Staying home with my kids - how do I achieve it?

Country Lady, it is a hard decision. I have never regretted it, and my kids have never done without. We don't really go out to eat much, but we buy better groceries, and going out really looses it's appeal anyways, when you have two small children, and never get to eat a hot meal. (: I know this, God is faithful, whether he has called you to stay home or if you feel like you need to work, that is something you and your husband have to decide and pray about. But he says that we'll know his voice, he says "my sheep know my voice, and the voice of another they will not follow" So, trust in him. He does provide. One thing he has provided for me, is just showing me areas of waste in our lives. We used to rent alot of movies, but found that we were incurring too many late fees, so we got Blockbuster online, total access, it's great. we pay about 20.00 a month, for all the movies we can watch. Also, we were spending too much on groceries, buying already prepared stuff, just because it was easier, but once you no longer work, you'll have time to make things from scratch, and save yourself some more money. I know pinching pennies, doesn't sound like a lot of fun, but it's worth it, if you want to stay home. I understand about not wanting to watch other's children. I love children, but I've never felt like I wanted to babysit. I've had the opportunity, and it would have meant some lucrative money, but it wasn't what I wanted for my family or the boys. There are ways to make some extra money here and there for breathing room.. *Donating Plasma, Usually an average size man can make an extra 100-150 dollars a month doing this (women cannot donate if they are preggers, and I think most doc's say not to immediately after giving birth.. you have to wait a few months i think) *Consigning clothing/ebay. We have sold many of my son's things at a consignment shop. We made more than we would have had we sold it in a garage sale. *filling out offers online, there are quite a few sites where you can do this and make some money. I made about 60.00 last month. If you have a prepaid visa card, or are willing to use your own credit card, you can make good money on these sites filling out and signing up for free offers. Message me and I'll send you some info. *Also, I don't know how big your church is, but maybe they are willing to hire you to do something for them? Cleaning, or some extra secretarial work once a week for a couple of hours. *you could clean a couple of your friends/relatives homes once or twice a week, and make some good money that way. There really are alot of things you can do, just think outside of the norm. I don't know about your community, and what it has to offer, but i'm sure if you keep looking, in the classifieds, or other places, you may be able to find something that you can do once or twice a week, and make a little extra, so there's not so much pressure. Also, one thing, when you go out on a date with the hubby, trade sitting with a friend. Have her watch your kids, so you and the hubby can go out, then you watch her kids, so she can go out. It's also great if you just need some alone time once a week.

Your fears are well founded and if you do decide to stay home, then it will take very careful planning on your part and a back-up plan for extra income if you need it. I work part-time outside the home and never have been without a part-time job. I have tried to make a go of several home businesses but not with great success. Now I do little things like mylot and I have a lucrative Ebay business. This is great if you have young kids because anything they outgrow can be sold there. There's a great website that I know you will find very useful and it helped me alot. Just go to www.wahm.com. Here you will find some very useful ideas for staying home and making a little money while raising your kids. Good luck to you.

This is a hard decision to make and u have to decide what is more important or if u can survive on just one income for a awhile. I do not have any kids but I know for a fact that i do not wanna be a stay at home mom - i could nto do without working and when that day comes I will find a solution for that.. My bf would probably want me to be a stay at home mom, and happily would support me - But i wanna be able to live a good life and not worry about money and i do not see that happening without 2 incomes.

I stay home and I do the babysitting thing. I would suggest that you only take in one child that you can bring with you and your children to the park ect. This way you can contribute at least $100 a week and as your children get older, they will have someone else to play with. Another thing I do is secret shop. It is really fun, but you usually can't bring the kids. I do these on weekends or week nights. I live in a small town so there aren't alot of jobs available in my area. If you live in a bigger city, you will have many more jobs available. Last month I made $64 for doing 4 shops and they only took me about 20 minutes each shop. When I have them at the mall the whole family goes to the mall and I leave them and do my shop and then go back for family time. I have a friend who is a sahm and works for a call center. She does this the night shift when the kids are sleeping. I couldn't do that because I am in bed early, but if you can work late hours, this might also be an option. Good luck to you~

This will be the biggest decision of your life. Pray, pray, pray. I stay home with my child and have dealt with some of the guilt issues of my husband being the only breadwinner. The efforts you make towards saving money (clipping coupons, etc.) are essentially like making money for your family. It is all in the way you look at it, for me anyway. I work for Arbonne International and have a very strong team of moms motivated by staying home with their children. We are a Direct Sales company. We do not do at home parties - who has the time or the ability to keep their house in entertaining order with kids around. Haha. What we have on our side is products that work amazingly. If you have connections with salons, chiropractors, pediatricians ...... places that see people on an appointment basis and have a clientele that would be interested in our products.... you could replace your current income before you know it. Visit our website: www.Arbonne.com or mine; www.carolcsmith.myarbonne.com. If you would like to sample some products (I highly recommend the baby care line) I am more than happy to send you some. Continue to pray faithfully. Ask specifically that your fears be removed. You will do what is best for your family. Blessings.

Iam in a very similar situation right now.. I Will keep you in my prayers.. I want badly to be at home with my kids.. Just waiting it out now... i hate leaving them and the hardest is when they cry every morning.. If you find something that prooves to be half benefitial for you I would love to know.. Take care and I hope it works out for you

You will also find that being at home saves a lot of money, you'll be able to grow more food in the garden, cook everything from scratch and plan meals way ahead, and that saves a huge amount of money. You can probably do a little bit of online work depending on your skills and determination to help top up the income a bit. Have you considered remortgaging to get a lower monthly rate for a few years? We did this and it took a third off our payments just by switching mortgage providers.

I am a sahm too. I dont work at all. THe one thing I do is pinch pennies, clip coupons and buy alot of used stuff. It works but it is tough. I do feel guilty about not making any money to contribute to the household but I do alot of things that contribute. I clean the house, I do the laundry, I change all the diapers, I am 100% responsible with anything that has to do with the kids. I cook all the meals, I do all the shopping. SO If you look at it I do alot more than my hubby. He just goes to work and makes money. I work 24 hours a day.

I am also a mother and I stay at home. U go out to earn.Is that right?If yes then I can tell u about a way by which u can stay at home and earn

Have you thought of trying to find a job that you could do from home and maybe even just part time? I know they arent easy to find depending on the industry that you are in. What about childminding? Would it be that difficult to take one more to the park? I was home with my little one for 2 1/2 years, but now as a single mum dont have the option. Even if on a tight budget I would go straight back to it if given the chance.

First, I would suggest easing into it. You might want to start by going from full time employment to a part time job and then transition into staying at home. It gives you more time to adjust and to manage finances. I'm a work at home mom and I make most of my income via freelance writing, mostly online (producing web content). There are new websites every day and they need content. You'll note that not just anyone can write coherently, (and you can) and there are people out there willing to pay for quality writing. As usual, you have to be careful of scams but there are legitimate opportunities. You don't have to choose between work and kids. You can have a job (a work at home job) and be home with your kids too!