One of the first things I did when trying to decide whether or not to stay at home, was to figure out what it would really cost me to work. Boy was I shocked!! We do not live in a big city, and the cost of living is relatively low. I was definitely not prepared for what I found out. The first thing I had to figure was daycare cost. The average cost per week for a newborn in our area is $150. That is $650 a month just to have someone watch my child during the day. I also figured my gas cost, clothing cost, food cost to eat out for lunch, and the cost to eat out for dinner when I don’t feel like cooking after work. After subtracting these totals from my monthly “bring home” amount, I was only left with $275. That came out to $1.58 an hour! For me, it was not worth it to be away from my baby for 9 or 10 hours a day just to make $1.58 an hour! Now, I did not come to the decision immediately after doing these calculations. I spent time in prayer and spoke with my husband about it on many occasions. I felt like this needed to be a “family” decision since it would affect us all. So, before making the decision to stay home, do your homework and talk about it with your family!
Check out this calculator to compute your cost to work:
Good for you on making an informed decision on what is best for your family!!!!
Sounds like you are working on saving money in various ways! You can save hundreds on groceries & personal health items by couponing and following all of the money saving blogs!!! Good luck!