Staying Home With Your Kids, Work May Cost More Than You Think
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This crazy world has many mothers considering leaving their jobs to be stay at home moms. Our reasons for making this decision could vary, however we do seem to arrive there the same way. It is important to take a hard look at your lifestyle and determine, can we afford this, or does our current living standard prevent this goal? Our desire to be a stay at home mom could force us to re-align our priorities, and possibly sacrifice some of the comforts we love! Interestingly though, a question many of us fail to ask ourselves is “what does it cost me to go to work each day”? Your answer to that question could be a surprise. Find a sheet of paper and get ready to some math. You could be closer to achieving this goal than you think.
There are several factors to consider, but I consider the following the “biggies”. Day care is a huge expense, in some cases as much as $12,000 a year for one child. Add it up, what are you spending each week? What about your clothing? Not only are you spending money on your business attire, but you are spending money on dry cleaning, pantyhose, shoes, nails, make-up etc.
Your daily food bill adds up quick. I loved to go to lunch each day, and I am sure I am not alone in that. I needed to get away from the office for a mental reprieve and my daily lunch break was the ticket. That mid day break is a hard hit on your pocket book. What are you spending weekly on lunch? Another thing to consider is your gourmet coffee stops and late afternoon vending machine trips. Finally, how often do you go out to dinner? What about the number of times you have picked up dinner on the way home because you are to tired to cook after a hard days work. How much is food really costing you?
Gas is a huge weekly cost, what do you spend? With all the driving, you are just adding miles to your vehicle which causes the value of your car to decrease. This will increase the frequency of your oil changes and tire maintenance. What do you spend on vehicle insurance? Many times the more you drive, the more your insurance will cost. Some insurance companies give a discount for driving less, some will even provide policies based on the number of miles you drive each day.
What tax bracket are you in? You may pay more tax from your additional income because it forces you into a higher tax bracket. Additionally, you could be missing certain tax breaks from your single income household status.
Now, add all your expenses up and deduct them from your income. Now, what is your income? Push it a step further and take the amount left over and divide it by 2,080 hours in a work year. Where does that take your hourly rate? Is it worth it to even go to a job at that rate? This can be an eye opening exercise, it definitely was for me! It was my catalyst to make the leap to stay at home mom.
