Hi. I'm looking at going back to work to help with growing household costs. I have been offered a job 20 hours a week, which I thought would be perfect since I can work while my 2 older children are in school. Now, however, I realize that the cost of putting my 3 year old in care will eat all but $300 a month of what I will make post tax. In addition, when my other kids are on break (winter, presidents and spring breaks) I won't be able to work and thus my take home will be gone. What do I do? Creative ideas needed.
hi Sarah,
I don't know, all I can say is welcome to the real world of the cost of child care. Depending on your background and capabilities, consider working from home..setting up an office from home (phone, fax, computer,printing capability)...and take it from there.
Blessings.....
Child care can be very expensive. Have you looked at both centers and home-based providers? I've found home-based providers to have more reasonable rates than the centers. You're not paying for the additional staffing, the entertainers visiting, etc.
do you have neighbors, friends, or family that are stay at home moms/dads that would be willing to watch the kids for pay? When my son was little i watched my niece when my sister went back to work full time. I think i charged her 50 bucks a week which included meals. childcare costs was one of the reasons i didnt go back to work until my son was in 1st grade and i had enough time to work part time. when he was sick my mom would watch him. good luck!
I have the same problem, but I found a way to do some work from home, after realizing I was actually LOSING money each month last year!
It can be important to stay in the workforce, over the long term, but when you consider the $300 profit, make sure you subtract the cost of gasoline, if you have to drive there, clothes and other supplies for the job.
It may not be worth it. To spend less time with your child for just a couple of hundred dollars profit...
Try to find someone to help you out---another parent, friend, relative. Also consider other work options, and cut corners at home---shop at your local Goodwill store, spend less on groceries, cut the kids' hair yourself...
Hi- I bet if you add in all the true costs of working outside the home plus the childcare your profit will be even less than $300. Gas, clothes, food (you may eat out more or spend more at the store due to time constraints). If you do decide to go for it you should try to find a relative or neighbor to "trade" with for the childcare. There may be something you could do for them, watch their child a few hours a week or pay them a lower fee than regular daycare. Another idea is to care for another child in your home. I'm not sure of the laws but you could make more than $300 per month taking on a child or two part time during the week for another working Mom and still stay home with your kid. Also, as other posters have said, if you haven't already, really try to reduce your expenses. Buy things you need secondhand (it's really kind of fun, Craigslist, Ebay, Goodwill) try to reduce food bills, drop the cable, cell phone etc. You should be able to shave a couple hundred off your monthly costs. Remember it's only for a couple more years, soon your youngest will be in school and you can work without the horrible drain of paying someone else to care for your child!
You did not mention what your profession is but this is a suggestion I have given to other Mamasource moms because it works so well for us; I was a medical biller for 15 years prior to us starting a family. We decided that I would be a full-time stay-at-home mom as neither of us was comfortable with someone us raising our baby. When my son was almost 3 and our daughter was almost 8 months I looked into working part-time at different companies. I chose to work at Starbucks because I could work in the evening when my husband was home and I only had to work 20 hours per week for full benefits! Granted, you don't make alot per hour but it is so worth it!! It works fabulous for us!!!
We do have a sitter we call on an as-needed basis (if my husband won't be home when I have to leave) and she is here no more than a couple of hours maybe once per week. We really are not out-of-pocket more than $30.00 per week for childcare. You can't beat that!
Just a suggestion I like to share because, like I said, it has worked so great for us! Good luck!!
I understand your problem totally. You feel like you can't win in a situation like that. When we work we need to bring in more than we spend and Day Care is so expensive. If you live in the Bay Area they have a place called "Bananas", who will actually help you financially with the expense of day care but you must go to school. That was 13 yrs ago, so they may have changed the programs now. If you live in another location just check with the county and see if there are any programs like "Banana's" that can help you. ALso, have you thought of working a home based business.
I'm Ms. Cynthia, I live here in Redwood City, CA and I'm a single Mom with a 13yr. old son. I am back in school full time (after 40 yrs.) and starting life all over again. My husband was killed by a drunk driver in 2003. So 1 year ago my son and I uprooted to a new area. I wanted to get him into this particular college preparatory school and needed to live closer to the school.
Well, now he is in school all day long from 8:00am to 7 or 8:00pm or later, depending on how much school work he must finish. So I'm thinking that since he will be in college a couple of years from now I want to occupy my time helping others live a better quality of life. So I'm a full time student in college working towards my nutrition assistant certification. After completing that hopefully I will be gainfully employed with a company that will support me in becoming a Registered Dietitian. That means I will continue my education to become registered. I will also continue building on my home based business and so that income will help prepare me for retirement.
Something else that I am doing is putting together a "Social Network" http://www.OpportunityCafe.ning.com In this network, there is information about healthy ways to eat, which means healthy recipes to share, job postings, exercise and health information, home based businesses other than mine, money saving tips and just a good resource for most people.
I invite you to join my group so you can share some of your healthy recipes and tips. Click here to join my group. Oh, I just about forgot to tell you that I have a Radio Talk Show on Saturdays at 12 noon pst. where I share my experience as a Stay at Home mom and what I've learned about myself, having a home based business and much more. This Saturday we will discuss Diabetes and what signs to look out for in your children and yourself.There will be special guest to share her experience as a Type 1 diabetic. So the show's topics will vary each week. Oh, also, my 13yr. old son who will host the last 15 minutes of the show. He doesn't want to plan it out his topics, he wants to Ad Lib. Last week he talked about the history of Lion King. I thought that was pretty exciting. So don't hesitate to gather the kids to listen in. Hopefully there will be time for them to call in and ask questions or share. Join us at:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ms-cynthia
I look forward to getting to know you.
Be Blessed,
Ms. Cynthia
p.s.This might have been too much information but I hope you were able to get something out of it.
Thanks for the input!! My background is in Early Childhood Education but I was trying to get into something new. I’m going to pass on the job and look for something in my field - so I can take my daughter to work with me and save that
expense. Even if I’m making less per hour it should work out to our benefit. Thanks again!!