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To SAHM and future SAHM - Question for you

rp_pandarp_panda member
in Stay at Home Moms

Did you do any "financial" evaluations before deciding you were going to stay at home?  Or how did you find out it was "right" for you to stay home?

I have a wonderful husband who is an engineer that really loves what he does, but works at a place that doesn't pay their employees as much as they should.  I work at a place doing what I didn't go to school for, and really dread each and every day at work.  DH and I agree that we would love for me to be a SAHM but want to make sure that we won't feel strapped if I were to stay at home.  We are financially good, but have been doing a lot of remodeling on this house we just bought.  So a lot of extra money goes into the house.

My question is, are there any resources that help you know if you can afford a 1 income house?
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Re: To SAHM and future SAHM - Question for you

  • GingerSBGingerSB
    The obvious thing to do would be to bank your income and live off DH's while you are pregnant. 
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  • taylormillgirltaylormillgirl member

    My advice would be start living on his income right now. Put 100% of your paycheck in the bank and don't cheat. If you can make it work, then you know you can survive on his salary, plus you'll have a nice little emergency savings from your paycheck.

    ETA: Ginger and I are on the same wavelength!

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  • Stacyc625Stacyc625 member
    ditto the other ladies. see if you can live off of one income now.
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  • rp_pandarp_panda member

    Ginger & Taylor: Thanks for the suggestion, it's the most obvious and probably the best thing to do.  I really want this to work for us, we will defiantly have to get this ball rolling.

    Thanks

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  • MrsRebeccaMrsRebecca member

    Agree with the others.

    Also, track your expenses for a few months (every single penny) and see where your money is going. Then you'll be able to see where you can pare down if need be. 

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  • norbert5norbert5 member

    We did what the others said.  Sock away your income while you are pregnant and see what happens. 

    We also used the book Total Money Makeover.  It really helped us evaluate our expenses.

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  • janbradyjanbrady

    Also consider what expenses will go down when/if you quit. For instance gas, dry cleaning, eating out, and taxes. For us my quitting allowed DH to adjust his witholdings by a few hundred a month.

    By the same token you need to consider what expenses will go up. For us that was life insurance, healt care, utilities, and any baby gear/activities.

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  • amm826amm826
    I agree with living off his income, but make sure you can live off his income and still have some left over since you'll have new expenses like diapers, possibly formula, and so on.  It sounds like you probably can since you are putting extra money into the house now, so the question is probably whether or not you're okay putting less into the house so you can stay at home?  Plus I'd find out what your take-home pay would be to see if you feel it is worth it to be away from your child all day!
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  • almostjenniferalmostjennifer member
    Ditto pp on "Total Money Makeover."
    SAHM to DD1 (7), DS (5) and DD2 (1)
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  • storybooklovestorybooklove member
    we looked at the cost of full time day care and what I would take home when all said and done. it turned out to be like $150 a month so to me that was not worth being away from LO for 40 hrs a week!
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