How can I figure out how much it will cost to work versus staying home with my 3 young kids?

Question

If you know of any resources that help to actually calculate the cost of working versus being a homemaker, please help.

Thanks!

Does anyone have actual resources they can refer me to that provide checklists or calculators for this?

Answer 1

I recently had the same exact issue, as I am also a mother of three. First, I took the amount I'd be making at a certain job, & then calculated my expenses at the same rate. (If the job paid weekly, I figured my expenses on a weekly scale, if bi-monthly, if monthly, etc.) The minimal expenses to consider is pay, minus taxes, minus gas, minus daycare.
Other options to consider: How much time will you be away from your family? Is this exceptable to you? How much will you have to curb their extra-cirricular activities? Will you have help with keeping up on the housework, will you have to do it all yourself, or will you hire someone?
Unfortunately, the financial figures are the only easy part to answer.
Ultimately, I choose the option of working from home. There are some great websites out there with resources for finding legite work & for researching a company that offers work.

Answer 2

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Answer 3

I don't think there really is a way to calculate the cost of working vs being a homemaker. There are just too many factors to consider. I remember when my children were young and I would get a call at work saying one of them had a high fever and I should get home right away...she ended up in the hospital and I nearly lost her...she was fine when I left for work.
That's when I made the decision to have both, work full time and be a stay-at-home Mom.
I run my business from home and earn far more than I could have dreamed of in the work world. I work very hard at it, but I also worked very hard at my job. I am home every night, have training via telephone every morning and most nights, Never miss anything with the children again because I leverage my time.
I can easily teach you how to do this and you could have the best of both worlds like I do!

Answer 4

Everybody seems to be giving you answers as to how you can stay at home with the kids (which is a very wise choice) and not work.

You know if you are at home with the kids, that is work. But during some spare time you may have, why not make it useful and produce income?

There are many businesses you can set up online and run them on a part time basis and make some very good money.

This way, you will not have to do all the calculations and worry about what it will cost you. This site has some great ideas, articles and information you can check out. They are all reall, because it's your business and you do it your way. They work.

So whatever you decide to do, do it with all your might.

Answer 5

I think you'll find that there are several expenses that you know you will have and if you know how much you expect to make then you can just subtract the one from the other. You will need child care for all the children usually around $120 per week per child depending on where you live, plus gas and you have to consider your time of some value also as you will be very busy keeping the house clean and geting the kids home and dinner on the table before hubby gets home. Just some things to think about. Best wishes

Answer 6

You may want to consult your tax advisor about this also, because your child care expenses are usually tax deductible.
However, that being said, looking at the costs is only half the issue. If you would rather be there with your kids, there are ways to do that too. There are some legitimate work at home jobs. I work with a team specifically catered to moms that want to stay at home and need that flexibility. If you are considering this as an option, email me and I'll give you more information. If not, best of luck going back to work!

Answer 7

It's easy to do on your own. You need to figure out what you'd make at your job. Then figure you expense to work: child care, gas or transportation expense, cost of eating at work or packing lunches....stuff like that. Although some of these are tax deductable, you are also going to be missing out on some of the best years of your kids lives. My suggestion would be to wait until your children are all in school. I had a full time job that I quite after my third child was born, and with childcare and gas prices as high as they are, we are actually not losing any money.

Answer 8

Well you figure how much daycare is going to cost per year. Say for example $80 per week x 4 x12. Then you figure how much you're going to bring home from a job. Minus the cost of gas, work clothes, etc and then subtract the daycare cost from what you have left over from work.

Answer 9

find out what the local daycare provider will cost, or whoever will be watching the kids anyway. then look for the job you will be trying to get. will the hours coincide with your daycare? how far will you commute to work? will the starting wage pay more than 1.5 times the total daycare cost? does the daycare provider feed them or do you need to pack lunches? if you have to work overtime will there be someone that can pick them up for you? good luck

Answer 10

first, find out how much daycare would cost for your area, then add what you would spend on lunches, gas, and appereance. subtract that form your pay after tax. this is weekly .

then look at last years tax return, did you pay in? will the loss of income help you to have less liability, or maybe even offer a refund?

then ask your kids how much they would love for you to cook breakfast for them every day, watch tv with them every afternoon, and be in a better mood with them with less stress from working in a stressfull environment.

I am staying home with my 3 kids, and am happy to be broke. we cannot afford to go to africa twice a year now, maybe once ever two years, but I get to spend every day with my beutiful little rugrats, that is worth all the money in the world.