Childcare question

la79al

If you have 2 daycare aged kids, how do you do it?  I mean financially speaking.  DH thinks I am using childcare as an excuse to not go back to work.  Working at my current job, I would bring home about $100 per week after I pay for childcare.  That's not taking into account any other bills (like gas money, possible car payment, copays for sick kids) that would be added if I would go back to work.  And that's assuming that I would take absolutely no time off for sick kids (cause it would always be me taking off).  I find the idea of finding and starting a new job while at the same time sticking a tiny baby and a toddler (who's been out of my sight only a few hours) in daycare a little pointless since I know I will miss a ton of time for sick kids in the beginning.  So tell me, am I being overly dramatic and just trying to avoid work or is DH not being realistic about whether it would be worth it?

Temp149801812508276

While we don't have our second one yet, we have budgeted to pay for two kids. We actually put it in our budget when we decided we wanted number two, so we could be sure we could afford it. 

Personally, I think you can make whatever work that you need to. There are so many people in so many different situations, and for the most part people make it work. You really just have to decide what is right for you guys. And I think you both have to agree.

I love my job and am happy that I can be that kind of role model for my daughter. Of course, there are many days I would rather be home with her, but I can deal with that. We have an amazing babysitter, after changing twice, so I can feel at ease when I drop her off in the mornings. I feel like our babysitter is helping raise our daughter and we are way okay with that. She is a wonderful person and is really like another grandma to my daughter and soon to be #2.  

m_and_m

I would lay out the entire budget for him- daycare costs, commuting costs, any lunches out, clothing expenses for work clothes, etc. See how much is left at the end of the month and look at where it can go. If it's only $400, can you guys shave $400 off the budget elsewhere? Cancel cable, drive cheaper cars, downgrade phone plans, etc. If you can't reduce your expenses by that much then you'll need to go back to work.

But if you can, then it might be worth it for you to SAH. Our plan had always been for me to SAH once we had kids, but when I was PG DH said he wanted me to keep working. I showed him a breakdown of how much I would be bringing home and how much of our expenses I would be able to cover. It was easy for me because I would have been making enough to pay his car payment, and nothing else. Uh yeah, I told him he could sell his brand new Range Rover and drive an old Kia because I was not going to stick my kid in daycare so he could keep driving his dream car. When he looked at it that way, he agreed with me that it wasn't worth it. The RR ended up getting stolen though, so that made the decision even easier. If there hadn't been an exorbitant car payment or some other expensive luxury it might have taken more convincing.

alli2672

I think that working or not is a personal question and something you need to figure out on your own.  We budgeted to have two in daycare, and we will budget to have two in college at the same time in the future. 

If money is the only thing that matters to you, then of course it doesn't make sense for you to continue working for $100/wk before paying for gas and clothes, etc.  If you have additional reasons that you are called to do the work you are doing, and your children are well cared for while you attend to your other duties in life, then I think you have some soul searching to do.