To stay home or not to stay home***I DID IT**

[so lucky]

Maybe you could cut back to part time, or get a different job that is part time. I quit working a little over a year ago because my job was making me sick, mentally and physically. I was able to start drawing my social security, but it is very tight. When I worked, I didn't have time or energy to do anything at home, like bake, garden, can, sew. Now that I have the time and energy, doing that stuff takes a certain amount of money.
Now I am thinking about going back to work part time, just to have a little more spending money. But dang, I hate to give up my new-found freedom! I guess there are work-from-home jobs. Maybe selling hand made things on Etsy or e-bay. I'm mulling things over. I hope you are able to make a decision you are comfortable with. One thing: If you decide to quit, once you decide, the job becomes easier to bear. So you could decide to quit at the beginning of your son's summer vacation. The time till then will fly and you will have renewed energy just knowing that it will end soon!

 

[snapshot]

If you quit soon, stay home for the summer and don't like it, then whatever job you do get in the fall will not be one you hate right off the bat. Or maybe just work temporary for Christmas!

 

[FarmerChick]

I quit my real job (and we farmed full time) just over 6years ago when my kiddo was born.

I sat down and figured all my expenses, cut them wherever I could (and if you aren't paying attention to expenses cause you are too busy, you would be surprised how much there is to cut )

it took over 2 years to 'settle down' I was go go go go go every single stinking minute. real job, farming for income, markets, brand new itty bitty baby and all the other crappola a gal does.

It was hard to quit. you feel like you aren't contributing the dollars per week. but you can save alot of dollars per week by quitting and reorganizing your lives. I did it. It is great now. No alarm clock. No boss. No morning drive in lousey weather. No buying work clothes that must stay nice. No dealing with coworkers.

the change is mentally hard. If you are a hardworker like me, the time home can be torture for a while trying to find that niche to get it all settled and working like a well oiled machine. Oh yes, it is wonderful now. I wouldn't go back to a real job for anything. I cut expenses all I can to stay home


And besides a while ago I thought---hmm..bit of boredom. maybe a part time job. NAH. kiddo got sick, stayed home a day from school and now summer is coming and would need some kind of babysitter etc. NOT worth it.

well mowing has kicked in big time. I am not bored anymore. tons of summer stuff to do and believe me, I love staying home and making it all work here vs. a job.

 

[Mattemma]

I have stayed home since having the kids.I did look for a job a few years ago,but the cost of the job and working around the kids schedule was not worth the income.Dh is not home much,so it would have been all on me.Now if the income was high we might have done it for a few years.Besides giving up vacations and taking longer to pay for the house I have not seen us lacking.

 

[Seven Hens Farm]

I really appreciate all of the comments. I know that my son will be happier with me home rather than being by himself all day long. We are a little ways out of town, so it's not easy for him to hang out with friends. My plan was to quit by June when school is done, I think I will stick with that plan. I am really nervous and scared that we wont be able to afford it...but you are right, my gas and everything else will add up Im sure. We have talked about budget cuts within the household and so far, everyone is in agreement.
Now...I just need to get the guts up to tell my boss!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Avalon1984]

I really appreciate all of the comments. I know that my son will be happier with me home rather than being by himself all day long. We are a little ways out of town, so it's not easy for him to hang out with friends. My plan was to quit by June when school is done, I think I will stick with that plan. I am really nervous and scared that we wont be able to afford it...but you are right, my gas and everything else will add up Im sure. We have talked about budget cuts within the household and so far, everyone is in agreement.
Now...I just need to get the guts up to tell my boss!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am in the exact same position as you are. My job is getting to a point where coming into work in the mornings is a drag. I am doing the job of 3, yet I was cut down to part time, still being expected to get everything done. The climate here is vile, cut throat as they come. I knew when I started 3 years ago that I wanted to become independent. So I put together a plan of what I wanted to do with my farm (breed horses, chickens, etc.) and worked towards it. Biggest problem was that there are up front investments. I needed a new truck so that it could pull the horses. So I bought one and I have it almost paid off by making double payments whenever possible. I needed a trailer, so I had to buy an old one. Need a new one next year. Getting the first set of horses pregnant and dealing with immigrations on getting my green card caused me to build up some significant credit card debt and I have that almost paid off. I figured between regular human living expenses and a set aside budget for emergencies with the horses, I can live on the rent I am making on my rental house and not having to worry about getting stomach ulcers and having to listen to advise from people who have never done my job. Fact of the matter is that you consider all your expenses, all your potential income, what you want to do and what it will take to get you there. I will have paid off my debt by the end of this year, so after that I can go and kiss my employer goodbye. But it did take 3 long years of biting my tongue to get there and use the money I made to work step by step towards being able to do what I love full time. My husband was skeptical at first but once he saw that we had one horse sold for what we were asking for, then another and the cash flow started to come in, the horses started to pay for themselves and threw a small profit from which I was able to pay my debt down a bit more and pay for the mares to get bred. So all the things I have been telling him all of a sudden made sense and he is REALLY on board now. So put your plan together and start working towards it. Once you do that you will come into work with a whole different attitude.

Jenn

 

[Denim Deb]

Jenn, I'd love to hear more about your horse farm.

 

[donrae]

I can't recommend Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace enough. It will be hard to shell out the money for the class, (100$ last I knew), but a lot of places will pay half as a scholarship. It really helps you prioritize needs vs wants and helps you develop a budget you and your honey can both live with. You'll have to have a solid plan in place to pull this off and both be on the same page. And things like knowing how much you spend on groceries or gas, etc now will allow you to see where staying home saves you money once you're home.

As someone who's been the sole income for ten years, I'm so jealous of you. I'd stay home in a heartbeat. My garden would be thriving and I'd have a little chicken business going....................


Oh, and go ahead and type up a letter of resignation now. Don't sign or date it yet but carry it with you. Just doing that helped me tolerate my job so much, knowing I could pull that out, date and sign it and turn it in at any time. I've actually had it on my desk for two months lol.

 

[BarredBuff]

I'd love to stay home if I could, homestead all the time. It is what I want to do. But we do what we have too.....it is my adult dream. I am still in teen town

 

[Denim Deb]

Hey Buffy, give it a chance. You only have a few more years to go, then maybe you'll be able to stay home all the time.