Have you been there? The frightening crunch where you need to make money but dont want to leave your child with strangers.

It is a horrible feeling!

When my oldest daughter was 3 years old (and I was a bit greener) I had to come back to my childs daycare center unannounced to get something I left for work only to discover that my daughter was still in her car seat in the same spot I left her and it was 3 hours later! The providers excuse was that she was getting the children settled?

That was my wake up call and my two daughters never returned to childcare!

According to BizStats.Com there are more than 600,000 child daycare centers in the USA.

In my, never to be humble, opinion thats 599,000 more than there should be.

Doing The Math!

When you do the math and subtract the cost of daycare from the money you made working (that required your child to be put in daycare) you make very little profit. Lets say that you are lucky enough to find a decent facility that charges only $200.00 dollars a week for your child.

$200.00 x 52 weeks equals = $10,400.00 dollars (lets take out the holidays and just call it $10,000.00)

Ironically, the minimum wage (as of this writing) is 5.00 dollars an hour.

$5.00 x 40 hour work week = $200.00 dollars

This alone makes my point.

But lets say that you have forgotten about the other things you need to consider in going back to work:

Gas for your car (or money for public transportation) Food (its amazing how much you can spend even if you pack a lunch) Sundries (coffee, cigarettes, candy, etc)

Using these figures you can see that going back to work may actually cause you to lose money.

Whats my point?

Unless you are incredibly lazy there are lots of ways to generate a couple of hundred dollars a week from home without leaving your child with strangers. You can earn much more than that if you are a bit industrious.

Here are a few examples:

Yard Sales an excellent source of income. And if you have a corner house you can even take your neighbors stuff and sell it for a piece of the commission. You and your kids get some fresh air (and time away from the tube) and you make some money at the same time.

Secretarial Services Can you type? You would be amazed at the number of local small businesses that need reports, letters, etc. typed and will pay good money for it.

Appointment Setting This is such a huge business that I actually started my online business with a home study course I wrote explaining how to do it! The demand is incredible. And if YOU dont want to talk on the phone you can manage other moms at home to make the calls for you!

Baking Cakes, Cookies, Pies, etc. Are there any restaurants in your area? You can get $15.00 dollars or more for a single cake. Contact a few diners about offering your baked products. Most of the owners can relate to the plight of a stay-at-home mom who needs to generate an income.

Manage Lawn Care Odds are there are a couple of ambitious teenagers in your neighborhood with access to lawn mowers. Arrange to contact the homeowners and send them out on assignment to cut grass. Offer a discount if a homeowner pays for several weeks upfront. The great thing about grass is that it keeps coming back. Some of your customers might even stick around for the snow shoveling service that you can offer.

I think you get my point. These are simple businesses that you can start on a shoestring, stay at home with your child, and be happy, and maybe well known, in the process.

Dont leave your precious darling with well meaning, but often overworked and distracted, strangers. Discover the joy of working from home!