Coming Home. Is it the right thing to do?

Whenever you are or have recently become a parent (more profoundly a mom - no offense dads :) and you work a job, you may find yourself asking the question, "is coming home the right thing to do", "is the timing right", "can we AFFORD it?", etc.

All of those questions are VERY good and are definitely ones that you should be asking yourself if you are considering sacrificing a second income to stay at home.

I am happy to say, that in the a lot of cases, coming home doesn't actually devastate the finances as much as you think.

And here is why.

Even though there are some corporate America jobs out there that have lots of bells and whistles, good pay, and good people, it may actually be costing you more money to work outside of the home.

That's right. MORE MONEY to WORK! 

Shocking, isn't it?

Sounds crazy at first huh, but sit down and put your calculator to it!

How much do you spend in fuel each week?? Fuel is $2.85/gal here in my area, and I KNOW it's a lot higher other places! Costs me $65 a tank, at 16.5 miles per gal. Uggg.

How much do you spend on lunch? Even if you take your lunch, do you buy the higher cost convenience foods? Frozen dinner, individual bags of chips, can soda. McDonald's, Subway...

How much do you have to spend on clothes? Do you have to have a specific set of clothes just for work? Business attire, etc? JCPenney, T.J Maxx, Goody's, Dillard's, Wal-Mart...

How about your child care? Do we even want to go there?? Whew! With my last "big" corporate job, it cost me $400/mth for ONE child! For all of you moms with 2+ children, I think I'm going into shock over here...

For me, working outside the home at a corporate job cost me: 

$1,150.00 per month!! Broken down that is:
$90 wk - day care
$130 wk - fuel (that's 2 tanks)
$35 wk lunch (even if I go home...I have to drive 7 miles to get there)
$5 wk on drinks (at least)
$260 - Total Expenses for Working Outside the Home for ONE WEEK

Plus about $75 month in business clothes and accessories (hosiery, hair clamp, shirts, etc.

So we multiply the $260 by 4 (IF its not a 5 week month) that is $1,040 then add the $75 for work attire comes out to: 

$1,115 PER MONTH. Just to have a job!!

Those are just the most common expenses, not all of them. You have to consider your vehicle wear and tear, your vehicle maintenance, etc.

AND you spend anywhere from 20-40 hours a week away from your family - if not more. If you commute? Well, we won't go there either.

So, depending on what you do, how many hours you work, and how much money you bring home, it might be a lot EASIER than you think to come home from your job.

The best advice I can give you is to thoroughly look at your budget. Analyze how much of your expenses are work-related and how much it will REALLY reduce your income to stay at home.

Got any other tips? We would love to hear them!