From time to time, I hear women call your show saying they can’t afford to stay home full time with their children. I wanted to give my testimonial that it IS possible, but the husband and wife have to make that option their priority. My husband and I have one daughter, with another on the way.
Up until recently, I worked a few days a week, mostly to keep our insurance and the stock benefits I had with the company I worked for. I worked a night shift. My husband and mother-in-law traded off watching our daughter. It was tough, but we kept the goal of my being home with her during the day. The money I made was used mostly on splurges at a restaurant, because we were both too tired and the house too messy to want to prepare a meal at home.
Luckily, my husband is an accountant, and believes in budgets! So now, while money is tight, on his income alone, we are able to live comfortably, pay our bills and have food on the table. We bought a modest home, and have one good car (and one junker). Best of all, my daughter gets a happy mommy 24/7, my husband has his “girlfriend” again, and we’ve never been happier. It’s a simpler life that requires sacrifices, but it is more rewarding than what we had before.
Jessica
How We Afford My Being a Stay-at-Home Mom
