Going off work to have a baby doesn’t mean you have to stop being creative. It doesn’t mean you simply have to rely on the maternity leave payments your business may give you. They don’t last long and you may want to take extended maternity leave too! If finances are a worry, you might be asking “How can I make extra money while on maternity leave?”
What You Earn Will Need To Be Declared
If you are going to make any serious money whilst on maternity leave, you will need to declare it. That means filing a self assessment tax return. You are entitled to earn up to £1000 without informing the tax man, but for anything above that, said tax man will be looking for his cut! Before you start setting anything up, figure out if it is worth your time, or if that time would be better spent doing something else. Also ensure that you have all the benefits coming in that you are entitled to. Taking maternity leave should put your newborn as your priority, however you can still use any slices of spare time here and there to keep baby brain at bay and bring in some cash.
How Can I Make Extra Money While On Maternity Leave?
Let’s look at some answers to the question you are here to ask. How can I make extra money whilst on maternity leave? There are actually more answers than you might think about!
Offer Freelance Services
Whatever you do for a living, is there a market for you to offer those services on a freelance basis? Check your current work contract, you might not be able to under your employer rules. However for those who can, you can utilise the skills you already have and build up a client base doing this from home. Maybe it’s graphic design, perhaps it’s transcribing one language into another. Whatever it is, there will be companies and small businesses out there who want to take advantage of your abilities without having to pay a full time employee. You never know, by the end of your maternity leave, you may have enough clients and child care to avoid going back to your day job.
Buy & Sell
There are so many people who buy things cheap and sell them on at a profit. What could you do? Maybe you know what certain groups of people want? Perhaps you can spot trends before they take off? Getting products at the best price and selling them on at a profit can be great for your bank balance. Use platforms like eBay to gain a nationwide audience as well as local people you can drop off products to by using Facebook Marketplace. You might find yourself on Facebook a lot, connecting with other new Mums in groups. Maybe they could be your target market for baby products that you absolutely swear by? How about creating your own products and selling them on? Bath products, candles, handcrafted goodies and a brand that people will love buying into?
Online Tutoring
Do you have skills or knowledge that other people want? The world of tutoring has opened up and embraced going online. No longer do tutors have to offer face to face appointments and commute from house to house, neighbourhood to neighbourhood. Logging onto video chat software and teaching people how to speak French can be great. Maybe to play the piano, or how to set up a website on WordPress. If you have knowledge to share, people will pay you for it.
Document Your Mum Journey
The world of Mums is huge and there are so many popular Mum bloggers and influencers out there, making great money from their Mum journey. Could you do this. Use platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook to post videos, grow your audience and add content to your own blog. It might give you something to focus on during those difficult 2am feeds. It might inspire other struggling Mums. You never know, it could become an outlet that turns into a brand new career!
Set Up A New Business
Did you know that many businesses are set up whilst parents are on maternity leave? Having the money coming in whilst being out of the office allows people to become creative. A new challenge, parenting, can even open your eyes to niche markets where a business could thrive. What would you set up as a business? Maybe something you have stumbled across on your new journey or perhaps an idea you’ve always had in the back of your mind. A new baby can make you want to get a better work life balance and running your own small business from home will allow you to set your own hours and actually be there for your kids on the school run. You are a Mumpreneur in the making!
These are just a handful of answers to the question of “How can I make extra money while on maternity leave?” Be creative, think about ways that you can earn cash in this new chapter of your life. Above all though, enjoy every moment you can with this new little bundle of joy. It’s a cliché, but they really do grow up so fast!
