Many of you know that I’m a stay at home mom. Freelance writing (and blogging here) is our second income and while it doesn’t pay as much as I got paid while I was working, it pays enough to pay for our kids’ classes and curriculum materials for homeschooling. I also understand that many women choose to go back to work after a baby because they don’t want to lose their position in their career. But I often hear women talk about how they have to go to work because they simply need the second income. With that said, this is not a blog for a mom who wants to go back to work. This is a blog for moms who really don’t want to go back to work but can’t figure out how to stay home on one income. Over the years I’ve picked up a few ideas that allow me to not only stay home, but homeschool my kids and do it all on one income. (And we live where the cost of living doesn’t get much higher.)
Your New Job: Saving Money
No doubt that before baby was born you sat down and figured out a budget. I know many couples who sit and ponder and rework until their brains are mush from all the calculations and still cannot make one income work. But have you considered how much saving money pays?
I am a self-confessed non-coupon clipper. So I have to use someone else’s example. Nola Redd shared that she used to clip coupons and while doing it, spent $150 for groceries a month on a family of 5 while one child was in diapers. That’s about $30 per person so let’s say you, your spouse and your new baby use $90 per month for 4 hours of coupon clipping. Whereas before you were spending approximately $300 per month without coupon clipping. That 4 hours of coupon clipping work saved you approximately $210. That’s like getting paid $50 per hour for coupon clipping. Does your job pay you that much? If not, you may well be better off getting a new job: finding ways to save your family money. There are excellent money saving ideas in the frugal blog, the deals blog and in our deals forums.
The Day Care Dilemma
Of course if you go back to work, someone has to watch the baby. It would be worth your while to figure out if you’re paying more for day care than you are bringing in. I had quit my part time job by the time the twins came along, but for fun, we tried to figure out if my part time job paid well enough to make it feasible for me to consider going back to work.
Granted there are two babies, but my job paid much better than average. After day care or nanny expenses, I would’ve been making $4 per hour. I’m sorry, but my time is worth so much more than that. It is worth your while to figure out how much per hour you really make after you subtract child care.
Working from Home
Working from home offers several challenges one of which is obviously taking care of the baby and getting work done. Some women complain that they don’t make that much working from home but I offer this perspective.
When I’m considering a job, I don’t just consider how much I’m actually getting paid but how much I’m not spending by working outside of the home. For example, let’s say I get paid $10 for an article I write from home. I can add $5 to that for clothing (at least pantyhose) that I’m not buying. I add another $4 for transportation costs. (You could even add more if you use a car. . .but we have good public transportation.) When I’m done adding all that in. . .I’m making more like $19 for that article. That is definitely worth my time.
Look soon for more upcoming blogs dealing with issues that moms face when they go back to work.
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