By Aaron Crowe

Aaron Crowe is a freelance journalist who specializes in personal finance. Aaron blogs via Contently.com.

One of the great things about being a work-from-home mom is the flexibility of the job, a factor that CashCrate can help you optimize.

And yes, working from home is a job, for anyone who thinks it’s a day full of sitting around in your pajamas, eating ice cream and watching daytime soaps.

While some of that scenario does happen — you can still be in your pajamas before noon and still be productive.

Work-from-home moms can decide when to work and when to take a break, including a productive break by filling out a few surveys at CashCrate or watching a few videos, giving you some extra cash for your spare time. The money can be saved for a weekly lunch out with friends, saved for a special gift you want, or used to pay the weekly grocery bill.

For a work-from-home mom with flexible work hours, making some extra money on CashCrate is another chance to be your own boss and work the hours you want to work. CashCrate surveys take a few minutes to complete, so spending 10 or so minutes per day doing this can lead to some easy extra income.

Most surveys pay about 80 cents, and CashCrate members can then be entered in sweepstakes to win $50,000. The companies conducting the surveys want your opinion on their products or services, so answering honestly is important.

Some CashCrate surveys are targeted to your demographic. Work-from-home moms, for example, might be asked about products they use at home, or activities they do with their children. While paid surveys are offered daily, the surveys targeted to a demographic may only be available for a few days. That’s why it’s smart to check in at CashCrate each day.

You can take each daily survey every 24 hours. If you don’t qualify for the survey given to you, you’ll be taken to another survey. Some surveys will only want young men to participate, for example, so they won’t be a fit for you. If one doesn’t work, keep trying — you’ll likely find a survey in your demographic.

There are also offers to take advantage of at CashCrate, where work-from-home moms can use their flexible time to quickly sign up for an offer and get cash back through CashCrate. Some offers only require some personal information to get the reward, while others with higher paybacks require a credit card to sign up for the service or ask that you buy something. Most require users to sign up for a sample.

For work-from-home moms and others who have a few minutes to spare each day, making money at CashCrate is easy and fun. Who doesn’t have opinions about products that they’d like to share? If you’re already your own boss, you can tell yourself to take a break and make a few extra bucks at CashCrate.