You CAN afford to be a Stay-at-Home Parent!
>From the moment I learned I was pregnant, I knew I wanted to be
a stay-at-home mom. That feeling only strengthened when my
beautiful son was born. I took one look at him and wondered how
I could ever give up the opportunity to spend each and every day
with him, watching him grow and learn, and exploring the world
for the first time through his eyes. But there was a problem. We
were a two-income family. How could we possibly afford to
eliminate one of those incomes? Well, there are a lot of answers
to that question and I'd like to share the ones I found with
you.
The first thing I looked at when determining "what we can
afford" is how much money we made. I was wrong. What I really
needed to examine was our expenses. So, the first step I took in
my quest to stay home was to list the expenses I would incur in
order to work, versus staying home. This is what I came up with:
professional clothing (your kids don't mind that you wear
sweats!); transportation costs: fuel, tolls, public transit,
parking, etc.; those "must-have" coffee and/or donut stops each
morning; lunches with coworkers; gifts for coworkers (holidays
and special occasions); CHILDCARE - it's in bold print for a
reason. If you haven't priced this one out yet, do it now. This
will easily be your greatest expense. And, it only goes up with
each child.
Go ahead and add up all these expenses. Don't be too depressed,
because there's good news: these expenses represent your
"instant rebate" for staying home. You've essentially just
eliminated the need for a good portion (if not all) of your
income. Need more savings? Keep reading!
How many times per week are you dining out at restaurants,
getting take out, ordering in, etc? By staying at home, you have
the time to go to the grocery store and prepare a wholesome and
much more economical meal for your family.
Eliminate (or at least cut back) on your little luxuries.
Manicures, pedicures, massages, hair highlights, 300 television
channels, 2000 cell phone minutes. You get the picture.
Clip coupons. I actually started buying the Sunday paper each
week just for the coupons! You may have never seen the need to
do this while you were working, but if you take the time, it
will save you money. There are also plenty of online sites that
provide coupons.
Examine your bills carefully. When we had 2 fulltime incomes,
I'm embarrassed to admit it, but I rarely looked at any bill in
detail. If there was an amount due, I paid it. I never looked at
it, never questioned it. Now I go over every health insurance
summary, utility statement, etc. with a magnifying glass. And, I
can honestly say in the past 2 years I have caught almost $1000
in billing errors. That's $1000 more for my family.
Make this a team effort. If staying home only appeals to you and
not your partner, your chances of success are greatly
diminished. Making adjustments to the family budget will affect
the lifestyle of all those involved. This transition will be
much smoother with the support of your significant other.
And last, but certainly not least, follow your heart! If you
feel called to stay home with your children, then do it! All it
takes is the determination to succeed and the willingness to
reduce expenses. Best of luck to you!