It doesn’t matter if you are looking for extra income, full time income, or just a way to stay at home while pregnant. There are so many side hustles out there that are suitable for pregnant moms, you are sure to find a couple off this list that you can start today.
Benefits of Starting a Side Hustle
A 2017 survey done by the US Department of Agriculture estimates that it costs in excess of $233,000 to raise the average American from birth to 18 years old. That is around $13,000 USD each year. And note, this doesn’t even cover the cost of their college education.Â
Whether you have nice maternity benefits or are a single mom, you will have to take time to care for yourself and your new baby for a couple months when they just get here. Either way, it will be good to have some extra income to help you through the entire process. Have you considered taking on a side hustle before? If you have but feel you don’t have the energy for that right now, just know that side hustles are very doable right now and you may be surprised as to how easily you can start doing one right now.Â
A side hustle can help you to:Â
- Stay home and care for your kidsÂ
- Earn money to pay for the added expenses of having a baby
- Be able to afford family vacationÂ
- Take up a new hobby you enjoy that pays you in good mental and emotional health plus moneyÂ
- Reduce feelings of isolation when you get to service customersÂ
- Be proud of starting your own business while pregnant
Working Your Side Hustle While Pregnant
I can understand how you can be wondering how you could start a side hustle during pregnancy. It’s normal to be concerned especially about if you are going to have the energy. But it can be done, and we are here to help you through it.Â
Here are a couple tips on how you can remain productive by managing your time while pregnant and working a side hustle.Â
First Trimester
If you are just finding out you are pregnant you may be surprised at the fatigue and the morning sickness can be a problem as well. The first trimester has its challenges but you can still get things done.Â
Use this trimester to get started. Do your research and any learning you need to get done to get you started on a strong footing. Just getting started and prepping for your side hustle is a step in the right direction which will take you closer to your financial goals.Â
If your work requires you to get in early you will want to get as much sleep as possible the night before. If you must stay up later you may need to squeeze in time for a nap during the day. Take a power nap if you can.Â
It’s very important you stay hydrated. Your body is going through a lot and dehydration can add to your feelings of fatigue. Water also helps to stave off morning sickness which will make your entire day better.Â
With a long to-do list you want to break it down into small tasks that can be easily achieved, this can motivate you to keep going through the list throughout the day. The more motivated you are, the more likely you will get it all done.
Second Trimester
Most moms love the second trimester as this is when they start feeling better, sometimes even seemingly overnight. In your second trimester you start feeling better, your energy levels go up and your morning sickness goes away. Whenever you start feeling like yourself you can beef up your side hustle efforts.Â
It’s go time! Take advantage of the energy you are feeling now. When are you feeling most awake? That is the time to get your work done! Sit down to get work done and as you get more accomplished you can feel motivated as your list gets shorter.Â
Make sure your loved ones know what your goals are, so they can help you with accountability.
Third Trimester
The home stretch, when your belly is the biggest it has been and ever will be. How do you get anything done carrying around all this extra weight? Your energy will take a nosedive around this time and you will have gained that famous penguin walk by now. If you followed the above advice, you would by now have established a foundation for your business and you may even have started making money.Â
Pay attention to your body, when do you feel like you have the most energy? Choose this time to do anything that needs to be done. Plan for maternity leave but don’t set any high expectations or goals, recovering is your main goal postpartum.Â
Now you know when to do what, let’s get into actual side hustles that you can start, maybe even today.Â
List of Side Hustles for Pregnant Moms
- ProofreadingÂ
If you find yourself constantly correcting grammatical and typographical errors in everything, then maybe you should become a proofreader. You can make money by proofreading online course material, blogs and even books.Â
2. Teach English Online
You can teach english online to foreign nationals. You can do this as a part of a program or you can do it one on one to people who want to learn from a native instead of using a software or app.Â
3. Child Care Provider
If you are up to entertaining or taking care of kids you can do this for a couple hours each day. You can find gigs on SitterCity or Care.com. Earning rates are different per hour and can range from $13 up.Â
4. Sell Your Stuff
There may be things lying around your house that can make you some money? You may be surprised at what you can find. Do you have purses, clothes, shoes, books, kids, toys, decorations and more in your home? Chances are you do and you can sell these for cold hard cash. Before you donate, try to sell some things locally, buy and sell groups or on the Facebook Marketplace etc.Â
5. Take SurveysÂ
There are lots of options in this category. While most of these don’t pay very well, you do have the opportunity to stumble onto a few high paying surveys if you fit the demographic. Check out PineCone Research, Inbox Dollars, SwagBucks and Survey Junkie to name a few.Â
6. Start an Online ShopÂ
Are you good at crafting? Or is there a digital tool you can create and sell? Why not start an online store? You have a lot of marketplaces to choose to sell from and if you choose a digital product you can sell this to anybody in the world!
7. Become a Transcriptionist
When you have some quiet time, instead of binging and napping, use this time for transcribing audio. You can find transcription jobs paying up to $20 per hour. If you have a medical or legal background you can make even more money. You have the freedom to work as much as or as little as you want.Â
8. Start Children’s Party Planning
With social distancing most people are keeping small parties at home nowadays. This means if you get into party planning the tasks won’t be too overwhelming. A busy mom who has to work and oversee homeschooling will gladly pay a fee for you to plan their party and may even pay you to purchase everything and have it shipped to their home, so the only thing they need to do is set up.Â
9. Rent Your Car
If you are not going out much you can use your car as a source of income. Rent it out occasionally to make some extra money. Just be sure to block off times and dates when you need to go to your appointments or make grocery runs etc.Â
You can rent your car by the day, week or even month. Go through a company like Turo who will of course get a cut of the money but at least there are some things you don’t have to deal with. It will be more like a passive source of income.Â
10. Use Rebate and Cashback Apps
These apps offer an easy way for you to earn money. You will be shopping anyway right? So get cashback on all those things you are going to purchase anyway. You can rebate on so many everyday things from cleaning supplies, groceries, toiletries and pet supplies plus more. Try Ebates, Ibotta, or Swagbucks for starters.Â
11. Start a Blog – Monetize It
If you have time to write and have a little bit of tech-skills you can start blogging. This will not be fast money but you can earn by the time the baby gets here or even before. You can monetize your blog by using affiliate marketing to promote products that you use and love.Â
12. Become a Social Media Manager
Social media has become very popular and continues to increase in popularity. Everybody who has a lot on their plate will want someone to manage their social media accounts and presence. It is even a very popular way to earn side hustle money as it can be done from anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.Â
13. Start a Small Catering ServiceÂ
Are you good in the kitchen? Why not start a small catering service. With people not eating out as much, they are ordering in and picking up food from regular restaurants. Do you have a unique twist you can add, a unique culture’s food to share? Why not make money while doing it.Â
14. Become an Online Juror
You can get paid to serve jury duty online. Check out companies such as Online Verdict, Jury Talk or eJury. You can get paid up to $60 for 20 minutes to an hour of work. For these jobs you get to review case information and you get paid for your time. The downside is that there is no guarantee as to how regularly you will get assigned a case.Â
15. Become a Virtual Assistant
If you enjoy doing office work you can find a lot of demand online for your skills. Small and large businesses alike need the services of Virtual Assistants. Check out Facebook groups for these types of jobs. Often the tasks necessary are just to check emails, to provide customer service, for online chat, to manage scheduling and appointment setting etc. You may find clients who want you to proofread, to do graphic design or even to do video editing. Working from the comfort of your home you can earn up to $35 per hour as a virtual assistant.Â
16. Start an Etsy ShopÂ
You can start an Etsy shop, there are a lot of success stories around Etsy shops. If you are creative and can make things at home, then you can sell these items on Etsy.Â
17. Start a Coaching Business
What are you passionate about or experienced in? You could coach others in this skill and earn some money from it. If you are an expert, people will want to get guidance from you to become an expert just like you. You can become a health coach, a fitness coach, a life coach and even a parent coach.Â
18. Sell Your Photos
Stock photo websites will allow you to sell your photos. Where do you think they get all these photos from? The best part is that you can list one photo and it can be sold to multiple people, if someone likes it they will have to pay to use it.Â
19. Become a Website Tester
You can get paid to test websites. Companies like Facebook, Adobe and Apple want to know what their users think, and they want to pay for your thoughts. You can find these through third party services such as UserTesting. You will complete a set of tasks, give your opinion then are paid for each 20 minute video you do.Â
20. Freelance Your Skill/Training or Education
We spoke about freelancing earlier on the list. Instead of coming up with a whole new skill, why not freelance in the area you are already educated and experienced in? That will make it easier to get into the market.Â
21. Write a Book
If you have an idea for a book you can write one and publish it with Amazon. You simply need to write and hit publish, it’s that simple.Â
22. Start a Youtube Channel
This one is super easy. We all have smartphones so you can start with that. Just start filming your day to day life. Choose one day per week to upload a video and you are set. While you will need 1000 subscribers and 4000 watch hours to start making money through Google Adsense you can promote your affiliate links through your videos and make money that way.Â
23. Pick up Odd Jobs
In the second trimester when your energy levels are good you can pick up odd jobs. Run errands for your friends and family member or pick any item from this list and do it one or two times. Â
24. Become a Delivery Driver
If you have the energy to drive around you could make some extra money a couple hours per day doing food delivery. Especially now with everybody staying home more.Â
25. Make Money on Pinterest
You can make money on Pinterest through affiliate marketing and you can use it to drive traffic to your blog or ecommerce site.Â
26. Become a House Sitter
You can get paid to take care of someone’s house while they are away. Some may want you to actively be in their home the entire time while others may just want you to check in once or twice per week.Â
27. Sell Printables
You don’t have to be a graphic designer to sell printables. You can outsource the design work and then just sell the printables online. Find out what kind of printables are in demand and find a designer to design one for you. Then you can resell this for years to come and make a profit off one design job.Â
28. Walk Dogs
When your energy levels are high, why not take your furry friend out for a walk. You may meet others and can spread the word that you are offering the services.Â
29. Build Your Own Subscription Box
Got a passion for beauty, food or anything in between? Is there a subscription box you like but it’s lacking in one area? Why not be the solution to your own problem, you may not be the only one. Start that subscription box and get to selling.Â
30. Try Online Tutoring
With online tutoring you can teach our skills on Udemy or Skillshare. You can teach anything. Here is a list of topics you can teach online:Â
Makeup & BeautyÂ
Arts & Craft
OrganizationÂ
Productivity
Nutrition and WellnessÂ
MusicÂ
Meditation and moreÂ
It doesn’t matter if there is a course or multiple courses on a particular topic. Just look for ways to make your course unique and you can set yourself apart from the competition.Â
31. Become an Influencer
The income potential in this category depends on engagement rates and the size of your following. If you often post and have a good following you can start to monetize that. Companies know that influencers have a huge impact on their followers buying decisions, and so they like to leverage influencer advertising.Â
32. Start a Mommy and Me Class
What did you do before becoming a mommy? Were you a fitness instructor, a swimming instructor etc? Why not now create mommy and me classes for other moms in your area?
33. Be a StylistÂ
Are you good at putting an outfit together? You can be a stylist! You can do this in person or even virtually, you just need to get yourself out there where people are looking to find a stylist.Â
34. Assemble Furniture
So of course for this it has to be smaller items that you will be able to maneuver yourself safely. But it is a viable option.Â
35. Become a Pet Groomer
If you love animals and are up for it you could make money as a pet groomer. Check out local ads in your area and you may be able to find jobs for pet sitting as well.Â
36. Do Clothing AlterationsÂ
Are you good with sewing machines? Or even good at sewing with your hands? Then you can offer clothing alteration services for which people can pay you.Â
37. Advertise on Your Car
Ever seen those vehicles with wraps? They get paid to advertise on their cars. Oh! You thought they were all business owners and employees? Well, you thought wrong. Turn your car` into a mobile ad and get paid. Imagine driving around doing deliveries while also having an ad wrap on your car – double the money with one physically demanding task.Â
38. Build an App
Don’t skim through this one, you don’t have to have the ability to actually build the app. You just need to have the idea for the app. You can outsource the actual building of the app and then once it’s done you can sell it or you can offer it for free within app purchases.Â
39. Rent out Equipment/Tools You Have on Hand
Do you have any tools or equipment you are not using actively that you can rent? Then do that, choose what you want to offer and start listing items for rental use.Â
40. Watch Videos
Yes you read that right, you can watch videos and earn money from that.Â
41. Start a T-Shirt Drop Shipping Business
The best part of this is that you don’t have to physically create a t-shirt and you don’t have to keep your own inventory. There is also no need to do your own shipping etc. Simply design a t-shirt that is trendy and that people will want to buy and market it to the masses. You will be collecting money easily over time without lifting a finger.Â
42. Refer Friends and Make Money
Most retailers offer referral rewards, so if you refer a qualifying purchase you can get a kickback. Sometimes this is just credit to their store, but at least you can use it to get back something in the future. Some stores do offer cold hard cash so you can look out for those.Â
43. Mystery Shop
This is a fun way to make money. You literally get paid to shop.Â
44. Sell Your College Notes
Recently out of college? there are current college goers who’d love your notes. If you were an avid note-taker, organized and well written, you can sell your notes.Â
45. Breed Animals
Have any exotic pets? Could you breed them and sell? Do your research and see if this is a possibility where you live.Â
46. Become a Brand Ambassador
If you have an outgoing and friendly personality you could work as a brand ambassador and earn $20 or more per hour. These jobs tend to be very flexible and they are great for unemployed individuals. If you get on with a brand that is about pregnancy, maternity or motherhood that would be even better.Â
 47. Write a Recipe Book
If you love to cook and love to make your own variation of recipes, then you could make your very own recipe book. Take pictures of your items and publish your book and make it available through amazon.Â
48. Flip Furniture
Any old raggedy furniture you are thinking of leaving out on the curb, why not spruce it up and put it up for sale? With just a small investment you can make some money instead of simply throwing an item of furniture out.Â
49. Offer Organizing Services
If you love organizing you could sell your services, not everyone likes to do this work themselves. If you are always getting compliments about your perfectly organized pantry etc you can start a side hustle as a professional organizer. Start by asking friends and family if they would be willing to pay and then go from there.Â
50. Do Taxes
Are you an accountant or have experience doing taxes? Many people want help with their taxes and want a human and not a software. Try to advertise your services prior to tax season so you can get some offers in and may even be able to charge a retainer.Â
Conclusion
This is not an exhaustive list, but I’m pretty sure you had a couple aha moments as you went through our list. Do you have any other ideas on ways to make extra income while pregnant? Share them, we’d love to hear how you make some extra bucks while pregnant, and a noter mama may benefit from your ideas as well.
Cris
