In our quest to make it on one income, in a two income world, stay at home moms have been bombarded with various work-at-home opportunities and thinly veiled scams. It can get quite frustrating trying to weed out the real opportunities from the ones that will cost you much time and even more money.

Most legitimate work at home opportunities revolve around the direct selling or MLM industries. While both of these opportunities can be excellent sources of income, not every stay at home parent is a sales person. Some parents do not feel comfortable speaking in front of a group, or asking family and friends for sales, or to join their program.

Working from home does not mean having to join a Direct Sales or Network Marketing company.

But, most stay at home moms need, or could use, a little supplemental income. So what kinds of opportunities are there out there for non-selling people?

The first thing you need to do is figure out how much income you need. Are you looking to replace an income? Or maybe you're looking for a little extra money for lunch out with your friends. Whatever your specific income needs are, there are opportunities out there for you.

Pocket Change

If you are just looking for a little extra pocket change, you may find yourself interested in supplemental income ideas like:

--Donating Plasma

--Mystery Shopping

--Pet Sitting or Walking

--Occasional Babysitting

--Focus Groups

--Online and Offline Surveys

Most of these pocket change ideas require little physical or mental effort, and are great for those who are short on time. The payment averages as low as $5-10 for a survey or mystery shop, to as much as $250 for an in-depth focus group participant.

Substantial Supplemental Income

If your supplemental income needs are greater, and you would like to replace an income, or maybe use the extra money for savings or to pay off bills, then the following ideas may be of interest to you.

--Home Daycare

--Selling on eBay

--Freelance Writing or Photography

--Creating a Content Website

--Tutoring

--Professional Services like Massage Therapist, Personal Trainer, Travel Agent or Childbirth Doula

--Becoming a Surrogate Mother

To earn substantial supplemental income, you would need to invest time, effort, and energy into creating a long-lasting income source. Like Direct Sales and Network Marketing, most of these supplemental income ideas require perseverance and dedication, and will not begin to produce income the day that you start working. But, if you work hard on any of these ideas, they can easily fill your supplemental income needs.

It is also important to note that most of these opportunities will require you to invest some money to get started. Whether this money is simply on supplies for your personal use, or its on education, software, or other various programs, it's hard to find the proverbial "free lunch" nowadays. Be prepared to outlay at least a small amount of money on even the legitimate opportunities. Of course, those out to take advantage of you and trick you out of your hard earned money will also go this route. Fully investigate each opportunity before you invest in it.

There are ways for us to exist on one income in this country! We just need to think outside the box, and most importantly, we need to find the supplemental income idea that fits us best.