This is me.. except I do have the education. I have tried to find a job right after finishing college.. but since I had no experience in my field, I wasn't able to find anything that would pay me enough for those expenses. So I took the 1st job that did (barely) and then 6 mos later I lost my babysitter & found out I was prego w/ #2. So I am a SAHM again.

The nice thing is that now I have experience as a volunteer on the board of directors for a small nonprofit. So, as soon as my children are both in school (and childcare expenses will be less), I can look for a job & be able to have experence.

We have debt right now and i stay home. I take care of one child but it doesn't bring in all that much. I am trying to get other kids to help pay off the debt but it's not happening right now. I have considered going back to work outside the home however i don't want to leave my boys. I like being with my four year old and seven year old. Time goes so fast and there will be a time when my boys won't need or want me as much as they do now. I want to be here debt and all.

I do want to say that we can put a good payment on the debt every month just with dh's pay but it will still take awhile to pay off. We are able to feed our family and pay the rest of our bills.....It just would be nice to get out from under the debt alot faster....but that will only happen if i work.

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Jodie....Wife to Andrew (1995)
Mommy to Riley (2000) and Wyatt (2003)

Without reading any of the other responses, I will give my two cents. If you feel in your heart, that you are supposed to stay, home, but it is in no way doable. Then you should work towards a goal of eventually being able to stay home. So you go to work, and be as frugal as you can, socking away whatever you can. Maybe you look for ways to make money from home. Maybe you are waiting for your husband to get a better job. Maybe the husband works a little extra hours if he can. Maybe you work seperate shift from your husband. But if the cost of daycare is almost the same as what you bring home, then it isn't worth it. You still have to put gas in the car to get you to work.

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I have nothing to declare except my genius."
- Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) upon arriving at U.S. customs 1882

Well, my oldest is 5 and I've been working all of her life. We are now completely debt free - house and all - but I have missed a lot in 5 years that I would have LOVED to have been home for. Soon (next Tuesday to be exact ) I will be done working and can finally be a SAHM. It's a wonderful feeling to know that we're financially ready but I also missed so much, so I can see it both ways.

If my DH would have let me stay home 5 years ago I would have BUT I know for certain that we would not be debt free today.

I really don't think so, I make it my job to cut the financial corners and he is catching on now too! It is really kind of cool to see how well you can get along with out that extra pay check...but you have to be tough on yourself otherwise, well we all know the "otherwise"

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Danielle

I think it depends on just how much debt are we talking about here? Losing the house, cars, utilities, than NO!! It's not worth it. If we're talking about a couple thousand in credit card debt, then, yes!! Granted it's not the ideal financial situation, but I stay home with our three kids, and we have debt. Nothing huge, or insane, but I swear one of the kids will need shoes or pants when we just dont have the money. Things like that go on the cards. Huge vacations, new wardrobes, designer bags or shoes are things we just dont do right now! We do not drive new cars, so there is no car debt. Staying home is something that is best in our situation, so we made and continue to make, sacrifices.....so if that means the occasional "charge" than so be it!!

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That sums up how I feel. If it is a matter of survival, then, IMO you don't have the choice of staying home.

When we were first married and had dd1, things were very tight. That first year we could afford to cover everything on dh's salary, but it was so close that when anything unexpected came up, we had to put it on CC. We racked up a few thousand but finally started getting some raises and paid off our debt quickly.

I guess, for me, I knew we could pay that debt off later but your kids are only young once.

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~Vicki~
Mama to Hailey, 4 and Ella, 2

If we found ourselves in lots of debt, I would return to work but as my husband is in the defence force, we find that finding emplyment for me is hard as his job is so unpredictable.

Thankfully we aren't in too much debt ($2000 credit card and $24,000 car loan) so we are doing well with these.

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Melanie.
Mum to Lillianlee- 1st September 2006.

Monkey Mia's Savings... (my blog)

#1. To me my daughter's first are worth more than a paycheck. You'll never be able to get them back. You can't have a do over.
#2. How much would you spend in childcare if you worked? Not everyone has a family member who wants to raise your child.

I think that if you are wise with what money you have everything would be fine. We get into debt because for the most part we were not wise with our money... except for emergencies.

I chose to be a sahm even though that meant no cable or long distance telephone, less trips to the mall, less dinner dates with hubby and friends. For me it was about priorities.
Time with my baby was more important.

I agree with you, I have my parents that live near me and mum is a childcare worker but she works a couple of days a week and I hate to have to rely on others e.g. if I was to work and DH was deployed, if mum can't sit for me I'd have to call in sick. We talked about this and realised that it wasn't fair on work, mum or us.

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Melanie.
Mum to Lillianlee- 1st September 2006.

Monkey Mia's Savings... (my blog)