Income ideas for stay-at-home mothers

2) Become a Virtual Assistant (VA). If you've had secretarial experience, you could work from home for small businesses. Experienced VAs charge up to £25 an hour. Visit societyofvirtualassistants.co.uk.

3) Become a doula. Doulas are mums trained to give non-medical help to women during labour or after the birth. You can earn £10 to £12 an hour, or £250 to £400 for a birth. Visit britishdoulas.co.uk.

4) Become an Avon rep. You buy the products at a discount, and then sell them at full price. If you’re good at selling and love make-up, this could work well. See avon.uk.com.

5) Make cash from your driveway. If you don’t used your garage or driveway why not rent it out for money, especially if you live near a station where parking costs are high. Register with Parkatmyhouse.com (it’s free), put your postcode in and wait for desperate would-be parkers to contact you.

6) Become a dog walker. This is a great way to get some exercise and make some money! Earnings range from £6-£10 per half hour. Register your self as a dog walking company at Nards. Might sound obvious but you must be comfortable and confident handling dogs for this one.

7) Get paid to iron. By doing other people’s washing and ironing you can make cash when it suits you, whilst your child is sleeping or at nursery! Bring in customers by putting an advert in the local paper, handing out leaflets in your local area or, for more professional advice, check out ironingservice.net.

8) Bake cakes, jams & confectionary. If you’re good in the kitchen and have some tasty recipes under your belt then find out where your local craft fairs and boot sales are and set up a stall. There are many outlets you can try here’s just some: carbootjunction.co.uk; country-markets.co.uk; thewi.org.uk.

9) Start a knitting club. Knitting has become trendy lately and modern soft knits are a sought after fashion item for babies! Start a club with other mum friends; it’s a great way to have a lucrative ‘catch-up’. You can then sell your gorgeous garment at craft fairs (see above) or on ebay.

10) Be a mystery shopper. If you love to shop, why not get paid for it? It can be flexible undemanding and fun. The average pay-out is £5-25 per assignment. Here’s some reputable agencies to try: TNS Global Storecheckers Mystery Shoppers Ltd.

Visit moneymagpie.com for more ideas. Good luck!