Comments on: Mommy, Come Home: Hire Yourself

By: lynn

lynn — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 18:39:33 +0000

What a wonderful site. This is my first time visiting. I agree with what all the other posters have said — it isn’t easy being home and we make sacrifices to do it, but it is so worth it. We can never get back the years with young children, and you will never regret the time you spend with them! My boys are young men now, but I am so very thankful I was there for every step of the way. It is so worth the financial (and other) sacrifices to see your children grow up to be fine young people you are proud to know. So ladies, keep up the good work in loving your families and finding a way to spend as much time with them as possible!

By: monica

monica — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 02:56:04 +0000

To Heather- my husband is self-employed and we carry a High deductible plan for a medical emergencies. We have a HSA that we fund and use towards healthcare as well. All of my 5 have been born without maternity coverage- the policy does include for complications from delivery if life threatening to mom or baby. Otherwise we have negotiated with Dr and hospital before we delivered- our bills were reduced by about 30%. Also- ask for an itemized bill for the delivery from the hospital. Last baby we were overcharged more then $2,000. I was never moved to a private room but I was billed for one.

By: Shalet

Shalet — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:40:20 +0000

It would be so nice …

By: kattmaxx

kattmaxx — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:32:07 +0000

I hire myself to:
-mend, hem and alter our clothes
-make flower arangements and cakes for friends and family celebrations
-make baked goods
-make inexpensive but tasty gifts
-buzz cut my guys’hair(x4)
-trim bangs and ends of girls’hair(x3)
-do minor home repairs, hub does major ones + car repair
-replace window screens,it’s really easy
-wash windows, in and out
-do the gardening, I do pay son to mow though
-host dinner parties instead of going out
-in the past I have done my pets shots but I’m not in a farm co-op anymore where I got them
-do home pedi and manicures and any other beauty treatments, a spa night at home is fun!

By: Sherry

Sherry — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:11:35 +0000

There are so many things that one could give up (including myself) to have more money available in the budget. Even simple things such as making things from scratch can help. If you have difficulties in doing certain things, ask for help.

By: Heather

Heather — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:16:36 +0000

Hi Amy,

I’ve just been catching up with this series…Wonderful! We are a bit different in that my husband is self-employed and I work part time to cover the benefits. We would love for me to be home full time and are working towards that, but having affordable health insurance is what stops us. I literally make no money, but the $10,000 a year it would cost to have a decent plan with maternity coverage and out of pocket costs is stopping us.

Does anyone know of ways to self-insure while still having babies? We would be SO grateful to hear of ideas.

I feel very fortunate that I work only 20-25 hours/week and when I am working baby is home with Daddy. The time together for them is great, but things would be even better if mommy was always home!

Thanks for doing this series! I do think many young women and men are having more and more desire to stay home or at least avoid daycare. In our birth class 6 out of 7 babies do not go to day care. One is now a stay at home mom and the other 5 have all worked out ways for Mom and Dad to change their schedules to be with baby. Some use Grandma/Grandpa to help as well. The only one that goes to daycare has a single mom. We were really surprised at how the numbers worked out since all 13 parents worked full time typical schedules before babies came along!

Again, thank you for a great series! Laura at Heavenly Homemakers pointed me in your direction.

Heather

By: Jenn @ Beautiful Calling

Jenn @ Beautiful Calling — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:05:23 +0000

Thank you so much for sharing. It so encouraging to read others stories, glean ideas and just be motivated to know that we can do it. We’re struggling right now but we’ll make it!

By: Step

Step — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 09:04:19 +0000

Beth, your coming home story reads almost exactly the same as mine. College degree, good paying career, two babies in daycare, precious little time with them each night, hubby had to change jobs in order for us to afford me resigning my job. I do have one “bow” though — lol!

Amen to your article. One thing I did while still in the talking stage of becoming a SAHM is to write out two budgets: the current one with our two salaries and the projected one with all of my work related expenses taken out. Honestly, we really did not feel any financial pinch after I came home and I was making $50,000+ before taxes and that was 9 years ago!!! Hubby did move to a higher paying job and that helped, but…

We were spending so much on just daycare alone that it boggles my mind. Add in the gas costs for a 30 minute one way commute, lunches out, dinners out, work wardrobe, spending habits to match our salaries and there went my salary — poof! Coming home was the BEST decision I’ve ever made. I’ve learned more in the past 9 years than I ever did in college.

By: niki

niki — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:34:21 +0000

Amen! I whole heartedly agree. Those first few years fly by and it is a shame so many mommies miss them.

By: Amy Green/Simply Sugar & Gluten Free

Amy Green/Simply Sugar & Gluten Free — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 02:12:27 +0000

We don’t have any children yet but it’s quite expensive for me to work between the housekeeper, the dog walker (yes, I insist that my babies aren’t home alone all day!), and the dry cleaner. My hubby and I have already decided and are making plans for when we do have a family – I am staying home. We make some decisions about money and our life style today so that we can do what we belive is right when we have the opportunity. Thanks for sharing!