10 Best Side Hustles for Single Moms to Make Extra Money (in 2024)

1. Freelance writing

• Earn up to: $58 an hour

Freelance writing is something that a lot of moms opt for because you can do it from home. Even if your kids are young, you can write a few articles while they’re napping and bring in some extra money.

As a freelance writer, you work from home creating content for clients like blog posts, articles, and books.

Freelancers earn $23 an hour on average, with pay ranging from $12 to $58 an hour. Many freelancers get paid per word, rather than per hour. This can range from $0.01 per word to as much as $0.10 per word or even more than that.

Some places pay per article. For example, at Verblio, pay starts at $10.50 for a 200 to 400 word post.

Here are some writing websites that pay:

• Textbroker
• Verblio
• BKA Content

You can also find private clients on websites like UpWork and PeoplePerHour. And for more sites, check out my list of other sites like Textbroker.

2. Online tutoring

• Earn up to: $25 an hour

You could earn up to $25 an hour tutoring students online. The average pay for online tutors is $19 an hour.

Here’s where you can find work:

• Skooli
• TutorMe
• Aim-for-A Tutoring
• Tutor.com

The great thing about this type of work is that you can get paid fast. For example, with TutorMe, you get paid each week.

For the complete list and links to application pages, check out our massive list online teaching jobs.

3. Proofreading and editing

• Earn up to: $30 an hour as a proofreader and $60 an hour an as editor.

Proofreaders and editors, check work like novels and blog posts for grammatical errors and spelling mistakes. Editors may also check content for structural elements too.

Pay varies from $12 to $30 an hour for proofreading with the average pay being $18 an hour.

Pay for editors varies from $9 to $60 an hour with the average income being $25 an hour.

Here’s where you can find work:

• Scribendi
• Cactus
• Domainite
• ProofreadingServices.com
• Polished Paper

Also, have a read of my proofreading guide for a list of places where you can find jobs and advice on how to get started with this side hustle.

4. Virtual assistant

• Earn up to: $27 an hour

As a virtual assistant, you help people with a variety of tasks, such as:

• Making phone calls
• Bookkeeping
• Scheduling appointments
• Organizing meetings
• Transcription
• Project management
• Social media management
• Organizing travel arrangements
• Researching content
• Other admin and organizational tasks

Virtual assistants can earn anywhere from $10 to $27 an hour with the average income being $16 an hour.

Have a read of my post on how to become a virtual assistant for tips on how to get started and for a list of virtual assistant jobs.

5. Transcriptionist

• Earn up to: $28 an hour

As a transcriptionist, it’s your job to listen to audio and then type or “transcribe” what you hear. Then, you deliver the document to the client that you are working with.

Transcriptions make $15 an hour on average with pay varying from $10 to $28 an hour.

This is a job you can do right from home too making it an ideal side hustle for single moms.

Here’s where you can find work:

• Tigerfish
• 1-888-TYPE-IT-UP
• SpeakWrite
• TranscribeMe

For more sites, read our list of top online transcription jobs.

6. Data entry

• Earn up to: $18 an hour.

Data entry is something that pretty much anyone can get into, and you don’t usually need to have any qualifications.

As a data entry clerk, it’s your job to input data into spreadsheets, documents, and other data management systems.

Here’s where you can find work:

• UpWork
• Clickworker
• Remoteok

Data entry clerks can earn anywhere from $10 to $18 an hour with the average income being $13 an hour.

7. Start a blog

• Average pay: Varies

One of the best side hustles for single moms is blogging. I’ll level with you here, if you need money fast, then blogging isn’t the best choice for you.

It takes time for blogs to become profitable because, in order to make money from them, you need to get traffic. And, it takes time to build traffic to your site.

Once you do start getting visitors though, you can make money from your blog in a number of ways:

• Ads on your site with Google AdSense
• Sponsored posts
• Affiliate links
• Selling products

Simply choose a topic you’re interested in, and then start a blog about it.

You can publish your blog posts through WordPress.org and get a domain name and hosting from sites like Bluehost, HostGator, and GoDaddy.

How much money you make will depend on the number of visitors your blog gets, and how you monetize it. Many people earn $1,000s a month from blogging, so it can definitely be a profitable side hustle for moms.

8. Self-publish books with Kindle Direct Publishing

• Average pay: Varies

Anyone can publish a book with Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. You can choose to write a non-fiction book or a fiction book, depending on your skillset. Perhaps you love to read and want to write a novel of your own? If so, then consider uploading it with KDP. Or perhaps, you want to write a how-to style book on a topic that interests you like cooking, painting, or parenting?

Whatever the case, you can upload a book to KDP, and earn a commission on it whenever it sells.

Amazon pays you 35% to 70% commission when your book sells, which is far higher than the royalty rates you’d find with a traditional publisher.

Once you have published your book, you will keep making money from it passively as long as it’s on sale. The amount of money you’ll make from your books depends on things like the commission rate you get and the number of books you sell. You could make $100s or $1,000s a month selling books with KDP.

• Sign up for KDP here.

9. Babysitting

• Earn up to: $17 an hour

All of the side hustles that I have listed so far are online gigs, but if you are looking for an offline side hustle, then try babysitting.

Parents always need a babysitter, and since you’re a mom yourself, you know how to handle kids. Babysitting is a pretty flexible job with evening and weekend hours often available. So, if you are a working mom, this can be a good option.

Here’s where you can find babysitting work:

• Sittercity
• UrbanSitter
• Bambino Sitters

With UrbanSitter, payments are processed within just 3 days, which means you can make money fast.

Aside from finding work on the sites above, you could also advertise your babysitting services in your local area. Also don’t forget to check out our post on how to find baby sitting jobs.

The average hourly income for babysitters is $11 an hour with pay ranging from $8 to $17 an hour.

10. Reward websites

If you’re looking for an easy side hustle for single moms, then try rewards and surveys websites. With reward websites, which are also known as “get paid to” websites, you can earn money doing really easy tasks that you likely already do anyway.

This includes things like:

• Shopping online
• Browsing the internet
• Watching videos
• Playing games
• Taking surveys

In return for doing these tasks, you earn points that you can redeem for cash or gift cards, or cash or gift cards from the outset. You can redeem your earnings for money to your PayPal account or for gift cards to places like Walmart, Target, and Amazon.

Those gift cards can be useful to have when you have kids because you can save yourself some money on your grocery bills, and, let’s face it, those can be high when you have kids.

Here are some legit rewards sites:

• Swagbucks
• QuickRewards
• SquishyCash
• Qmee
• InstaGC

Closing Thoughts

There are so many ways for single moms to make money and there’s something to suit everyone. What’s good about the gigs above is that they can all, with the exception of, perhaps, babysitting, be done from home.

This means that you can make money while the kids are napping, or at school, or when you get home from your regular job if you are a working mom. There’s something to suit everyone from stay-at-home moms to working moms.

If you are a stay-at-home parent, then give these side hustles a try.

If you are a single parent, let us know if you have any tips in the comments section below on making some extra cash with side hustles.