If someone told you that you have to break your back to make money as a stay at home mom, then boy, are they wrong! It's 2025 and we are living in different times. 

With the AI bubble growing and so many online opportunities coming up, it's never been easier to make money online. The unfortunate truth is that although real, genuine opportunities exist, there are also a lot of scams out there. 

You don't want to waste your time chasing the wrong jobs only to be disappointed in the end and not get paid. So, to help you out, we've done extensive research and made a list of the best and most genuine ways you can make money online as a SAH mom.

These are all real things and they are not going to take too much of your time. You don't have to pay to earn or invest anything to get started. No hidden fees, no sneaky side terms or anything.

Keep reading our guide and we will tell you how to make money as a stay at home mom.

What Skills Do You Need to Make Money as a SAH Mom?

When you're ready to make money as a stay at home mom, you don't need to be an expert in every field. However, building a few core skills will help you succeed across different opportunities. The good news is that most of these skills can be learned for free through online resources.

Communication and Customer Service

Clear communication matters whether you're managing clients, handling customer inquiries, or promoting products. Stay at home moms who can write clear emails, respond quickly to messages, and handle problems calmly tend to earn more and keep clients longer. You don't need fancy language—just honest, straightforward communication works best.

Basic Marketing and Social Media Skills

If you understand how to post on Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok, you're already ahead. You'll need to know how to write captions that get clicks, pick good photos or videos, and engage with your audience. These basic skills help whether you're promoting affiliate products, your own services, or building a personal brand.

Time Management

Juggling kids and making an income requires you to work smarter, not harder. You'll need to set realistic work hours, prioritize tasks, and batch similar work together. Many stay at home moms work during school hours or early mornings before their kids wake up.

How Much Money Can You Make as a Stay at Home Mom?

Your earning potential depends on which methods you choose and how much time you invest. Most stay at home moms make between $200 to $2,000 per month by combining multiple income streams. Some earn less in the beginning, while others who build established businesses or side hustles earn significantly more.

Quick Money Gigs

Plasma donation, surveys, and app testing typically pay $50 to $300 per month. These don't require you to build anything or wait for results—you get paid quickly. However, these gigs cap out at a certain income level.

Medium-Income Streams

Virtual assistance, freelance writing, and tutoring generally pay $300 to $1,000 per month once you build clients. These take more effort to set up but provide steadier income than quick gigs.

Higher-Income Opportunities

Dropshipping, affiliate marketing, and content creation can generate $500 to $5,000+ per month, but they require upfront work before you see money. You're building something that works over time rather than trading hours for dollars.

How Much Time Do You Need to Work as a SAH Mom

One of the biggest advantages of these income methods is flexibility. You don't need to work 40 hours a week to make meaningful money.

Minimal Time Commitment (5-10 hours per week)

Plasma donation, surveys, and passive affiliate marketing require less hands-on time. You can donate plasma twice a week (about 2-3 hours per visit), complete surveys during nap time, and let affiliate links work in the background once they're set up.

Part-Time Hours (10-20 hours per week)

Virtual assistance, freelance writing, and online tutoring fit nicely into part-time schedules. You can work during school hours or when your partner watches the kids in the evenings.

Building a Business (15-30 hours per week)

Dropshipping and content creation require more initial time to set up, but they offer better long-term income potential. Once your store or content channel is running, the hours become more flexible.

Free Productivity Tools and Apps that Can Help Stay at Home Moms

You don't need paid software to start. These free tools help stay at home moms manage their work, track income, and stay organized.

• Google Calendar – Schedule your work blocks, donation appointments, and client calls in one place
• Canva – Create graphics for social media posts or digital products without design experience
• Trello – Keep track of projects, deadlines, and client tasks with a simple visual system
• Grammarly – Write better emails and content with grammar and tone suggestions
• CapCut – Edit videos for content creation or social media without spending money
• Google Docs – Write and share documents with clients; everything saves automatically
• Mailchimp – Build an email list and send newsletters to your audience for free up to 500 contacts
• Buffer – Schedule social media posts ahead of time so you're not posting manually all day

12 Great Ways to Make Money for Stay at Home Moms

Here is a list of the best ways to make money as a stay at home mom in 2025:

1. Donate Plasma

Plasma donation is one of the most straightforward ways for stay at home moms to earn money. It's a real gig, not some side hustle fantasy—you literally get paid each time you donate. A 37-year-old stay at home mom from Indiana shared how plasma donation became a steady income stream, especially helpful during slower months of her husband's seasonal work.

You can donate plasma twice a week at most centers. Each donation takes about 1-2 hours, and new donors typically earn $100 for their first two donations, then $50-$65 for subsequent donations. Over two weeks, that's roughly $330 if you donate twice each week. Regular donors can earn $200-$400 monthly depending on their location and center promotions.

Before you go, eat a protein-rich meal, drink plenty of water, and avoid caffeine. These steps help you pass the health screening and avoid deferrals. You'll need to bring ID, proof of address, and proof of Social Security number. Be honest about your health history—plasma centers take safety seriously.

Plasma centers in the US include CSL Plasma, Grifols, BioLife, and others. Check the CSL Plasma or Grifols website to find locations near you and their current compensation rates.

2. Freelance Writing and Content Creation

If you can write, you have a real income opportunity. Businesses need blog posts, product descriptions, email copy, and social media content. Stay at home moms with writing skills can charge $25-$100 per article depending on their experience and niche.

Start by building a simple portfolio with 3-5 writing samples. Post your work on Medium to show potential clients what you can do. Pitch directly to small business owners, coaches, and e-commerce stores in niches you understand. Many small businesses don't have the budget for agencies but will pay a freelancer $300-$500 per month for regular content.

Use platforms like Upwork or Fiverr to find your first clients, then move toward direct contracts that pay better rates.

3. Virtual Assistance

Virtual assistants handle administrative tasks for business owners—scheduling, email management, data entry, customer service, and social media posting. The demand is high, and many stay at home moms already have the organizational skills this job requires.

Entry-level virtual assistants earn $10-$20 per hour. As you get more experienced and specialize (like handling customer service or bookkeeping), you can charge $20-$50 per hour. Many stay at home moms build a client roster earning $800-$2,000 per month.

Platforms like Upwork, Freelancer, and Belay connect you with businesses looking for help. Specialized VA companies like Time Etc and Wing Assistant hire and train virtual assistants, handling the client-finding part for you.

4. Online Tutoring

Parents constantly search for tutors to help their kids with school subjects, test prep, or language learning. If you have teaching experience or deep knowledge in a subject, online tutoring pays well and works around your schedule.

Tutors typically earn $15-$50 per hour depending on the subject, student level, and your experience. Math and science command higher rates. Platforms like Preply and Chegg match tutors with students. You can also advertise locally on Facebook groups and Nextdoor.

The best part is you control your schedule completely. You can take on 5 students or 25 students—it's entirely up to you.

5. Dropshipping

Dropshipping lets you run an online store without holding inventory. You set up a store, customers order products, your supplier ships directly to them, and you keep the profit. This is one of the best ways to make money from home as a woman without significant upfront costs.

The process works like this: customer places an order in your store → you buy from your supplier at wholesale price → supplier ships to customer → you keep the difference. Typical profit margins range from 20-50% per product.

To start, you need a basic e-commerce store (Shopify, WooCommerce, or Wix), a reliable supplier, and simple marketing. Many stay at home moms earn $500-$2,000 monthly from dropshipping once they find winning products and drive consistent traffic.

To make money with dropshipping, you'll want a quality supplier platform. 

Why Use Spocket?

Spocket specializes in US and EU dropshipping suppliers, which means faster shipping times and better quality products than typical AliExpress suppliers. Spocket has over 100 million+ trending dropshipping products, verified and vetted suppliers, no minimum order quantities, and allows you to order samples. 

They offer a 7-day free trial on Dropshipping plans with huge savings. You get automated inventory management, one-click product imports, and integration with Wix, Amazon, and other major platforms. Spocket also offers print-on-demand customization and branded invoicing if you want to build your brand. Over 500K+ entrepreneurs worldwide trust Spocket.

6. Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing means you promote other companies' products and earn a commission on sales. You're not selling anything yourself—you're recommending products you genuinely like and getting paid when someone buys through your link.

These hobbies that make money for stay at home moms start small. You might earn $20-$100 in month one. But once you build an audience and create solid content, affiliate marketing becomes passive income. Many stay at home moms earn $300-$1,500 monthly through affiliate links on their blogs or social media.

Which Affiliate Programs to Join?

Join affiliate programs from companies you already use—Amazon Associates pays 1-10% commissions, ShareASale has thousands of brands, and specialized programs like ClickBank pay up to 70% on digital products. Write blog posts, create YouTube videos, or post on Instagram about products your audience needs. Include your affiliate links in each piece. Spocket affiliates also pays well.

The key is being honest. Recommend things you actually use and believe in. Your audience can tell the difference between genuine recommendations and spam.

7. Start a Blog or YouTube Channel

Building a blog or YouTube channel takes time upfront, but it becomes one of the best long-term income sources. You earn money through ads, affiliate links, sponsorships, and selling digital products.

A blog with 5,000 monthly visitors might earn $200-$500 from ads alone. Add affiliate links and sponsored posts, and income grows quickly. Many stay at home mom bloggers earn $1,000-$5,000+ monthly once their audience is established.

YouTube follows a similar model. You need 1,000 subscribers and 4,000 watch hours to enable monetization. Before hitting those thresholds, you can earn through affiliate links in your video descriptions and brand sponsorships.

Choose a niche you care about—parenting, budgeting, productivity, business, fitness, whatever. Create consistent content, optimize for search engines, and grow your audience steadily.

8. Sell Digital Products

Digital products like ebooks, templates, printable planners, and online courses don't require inventory. You create them once and sell them repeatedly. Profit margins are 90%+ since there's no production cost.

A stay at home mom can spend one week creating a parenting ebook, then sell it on Gumroad, Etsy, or Amazon Kindle for years. Planners, checklists, budgeting templates, and productivity guides sell well. Some stay at home moms earn $1,000+ monthly from just a few digital products.

9. Pet Sitting and Dog Walking

If you like animals, pet sitting and dog walking pay cash quickly. Dog walkers typically earn $10-$20 per walk. Pet sitters charge $25-$60 per visit depending on your location and services.

Apps like Rover and Care.com connect pet owners with sitters. You can also build a local client base through Facebook groups and Nextdoor. Once you have regular customers, it's steady part-time income with flexible hours.

10. Online Surveys and App Testing

Surveys and app testing won't make you rich, but they provide easy money during your downtime. You complete surveys, test apps or websites, and get paid small amounts—typically $0.50-$5 per survey.

Platforms like Survey Junkie, Swagbucks, and UserTesting offer various tasks. The work is simple and requires no skills. Many stay at home moms earn $50-$200 monthly from surveys while watching kids or during breaks.

11. Offer Services as a Home Salon

If you have skills in hair, nails, or makeup, offering services from home can generate solid income. A nail tech makes $15-$30 per manicure. Hair services pay more depending on your skills. Building regular clients leads to steady monthly income.

Start by offering services to friends and family. Build a portfolio of your work, then advertise through Facebook, Instagram, or local business directories. Many stay at home moms earn $500-$2,000 monthly running a home salon.

12. Teach English Online

Non-native English speakers worldwide pay for English lessons. Companies like VIPKid, Cambly, and iTalki connect you with students. You need a stable internet connection and a quiet space.

Most platforms pay $14-$22 per hour. You choose your own schedule and work as much or as little as you want. Many stay at home moms earn $200-$1,000 monthly teaching English.

Government Money for Stay at Home Moms

Some stay at home moms qualify for government assistance programs. These aren't "ways to make money," but they help with expenses:

• Child Tax Credit – Up to $2,000 per child under 17 (eligibility varies by income)
• Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) – Tax credit for low-income families; you can receive money even if you owe no taxes
• WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) – Provides food assistance if you qualify
• SNAP (Food Stamps) – Provides food assistance based on income
• Childcare Subsidies – Some states help pay for childcare, freeing up money for other expenses

Check your state and federal benefits websites to see what you qualify for. These programs exist specifically to help families, and there's no shame in using them.

Dirty Ways to Make Money (That Still Count)

When money is tight, some stay at home moms get creative with income sources that might not seem glamorous but actually work:

• Sell items you no longer need – Post clothing, toys, and furniture on Facebook Marketplace or Poshmark. Many stay at home moms make $200-$500 monthly from decluttering
• Babysitting or nanny work – Earn $15-$25 per hour watching neighborhood kids
• House sitting – Pet owners often pay $30-$100 per day for someone to watch their home and pets
• Seasonal work – Retail stores hire heavily during holidays; you can work part-time November through December and earn $1,000+
• Cleaning services – Charge $50-$150 per house cleaning, working a few houses per week
• Yard work and seasonal services – Rake leaves, shovel snow, or power wash driveways for $50-$200 per job

Common Mistakes to Avoid for SAH Moms Making an Income Online

Stay at home moms trying to earn money often make these mistakes:

• Spreading yourself too thin – Don't try every income method at once. Pick 2-3 that align with your skills and schedule. Master those before adding more.
• Expecting instant results – Building income takes time. Your first month might generate just $50-$100. Give each method 2-3 months before deciding if it works for you.
• Not tracking your income and expenses – Even for hobby-based income, track what you earn and spend. This matters for taxes and helps you identify what's actually working.
• Failing to communicate boundaries – If you're working from home, your family needs to respect your work time. Set clear hours and expectations so you can be productive.
• Ignoring taxes – Income from gigs, freelancing, and selling is taxable. Set aside 25-30% of earnings for taxes or make quarterly estimated tax payments if you earn over $400 annually.

Conclusion

Stay at home moms have real options for making money that fit their lives and schedules. Whether you choose how to earn money as a stay at home mom online through plasma donation for quick cash, freelancing for steady part-time work, or building a dropshipping business with Spocket for long-term income, the opportunities are there. 

The idea is to pick gigs that match your skills and time availability, staying consistent, and not expect overnight success. Start with one or two income streams, build them up, then expand. With patience and effort, you can make $500-$2,000+ monthly while staying home with your kids.