Looking for a Second Income

I have been a stay-at-home mom to four girls for sixteen years. I have been so grateful that I have been able to do this, even when my husband's income was about one-fourth of what it is now. Truthfully, we were actually better off financially in our early years of marriage and raising kids. We had very little debt, we paid cash for all of our home repairs and improvements, we had a growing retirement fund, and we were saving a little bit every month for college. There was not a lot left over after the bills were paid, but we were okay. I treasure the time I have had being a full-time mom, but now with college looming in two years, and our savings depleted, and a mountain of debt to pay down, I am feeling the need to explore ways that I can add to our income.

I have a degree in International Studies from a competitive university, but I can't really use right now without going back and getting a masters in the foreign language I studied and then being willing to possibly travel to Europe for a job. Not happening. We have a special needs child who needs me and will need me in the future to be here caring for her. So a full-time job where I don't get home until 6:00 every evening would not be a good fit.

I have looked into getting a teaching certificate. What I would love to teach is high school English or history, but after talking to a public high school teacher recently, he said he puts in 70 to 80 hour days during the school year. Ouch. Not for me. So maybe I could teach elementary school, but that doesn't appeal to me as much. I love intellectual banter and as much as I love the grade school years, I think I would feel stifled.

Increasingly, I am exploring creative ways to make extra money from my home. I am looking into free-lance writing, and I have started two different books but haven't had enough focus to finish them. So I started investigating selling things on Ebay, but I want to be smart about it. I don't want to have to spend a lot of time and effort chasing down items that wouldn't fetch a lot of money. I have noticed that high-quality brand-new children's clothing at a discount seems to be a hot item, especially if packaged as outfits and in bulk. So I have started the process of finding things on sale at a deep discount and I will also look in consignment and thrift stores for items with the tags still dangling.

We will see how well I do at this. I do love to shop! But I would focus on a choosing clothing in sizes too small for any of my girls or nieces so I wouldn't be tempted to keep the stuff I am buying. I would love to make money at home instead of having to commit to something that might interfere with my commitment to my kids. I believe that being home when they are home after school and during the summer is a good thing. Kids get into trouble the most when they are left by themselves too much, and I wouldn't want to open the door to that.

Someday, when my kids don't need me as much (i.e. all in college or out) I would love to return to a full-time job, but who knows what the future will hold. I do know that I still have a lot to offer--I am not done yet!!

I stole some quarters from my jar today. Oh well, there is always tomorrow!