Well, we went down to Tennessee to scope out that ice cream store management position, and it looks promising. Our friend still needs to discuss things with his partner before officially offering us the job, but I think he still wants us to come on board.

But I drew up a list of our anticipated monthly expenses, (which includes carrying our mortgage on our house up here in NH if we can neither sell it nor rent it, but pretty much bare minimums for everything else) and we would need to bring in $5,000/month, take home. That seems like an awful lot, especially for that area, and I was really scared to present that number. I'm not sure what that adds up to far a yearly salary... maybe $78,000 or more! And that is for managing just one store that isn't even a franchise yet! Still, when I did bring this up, he didn't seem that taken aback, which really surprised me.

We discussed the need for my hours to be strictly limited to no more than 25 hours/week, because my first priority is to DS (and we're not going to put him in daycare). I can do most of my work in the mornings before the store opens at 11am, and I can just bring him with me and let him play while I do the books or whatever. And DH would make up the difference, working maybe 60 hours/week or so. So the only way it seems reasonable is to have a joint salary. Has anyone ever heard of this being done before?

Hopefully we can sell our house, DH would be able to cut back on his hours a little bit, and then we would be bringing in enough extra to throw at our debt, so that this whole move would be worthwhile. But we'll know more probably by tomorrow.

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Remember that Tennessee has a greater tax burden than NH. The sales tax in Tennessee ranges from 6% to 9.75% and the gas taxes are 2 cents a gallon more.

Property taxes might be less depending on the exact location.

Good luck.

Cathleen

Your take home pay would have to be around $80 to $90K depending on your deductions. If you work around 25 hours a week and are paid hourly, you could be paid $20 per hour for your professional bookkeeping services. That would be $500 a week or $26K a year. That means hubby would have to make up the difference. He'd be paid a fulltime, professional salary of $5000 a month or $60,000 per year. It wouldn't matter how many hours he works. As manager of a store, he'll be working all the time - trust me. There is no limit like ONLY 60 hours a week. Unfortunately, $60K a year is insanely high for a retail store manager. Base salaries in that field start at $35K to $40K and top out at about $50K. Usually there is only one manager making top money per store so it isn't likely that the owner can pay you both $40K a year - unless you worked in different stores - and then again you'd have to work fulltime.

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"Poor people work for their money. Rich people make their money work for them."

Did you mean gross pay?


If we Gross 8000.00 a month Here in PA that = about 5500.00 net- So I am thinking ... she would have to gross close to 90,000 if She wants 5000 a month right?:
Yes it all Depends on her exemptions Of Course

You still LEGALLY need your own paycheck as it needs to be reported to the IRS. It cannot be as if you did not exsist, what if you got injured on the job, you need to be on payroll to get workers comp. I'd say you both need to have an offer made, and you each need to accept/decline the salary for the position. And it could complicate things if one of you became ill or disabled if you had a "joint" salary. You also said your DH would have to work 60 hours or more, if he is a salaried employeed, it does not matter, 40 hours or 70, his pay would be the same. That is a very high salary to expect in that type of position. My husband is in management, and has been since he was 19. that is a HUGE salary for an ice cream shop. I know you are thinking a lot about this, but I would get something in writing, a contract of sorts. If you get down there and it does not work out and you are stuck in a lease, or your house sold and you went back to NH and had to rent, etc. Are they willing to let your child be there, store open or not? Even the best behaved child needs attention, can you do your work and be mom at the same time? I forget how old your DS is, but what happens when he needs to be dropped and picked up from school? Can you still manage without childcare then? Is there a safe place for him to play? Keep us posted on what you learn!

I agree with the others!

My DH has managed stores - and their is no telling what may happen every day. He had to pick up alot of slack.- Some days were 10 hours - some days were 18 hours. His " days off" often didn't happen. He averaged about 80 hours a week!
AND he was making only 40,000 and A chance to earn bonus every month.

BUT his experience opened the door for alot of better Paying and better working avenues.
So Hopefully this works out for you guys.

I agree that you need your own salary. If, heaven forbid, you became disabled, Social Security looks at YOUR earnings to determine if you were eligible for SS disability, on top of what Coffee Girl has said.

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