Well... the thing is... we can't afford ANY payments. I mean, right now we're literally running about $1000/month short of just scraping by. I am confident that I can earn at least $100/week from home, and eliminating the car payments and auto insurance only just barely brings us back into the black.

Thanks, flybygrace, for pointing out enannysource to me. I signed up on there. I can't see any kind of work outside of the home to be worth it unless I can bring DS with me, so that was a great suggestion.

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Trust God. Whatever risk there is in doing so, the risk of not trusting in him is far greater. - Spurgeon

I'd try to find some source of income that you can work around your schedule. Doing drop-in daycare, babysitting, selling on eBay, etc. I'm sure you can think of something that could yield a few hundred a month (which, hopefully would cover a re-financed car payment). I'm sure there are also opportunities where you can take your child with you. In my community, the Child Watch workers at the YMCA (it's a drop-off daycare type thing) can bring their own children along. Best of luck to you!

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Thanks Kim, the drop-in daycare is also a great idea that I hadn't thought of. I'll have to ponder that some more. I'm a little afraid of taking kids in because we heat with a woodstove, but you gotta do what you gotta do, I guess. And every other person in my neck of the woods has one too, so maybe it's not that big of a deal.

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Trust God. Whatever risk there is in doing so, the risk of not trusting in him is far greater. - Spurgeon

Oh another thing - DH worked in a daycare before we got married. He said the rest of the staff were mothers that brought their kids to the daycare with them - one of the perks of them working there was that they got free daycare. So they had some place for their kids to be watched and safe and they worked as well (sometimes in the same room as their kids). maybe that's an option. In any case, I hope it works out for you. if you lose the truck, and you sell the car, what will DH drive to his jobs?

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Pesonally, I would be looking for another way to make money asap!!

I don't know Your whole situation - But I can't See how Not Having any form of transportion - wouldn't be worse than you not Being a SAHM. JMO of course. Unless you have other ways to get around 100 % of the time- in case you or your kids need something. or in an emergency.

I have been there with young kids - I know its tough!! And My DH has worked 3 Jobs while I worked PT - and looked out for all kinds of $$ making opputunities.
We still weren't rich , but we always kept our good credit and Kept our home and cars.

And my Dh still worked his full time job , His weekend PT job and his Mon and thurs.pt jobs -
I worked whenever he wasn't.

Thank the lord.We got out of that rut -
But I do look back and think of all the quality time we actually had!!
It seemed to stink at the time - but looking back - we were so happy - Crazy and sleep deprived- but we cherished our time together more I guess!!

Can you work while dh watches your children?? Any shift?? I have worked 7 pm to 12 am - with a Baby getting me back up at 5 am!!


Hope you can work it all out!! You'll be in my thoughts.

Sarah,
A friend of mine kept my twins while they were babies. It was a win-win situation for both of us. I had peace of mind at work knowing my babies were fine, and she was able to earn some needed money for her family.

I agree that you need to find a source of income. You have good credit now, but for how long? Doing daycare is the best source of income if you are dead set against going back to work. Personally, I would (and do) work a part time job when your husband is at home so there are no daycare cost incurred. Sometimes we want to be SAHM's so bad that we lose sight of reality. it is better to work whatever you can than to end up in bankruptcy.

Hope things work out for you.

Are you good with people?? Maybe you can find a waitressing job for your nights while DH is home. I know for a fact that if you worked at even a decent place (not a teeny diner) on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, y ou could bring in well over $100, probably closer to $300. That's an extra $1000-$1200 a month! Have you thought about maybe doing that? It should be possible, as long as your DH could be home in time for you to get to work by 6 or so. Even if you could only work on Saturdays, you could double up and still make decent. My sister works on Thursday, Friday nights, a double on Saturday and a Sunday mornings at a fairly nice steakhouse, and makes AT LEAST $300 a week.
Just a thought, it would be income and you wouldn't have to pay for childcare. Even if you DID have to pay for someone to watch your kids for a few hours, surely your income would more than cover it! Just a thought. HTH.

YES!! I did this - and made on average 20 Bucks an hour!! CASH IN MY HAND!!


I also am totally agreeing with what another poster said - about us all wanting to be home with our kids ....
Of course everyone wants that - but to have a repo man show up ?? I wouldn't want my kids to see that. Even having to explain to ppl - why we had no cars?? I couldn't do it .....

But again I don' t know your whole story - why you can't work more I don' t know your situation.

I guess I would need a little more info to be able to make a better decision on any advice to give. But the point is, is that if you are truly that far behind (and $1000 short every month!), you pretty much HAVE to get a job. That's alot of money to try to make on ebay or something of that sort, and if you have NO cars, how will DH get to work. A lot of people make it on one car, but none is generally not possible for anyone who works. I understand that you (or almost anyone) would want to stay home, but there comes a point where you have to do things you don't want to to keep your family above water. Food in their mouths is more important than you wanting to stay at home IMO. I don't mean that as a negative comment towards you as a person, but I think you might have to face facts and get a job. Even if it's temporary to get your heads above water and then some, that would work. Plus, having something possibly re-po'd would be motivation enough for me to get out and find something to bring in a ton more money! Good luck, there are lots of good suggestions here so far, but ultimately, you may have to do somethings you don't want to...for your family's best interest!