Is it possible to be a stay at home mom these days????

Question

Do you think it's possible to afford to be a stay at home mom anymore? I've heard the saying "It takes two incomes to live nowadays" quite often.

If it is possible, how much (roughly) do you believe the spouse would have to earn to make this work?

Answer 1

Being a stay at home mom is always possible. It really depends on how frugal you can be and how bad you want to stay home. My wife has been a stay at home mom for the last 10 years (kids ages 3-10). We don't make a ton of money, but we live ok. We just pick and choose things we need and just would like to have.

Answer 2

You have to add up all your monthly expenses and associated debt. Working nights and weekends may be a better option if you don't want to spend the money on daycare.

In my area of yuppies, only about 40% are stay-at-home moms and they go back to work when the youngest enters first grade. They simply can't afford to do much more than break even on one income. Obviously, there are exceptions, but the only ones I know of paid their homes off early (so no mortgage) and did not buy vehicles on credit.

While I agree with the poster above that people tend to live outside their means, in my county, family homes START at $225,000 now. One income can manage the home and associated costs, but you need the other income to live. Driving 1.5 hours to and from work is what others do, but eventually, those homes will also be outpriced.

Answer 3

Yes, it is possible. We make it work - my husband makes around $30,000 a year (take home salary after taxes is less). It is definitely possible. It does, however take some sacrafices, unless your husband makes over $60,000 a year - lol. For example, we don't have cell phones (which we don't really want anyways becuase we used to have them and they were more of a pain than anything else), we don' t have cable (we used to but never watched it b/c there was never anything worth watching on t.v.) so we just got rid of it and watch movies and the local stations that we can get with our antenna instead, we don't go out to eat all of the time (usually about twice a month or so, which if you're home, you have time to cook anyways, so eating out isn't really neccessary except for an occasional break), we don't have new vehicles (our vehicles are both 10 years old, but run well and are paid for), we don't live in a big or new house (our house is about 900 sq. feet with 2 bedrooms on the main floor and it is 100 years old, however, we bought it for $57,000 - we live in the rural midwest and housing is cheap - and our payments on it are only $500 a month), we don't have any credit card debt either - we make sure that if we want to buy something, we save up for it.
It's just all about living smartly and spending your money wisely and most of all BUDGETING - I cannot stress that point enough. My husbnad brings home about $2,300 a month. After all of our bills are paid (house payment, car insurance, electric, water, trash, gas, occasional doctor bills, phone and internet, and any mischellaneous bills, groceries for the month in the cupboards), we are still able to put anywhere from $200 to $500 into savings each month and still have a good cusion of a couple hundred dollars left in checking. It's just all about spending your money wisely. The bennefits of staying home though are endless, for both you, your children, and your family as a whole. It's a difficult decision to make, and it does take some strict budgeting and perhaps a few sacrafices, but believe me, it's worth it! Good luck with your decision and God bless!

Answer 4

I think that it depends on the family situation... I'm a SAHM and by no means wealthy. I stay at home with the children during the day and I work part-time at night at a local department store. Doing it this way saves us TONS on the cost of daycare. I also breastfed both my children exclusively for just over a year.. So, I didn't use formula. We also cut back on our spending and I use coupons for most things that we buy... We do not qualify for any gov't programs like WIC or anything of that nature and we rent a nice home in a nice suburb.. My children are ages 16 mnths and 3 1/2 yrs. old... My husband earns a decent living but, he works very, very hard. So, it's possible if you are willing to sacrifice a bit...

Answer 5

My husband makes a little less than 30k per year and we are tight-but we are doing fine. I stay home with my two toddler boys and would not change a thing even though I made 6 figures prior to staying home. We do not go out to eat but maybe a handful of times per year and do not get new clothes for ourselves very often-but besides that-we live a fairly good life. I do not know where you live-but in order to live the lifestyle we wanted (we have a new four bedroom house and a pool on almost one acre) we moved to the country-which is a better life for our family anyway. If you live in a big city-your costs are going to be higher. The best thing to do is to calculate your costs bare minimum and then facter in salaries to see what is possible for you. I wish you all the best!

Answer 6

Yes it is.

I have been one for the last 11 years. Sometimes, it means you don't have the money to buy things you want. But we always have what we need.

Some kids get to do 2 - 5 activities. Mine get to do one each, and once in a while if we have the money, one will get to do an extra activity they really, really want and we have the extra cash.

You just learn to find the "free" stuff. I found a place (about 5 years back) that allowed my kid to take free horse back lessons for 6 weeks. Free kids shows at the malls...just make sure you eat before you go, and bring a drink, so your not spending money. Go to the library where you can check out books, DVD's and books on tape for free. Look in the paper for upcoming free things for kids.

You can do it if you really try.

Answer 7

The answer to both your questions completely depends on where you live, how many kids you have, how healthy everyone is.... it's a very personal issue that requires a lot of planning and detailed analysis of your family's expenses.

Many who claim it's just that easy to go to one income don't take into account the individual expenses many families have. My parents never had new cars, fancy anything, etc... but could never have lived off one income. They have only one income now, with all the kids out of the house, and struggle daily.

Answer 8

Do daycare. If you are energetic and can discipline kids, it's a snap. I make $800 a week before taxes. Plus, the benefits of being at home (my hubby can relax after work because I've done all the work. On the weekends, we both can relax because I was home all week to take care of everything.)

Think about it:) As long as you collect fees MONDAY morning for current week, you'll have no other worries. Email me if you wanna chat more about it.

Answer 9

For some people it's possible to survive on only one income, for others ..such as myself and my husband, he works outside of the home and I am a stay at home wife/mom who earns money from home. We need two incomes but working out of our home allows me the best of both worlds.

Answer 10

i hope it is possible because i do it.

i have 4 (almost 5 children) my husband is an E5 in the navy and we support my mother fully financially.

my husband makes less than 50 grand a year and we have everything we want and need.

it does not take two incomes to live these days it takes budgeting and finanancing. if people would live within their means and not buy on credit they would be less likely to need two incomes. save the money to make big purchases!