Community› The Bump Local Boards› Minnesota Babies
Minnesota Babies
New Discussion

Has anyone changed to be a SAH parent after kids were born?

angel1015angel1015 member
in Minnesota Babies

We are looking in to the possibility of DH becoming a SAHD sometime later this year.  He is stuck in his job with no possibility for advancement or a raise, and his income is basically going to pay for daycare and gas to get to and from work.  He has some talents to do some freelance work for some extra income and I have opportunities at work to pick up some extra shifts.  

Our girls are 3.5 and 1, so it isn;t the typical "parent not going back to work after new baby is born."  He would also do preschool type lessons during the day with our 3yo.  There isn't a lot of resources out there for SAHDs but I am just starting to gather information.  Any suggestions on how to budget and handle finances as well as free stuff to do during the day would be great.

TIA! 

image

image




image
Report Reply to Post

Re: Has anyone changed to be a SAH parent after kids were born?

  • Payne2B2008Payne2B2008 member

    There is a Stay at Home Dad group (I want to say meetup.com) I ran in to a dad that was part of that group at a local Storytime. 

    Sorry I can't be more help but good luck  


    image
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
    Report Reply
  • Loading the player...
  • akstanlakstanl member
    As far as your finances, I highly recommend the book The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, and/or taking Financial Peace University. If we were in a similar situation we would save the income of the person coming home, live off the income of who is going to be working for the rest of the pregnancy to make sure it is doable and to get a hefty savings account. Granted, there are going to be some expenses you have now that you won't have then, like daycare, so you will have to account for those if right now you can't live off of just yours without the help for daycare expenses.
    Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker


    BabyFetus Ticker
    Report Reply
  • karelaorangekarelaorange member

    There are lots of free things to do, but they can be hard to find at first.  My favorite (in the winter) are library story times, book store story times and open gyms at the community rec centers.  I've tried to compile some of them in my website, and have tagged them as "free"

    https://www.growingupminnesota.com/tag/free/

    But this doesn't even scratch the surface.  Depending where you live, look up the libraries and rec centers around you.

    And a membership to a nearby place is sometimes worthwhile.  For us it's the Children's Museum, but that may be different for you.

    Also check out Meetup.com.  Most of the groups are Mom centered, but I'm sure they'd welcome a Dad.  He'll be a bit of an outsider, but having nearby stay at home moms would be helpful for organizing play dates, etc.  

    Growing Up Minnesota

    Blog: Baby Mama's Drama
    imageimageimageimageBaby Birthday Ticker Ticker
    Report Reply
  • NoBeautyQueenNoBeautyQueen member

    My kids were older when I started staying home during the week. It was right around the time my youngest turned one. They've never been in daycare, we've always worked opposite schedules. My husband got a new job with better hours, pay and benefits so I dropped down to part time, just working on the weekends. I'm sure we could live on just his income, but since there there isn't a childcare cost, the money I earn allows us a lot of stuff we wouldn't be able to afford with just one income. If I had to pay for childcare, I would not be working.

    We have a couple memberships, but there are certainly plenty of free activities too. And once you get out to activities, you can network with other parents and they'll often know other free or inexpensive activities in your area. 

    imageimage
    Report Reply
This discussion has been closed.
Choose Another Board
Search Boards
"
"