Financial Tips for Stay at Home Moms: How to Make It Work

[TwinGirlsMom]

I have two boys (9 & 6) and have been a SAHM for 10 years.
I say:
1. Budget
2. Stick to budget
3. Live within your means. It's hard, for the first 5 years we had one car! But, I was home with my children.
4. Learn to be content with where you are at and with what you have.

The above is excellent advice, and that is it in a nutshell!
I am also a SAHM and former 1st grade teacher. We could live a lot better with my second teacher income but for now we are sacrificing that so I can be with them every day.

 

[h_simcox]

I have been a SAHM for 5 years. We have 4 kids and my DH is in the ARMY so he leaves us a lot. It makes no since working when I cannot relay on him to help and all my $$ would go to childcare. At first it was hard! I did babysitting and took a part time job in my church daycare- I could take the kids with me for that job! I love kids and this life was good but sometimes I felt I could not do anything I wanted since I had to stay at the house with the kids I babysat all day and I was at the church 3 nights a week and Sundays. Now add in PC partys and tell me where my ME time was!Now, I have a foster kid living with us. He is a really good boy! I am helping out someone and that makes me feel good, and the kids are getting a great learning experience! To boot, I get more money having him live here then I did with my part time job or babysitting. This is not the reason we choose foster care but it sure dose help out!There are draw backs for every situation. You really just need to sit down and see what is necessary. Do you have to have high speed internet? Do you have to have 200 cable channels? Ect... Figure out what is important to you and what you can live without or with cutting back on. What is all comes down to is how important it is to you to be a SAHM. It is not for everybody! There are days I dream of being an "adult" again. But for me it is the right choice and very rewarding! (I am even crazy enough to home school 2 of the kids HEHE).Pray, plan, budget, and be prepared! Enough said!

 

[pcheftammy]

We decided that I would stay home before we even got pregnant. It has been tough at times. Our daughter is now two and is learning to be a toddler really well. She is into spitting and everything is "NO". I was working a part time job at a restaurant. I was a full time pastry chef, before a mom. The hours were very flexible, so it worked. Then business declined and they didn't need a pastry chef anymore i.e. couldn't afford an extra person. So now I just do this and help out another restaurant around different holidays and wine dinners. I have only been with PC less than a year and business is getting better and better. It took me a while to get going, but not for a lack of trying. We budget and my husband makes sure we stick to it. We just started meeting with a financial planner also, so we can plan for retirement and college for Kira. There is not much me time. My father in law takes the baby almost once a week for a few hours. And my husband and I go on dates once every 3 weeks and she stays overnight by her grandparents. Family is a wonderful thing.

 

[MicheleC]

Wendy, It sounds like our situations were similar. When we made the decision for me to stay home I was making about 65% of our income as a family so it was quite a chunk. It has been amazing the way God has blessed us in this decision and how things just seem to happen.

Rebecca has great advice about the budgeting, living in your means and being content. We have just made adjustments in our living. We don't go out anymore. We are making our cars last rather than replacing and staying under warranty. We take our vacations by camping vs. traveling long distance. We really just budget everything. Using cash for food has been a great tool for us as that is an area that can get out of hand. I have found I have more time to make better financial decisions and look for sales, plan meals, wardrobe purchases etc. I have found that the kids are much more content with what they have and have become more price conscious which is a great benefit.

If you have bookkeeping/accounting skills which it sounds like you do then network about finding some part-time work you can do from your home or a CPA who may need some additional assistance.

Don't forget that you may find yourselves in a lower income tax bracket as well which can save money.

 

[jenf]

One thing I can recommend is to try to live on only your husband's salary for a few months. Save as much of your salary as you can. Having money is savings for unexpected emergencies has been a huge help for us. Also, expect your life to dramatically change. We don't each out much anymore, not many new clothes, etc. The trade off of being home with my daughter every day is so worth it, but I can see where it isn't for everyone. Good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[jenniferlynne]

I'm thinking that if I quit my full time job that I would do daycare in our home for a few kids. That should supplement our income along with my PC business. Things would be tight, but I would also be saving gas money and the cost of my own personal daycare.

Just please, please, please don't make the same mistake that I did. Make sure you have contracts up front for the parents to sign. Make sure you are strict about what day they are to pay (I would make them pay on Monday so you are paid in advance). Allow them two weeks a year off where they don't have to pay, but no more than that. If their kids don't show up, too bad. They have to pay you or lose their spot. Make sure you make it very plain about your rule on sick kids. This has been a major problem for me. Me and my family have been so sick this year (I'm sick now for like the 7th or 8th time just since September). One of the families I babysit for doesn't take me babysitting as a serious job. She usually pays me at the end of the week, but has forgotten before. She always tries to get out of paying me for a full week if her kids don't come one day. She is always trying to take advantage of me. It has forced me to decide to give her the boot and go and get a part time job in the evenings. I can't take the stress anymore of her or her kids. They are huge trouble makers.

 

[sillylittlechef]

I am a SAHM. I have 3 children, but made the decision way before then to stay home. Somedays I am so jealous of my DH because he gets to leave everyday. HE complains of his hour and a half drive to work, where I would love a full hour and a half of only my thoughts in my head...no kids singing or crying or fighting....just me humming peacefully along with the music (or a PC CD...) But still, in the end, I wouldn't really go back to work. I love seeing all the little changes in my children that I have to point out to my DH because he doesn't see it.
Amanda-if you have a desire to be a stay at home mom-then you need to just do it or you might regret it later. Losing $18 an hour will be tough, and your husbands job def. needs to be secure. you may find that all you really need is an extra few hundred dollars a month...that's easy---do 2-3 extra PC shows. Just think of the extra time you will have to work your business.

 

[mandydollie]

Scott's job is very secure. He's an assistant director of a big grocery chain here in the midwest. He's been with the company for 16 years and the next step is to have his own store. When that happens he's looking at possibly making over $100k per year. Then it's a no brainer. Things may be tight for awhile, but I think the benefits of being home with my kids would far outweight not being able to go out to eat every day for lunch.I've been thinking about this a lot over night. I think this is my plan. Continue to work until baby comes along... pay down as much as we can right now so that we are in a better situation in a year or so from now. Then I can take the time off and be at home with them.

 

[rebeccastt]

Amanda,
You might want to look into medical transcribing....my mom did it for awhile and now I have a cousin who does it. She has three girls, works while they are napping or a night after they go to bed and makes good money. I know both of them did not have any medical experience before they started!

I am a SAHM too after quitting my teaching job. My husband is a teacher too. We just cut back on "frivolous" things, like Starbucks, clothes, dinners out, etc. It is SO worth it to be able to be at home with my son.

 

[mandydollie]

how do you go about doing medical transcription from home?

 

[tlmcunning]

Amanda - I have been a SAHM for the past 4 years. Before I quit my job my DH and I started living off of his income only for 6 months before I left my job. This gave us a good understanding of where we needed to reduce our spending. Good luck with your decision and I am sure that the two of you will make the best choice for your situation.

Tracy

 

[rebeccastt]

Amanda,
I'll do a little research on the medical transcribing and get back to you.

 

[mandydollie]

Thanks Rebecca