you need to be prepared for writing about almost any topic imaginable.

If you are already specialized in a subject, for example, tech, then you are likely to get a freelance writing job quickly. Furthermore, writing about something you are passionate about will make the job easier. The deadlines are often pretty generous, which means that you write when you can.

Transcribing

This job is not as well paid as writing, but it is somewhat more manageable if you do not have a way with words. It may not be the most popular job to do, but it will certainly give you some extra money on maternity leave. Ensure that you check the turnaround time that companies want before you take on the jobs, though. Some are pretty strict with needing transcribing done quickly. However, if you find one that provides you with good, clear audio, and a decent deadline, you can certainly make some extra money.

Blogging

Blogging is still a considerable way to make money. Furthermore, it allows you to set your own schedule, depending on your baby’s awake times. There can be a lot to learn in blogging, so make sure that you read up about it beforehand. However, you have a lot more freedom with topics and schedules than in any other job. When you are a blogger, you can write about anything that you like. Whether that is your experience in becoming a parent, or your love of cooking, even how you make your own greetings cards.

After you set up a blog, you can monetize it in various ways. Again, look into those options beforehand. If you are blogging about your own things that you make, you may well be able to sell them on your site. If you are concentrating on writing about your parenting ventures, you may be able to add affiliate links. Furthermore, you can use voice to type on your phone so that you can get ideas down onto virtual paper even while you are feeding.

Make Crafts

Making crafts can go hand in hand with blogging and making money on maternity leave. There is no end of things that you can make, and if you blog about them, you may get sales through your own site. If you do not want to blog, there are plenty of other places that you can sell. Online marketplaces are rife with people wanting to buy things, and if you make what they want, it is all money in your pocket.

There is no end to the things that you can make, so I won’t go into lists, but get creative. Furthermore, you can take custom orders to allow a little more versatility, and people will pay more for custom orders than “off the shelf” items. After a while, you may be inundated with orders, and have to create a queue!

Surveys

Perhaps you feel like you do not want to write, or you do not have the time. Furthermore, not all of us are the crafty type, me included. Some people enjoy taking surveys to get some extra income, and they are as flexible as you could ever wish for. If you are in one of the areas of the world that people want to get information about, then you may well have a lot of surveys available to you.

They do not take long, so you can do them wherever and whenever you get change. Most are mobile-optimized, too, so you don’t even need a laptop. There are thousands of survey sites on the internet; some offer cash, others provide points. But they all add up, so make sure that you read the terms well, and understand you know what you are going to get.

Sell Old Items

You probably already know that you will get, or have had the urge to declutter your home. You could take advantage of that by selling your old items for cash. Take the time to decide what you want and organize all of the things into categories. For example, clothes, DVDs, CDs, books, furniture; you can find places that will give you money for all of those things. Alternatively, you can sell them on the online marketplaces in the same way as the things that you make.

Make Money On Maternity Leave – Conclusion

If you have the time to do so, you should try to plan ahead for making money on maternity or paternity leave. However, that is not always viable. If you have the chance to prepare beforehand, you can start to get established in whatever choice you make. If you have done the same as most people, and you do not have the time to plan, then try an option to gain some quick income while you are planning another…