Any SAH/WAHMs out there willing to give advice?

littleredfish · January 2013

We just found out today that the subsidy program in our area won't help us cover daycare. They base it off of our working incomes, not our actual disposable incomes. We basically live life on DHs salary, and mine would JUST cover daycare if I worked every day which I don't at this time of year (retail is slow from New Year to spring). That means once DH goes back to work (he stopped for school) on the 10th of Feb, I will have to be at SAHM. There are far worse things in life, and I'm glad to get the time with her but it would have been nice for things to not be so tight.

Any SAHMs out there in a similar situation with advice on how to to crunch a good budget, or ways I could work from home. So many things online jobs just seem like a scam, I wish I could sew but I can't, what options are out there for me? We weren't really prepared for this since under the old program we would have gotten full coverage but according to the lady today, they recently changed the requirements so we no longer fit where we WOULD have gotten help before.

Any advice or reassurance would be appreciated, we're feeling kind of blindsided.

lasfresasrojas · January 2013

I am a SAHM (by choice) but obviously money is a lot tighter now that we are on one income.

The most important thing you can do is to sit down with your husband and make a budget that works for you. Decide on it now, before he goes back to work- and stick with it.

You may have to reevaluate what you truly NEED, but it is well worth it IMO. I love staying home.

id012 · January 2013

what if you worked part time at night/weekends? When your DH isnt at work. Maybe start of very parttime and see how it goes?

I work at a gym daycare a couple of hours a week.. like 10 maybe?, and bring LO with me. Its ok but not the best. It pays very little, but i get a free membership and classes etc. I sometimes feel like i live at the gym because i work out a lot also. And LO has been sick since like november which is driving me nuts. I will deff. be quiting that job as soon as i get pregnant with LO #2. Also that job just kind of fell into my lap.

Other then that i watch my niece also. So that brings in money too. That job also just fell into my lap. So when i actually had LO i was planning on just staying home 100%

FormerlyKrista555 · January 2013

I don't have a lot of advice (Ok, well, I do, but I don't have a lot of time right now to type it out)... I just wanted to encourage you by saying that sometimes when your life heads in a different direction than you were planning, it ends up BETTER than if you orchestrated it yourself.

You may find out that this situation was the best thing that ever happened to your family. I love staying at home with my children. We can afford to do so, but we certainly pinch our pennies in many areas so that we CAN afford to do so.

What you gain in staying at home is more often than not, well worth the sacrifices you make financially.

Good luck and welcome!

kcisthebombdotcom · January 2013

I'm kind of disappointed the state would give people with actual disposable income free childcare. I thought those programs were to help very poor people get childcare, not a family who could afford their life on one income... but I digress.

WAH jobs fall into two categories (the ones that are't scams, anyway). They're either little pay for lots of work or jobs that people negotiated with their employers to do from home (which wouldnt apply to retail work). Your best bet is to find some part time work evenings/weekends. I'm sure with a retail background that's not too difficult to do. I know that plenty of businesses are slow but places like REI that sell winter sports should still be fairly busy. Look around. Another option is waitressing. I work Friday/Sunday nights 6-11p and take home $200 a week in the busier months and $160-180 this time of year.

littleredfish · January 2013

cjcouple:

So you were "expecting/counting" on the state paying your child's daycare bill?

amy052006:

Dear god. Figure put a way to increase your disposable income -- drive used cars, move to a cheaper place, consolidate debt.

The idea that you actually wanted the state to pay your daycare because you spent your disposable income is an effing riot.

Just to clarify; we got pregnant with LO when we were living in an area with affordable daycare. DH is military and we have since moved to a place where I had to take a job in retail while pregnant just to put away some savings because I could not find work in my field. Now where we are living the daycare is 10x the cost of where we were living before. That was a cost we hadn't counted on. That was the reason we tried to apply for the program beause DHs salary is going 100% to pay for our life (with some even coming from my Visa every month adding slowly to our debt).

We weren't counting on a transfer, it happened because DH was injured on the job and had to change trades. The area we are living in now has a higher cost of living in general, so all of our bills went up. We asked for help because we do need it. Just like I need a way to make some income or seriously cut our budget to make this work, which is what I asked.

I can maybe see why you would jump to the conclusion that we were trying to use the system, but I just didn't go into the depth of our situation. Life sometimes throws curveballs and I am trying to get advice from those living on one income, to give me some insight as to how we can work on budget either by working from home, or tips on how to make a tighter budget.

ETA: there are different programs in my province (I am located in Canada) and the program we applied for was to help cover some of the cost, not cover it completely.

LadyTyler · January 2013

We are in your situation. I have student loans for a field of work that doesn't have any openings so I'd been working my way up the retail ladder but in our area quality daycare for babies is 1.5x what I would make (if I could find a job that let me not work nights.) We've cut out a lot of extras like cable and pared down extra spending. I agree with the PP about a budge though. Mint.com is awesome for that.

And to others about the daycare subsidy: the point of allowing slightly higher income coverage is for situations just like this. It actually can cost the government a LOT for people to pull out of the workforce in lost taxes, lost money spent in the economy, ect so it was not intended just for extremely poor people but as an encouragement to keep people who would just barely cover daycare to stay in jobs. Many developed countries give everyone free or cheap childcare for these reasons.

littleredfish · January 2013

cjcouple:
nowababy:
cjcouple:

Well, it sounded to me like she was planning on taking advantage. so i was glad it didn't work.

I still gave her great advice.

It's true, your advice was actually very good. But the introduction to it was unnecessary.

well, she did put it out there. If she didn't want to go into details, a simple "help I need to cut expenses" would have accomplished what she needed and avoided any confusion.

It's not that I didn't want to go into details, I thought I gave sufficient details without making a post that was a short story in length. lol. My mistake.

I guess I need to rephrase my question then.
Anybody with advice on how to cut expenses to make a previously 2 income household run smoothly on 1 income?
More clear cut?

Andrewsgal · January 2013

Well since you are now living off your visa something has got to give. You can not afford to SAH. Many women on this board work nights and weekends. You need to pound the pavement and find a job you can do while your DH works.

ariel06 · January 2013

I work a part time retail job a couple nights a week when DH is at home to watch the kids. Could you make your availability work for your retail position?

Look at all your bills and make sure you're only paying for what you need. We don't have cable and use netflix and watching shows online. Negotiate internet prices down to whatever promotional deals are going on. We dropped out landline and only have cell phones. See if can adjust your cell phone services.

I have done some product testing and surveys. I don't make a lot of money doing it, but it's a little bit extra of spending money.

Sell stuff you don't need anymore on craigslist or ebay.

I've learned to be smarter about out grocery, so we waste less food.

Andrewsgal · January 2013

littleredfish:
cjcouple:
nowababy:
cjcouple:

Well, it sounded to me like she was planning on taking advantage. so i was glad it didn't work.

I still gave her great advice.

It's true, your advice was actually very good. But the introduction to it was unnecessary.

well, she did put it out there. If she didn't want to go into details, a simple "help I need to cut expenses" would have accomplished what she needed and avoided any confusion.

It's not that I didn't want to go into details, I thought I gave sufficient details without making a post that was a short story in length. lol. My mistake.

I guess I need to rephrase my question then.
Anybody with advice on how to cut expenses to make a previously 2 income household run smoothly on 1 income?
More clear cut?

but you just said yourself you are not even making it on two incomes. You need a job stat. Have you looked into a home daycare they are often considerably cheaper.

littleredfish · January 2013

Andrewsgal:
Well since you are now living off your visa something has got to give. You can not afford to SAH. Many women on this board work nights and weekends. You need to pound the pavement and find a job you can do while your DH works.

I have been working with an employment agency in my area, have had some interviews come up, with either no call backs or the hours conflict with his. Unfortunatly it's been going slower than anticipated since the area we live in has a high unemployment rate. Still plugging away, just no success so far.

littleredfish · January 2013

Andrewsgal:
but you just said yourself you are not even making it on two incomes. You need a job stat. Have you looked into a home daycare they are often considerably cheaper.

My apologies, I was unclear again :S We moved here while I was pregnant so the only job I found that would take me on was a part time postion in retail (Mon, Wed, Fri). We were making it without dipping into savings when I had that job, and would be doing great if I could work full time (ie: if she was in daycare to make that possible) I just can't go get a job to afford daycare when I can't put her in daycare to work. That's the main issue. DH will be promted in the next year, but it will be a tight year. At that time maybe I can stay home and be with her or afford the full cost of daycare, but until then I need ways to make things work like budget cut, or work from home, or on weekends so I can get out of this loop I feel stuck in. Was it more clear? I apologize.

littleredfish · January 2013

LalaMama81:
CurlingRocks:

nowababy:
Amy and CJ, we have no idea what her situation really is or why she was applying for the subsidy. Also, those programs are there for people who qualify for them. If you qualify, well then, you qualify. Period. And now she doesn't qualify, so she's looking for alternatives. Seems like she's doing exactly what she should be doing. I just don't see a reason to flame her for this reason.
I'd also like to add that responders to this thread seem to have the terms "disposable income" and "discretionary income" confused. I spent a lot of time teaching them in my business classes, so I'm sure you just aren't clear on what "disposable income" is. Allow me to clear this up:
Disposable Income=The amount of money that households have available for spending and saving after income taxes have been accounted for. [more or less the net paycheck]

Discretionary Income= The amount of an individual's income that is left for spending, investing or saving after taxes and personal necessities (such as food, shelter, and clothing) have been paid.

I certainly hope they have some disposable income when they get their paychecks! No one would work if the government took every last penny for tax money.

I don't think people were confused. While you might be right for the textbook definition, I think most people would use them more interchangeably, at least in my experience. In regards to this conversation, it's just semantics. Maybe it's like using gender for sex? It's wrong but people know what you mean?

To clarify for all, I meant that they took our take home pay into account, and that was it. Not the cost of our home, or loans, car payments or other debts (student or otherwise) we had which are what that money goes to.

notkateanymore · January 2013

amy052006:
I don't know -- there is a significant difference between "working income" and "disposable income". I mean really -- most people grasp that easily.
You get assistance based on what you earn, not what and how you spend.

Because if that was true, I need some assistance! I did too much shopping in New York.

wheelsonthebus · January 2013

lasfresasrojas:
I am a SAHM (by choice) but obviously money is a lot tighter now that we are on one income.
The most important thing you can do is to sit down with your husband and make a budget that works for you. Decide on it now, before he goes back to work- and stick with it.
You may have to reevaluate what you truly NEED, but it is well worth it IMO. I love staying home.

Agreed. Money is tight for us, but it's worth it to us. I don't have a smart phone and we don't drive new cars. You learn very quickly what you NEED and realize that everything else you can live without.

pastalady · January 2013

littleredfish:
cjcouple:

So you were "expecting/counting" on the state paying your child's daycare bill?

amy052006:

Dear god. Figure put a way to increase your disposable income -- drive used cars, move to a cheaper place, consolidate debt.

The idea that you actually wanted the state to pay your daycare because you spent your disposable income is an effing riot.

Just to clarify; we got pregnant with LO when we were living in an area with affordable daycare. DH is military and we have since moved to a place where I had to take a job in retail while pregnant just to put away some savings because I could not find work in my field. Now where we are living the daycare is 10x the cost of where we were living before. That was a cost we hadn't counted on. That was the reason we tried to apply for the program beause DHs salary is going 100% to pay for our life (with some even coming from my Visa every month adding slowly to our debt).

We weren't counting on a transfer, it happened because DH was injured on the job and had to change trades. The area we are living in now has a higher cost of living in general, so all of our bills went up. We asked for help because we do need it. Just like I need a way to make some income or seriously cut our budget to make this work, which is what I asked.

I can maybe see why you would jump to the conclusion that we were trying to use the system, but I just didn't go into the depth of our situation. Life sometimes throws curveballs and I am trying to get advice from those living on one income, to give me some insight as to how we can work on budget either by working from home, or tips on how to make a tighter budget.

ETA: there are different programs in my province (I am located in Canada) and the program we applied for was to help cover some of the cost, not cover it completely.

What province are you in? Here in Alberta we have the stay at home parent subsidy. It's not much but will pay for up to 100/month of a class for you and your child to attend (like gymnastics, playschool, etc) There is an approved list of programming. It's not much but gets you out of the house for something fun for free. Other provinces must have simillar programs. Go to your province website.

Also, the biggest area to cut down in is eating out and groceries. Really look at your budget and see where your money goes. I agree with pp about a part time job that is around your DH's schedule.

khill86 · January 2013

I'm in Canada, too, and in the OP's defence, everyone in my area applies for daycare subsidy. And I mean everyone. Because it has no income cap. It is a ratio of daycare cost to income. So the less you make, the less you'd have to spend on daycare to qualify for whatever percent in subsidy. When I was working and planning on going back to work, I applied for subsidy, even though our income was 6 figures. Of course, for us to qualify for a subsidy amount, we would have to spend something crazy like upwards of 5000 per month on daycare. So I mean, really everyone can get subsidy, it just depends on how much you pay for daycare as to whether or not you meet the qualifications to actually receive the subsidy. And likewise, some low income people end up with 100 percent subsidy.

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Any SAH/WAHMs out there willing to give advice?

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