I recently became a new mum myself, so I know how stressful it can be if you think you can’t afford maternity leave.
Maternity leave can really stretch the budget. Unless you’re lucky enough to have a really strong workplace package, you’re likely to be down to a fraction of your former salary.
And of course, you suddenly have loads of additional costs with all those nappies, baby clothes and doing up the nursery!
No wonder many of us look for ways to earn extra money on maternity leave.
But mat leave isn’t the time to take on anything too time consuming or strenuous. After all, you’re on leave for a reason: to look after your precious little one!
For me, the ideal way to make extra cash on maternity leave is something I can do online, from home, at any time of the day or night.
The key word is flexible! Babies are unpredictable little creatures, and you can’t always count on getting a solid block of time to work, which rules out many traditional work-from-home jobs.
I’ve also looked for easy things I can do to earn money from my laptop or my phone. That way I can work in bed or on the sofa, even pinned under a sleeping baby.
Here’s my pick of top ways to make money with a new baby:
By the way, this post contains affiliate links. That means that if you make a purchase or sign up for a service after clicking on one of my links, I may earn a commission (at no extra cost to you). Thank you for supporting my site!
15 flexible ways to make money on maternity leave
Matched betting
Matched betting is my absolute favourite way to make money online (if you’re in the UK)!
Please don’t be put off by the name: done correctly, matched betting is not gambling at all, because you will make a profit every time. It’s a way of making money from betting sites by taking advantage of the free bets and special offers.
The reason you make profit every time is because you place two bets each time, for and against each result. That means the two bets cancel each other out.
Overall, you don’t lose money – and you get to pocket the money from the free bet offer.
It sounds complicated but there are websites with special software to tell you exactly which bets to place and where.
I personally do matched betting through Outplayed.com (previously known as Profit Accumulator) and I really recommend them for their software, training videos and support!
I made £1000 in my first 12 weeks of matched betting – read about my experience here.
The best thing is, it’s all tax free!
Even though matched betting isn’t gambling, it technically counts as ‘winnings’ in the eyes of HMRC so you don’t have to declare your earnings.
This video from Outplayed.com explains a bit more:
OhMyDosh!
OhMyDosh! is one of my new favourite ways to earn extra money since discovering it a few months ago!
This site pays you to sign up for various free trials and offers. I made £20 in 30 minutes doing this – see all the trials I signed up to here! There are some great freebie