If your preschooler is starting nursery school this September, it can be a tricky time to navigate. After spending so much time in the presence of adults – parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles – it may be unusual for them not to have their usual caregivers around to turn to when they need help.
However, they’ll soon settle into the new routine and, if they’re anything like my nieces and nephews, they’ll come home full of beans about all the fun they have at nursery and all the friends they’ve made.
So, with your little ones happily skipping off to pre-school a few times each week, now’s the ideal opportunity to look at those extra hours you’ll have to yourself in order to figure out how you can make the best use of that time. And, as this is a thrifty lifestyle blog, I’m going to suggest that you can use the time to make some money!
This list of ideas includes a few fun little suggestions that you could try but, if you’re struggling, you may be able to get help with your expenses if you have a child or are pregnant so be sure to reach out for help if you need it.
Let’s crack on with some cheeky ways to earn some extra cash during those nursery days…
1. New ways to work
Of course, the obvious way to make the most of that time is to take on some kind of work. Whether that’s going back to your previous career or starting a new part-time role, you’ll be earning money during every hour that your little one is out of the house, enjoying the first stage of their new education.
In fact, if you’ve taken advantage of the Government’s Free Childcare for Working Parents scheme, you might have already been able to return to work sooner and could’ve been making (and saving up!) money since your youngster was a toddler. But now that they’re at pre-school, you’ll definitely be able to add some extra hours to your rota.
Maybe you’re happy to stick with the part-time hours you’ve agreed with your previous employer and then take on a new remote-working position in an industry that interests you. That way, you can simply switch on your laptop as soon as you’ve dropped your children off at nursery school and can start earning a little extra income straight away.
2. Earn while they learn
If you’ve already been back at work but aren’t planning to add any extra hours via traditional employment, you might also be able to use the time that your child is at nursery to start up a new business on the side of your usual working commitments.
A side hustle business will add extra money to the pot, and it may even become your main hustle by the time your child is heading off to primary school, so you can become your own boss in the future. We rarely get any spare time when we’re working full-time in order to start up a side hustle, so if you’re working part-time and have got a few spare hours of childcare during the day, why not use that time to sell your skills?
Choose a business that interests you or that uses the knowledge and skills you already have. You could do some gardening, event planning, freelance writing, online tutoring, running creative workshops or teaching a musical instrument, sewing or knitting.
If you want to start a retail-based business, it’s possible to start a side hustle with almost no investment by using technology to help you create, produce, sell and market your products. This could even be something you could do in the evenings when your little ones go to bed, so it’s worth considering if you can make a little extra money by setting up your own ‘mumpreneur’ company on the side.
3. Sell their secondhand stuff
Kids outgrow things really quickly, don’t they? I’m not just talking about their clothing and shoes, but also their toys, books and other age-rated items. So, if you’ve got a few extra hours to yourself while the little ones are at pre-school, why not try to sell the things they’ve finished with?
You could pop bundles of baby clothes onto Vinted, eBay or Facebook Marketplace to make a few extra pounds that can go towards the next size of clothing they need. When selling on Vinted, you could even keep the money you make in your account ready to spend on another child’s outgrown items – saving you money on the cost of buying new and you don’t have to splash out any ‘physical’ money!
Branded toys can be big sellers, especially items like Playmobil, Disney, Duplo, Barbie and Lego, which often hold their value. If your little one has outgrown a toy from a licensed brand, or if you have a boxed toy that’s never been used, you might be able to sell it for the same price you bought it for – or even more if it’s now considered ‘rare’.
Simply scoop up everything that your child no longer needs and pop it in a storage box so that you can go straight to it whenever you get a spare hour while they’re at nursery or in childcare. That way, there will always be something you can list for sale straight away and make some money by selling their secondhand stuff.
4. Make sensible savings
Something you might not have considered to be a money-making enterprise is to spend your spare time saving money. I’m not talking about putting cash in a piggy bank, not that kind of saving. I mean doing thing to reduce your outgoings.
This could be spending some time calling your utility, phone and broadband providers to get a better tariff so that your bills are reduced. You might be able to shop around for insurance so that your renewal costs less – and always make sure that you’re not double-insured.
There’s no point paying for phone, tech or appliance insurance if they’re already covered by your house contents insurance. Likewise, you might be paying for multiple subscriptions for services or apps for each person in your family individually, when a shared family plan might save you all money. Cancel any duplicate policies and subscriptions to save money on future payments.
To me, all these little savings count as income because you’re not paying out for them. Each £10 saved is technically £10 earned, so if you use your time while the kids are at preschool to do your ‘life admin‘ and budgeting, you’ll be financially better off each day – and will feel more in control too. You can download a free budget planner from my resources library to get you started.
I hope this article has given you some ideas for ways to make money during the hours that your little one is at nursery school. Let me know how you’ve been making the most of that time this month in the comments below. I’d love to hear your hacks for cutting costs and earning extra cash. 🙂
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This article is a sponsored collaboration. The pink links in the content indicate a sponsored link or information source. The blog post reflects my own experience and the sponsor hasn’t had any control over my content 🙂
