Daycare cost was defiantely the big reason why I quit my job. I had a very good job with the state-great benefits, retirement, etc. But I was handing over $1200.00 per month to have my two boys in a Monestorri (SP??) preschool/daycare full time. So I would roughly take home $800.00 and had to try to pay bills and live off of that. Than after I had my third child, I probably would have been handing over an additional $400.00 per month for him to go to the same daycare. It just didnt make any sense. I was miserable and stressed out so bad at my job anyways, so it was the right choice for us all around. I got to spend time with my kids and I wasnt coming home stressed out and crying every other day.

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The website shows that it would cost us about $24,000 a year for our 3 kids, but when I was working, we were paying closer to $29,000. I made more than that, but after taxes, insurance, 401K, etc... getting taken out of my check, I was only clearing just less than $200 after daycare. That barely covered my gas and other expenses. We figured that me not working was really just breaking even, plus then you add in that we are no longer eating out 4 times a week, not having to buy extra work clothes, and we figured we are actually coming out ahead of where we were. Plus, now we have dinner at dinner time, not at the kids bed time and I have more time to fix healthier meals. DH and I were just talking last night about how neither of us have had upset stomaches from eating, like we do when we eat out and we're starting to lose some weight.

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Frugal is being wise with your money and resources and cheap is forcing everyone else to.

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The first year that we had 2 in daycare (7 yrs ago) we paid over $12K that year for 2 kids. We looked at income, and I made 2.5 times more than DH, but all our benefits were through him. So, we decided that we had to bite it off and pay daycare. See, we get health insurance for life when he retires, so we couldn't afford to have him give up that benefit because so many places don't do that now. Both my kids are in school full time, but summer daycare I pay $200 a week for both of them. This fall, my oldest will be riding the bus from home to school and then home after school. So, I will pay only $45 a week for my youngest to have before/after school care. It'll be like getting a raise!

I am leaving my career in finance to be a SAHM to our first baby. July 25th is my last day of work before I go on maternity leave.

We had always planned for me to work when I got pregnant because we didn’t think we could afford to live on one income. Two years ago we started busting our butts to pay off our mortgage so I could stay home one day if I wanted to. Our mortgage will be paid off next week and with some budgeting I can stay at home until all our future children are in school.

When I first got pregnant I was planning to go back to work since one income is a scary though! I was going to cut my work hours to 30/week and have my mother watch my child in her home daycare. It still costs a lot for one child even with a family discount ($155/week), and I still would have to pay full time daycare costs even though she would be there 30 hours a week. Plus I still have to pay my mother for 52 weeks of daycare just to hold my daughter’s spot, she even gets paid for holidays and Christmas vacation.

Monthly expenses from working:

Take home pay after hours cut: $1500
Gas costs: $115
Daycare with family discount: $672
Clothes ($200/year): $17
Lunch/Breakfast: $20
Dinners/ordering out: $150
Break maintenance from daily traffic commute ($400/every 2 years): $17
Extra oil changes: $10

Bringing home $500/month after working 30 hours a week.

Once we have the second child I will be paying an additional $425/month, then my take home pay would be $75/month after working 30 hours a week! NO THANKS!!

My friend is looking into putting her child into a daycare center in the same city I work in, she said she was quoted $1400/month for ONE child!!! Insane!

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Wife to Thomas and Mommy to Olivia Grace (8/25/2007)
Quit my finance career to be a SAHM and planning on starting my own business!

Those figures are DEFINITELY averages. With the figures in provides, the average daycare in Missouri is $513 a month. I'm in St. Louis and infant daycare is $250 a week - or $1,000 a month.

I will be staying at home when our son is born in August. I'm an MBA intern and would be unable to continue as an intern since I won't be in school this fall and it just didn't make sense for me to find another job with daycare costing so much!! We are fortunate to be able to live off of my husbands income - with much budgeting - and will hopefully have a lot less stress in our lives!

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~ Jen
http://halfpintjen.blogspot.com/

I am a SAHM because of daycare costs. I'd have paid more just in daycare fees than I could make. Now that DD is in school I'm still a SAHM because I can only work from 7am - 3pm (DH leaves for work at 4pm - anywhere from 1am to 4am), and there are more people needing jobs than there are jobs in my town, so they pick the fresh out of school kids who are willing to work rotating shifts. It sucks.

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:love:

I always has family that babysat for me except for 2 yrs, my daughter was in school so it was just my son. I paid $45 a week for him to go to a preschool 6 hrs a day. I was bringing home $700 a week so the cost was not an issue.

We live in Fairfield County, CT, which has a very high cost of living. When I was working full-time, I brought home $2,200 a month. Half of that went to pay daycare costs AND our DD was sick ALL the time. She was in daycare for three months and ended up spending 5 days in the PICU for RSV, which we think she contracted at "school". I quit work, because it wasn't worth it to pay half of my take home pay in daycare and the rest in doctor/hospital bills because she was sick all the time. With two kids under the age of five now, my former salary would JUST cover daycare, but would not cover gas, wear and tear on the car, nicer clothes, eating out more, etc. In our area, the wife either has to be the sole benefits holder or make a LOT of money annually to make it worthwhile to work. We decided to just cut corners instead, but that has a different set of stresses sometimes.

Michelle

I originally became a sahm because of daycare costs also. I was barely making anything after paying for my son's daycare costs, and he was sick all the time too. He was six months old when I decided to stay home with him, and now he's nine. I'm trying to get a part time job now on the weekends, when my husband can watch the kids but it's difficult since I haven't worked in nine years. I'm so glad I was able to stay home with my boys!

I work part-time and thankfully my mom can watch the girls when I work. Otherwise I would be a sahm, b/c daycare cost are ridiculous!! $600 a week for 2.