Moms of 3, come in please
Mrs.Greg
member
Did you become a SAHM after #3?
I've been back to work since January and with the cost of daycare for DD1 and a nanny for the twins, most of my pay checks pay for child care. When it's all said and done, I take home maybe $400 a month. The biggest reason I work full time is for insurance. I am the primary for all of the kids so we are all double covered. I pay $88 a month for medical and dental for all of us. But DH just got a new job and his insurance is WAY better than it was with his last employer so we are leaning toward me cutting back to part time or even quitting. Even though I take home $400 a month, between gas, work clothes (I work in an office and have to dress professionally), lunches out now and then, occasional stops at Starbucks, etc. I wonder if we are actually paying more out than I'm bringing home. I really should do the math. Everyone (co-workers, friends, relatives, random people) think it's silly for me to work at all.
Re: Moms of 3, come in please
No, I've always been a SAHM. If I were working, I could easily cover 3 in daycare with a lot leftover. BUT, I didn't want to work 12 hour days........and my job was very demanding with a long commute.
GL to you!
Not a mom of 3 yet, but I would not work for $400 a month unless working was the only way I would be a happy, fulfilled mom.
You can make up a lot of that in the costs of working, like all the things you just mentioned.
Something else to consider if you want the extra money is getting some night gig for extra money. I make $200/week waitressing 2 nights a week. You can easily make up $400/month with some sort of pt gig. Call centers/restaurants/hotels/grocery stores/retail/temp agencies all hire for those types of shifts.
This really depends on you. For many people even if daycare makes it a wash there are intangibles that make working worth it. Do you have employer matching on a retirement plan? That's a big reason people continue working. How would taking time off from your career affect you long-term? If you take a few years off will you be able to return to working if you want/need to? What will it do to your projected career path overall? Assuming expected promotions/raises combined with decreases in childcare costs (especially once the kids are in elementary school and beyond) you will eventually bring in far more than the $400/month after childcare. Would you have to break back in at "entry level" with less money than you currently earn in a few years?
Finally, and most importantly, do you *want* to SAH? For some people SAH is great, others end up missing work and regretting it.