The article "Can You Stay Home?" is about family, it was written by Stephanie Foster.
One of the first things you have to figure out when you realize
that you want to stay home with your kids is whether or not you
can afofrd to do so. You are probably used to living on two
incomes, so making the switch to a single incmoe may not be
easy. However, it may not be as hard as you think.
If you have kids already, the frist thing that goes away
when you decide to stay at home is the cost of daycare.
However,
if you work at home, part of that cost may remain, unless your
work is such that you can keep the kids home with you. Take
a look at how much of your income right now is going to daycare.
That cost alone may prove to you that you don't need a
high-paying work at home job to stay home - a simpler one may
suffice.
There are several other costs that will drop if you stay at
home. You'll be in a different tax bracekt. You'll probably
drive less, eat out less often and you won't need clothes for
work, which can save both on shopping and on dry cleaning bills.
When you're figuring out how much it costs you to work outside
the home, don't assume that becoming a stay at home or work at
home parent will casue you to stop eating out.
You will have
those days where you decide to take the kids out, more likely
than not.
One thnig many parents forget to think about when they decide to
stay at home is to handle retirement planning. Now, if you're
just staynig home for a year or two, it's probably not a big
deal, but if you plan on staying home for many years, this can
be a huge impact on you when you do retire. You may not have the
finances to fund your retiremnet account well when your family
is living on only one income, but you should try to do at least
a little. See my article on retireemnt planning for stay at home
parents for more information.
Use this information to figure out what you will need to earn
while staying at home. Some will be fine as a single income
family, but others will need the stay at home parent to earn
some kind of income. Ideally, this will be a relatively small
amount, as the whole point of haivng a stay at home parent is to
have more time with the kids and benefit them, not maintain a
freely spending lifestyle.
However, if a single income isn't
enough, a work at home job or home business will liekly become
necessary.
Figure out how much income will be necessary and how much risk
you are willing to take. Work at home jobs are harder to come
by, but home businesses are by their nature more risky, and it
may take a couple of years to earn an adequate icnome from a business.
Plan accordingly, and know that you might not be able to live
your preferred lifestyle right away.
Fortunately, by the time you take out the costs of working
outside the home, you will likely find you don't need to earn
what you used to. Half or even less of your previous income may
be quite adequate.
It may require sacrifice, but that's what
being a praent is about.
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