How many of you are stay at home Mom's?

**Shell** · 01-22-2003, 11:09 AM

I was wondering how many of you are stay at home Mom's and did you find it hard to adjust from 2 incomes to 1 income?

**PennyPinchinPam** · 01-22-2003, 11:14 AM

Shell,

I am.

It does take some adjusting but we made it through just fine. We wouldn't have it any other way now and we would have made the transition sooner had we known.

**Nelly** · 01-22-2003, 11:35 AM

I'm a sahm as well. We didn't really feel any pinch because 3 weeks after the birth of our first child, dh got his job. It paid two times more than what I was making while he was going to school.

Mommyof2lildivas · 01-22-2003, 11:40 AM

I'm a SAHM too and it really hasn't been too much of a crunch on us. We bought our 1st home last year and just decorating it and doing some work on it has cost a little bit, but we're not in a rush.

**aylasmommy** · 01-22-2003, 12:13 PM

SAHM here and it helped that dh got a raise between the time I quit my job and the baby was born. Also a few months after she was born was when I really started to buckle down and shop loss leaders a LOT more than I already had...then the couponing began etc...and our grocery bill was slashed in half from the amount we previously had spent even before the baby was born

So we actually live easier now that I'm a SAHM but not just because of that fact alone

**Kate117** · 01-22-2003, 12:24 PM

I am a SAHM. It's been kinda of hard lately, but I would not have it any other way. I sell Tupperware and some crafts I make to help bring in extra money, and am taking some classes in hopes of landing a work at home position when I am done. I am learning a lot of wonderful tips here and by reading some frugal living books and we should be doing a lot better this year.

**MJsLady** · 01-22-2003, 12:41 PM

I am now! at least for a little while. I have a job starting in Feb.

**summercat** · 01-22-2003, 02:38 PM

I was all the while raising my oldest dd who is now on 18 & on her own & yes it was hard on 1 income but we survived.

**Missy** · 01-22-2003, 02:59 PM

I am a SAHM! Love it, i guess we don't see much difference in money, i had a job that basically covered child care and nothing else, so at home i am not making the money, but not paying for child care either....and it makes me feel good to be the primary caretaker, teacher of my kids (3 yr boy and a 10 mo girl)

**Lori Biever-Launder** · 01-22-2003, 03:00 PM

I am a sort of SAHM. I work ten hours a week at the library and spend the rest of my time volunteering in my kids' classes, working with my dog and keep ing up on the house and laundry!

**bamamomto4** · 01-22-2003, 03:32 PM

I'm a SAHM as well.I've been home since May 1997. My paycheck was mostly for spending anyway so the adjusting wasn't that bad. Money gets tight sometimes but I wouldn't go back.Not till the last child is in school anyway

**pita1213** · 01-22-2003, 05:31 PM

i have been a stay at home mom since July of 2000 when dh's company shut down one office and transferred him to one in a different state. his pay just about doubled, but it was mostly an increase in pay for an increase in the cost of living. we looked around at daycare options and found out i would have to make $24,000 a year just to cover the cover of childcare. i knew i wasn't going to find a job that paid so we decided i would stay home with the kids. it took some adjusting to going to one income, but i also had to adjust to living in a new state away from family and friends, adjust to teh higher cost of everything here, along with adjusting to being home with the kids 24/7 in a small condo. that first year was rough. now we are in a house instead of a condo. i have made a couple friends, not best friends, but at least a couple of women to talk to at the bus stop. there are kids here for my kids to play with. and i have gotten better at keeping things on budget. we still go without some of the fancier things in life, but to be honest we don't need them and i don't miss them. we still have months that are tight like this month has been, but we carry on. i wouldn't change it for the world now.

**guest2** · 01-22-2003, 05:54 PM

I'm a stay at home and homeschooling mom and love it!!!! Our income is below $25,000 and that has to support a family of 5 with 3 teen boys, 2 dogs, 3 cats, lots of houseguests, etc. We live in a small (about 1000 sq.feet) home and believe me, with all the homeschooling stuff, we are crowded! LOL! But....I'd rather live crowded in a small home and be able to homeschool my boys and be here for them than go back to our "previous life" with me working full time, the boys in daycare part time (when they were little), being exhausted having cranky kids and Mommy and Daddy too, eating out all the time because I was too exhausted to cook, my husband and I dropping into bed and barely having any time together, etc. . Whenever I have even hinted about going back to work (when times were really rough financially), hubby has said no. He like having me here with our kids and coming home to a nice meal, a family that is happy to see him, and not having to deal with all the "garbage" that the kids and I brought home from work and school before. He says that my "job" of educating our boys and stretching our budget are so important and if he could afford to, He'd give me a salary!!!!

What a guy!!!!!

Blessings!

**tabarn1** · 01-22-2003, 08:57 PM

I'm a SAHM, but I do daycare at home right now to help pay some bills off early. I worked part time (a few days a week) a few years ago and even with that I think our life was more stressful. I don't get as much done at home (cleaning) with daycare here, but I still think our life is better with me home.

**DawnM** · 01-22-2003, 09:41 PM

I've been a sahm since being pregnant with my oldest.. who is now 20 and away at school. Two incomes would have been nice all these years .. but I wouldn't change a thing. I'm homeschooling my daughter now. I'm where I should be and have no regrets.