Want to be a SAHM

Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but we currently have a 2 year old and are expecting identical twin boys in June. Financially we can not have one income and I am desperately trying to come up with ideas to stay at home with my kiddos. One of my biggest ideas is to launch a website and run an online consignment shop out of my house. We have more than enough space, time is my biggest concern! My question is if any of you had something like this in your area, would it even appeal to you?

Any ideas on other ways to make honest money and stay home with the family?

Thanks for all responses.

sarah

 

I'm currently a stay at home wife ... but I would love to work at home these next few months to bring in some extra income ... so any ideas from other ladies would be helpful.

My best advice to becoming a sahm ... cut out everything you don't need. It really is doable. Sell stuff you don't need, get rid of cable, start shopping at Walmart (and price match), use wic, unplug everything that doesn't need plugged in (you'll be surprised when you see your electric bill), get a clothes line, get rid of pets (they're expensive to feed and to take to the vet).... I know it sounds crazy, but you have to be focused when you really want something. You can do it momma!

As far as launching a website to have consignment ... I think it would be hard to get good traffic flow ... but I know a lot of people buy kids clothes off ebay (at least the name brands)!

Best of luck to you!

 

I think that'd be a brilliant idea! But I'll tell ya.. it's a lot of work. Simply getting the website up and running with your items will not be enough. You'll need to dedicate a lot of time to advertise your website and actually get it out there. You can post flyers locally advertising it, or you can find some amazing work-at-home-moms networks and sites (plenty of those out there!) with a plethora of information that could assist you with this endeavor! It's definitely doable and with the economy today, it's something that would be very welcome, I think. If you get it launched, definitely let me know!

Not sure if I am allowed to post other websites here, but I do have a good site recommendation for work at home mom support and info. Feel free to PM me.

 

I have friends that do this on ebay and they do a pretty large business. They selected a market (for them it's team sports clothing - i.e, yankees, redsocks, etc.) They purchase at Walmart, clearence sales, etc. and then put it up on ebay. They also watch for when the big concerts come to town (the ones that always sell out - think Hillary Duff, Taylor Swift, Jonas Brothers, etc.) and they get all their family trying to buy tickets and then they sell them for profit on ebay.

It works great for them - the only problem is that you have to have some cash flow - they do their on credit and have enough volume that they can pay it off.

If you have a 401K, you can always borrow against it and the interest you pay is minimal - and you pay yourself. This can help pay down your credit cards if that's an issue.

good luck on this. I think now with triplets as well as our almost 2 year old, DH is going to have to stay home. I so wish it could be me, but I make a lot more than he does. The other option is that we kept DS out of daycare by my DH switching to the night shift. It's been tough on our marriage, but we're committed to each other and to being home with our son, so it's worked out. I just don't think DH can handle 4 high maintenance kiddos on a couple of hours of sleep. :winking:

 

I do this but sell on ebay and let me tell you it is a lot of work. I mean A LOT! I can only put new stuff up on the weekends because that is the only time my DH is here to watch the girls. Right now, I am a SAHM and we both are still attending school. We have cut out so much...we use WIC and currently applied for food stamps. the only stuff that sells really well on ebay is name brands like gymboree, children's place, saks...stuff like that. it's hard to make good money on there and there is a huge market; very competitive. it's worth it though if you have help! good luck!

 

im a sahm too and its hard trying to keep a float but like many people have said cut out things that you don't honestly need .. I watch kids to be able to stay at home with my little guys im sure you will find some way

 

QUOTE(h2believe @ Apr 30 2009, 09:50 AM) [snapback]1294993[/snapback]
I think that'd be a brilliant idea! But I'll tell ya.. it's a lot of work. Simply getting the website up and running with your items will not be enough. You'll need to dedicate a lot of time to advertise your website and actually get it out there. You can post flyers locally advertising it, or you can find some amazing work-at-home-moms networks and sites (plenty of those out there!) with a plethora of information that could assist you with this endeavor! It's definitely doable and with the economy today, it's something that would be very welcome, I think. If you get it launched, definitely let me know!

Not sure if I am allowed to post other websites here, but I do have a good site recommendation for work at home mom support and info. Feel free to PM me.



I would love to see the website you mentioned....

 

QUOTE(MellySue @ Apr 30 2009, 12:07 PM) [snapback]1295126[/snapback]
I would love to see the website you mentioned....


Don't want to violate any terms of use for twinstuff so I am not sure if it's OK to post the link, so I PMed you!

 

I am mostly a SAHM.... we have a two year old. We left the Bay Area of CA, to live way up north in CA.... took a DRASTIC pay cut but so far we are able to do it. We had to cut out all the extra's like dinners out weekly, random binge shopping, etc.... WE still have enough for the occasional treat, but money is tight. On the flip side, I am raising my daughter and soon to be twins too, not some random person at a day care facility.

I do some work periodically throughout the year for extra money. I did Ebay stuff for a while, but that takes a lot to actually turn a profit. I did taxes for H & R block this tax season, and that earned me a couple thousand to help out with bills and stuff... There are lots of short term jobs, filler positions, you could try while your hubby has the kids.

 

Hullo!

I'm currently a stay at home wife, after being laid off from my programming job in December. With twins coming, we decided to just ride it out, because we are blessed enough that hubby makes enough to support us on his own, with an incredibly stable job.

Other things to brain storm about.
Do you have any skills? Could you teach music lessons? Knitting classes, scrapbooking, cake making - Joanns and Micheals I see advertising for teachers all the time - you could probably schedule for when hubby is home to watch babes. Our local community college does "non credit courses" like this, too - you could teach whatever interested you - we have them from genealogy to chinese language to basic digital cameras to freezer meals... on and on and on.
If you're able, you could tutor math, or a foreign language, etc from within your home.
Any creative skills? Graphics design can bring in a bit of cash flow, and again - a lot of it is finding your niche. Do you do simple banners for mommy blogs? How about shop logos for etsy shops or the like? Design small ads for indie shops?
You could try stock graphics or photography, but I'm not sure how well that pans out. It's worth a shot, though, I think.
You can write your own knitting/crochet/sewing patterns and sell them on Ravelry or etsy or your own website - this is nice, because aside from the initial time investment, you don't have to make too much of an effort for future sales. (Examples: http://www.parksbird.com/ and http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/store/ for sewing)
If you can learn HTML or a bit of programming you can do lots, and there are free resources everywhere. I know it's not really fair, because this is my 'field' - but I've been teaching myself iPhone programming and Google's Android platform. If you can release a simple 99 cent iPhone app, I imagine it could get some residual cash flow. Android is similar, and everything you'd need for it is free, and they've got tutorials that are fantastic (plus, it's newer, so you could get in before lots of competition.)
Or if you know the HTML, you can design ebay templates, or blog templates for wordpress or blogger - even if you give these away for free, they drive traffic to your site for other purposes, like advertising your own ebay stuff.


Ebay isn't a bad idea. My best advice there is to know what things are worth, and have a sort of cut off where it's not worth it to list, to get just a dollar from it. I've been selling things here and there as we dig them up and determine I don't want them in the house!! This week it's a grouping of salt & pepper shakers, and a 4 year old PDA. Also... know what stuff will cost to ship. We sold a printer once, and left a $25 allotment for shipping, and then someone from Alaska bought it! It was going to cost $60 to ship through UPS, but with the lowest/slowest version from the post office, it was about $32. We still "lost" but it could've been a more expensive lesson than it ended up being!! Hoard boxes and paper and the like.

So sorry if that was wordy. I just wanted to toss ideas up against the wall and see if anything stuck. I think it's a totally valid desire you're expressing, and I think you can do it!

 

:youcandoit: I was a teacher and even tried to teach while pregnant, but was in too much pain. We really cut back on our spending and paid off as much debt as we could before the babies arrived. We own both of our cars so it saves us $250-300 a month for each car. I bargain shop for EVERYTHING. Craigslist is a great place to buy and sell childrens items. Everything I bought from there I have sold for the same price, if not $5 more. As for work, can you take in another child to watch? Maybe one your 2 yr old could play with. Also calculate how much $ you will safe when you don't have to pay for 3 in daycare. You've gotten great advice and I hope you are able to do it!

 

After my son was born I stayed at home with him for two years and I loved it, I cant imagine leaving a new baby at daycare and we dont have any family around that could take care of them while we work, Plus with three soon it will cost me more than I make to put them in daycare so I will be staying at home once again. I am nervous about it financially but I dont see any other way since I simply dont make enough and my DH works 60+ hours a week so working oposite schedules would be insane. We get WIC, masshealth and I plan to apply for foodstamps once I stop working, and my parents are awsome when it comes to the kids they are always picking up clothes and toys and such so its a huge help. I havent been selling on ebay for the last 8-9 months or so mainly because this pregnancy has me completely exhausted but that is what I did when I was home with my son, granted it was probably easier to do with one than with two but I would list things a few times a week while he was napping, have the free boxes and labels the USPS has shipped to my house so I could pack things up at home, and take big trips to the post office once or twice a week either really early or late when DH or grammy was around and use there self automated shipping system that was open 24hours. It is alot of work and it was easier when my son was really young because sitting him in his swing for a little while wasn't a problem and now because he is ok playing by himself but those 1-2 years where hard because they always want your attention and the nap time could be filled with so much to-do's. I never made a huge income on ebay but DH pays the rent and the bills so I did make enough for us to have a night out here and there, or go out to eat once a week, and it was nice not having to ask DH for $$$ if I needed a outfit or something. My thinking is I dont give anything away anymore, I have a storage closet filled with my sons clothes dont fit, toys, my stuff that I will never where again, some things I've come across at yard sales for 50 cents and I sell it on ebay (if there not brand name lot them together and they sell good), if something doesn't sell on ebay or is to big to try to ship I bring it to the local thrift/concignment shop childrens orchard and sell the stuff to them....basically I dont give away anything i could make some money on. Also if you join a twin club they have huge flea markets twice a year that you can get a table at and I know people that have made close to $700 just with clothes. I would try ebay first before launching your own site, it's less overhead cost and easy to jump into.