I know how you feel!!!!! In our case adopting special needs children we were surprised when after the children were placed by the state we found out we would get a monthly adoption assistance subsidy so for US that has really made life much less stressful financially.
I also freelance and that is always a great way to make a few dollars but, as you might know what we write today might not bring the check in for weeks or months depending on the contract or arrangement we have for our work. So it can make it hard to plan on the income you know you might get but have no idea when.... I try to see my writing as a future investment and keep in mind that if I just keep doing it eventually the pay checks will catch up...and build on themselves.
I don't think I have said this here on this forum but, I also have had a home business for YEARS I started when my older children were very little and I was very young.
Tupperware, but with any home business it takes just as much work as a real job to see the pay checks.... Of course, it has been nice to pay babysitters with Tupperware boosting my sales credits to earn better rewards and at the same time save the difference on my cost for the product and pay the sitters. And I was able to actually save a down payment and buy my first house selling Tupperware.
Not everyone is self disciplined enough to go into this sort of business. And some of the direct sales jobs are better then others. I once tried Avon but had a heck of a time because I was just not a make up person! But meaningless pieces of plastic and being a goofy fun Tupperware Lady fit much better for me.
With my older children I also worked some junk jobs opposing hours that their father was at home. It was not the best situation for the marriage....It was good for my husband at the time because he had to spend more time dealing directly with the kids and they had a great relationship with their father I believe built in part because for several years he was the one who gave the evening baths and read the bed time stories.....without me leaning over his shoulder telling him how to do everything.
I was surprised when we adopted our little ones and I was doing the night time routine....I didn't remember giving kids a bath as being such a pain in the behind...Then I thought about it and remembered it was because this was really the first time it was my job!
A neighbor of mine started the most silly business--I thought--a few years ago. But, I was completely wrong she now has so much work that she is hiring others (mostly teens) to help....She started a pet walking business and included a service of checking one pets while people were at work or on vacation....They are moving to a larger house now! I sometimes see her talking a walk with five or six dogs everyday! She loves it because she gets her exercise and makes money too! You would have to like dogs....and I would still leave my child with a sitter if I was working around dogs....
Another thing I have done over the years is work with the TEMP agencies. I was not sure how I would like it but found out it was pretty nice. Some will offer medical and dental after so many hours have been worked and if I remember the one I worked for it was actually way less than full time....
The thing I liked about temping was the variety of different businesses I could see and the different management styles. I also liked the fact that I could pass up a job or quit without notice which was very handy when I was a busy mom.
I have also done project work for offices. One of my first jobs in life was in Insurance so I had some background and was able to pitch projects to some smaller agents who were not able to afford a full or even part time employee. So if you know how a business runs you could think of all the different projects you might know how to do. One of my popular projects with insurance agents was to create letters and mass mail the clients or leads an agent had..... Charged by the number of letters and did most of the work at home when the kids were sleeping and I watched prime time TV!
.........I guess it just depends on how much creativity we have and what level of time we want to invest. For me I made it a priority to keep my children out of day care until they could tell me what happened all day when they were there! And then when they were older I felt it was very important to be home with them after school.... Over time a few hours now and then at day care or a sitters was not as hard for me to do.....
How do you supplement the one income?
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