How a Stay at Home Dad Can Bring in Bacon

Posted By Ibropalic on Feb 19, 2017 | 0 comments

How To Earn An Income As a Stay at Home Dad

Major shifts in society and the workplace have dramatically changed the way people live and work. It was only a generation ago that the idea of the dad working a 9 to 5 job while the mom stayed home was the norm. Now, it’s different, and the number of stay at home dads is growing. Traditional gender roles are disappearing, and the parent who works is usually the one who has the most earning potential.

That isn’t to say that stay at home dads can’t do something to bring in some extra money or just to keep their minds occupied.  Regular jobs can be hard for both parents since they are bound by their kids’ schedule. Sure, they could put them in daycare, but that can be expensive to the point of costing more than what some part-time jobs pay.  It’s that reason that many dads’ turn to gig based work where schedules are more flexible, and the kind of work is sometimes related to their interests and hobbies.

Drive for a Rideshare Service

The rideshare business is overtaking traditional taxi services all across the world, and the core of this new model is the regular people with cars who want to make a little money on the side. There are several options for dads, including making money with Uber or Lyft. There are even services like HyreCar where instead of driving, users rent other people’s cars for the day – allowing the dad to stay home and work on other projects.

One side benefit of being in on the rideshare business is that it gives you a good reason to keep the family car clean. How many of us have gotten back from basketball or dance practice only to look at the back seat and say, “I’ll clean it out later.” Before you know it, it’s a landfill of fast food wrappers and Chex.

Handyman for Hire

Learning to fix things around the house is a rite of passage for dads. Either it’s a point of pride, or we are determined not to spend two hundred dollars to fix something when we can watch YouTube videos and fix it ourselves. A few of us have even gotten good at some of it.

If you’re a dad that can help paint a room, clean gutters, patch drywall, and other simple home repairs, there is a market for your skills. Several people ranging from the elder to the super busy need something fixed but don’t want to pay the pros big bucks for such a simple job.

The work can be easy to find. Search or post your services on craigslist, goLSN, and other venues as well. Going old fashioned and pinning fliers with your contact info and your exceptional skills on the bulletin board at the local supermarket can work wonders.

Handcraft

If you’re good with your hands and can build, design or detail, than do not let that talent go to waste. Society these days is tired of manufactured, monotanus products. First, most are not even well made, second most are not even made in the country. America is home to many resources. If you’re a carpenter by hobby, check out your local sustainable and reclaimed wood and materials shop. You can find all kinds of material to work with. This is an area where you will be in complete control of what you want to do and how you want to do it.

Freelance Write

Being a writer is not an easy feat. There has to be context and meaning in writing but if you have a talent to get a message across while providing your audience with a few interesting nuggets, than people and companies may need you.

One benefit the internet has created is a huge demand for content. Someone has to write these articles, right? There are several opportunities out there, from job boards like UpWork to random companies hiring writers off of Craigslist, LinkedIn, and Monster.com. If you’re talented in a few subjects, the web would love to hear your expertise, thoughts and experiences.

Conclusion

Remember that having a parent around when the kids come home from school is extremely beneficial to their well-being. America has lost the concept of how important it is in raising the next generation. Day cares have spawned up in every community and most parents work 40 hours a week, leaving the children in care for even longer than the parent’s full time work schedule. That’s a long day for a child.

So whether the roles have been reversed, just remember the priceless benefit to the children when a parent is around. Children grow up fast, so if it means cutting back on your expenses to have a parent stay at home, than go for it, just know there are ways to make a little extra money and contribute to the family.