I felt lead to stay at home and my mother in law told me I would be miserable. I was not happy working and finally did quit. So much happier home with my son. I worked the budget to see if we could do it and cut back until I could make it work.
I have a 13 year old, 3 year old, and 7 month old. I became a stay at home mom in 2021. The pandemic showed us that things work better with someone at home with the kids. It is the most amazing thing we have done. The budget is super tight, but we are making it work.
I’m a full time stay at home/home school mom to four 6 and under. My husband is a full time medical student and we are living solely on loans. We will be finishing his school with HALF the national average of a SINGLE MEDICAL STUDENTS debt, and we’ve been a family of 5/6 this entire time. I have you to thank for sooooo much of our success with living on absolute bare bones for this season of life.
When my husband and I got married we knew the goal was for me to be a stay at home mom when we had kids, so from the get go we lived solely on my husband's income and mine went towards savings. Even with that goal in mind I still worked the first year of our daughter's life as we had several unexpected medical bills from her birth. But it's been 3 years now, we've added 2 more kids and are still on a single income. Your creativity will be tested, but it can be done.
I became a Stay at Home Mom after baby #3, tho I Always wanted to be a SAHM. We had 6 children. It was so very difficult, but most rewarding. Unfortunately we divorced....and I was left with a blank employment slate for 16 yrs. Trying to find work in your mid 40s with a blank current resume was Most challenging. I am still grateful to have been able to stay home with my littles.
I was very blessed to be able to stay home with my kiddos. We did the math and I would be making less than $5 an hour after daycare etc. I made good money and it was really hard to leave that security of a paycheck. The peace of mind is very real. I then decided to homeschool for the first four years. I figured if my kids didn’t know how to read or write it was on me lol. My kiddos now are chemists and have their doctorates. It’s hard on one income, but worth it!
I have been a stay-at-home mom for five years, and it is way harder than I expected. I just started working again part time. It’s certainly different, juggling a wider range of things, but so far it’s not as hard as I expected.
My husband and I found a happy medium with me working off shift part time. It was hard but I also needed some outside activity. Nursing was flexible. I was fortunate.
🇨🇦when we got married we knew we wanted me to be a sahm so we lived off his salary and put mine away after tithing. We knew when the time came we could manage on one salary. We SELDOM ate out, and our "recreation" would be picnics, camping, having people over, board games, etc, anything free! I honestly don't remember ever paying a sitter. Babies were with us the vast majority of the time. Sometimes I had to put groceries back b/c they were over my budget. Minimal gifts. Home-cooked everything. It was a good life. It's over pretty quickly. They're grown now. I feel very blessed to have been able to do that. Once they were in school I got a school job so it worked around their hours. Blessed. Yup.
I think the most important job is the mom. Why is she working outside the home? I have "raised" many peoples children through childcare. I loved every child, but not like mom did. I taught these kids, but mom could have done what I did. To all the moms who think they aren't "pulling their own", don't think that way. To raise a child is the most important job. To raise adults to be who they need to be, that is your job. Love it and embrace it. Great podcast. I love that Dave is here to share the man's point of view. Stay at home moms need that good man to stand with them. It is a team. Don't listen to the world, it is possible to stay home. As a stay at home wife (no kids), I always got up when he did and "worked". The house was clean, food cooked, no extra money out and saved every penny. I became the "frugal queen". LOL saying that to you.
I've always been a stay at home mom. I lost my job while pregnant, we lost that child, I worked for 3 months while pregnant with the next, never worked after that. We live on about $2k a month, without food stamps. It's possible but we don't have new cars, name brand clothes, iphones, new tech devices, ect. We don't go on vacations, to concerts, ect. We don't go out to eat, to get coffee, ect. We don't have cable. We only buy foods on sale and having a deep freezer is essential. I ask for things we need for Christmas, most of my kids clothes/shoes come as gifts at birthdays and christmas. The kids are homeschooled. We have memberships to the zoo/museum for entertainment. These are often gifts to us. We live very simply and the kids are super happy. They basically live outside when the weather is nicer/decent.
Good discussion! I'm a better mom because I work - and I think it's good for the kids to see me go to work and be successful. I've been in love with our daycare/PreK. It costs a fortune but my kids love to go play with their friends and they have learned/gained so much by going. Could I have replicated the experience if I was a stay at home mom? Probably - there are pros and cons to EVERYTHING! I love my kids more than anything in this world, but I'm a happier and better mom because I work.
It is definitely a sacrifice going from two to one incomes but in reality, if you aren’t budgeting your money that extra income is usually just wasted on frivolous things. We are much more intentional with our money now that we only have one income.
I have been a working mom, stay at home mom, and now I work from home. There are pros and cons to each. My kids are older now - 23, 19, 16, and our youngest is 7 (our midlife crisis baby). All of our kids live with us. Our oldest 2 are in college. Our 16 year old is severely autistic and goes to school for around 4 hours 3 days a week. Because of his autism, it has always been better that someone is avaliable and home in case he needed to stay home or come home from school. It was also nice in case the other kids had to stay home sick. I hated not having a job. I like working. I like our household to have more than one income. It feels much safer than just having one. I love being able to work from home. I have not worked outside the home in a long time. I edit content, do SEO, and grade essays seasonally. I have been able to be home with our 7 year old his whole life. I do work a lot but my jobs are flexible so I can still put them on buses and get them off buses. I'm here if they're sick. We do outside time. I get to be with them all the time, and I absolutely love it. We're currently on a debt-free journey. We're starting Dave Ramsey this month. We went years on one income and have tons of medical bills. Ill be 40 next month. I wish we weren't in debt right now, but I am determined to fix it. Unfortunately, right after Christmas, our fridge broke. We have to replace the fridge and lost a few hundred dollars in food. It is throwing us off. But, I'm going to do the best I can. As far as sinking funds, I don't have much in them right now, but I have them for car expenses, school expenses, birthdays, charity, Christmas, copays, etc. I use an online bank account where you can divide your account into categories. It shows how much I have all together, but it also shows how much I have set aside for each thing. I tried envelopes, but with the way things are, it's difficult to use cash that way.
I love your podcasts, but they're really hard to hear. I don't know if it's the audio equipment or the mics or what, but I have to turn them up really loud and then my eardrums get blown when an ad comes on. Not sure if it's just me. I don't have this problem with your videos. Just wanted you to be aware. Thanks for the great content!
I felt this same way about wanting to stay home with my kids and we didn’t make it happen out of fear until my third was 2. Financially, we somehow just make it work! Don’t be afraid. Just make a plan. We lowered some payments and my husband bought a less expensive car. We also mostly cut everyday expenses. I will say, it was a WAY bigger adjustment for me because I was used to being a working mom and I realized I had ZERO routines set up because when we were home, we mostly just relaxed. I think it would have been better if I could have built the routines slowly with one baby, then a toddler and baby, etc…
Hello from Utah. I loved your podcast. I have four children three of which are triplets. They were born while my husband was in his second year of law school and then two years later my fourth child was born. Now they are grown. My triplets are almost 20 and my youngest is almost 18. It does go by super fast. I was a sahm and didn’t regret it. It was something I had wanted to do. We were poor in the beginning but we made it work. I don’t regret it. I’m just sad it has gone by so fast. Loved your podcast.
Ok so if you don't have (gym or church) that and the kids friends are in (sports) a different economic level because we're the scholarship kids. Your not able to the things how do you make friends and moved to a new place and we're not in the best area
Kristin, one of your great mom skills was being frugal. I never mastered that. If I had I could have really helped my family during that tough time. Still maintain best thing for the kids and it broke my heart to consider leaving them too but it’s not easy for sure. I maintain so many more families could do this if they truly wanted to if they were willing to make the sacrifices but so many feel they have no option but to both work. My baby is leaving for college in a few months and I was there for every moment but it still went insanely fast. My advise -be there. You won’t regret it.
If you leave all of your sinking fund savings in your checking account, how do you not accidentally spend them? Do you and Dave both have a spending limit every month?
I use YNAB, it lets me make buckets to put my money in so I know what's for what type of spending, and what savings are for what purpose. I don't look at my account balances before spending money, I look at what's left in a given budget category in YNAB. A spreadsheet would also work!
I am currently a “DINKWAD” double income no kids with a dog lol. We are getting married this June and I am possibly going back to school full time in the fall so it’ll be interesting to go just to one income.
I felt lead to stay at home and my mother in law told me I would be miserable. I was not happy working and finally did quit. So much happier home with my son. I worked the budget to see if we could do it and cut back until I could make it work.
I have a 13 year old, 3 year old, and 7 month old. I became a stay at home mom in 2021. The pandemic showed us that things work better with someone at home with the kids. It is the most amazing thing we have done. The budget is super tight, but we are making it work.
I’m a full time stay at home/home school mom to four 6 and under. My husband is a full time medical student and we are living solely on loans. We will be finishing his school with HALF the national average of a SINGLE MEDICAL STUDENTS debt, and we’ve been a family of 5/6 this entire time. I have you to thank for sooooo much of our success with living on absolute bare bones for this season of life.
When my husband and I got married we knew the goal was for me to be a stay at home mom when we had kids, so from the get go we lived solely on my husband's income and mine went towards savings. Even with that goal in mind I still worked the first year of our daughter's life as we had several unexpected medical bills from her birth. But it's been 3 years now, we've added 2 more kids and are still on a single income. Your creativity will be tested, but it can be done.
Such a great podcast, the interaction between you and Dave is the Best
I became a Stay at Home Mom after baby #3, tho I Always wanted to be a SAHM. We had 6 children. It was so very difficult, but most rewarding.
Unfortunately we divorced....and I was left with a blank employment slate for 16 yrs. Trying to find work in your mid 40s with a blank current resume was Most challenging.
I am still grateful to have been able to stay home with my littles.
I was very blessed to be able to stay home with my kiddos. We did the math and I would be making less than $5 an hour after daycare etc. I made good money and it was really hard to leave that security of a paycheck. The peace of mind is very real. I then decided to homeschool for the first four years. I figured if my kids didn’t know how to read or write it was on me lol. My kiddos now are chemists and have their doctorates. It’s hard on one income, but worth it!
I have been a stay-at-home mom for five years, and it is way harder than I expected. I just started working again part time. It’s certainly different, juggling a wider range of things, but so far it’s not as hard as I expected.
I find women who are awesome in business, KICK @SS as a stay at home moms. The skills are 100% transferrable.
Can you do a video or podcast about introducing yourself, etc? Like teach us how you taught your kids to do that. Great podcast!
Was going to ask the same thing!
"Figuring out what your own values are as a family." YES! SO important! Best advice out of the whole sahm conversation.
My husband and I found a happy medium with me working off shift part time. It was hard but I also needed some outside activity. Nursing was flexible. I was fortunate.
I'm a big believer in part-time work. It is good for the kids to have a change occasionally too.
Same here! Working 3 days per week, 8 hour days.
🇨🇦when we got married we knew we wanted me to be a sahm so we lived off his salary and put mine away after tithing. We knew when the time came we could manage on one salary. We SELDOM ate out, and our "recreation" would be picnics, camping, having people over, board games, etc, anything free! I honestly don't remember ever paying a sitter. Babies were with us the vast majority of the time. Sometimes I had to put groceries back b/c they were over my budget. Minimal gifts. Home-cooked everything. It was a good life. It's over pretty quickly. They're grown now. I feel very blessed to have been able to do that. Once they were in school I got a school job so it worked around their hours. Blessed. Yup.
You two are a great team!
I think the most important job is the mom. Why is she working outside the home? I have "raised" many peoples children through childcare. I loved every child, but not like mom did. I taught these kids, but mom could have done what I did. To all the moms who think they aren't "pulling their own", don't think that way. To raise a child is the most important job. To raise adults to be who they need to be, that is your job. Love it and embrace it. Great podcast. I love that Dave is here to share the man's point of view. Stay at home moms need that good man to stand with them. It is a team. Don't listen to the world, it is possible to stay home. As a stay at home wife (no kids), I always got up when he did and "worked". The house was clean, food cooked, no extra money out and saved every penny. I became the "frugal queen". LOL saying that to you.
I've always been a stay at home mom. I lost my job while pregnant, we lost that child, I worked for 3 months while pregnant with the next, never worked after that. We live on about $2k a month, without food stamps. It's possible but we don't have new cars, name brand clothes, iphones, new tech devices, ect. We don't go on vacations, to concerts, ect. We don't go out to eat, to get coffee, ect. We don't have cable. We only buy foods on sale and having a deep freezer is essential. I ask for things we need for Christmas, most of my kids clothes/shoes come as gifts at birthdays and christmas. The kids are homeschooled. We have memberships to the zoo/museum for entertainment. These are often gifts to us. We live very simply and the kids are super happy. They basically live outside when the weather is nicer/decent.
Good discussion! I'm a better mom because I work - and I think it's good for the kids to see me go to work and be successful. I've been in love with our daycare/PreK. It costs a fortune but my kids love to go play with their friends and they have learned/gained so much by going. Could I have replicated the experience if I was a stay at home mom? Probably - there are pros and cons to EVERYTHING! I love my kids more than anything in this world, but I'm a happier and better mom because I work.
Agreed!
It is definitely a sacrifice going from two to one incomes but in reality, if you aren’t budgeting your money that extra income is usually just wasted on frivolous things. We are much more intentional with our money now that we only have one income.
I have been a working mom, stay at home mom, and now I work from home. There are pros and cons to each.
My kids are older now - 23, 19, 16, and our youngest is 7 (our midlife crisis baby). All of our kids live with us. Our oldest 2 are in college. Our 16 year old is severely autistic and goes to school for around 4 hours 3 days a week. Because of his autism, it has always been better that someone is avaliable and home in case he needed to stay home or come home from school. It was also nice in case the other kids had to stay home sick. I hated not having a job. I like working. I like our household to have more than one income. It feels much safer than just having one. I love being able to work from home. I have not worked outside the home in a long time. I edit content, do SEO, and grade essays seasonally. I have been able to be home with our 7 year old his whole life. I do work a lot but my jobs are flexible so I can still put them on buses and get them off buses. I'm here if they're sick. We do outside time. I get to be with them all the time, and I absolutely love it.
We're currently on a debt-free journey. We're starting Dave Ramsey this month. We went years on one income and have tons of medical bills. Ill be 40 next month. I wish we weren't in debt right now, but I am determined to fix it. Unfortunately, right after Christmas, our fridge broke. We have to replace the fridge and lost a few hundred dollars in food. It is throwing us off. But, I'm going to do the best I can.
As far as sinking funds, I don't have much in them right now, but I have them for car expenses, school expenses, birthdays, charity, Christmas, copays, etc. I use an online bank account where you can divide your account into categories. It shows how much I have all together, but it also shows how much I have set aside for each thing. I tried envelopes, but with the way things are, it's difficult to use cash that way.
I love your podcasts, but they're really hard to hear. I don't know if it's the audio equipment or the mics or what, but I have to turn them up really loud and then my eardrums get blown when an ad comes on. Not sure if it's just me. I don't have this problem with your videos. Just wanted you to be aware. Thanks for the great content!
Happy NewYear!!! 🎉🎊✌🏻
Love that you two are such a great team and that Dave is so affirming of Christine!
I felt this same way about wanting to stay home with my kids and we didn’t make it happen out of fear until my third was 2. Financially, we somehow just make it work! Don’t be afraid. Just make a plan. We lowered some payments and my husband bought a less expensive car. We also mostly cut everyday expenses.
I will say, it was a WAY bigger adjustment for me because I was used to being a working mom and I realized I had ZERO routines set up because when we were home, we mostly just relaxed. I think it would have been better if I could have built the routines slowly with one baby, then a toddler and baby, etc…
This was so great! Fantastic advice.
We have seasons in our lives… I had a 12 year old season of being home and raising my kids. I am so thankful to do that but I did take sacrifice.
Hello from Utah. I loved your podcast. I have four children three of which are triplets. They were born while my husband was in his second year of law school and then two years later my fourth child was born. Now they are grown. My triplets are almost 20 and my youngest is almost 18. It does go by super fast. I was a sahm and didn’t regret it. It was something I had wanted to do. We were poor in the beginning but we made it work. I don’t regret it. I’m just sad it has gone by so fast. Loved your podcast.
Ok so if you don't have (gym or church) that and the kids friends are in (sports) a different economic level because we're the scholarship kids. Your not able to the things how do you make friends and moved to a new place and we're not in the best area
Kristin, one of your great mom skills was being frugal. I never mastered that. If I had I could have really helped my family during that tough time. Still maintain best thing for the kids and it broke my heart to consider leaving them too but it’s not easy for sure. I maintain so many more families could do this if they truly wanted to if they were willing to make the sacrifices but so many feel they have no option but to both work. My baby is leaving for college in a few months and I was there for every moment but it still went insanely fast. My advise -be there. You won’t regret it.
If you leave all of your sinking fund savings in your checking account, how do you not accidentally spend them? Do you and Dave both have a spending limit every month?
I use YNAB, it lets me make buckets to put my money in so I know what's for what type of spending, and what savings are for what purpose. I don't look at my account balances before spending money, I look at what's left in a given budget category in YNAB. A spreadsheet would also work!
I joined a stay at home moms club which saved my sanity
Such a incredible husband!!
Good Saturday morning Frugal Fit Mom.
I am currently a “DINKWAD” double income no kids with a dog lol. We are getting married this June and I am possibly going back to school full time in the fall so it’ll be interesting to go just to one income.
I enjoyed this chat between you two 😅.. Happy new year 🎆 🥳 🎉