Although taking care of your children is a job you gladly do for the joy of being with them, it doesn't exactly pay the bills. But in order to stay afloat these days, most households need both parents to have a job. For stay at home moms, exchanging time with their children for time in a cubicle is an unappealing trade.

Luckily the technology available today is making it possible for moms to work from home. Computers, combined with the power of the internet, have opened up opportunities for women to make money while taking care of their young children. Whether you are looking for part time work or need to replace lost income, here are four jobs for stay at home moms that help you make the money you need while giving you the personal freedom to spend time with your family.

Medical Transcriptionist

A medical transcriptionist listens to audio recordings made by health care personnel and transcribes them into text using a word processor. The transcribed documents are generally reports, discharge papers, referral letters or other administrative material that health care facilities need in order to operate efficiently.

The internet makes this a great job for stay at home moms because recordings can be emailed to the transcriptionist and documents can be returned just as easily. The rate for transcriptionists is anywhere from $12-$17 an hour, however, it does require a working knowledge of medical terminology and the ability to accurately and quickly translate sound into text.

Virtual Call Center Agent

Virtual call center agent is the perfect job for stay at home moms who have children in school. Call centers are always looking for people to take care of their customers and many of them are allowing employees to work from home in order to keep costs down.

These jobs usually require that you have a dedicated telephone line and a reliable computer with stable internet service. You can either find a job with a call center that will set you up to work from home or you can work on a project by project basis by signing up with an agency.

Virtual Assistant

With companies downsizing these days, many of them are outsourcing much of their routine work to virtual assistants. Virtual assistants perform a variety of tasks from answering rerouted calls to handling travel arrangements to an assortment of odd jobs. For stay at home moms who have previous experience as executive assistants, this is a wonderful way to bring in some extra money.

Like a virtual call center employee, you can work for one company handling all of their office needs or you can sign up for projects through an agency. If you are a self-motivated stay at home mom, you can even start your own business as a virtual assistant.

Home based business

Ultimately, the best job for stay at home moms is the job they design for themselves by owning their own home based business. As a home based business owner, you get to be in charge of your time and your income. If done right, your initial investment of hard work could even lead to years of residual income. Meaning you'd be able to take a trip to the Bahamas and still get paid.