How I’m going to make £1000 a month as a Mum working from home

Posted on 10:20pm Saturday 29th Apr 2017

Make £1000 per month from home

Are you curious about how to earn money working from home once you have children?

I left my job of ten years when on maternity with my first child five years ago and I'm now making over £1000 per month from home. I believe anyone can do it, even with young children to look after. I have worked part time jobs since having my two children, but I've just made a big, scary and rather exciting decision.

Read on to see what I've decided to do and how I plan on making £1000 per month from home around mum duties.

I have decided to leave the security of my part time job and go 100% self-employed.

Eek!

I’m mainly classed as self-employed already as it brings in the majority of my income, but I quite liked the security of an employed job ‘just in case’. It meant if I had a quiet month online I knew I had a few hundred pounds from my employed job as back up.

Things have got busier and busier the past few months and I’ve made a full time income from home for six months, so it seems the right time to take the scary leap and go 100% self-employed (again!)

I did go totally self-employed a couple of years ago, but I put all my eggs in one basket as they say! I only ran an online boutique so totally relied on this income alone. After taking eight months maternity with my son things looked great as I reopened during the Christmas period, but sales died down immediately after, so in March 2016 I quickly found a cleaning job in the evenings as a back up wage.

My shop really didn’t make too much money in the end. Before maternity leave I had sales of £2000 per month for a while, but out of this I only took home around 20%, so £400 if I was lucky. It was a lot of work to get those sales and a lot of sales as many items are under £5. After postage, packaging, advertising, eBay fees, website fees, PayPal fees and so on, there really wasn’t much profit to be made.

This time things are pretty different as I aim to have a variety of income streams. I am not relying solely on my shop and will only stock a smaller amount of 50-100 items rather than the 500 I used to stock. I do love selling online, but expect this to only bring in pence and not hundreds this time round!

Read all about why I changed my focus this year in my blog post Blog Income and Stats: January 2017 (and why I’m changing my focus this year)

So how will I make £1000 per month?

£500 = sponsored blog posts and reviews
£300 = matched betting
£100 = affiliate marketing and referrals
£50 = shop sales
£50 = mystery shopping

This is my target and it’s very modest. Since November 2016 I have already made over £1000 per month from home and my best month was £2300, so I know I can do it!

My best month was partly because of matched betting and doing lots of the sign up offers which are the most profitable, but this last month I have only been doing reload offers for existing customers and I’ve still made over £300. I’m impressed with this amount as two of the weeks were the Easter Holidays where the kids kept me on my toes and distracted me from betting as much as I’d have liked! I’ll share my final April matched betting profits next week.

£500 in blog post income has been my target this year and I’ve often doubled or even once tripled it, so I know this is achievable.

I’m not amazing at affiliate marketing and it’s all new to me, but last month I made £60 from one company and I’m set to make the same or more from them this month. Hopefully I can reach £100 per month and begin to learn how to increase this revenue stream as it’s so profitable for many bloggers.

I aim to make a modest £50 from my shop and £50 mystery shopping. If there are mystery shops to do and income is looking low then I will get out and do them as I’ll have to! I made £50 in one morning mystery shopping recently so this target should be easy to reach.

Having more than one income stream means if I don’t meet one of the above targets one month, I should hopefully be able to make up the difference from another source.

I titled this post ‘as a Mum’ to show it can be done with little ones. I have a two year old and four year old. My two year old goes to nursery and play group for 13.5 hours per week (4 mornings) and I have him with me the rest of the time. Up until now I was also working 3-5 evenings per week at my employed job, yet still managed to make an income from home. So it’s totally possible for anyone. If you don’t have kids you’ll be able to make even more!

I’m excited to start this next chapter and hope to make full time working from home a great success. Wish me luck!

Save

5 Things You MUST Do Before A Family Holiday *

Posted on 12:00pm Friday 28th Apr 2017

Don't forget these before boarding the plane!

Is there anything better than going on a holiday? What with all the sun, sea and sand it’s the perfect way to relax. That’s the good news. The bad news is that a holiday won’t go to plan if you don’t do the preparation, especially a family holiday. They are notorious for going off the rails, which is why you want to do everything possible to make sure it goes smoothly. Thankfully, you can with these tips.

Here are the five things you need to do before you board the plane.

Dig Out The Passport

‘Oh no, where’s my passport?!’ it’s the last thing you want to hear or say, but plenty of people do it on a yearly basis. The reason is that they assume everything is okay with their passport. Then, when they get to the check-in desk, they find out there is going to be problems. To prevent this clichéd pitfall, you just have to dig out your passport before you finalise the holiday. That way, you know that everything is fine and you will be able to get on the plane. Let’s face it – no one wants to book a vacation and find out their passport is expired.

Make Sure You Have All Of Your Documents

A passport is only the beginning. Before you land at your destination, you need to prove a few things. The first is that you have a return flight out of the country. It sounds simple, but you’d be amazed by how many people book a one-way trip. A good trick is to print off all the boarding passes and keep them in one place. The next box you need to tick is the visa. Do you need one? If so, contact your travel agents for advice and arrange one. Britons have had it easy because of Europe and Schengen, but far-flung countries have different requirements. Oh, and don’t forget a list of emergency contacts in case the worse happens. No one wants to be stuck in a foreign country if they lose their credit card and passport.

Arrange Transport

Going away is amazing, but getting to the airport is always hard work. You don’t want to miss your flight, which is why organising transport is a must. If you don’t plan on driving, pre-book a taxi that will take you straight to the terminal. Try and use a company you have previous experience of for extra security. Anyone that plans on driving to the airport needs two things. The first is a detailed map of the route so that you don’t get lost. The second is a parking spot in the airport car park. Whatever you do, don’t be late.

Go Shopping

Now it gets real! Shopping is a must before you go on holiday because you want to look your best. After all, you have waited for this moment for the past year. The thing is you don’t want to spend a fortune. The holiday itself is expensive, so there is little room for splashing the cash. Thankfully, the internet has your back with sites like Get the Label. These types of online retailers specialise in selling quality gear at low prices. And, they have clothes for all the family. With sites like these, there’s no need to buy clothes on the high street.

Secure The Home

While you’re away, the house is vulnerable. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but anyone can break in if they know no one is home. It’s not a nice thought, but it is one that you need mull over before you set off for the airport. Otherwise, you might come back to an empty property. Obviously, securing your home is essential, and it isn’t difficult either. An alarm is more than enough to keep burglars at bay and alert the neighbours. Some people even go as far as installing CCTV cameras because they scare thieves to death. Another tip is to ask a friend to keep an eye on the house. Ask them to draw and close the curtains, leave the lights on, and just watch out for anything suspicious. They can even stay there as long as they’re tidy and leave before you return!

Perfecting Your Summer Look *

Posted on 8:00am Friday 28th Apr 2017

Top tips for your skin, hair and clothes this summer

Summer is by far the best time of year for having fun with your look. You can embrace trends and wear the clothes you want without having to worry about keeping warm, or wearing practical footwear due to rain and snow!

With the hottest months of the year on the way, here’s how you can perfect your summer look.

Skin

Summer can be challenging when it comes to our skin. The sun’s rays combined with air con and being in and out of the pool or sea can lead to it feeling dry. But the last thing you want when it’s warm is to be piling on loads of greasy (albeit hydrating) moisturising products. To get around this, your best bet is to keep your daytime routine as light as possible. A light moisturiser, facial oil or serum will absorb quickly and sit under makeup without leaving your skin feeling clogged or looking oily.

Then at night, opt for something much richer. It will soak into your skin as you sleep, and you’ll wake up feeling baby soft. Adding face masks to your routine is a great way to give your skin a boost of hydration when it needs it. And a gentle exfoliator will scrub off any dead skin cells and leave your complexion looking much more fresh and vibrant. And of course, it goes without saying that SPF should be applied every day. Not only does the sun cause premature aging and age spots, but can cause cancer too. If this is something you’re concerned about, you could visit a site like SkinHealth UK.

Makeup

During the autumn and winter, it’s all about the dark and vampy reds, plums and burgundies for lips and even eyes. During the spring and summer, it’s a time to lighten it up and go with something far fresher and more natural. A light foundation or BB cream will give a little coverage while allowing your natural skin to show through. Perfect if you have a bit of a tan and your freckles have come out- show off your beautiful sun-kissed complexion!

Ditch the heavy contour, warm up the face with just a touch of illuminating bronzer on a big brush instead for a gorgeous bronzed goddess look. A neutral, light smokey eye with plenty of mascara will bring focus to your eyes and make you look bright-eyed and bushy tailed. For lips, go with a light pink or coral or something nude and neutral.

Fashion

Boho and festival fashion is always popular during the summer, and it’s something you can get on board with even if you’re not jetting off to Coachella! Cute denim shorts with an off the shoulder gypsy top is perfect for a casual summer day look. Finish with a fedora, a kaftan and gladiator sandals. If you want to get in a bit of that famous festival fringing, how about a fringed cross-body bag. Pop on your sunglasses, a statement necklace, and some stacked bangles, and you’re good to go.