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Stay at Home Moms
Clicky poll: Income because I am tired of the "how do you do it question"
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Re: Clicky poll: Income because I am tired of the "how do you do it question"
DH makes a lot but we live in a very HCOL.
When I read some of the posts that rent is only $500 my eyes come out of my head. You can't get a studio where I live for under $900!
He makes a lot but we don't live the rich life because of the cost of living.
I agree with this, I can not imagine living on govt assistance while choosing not to work.
This is exactly our situation. This post just further proves that this question is unable to answer. It IS all relative.
When we bought our house and cars we did so with the plan of living on one salary and me doing some part time evening work for extras. It's worked for 4+ years. We've been through 2 layoffs. Last time was 9 months so we lost insurance and are paying COBRA. But... along with planning ot live on 1 salary, we also saved. We don't splurge on much and still try to vacation once every year or 2. I hope to get my insurance back soon, cause that is killing me!!!
While I agree with what you said here I don't think that is really what PP is doing. Her sitsuation is temporary. Its not like she decided "hmm I think I'll have 3 kids and live off the government". She was doing fine and DH lost his job. WIC/gov insurance is for this type of family IMO...
I'd like to say that I'd never let that happen and I'd find another job just to get insurance...but think about it. 3 kids in daycare + cost of insurance...she'd be bringing less money in...she'd be on all kinds of gov assistance at this point because they couldnt pay their bills. I'd rather someone use wic and stay at home taking care of her kids than one that can't make good financial decisions (work and have insurance = not enough money for food, now is below poverity and on welfare vs. stay at home and use wic a little while still able to support your family) and I/we end up paying for it in welfare support.
Your opinion sucks...think about what you are saying before you post it.
ITA. Decideing to live off the government just because you can and because you would rather not work is one thing. It's not like she had a baby, went on governement assistance and then kept having more kids and never tried to get a job. The point is that it is for situations like the one above that we have goverment assistance programs like state insurance and WIC. My son recieves medicare, and WIC. My husband make approx 30,000 a year. Why do we chose to do things like this for the time being? Because it's a temporary situation. I am in school, focusing on my schoolwork so that I can work and make money for my family someday. Schooling is free for us right now since we don't make a ton of money. I'm not ashamed that we get government assistance because we are using it so that we can get on our feet and be productive members of society. Cheating the system and choosing to live off the system is one thing, using it correctly so that you can do what is best for your family is another. There is no shame in that.
Kind of along the lines of this...I'm not sure if this is just specific to my state, but we have a program here which helps the low income families to afford health insurance. They would enroll for the company sponsored health plan, and the state reimburses the participants for the premiums they pay our of their paycheck. Even people who are bordering middle class can use it..I think the income requirements for a family are in the $40k+ range. They may not get 100% reimbursement like a poorer family, but it's helping pay their premiums. It's great because then the state isn't picking up the whole bill as the employer pays for the majority and it inspires low income families to get out and work.
Same with childcare. Some people may not get 100% reimbursement of their childcare costs if they make too much, but there's usually some portion picked up to get people back to work. Maybe these just aren't options in other states, but they are here. It's unfortunate if they're not.
I think ya'll are missing the point. With 3 kids in daycare + health insurance would she even break even? She could be worse off this way. Now if someone said F this, I'm lazy and don't want to work and I'll live off the governmet, that is one thing...but to say my hubby got laid off and we are barely getting by for now, but it should change soon. Well that is different. THIS is what government assistance is for.
I agree she should look for ways to bring in money...I agree that I would try to find assistance getting health insurance...but in the same situation I think I would be doing the same as she (unless I found a job where I would be bringing in enough to cover the costs of working..then I'd be working my butt off) The point is you never know what could happen and what you have to sacrifice to get by.
I was thinking this same thing. To pay for childcare for three kids, you would probably need to make about $50k/yr just to break even. If she could get a job making $50k/yr plus benefits, would they really be living off her DH's $20k?
I guess if she is doing that because she wants to SAH and not DH, that's kind of a bad decision, but it seems unlikely.
To refer to that situation, it seems that only 1 would need daycare and the 2 other are school aged.
To generalize, you have the amount of kids you can afford to support (including daycare if you can't live on your DH's salary alone). Many can't afford 2 in daycare, so they wait to have the 2nd until the youngest is in school full time to avoid that cost. If it's too late and that's not an option, there are always other options, like working PT when your DH is at home, working a FT job 2nd shift so you don't have to pay for full-time daycare. If your DH's schedule is really that crazy, you could try to find on-call work since you don't have to keep a set schedule, having your DH find a job with a more stable schedule, relocation to a cheaper area, etc. Heck, I even got lucky and found a job where I make my own hours-I'm sure that's not a common work situation, but it's not impossible either. I know these scenarios don't always work for every family in every situation, but there's always something I think.
sigh...again missing the point. she didn't have 3 kids after her hubby lost his job. She didn't make the decision to live like this. the economy (i'm guessing) did it for them.
I would jump all over someone that was receiving goverment assistance and then purposely had a baby. But someone that was perfectly fine, had kids, and then something happened..give the lady a break. Just makes me mad
Giving up cable was not a sacrifice for us. Hulu works just fine for shows that I want to catch up on, and we get a couple of channels on our television, two of which are cartoon channels. It's really not a big deal, and you realize how much time it takes up once you get rid of it, even if it doesn't seem like a lot at the time.
We may not be able to go out and do things that require a lot of money on the weekends, but we at least have the advantage of living in a large city. We have the lake and various beaches, a pool, plenty of parks, a free zoo, a conservatory, the library, etc. We bike instead of using cars, so we go on longer rides on the weekend as a family, which we all really enjoy.
My circle of neighborhood friends swap clothes. My DD is wearing brand name clothing that has been worn by two, three, four, even five other children before her, and it all looks brand new. It's amazing how clothing lasts when it's taken care of, and I love that it's being reused with so many kids.
DH and I make do with what clothes we have and buy what we need if need be. We never drop hundreds of dollars on clothes, but we've never been like that, so it wasn't a change for us.
It's a different lifestyle than what others might care for, but it works for us, and we enjoy it. We live in a small apartment, have a garden, line dry clothes, and just make frugal choices in general.
We don't live with or near our parents, though, and we do have insurance.
Did I not say I wasn't referring to her situation? I said people should have kids spread apart IF they couldnt afford 3 in daycare. Obviously that situation did not apply to that poster, since her 2 oldest are not daycare aged.