Stay at Home Moms
mandymack
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S/O Poll: What DID you give up to SAH?
mandymack
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As a spinoff from a previous poll, what DID you give up to SAH?
If you aren't a SAHM just yet but plan to be, what do you THINK you'll have to give up in order to SAH?
eclaire 9.10.06 diggy 6.2.11
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Re: S/O Poll: What DID you give up to SAH?
For me personally, I feel like I gave up my career.
In my industry, it's very easy to fall behind and not be "in the loop" of all the new Accounting Principals and Tax Laws and of course, I haven't kept up with my CPA requirements so, I basically have to start all over should I return to work and I'm OK with that! I do have my experience and that will help me but I don't kid myself to think I can just swoop in for an interview and have the job in the bag, like in the old days.
eclaire 9.10.06 diggy 6.2.11
We really haven't had to give up much. Before I had DD we were both working and making crap salaries. When I was on maternity leave DH got his dream job, which enabled me to quit my job, stay home and now we're buying a house. Little things I miss though...
- lunch out every day. I worked downtown (on 6th Street, you know you miss it MrsShavers!) and there was always somewhere to go eat or get cookies (Tiff's Treats...mmmmm.....)
- drinks after work with the girls
- Having fun in the office, and getting a new challenge once in a while
uhhh I think that's it for now. I'm loving every minute of this stay-at-home thing
I didn't really give up anything. I graduated right before I got pregnant and then we moved to a different state so the timing ended up preventing me from getting a teaching job (not the being pg. part but that I didn't get to FL until October... after school started and didn't technically get my diploma/degree until Dec.). I worked FT at a preschool, which I hated, while I was pregnant and was only there to finish off the school year for them as they lost a teacher. So I knew it was only for a short time.
I guess I would say our biggest thing is not eating out anymore as much. That being said, we now spend the money we used to spend on eating out on DD. She is always getting new books, clothes, toys.... we just love to shop for her.
The maid.
The gym membership.
Although I am a wedding planner & hopefully my business will grow enough so I can justify the maid again.
Honestly, not much. I gained a ton of time...and since I started my own business from home I make more now that I did when I worked full time at my crappy desk job.
I feel like I've come out ahead, actually.
* Cable - all though we actually are very happy without it!
* Wine weekends - We used to blow $600.00 in one weekend buying wine from different wineries in our area.
* New clothes - almost all of my clothes are from Thrift stores, but I change size a lot (see siggy), so I really can't justify spending a lot on clothes when we are TTC.
* Big Vacations - We are going to Vegas in May, but we waited and shopped around until we found a good deal. We will not be gambling this trip, and will be eating cheaply (and drinking heavily!).
health care - paid $12,000 for COBRA when dh had a career change while I was a SAHM... plus baby delivery, and then now we pay $3,600/year for a $5K deductible.
care free eating - our "thing" was eatting out. now it's a huge deal
ignorance or innocence about our bank account
innocence about what it ACTUALLY feels like to live paycheck to paycheck
innocence about questioning whether some cough or very scary pain is worth the $$ to go to the dr
The main things we gave up were eating out, and saving as much per month as we used to. We also are just generally more careful with money than we used to be. I go to the library instead of always buying new books, DH limits his video game purchases, I'm more careful with groceries, etc.
Like a pp said though, I definitely feel like we came out ahead. I love all the time I have now, I think our marriage works better with me focusing on running the home and DH going to work.
Starbucks! Sob...every WA girl needs it to live! Had to cut back on that sort of thing. Also lost my gym membership (but with out the frappuccinos and macchiatios, I probably will not need to hit the gym as much anyways)
I gave up lots of extra money to play with!
I sold my sports car that I LOVED and shut down my expensive Coach and Banana Republic addiction. :Sigh:
Those things are just material and I wouldn't trade back my life for anything!
We haven't really given anything up we have just cut back on things that were a luxury but weren't really utilizing.
*We dropped our cable bill and gave up movie channels because we weren't watching them all the time.
*We dropped our cell phone bill by cutting minutes because I will be home and not using my cell as much.
*We don't eat out as much or get take-out and I make dh's lunch each day.
Kerri
I gave up living by my family/friends & moved to another state! I also gave up a great office with a window!
A six-figured salary for my daughter and H, plus the upside was not having to see the face of the jerk I worked with anymore (f***in' bast**d)!
Had to vent that!