wanna be a sahm

smarties84

Hello, at the moment i have 2 part time jobs - i love one of them and will keep that job but the other job i could quite easily give up. Infact i really wanna give it up and be a sahm. My daughter is 2 and for the most part of her life i have been out to work (mostly full time). I have one loan which is £250 a month this time last year i was paying out over £500 in debt repayments so am in a better position than i was.... however just worried that i wont be able to afford to be a sahm. I also want to have another baby this year, how will this affect things?

I am looking for other mums/dads in the same boat, did you bite the bullet and become a sahm (i will be working a few hrs a week) or did you stay working?

What do you do to earn money, do you manage on one wage? My other half doesn't earn all that much but at the moment we manage well, i just don't know. I want to enjoy being my daughter and doing things with her whilst i can, once she starts school obv i will work more hours but i have missed alot already

I am waffling now sorry, any tips or suggestions would be welcome. xxx

I did a similiar post a while ago but then got my 2 little part time jobs x

jack*tigger

You need to do your sums I guess. What would you lose by giving up the one job? What benefits could you claim that you aren't already and how will things like working tax credit change with the reduced hours and income? Do you currently pay for childcare ? I would assume you would save that cost if you are a SAHM.
Are there other jobs that you could do that wouldn't affect your child as much e.g. an evening shift at the local supermarket whilst DD is in bed. What about things like Betterware, Avon, Body Shop at Home etc?

I have 2 kids aged 9 and 3. For the last 6 years I have worked as an adult ed tutor, sold handmade greetings cards and wedding stationery, delivered telephone directories. I currently work Saturdays in Sainsburys HR department, do about 12 hours per week admin at home for a training company and work 2 mornings per week at DD's playgroup. I might also be teaching cardmaking classes in the near future.

There are ways of working without missing out on time as a family. You just need to work out what income you need and how many hours you can spare. Not forgetting how tired you will be when you are pregnant again and how fuddled the hormones will make your brain!

Good luck !

smarties84

Hello and thanks for your reply.
The job i want to give up is in a supermarket and the other one is bar work ( love it) - the supermarket is freezing and i have to wear 4 layers and 2 trousers, i am always full of cold and work there 16 hrs a week, the money is crap i get more doing bar work........ dont no if i quit the supermarket if tax credits would make that money up? doubt it, need to sit down and work it all out, thanks ever so much x

RoxieW

From my experience your tax credits may go down instead of up because you will probably be getting working tax credits for working over 16 hours a week. Check entitledto.com it should be able to give you an idea of benefits.

Who looks after your daughter while you are at work? When I was working ful time my two boys were in nursery which we didnt get tax credits for so was paying over £1000 a month out on nursery fees. Add to that £400 travel - lunches - work clothes etc etc and it worked out that I was working for peanuts.

sinhob

Hi there,

I know exactly how you feel. I returned to work as a teacher after my first baby was born and regretted every minute I was away from her. I decided not to go back after my second daughter arrived and although money was tight we managed quite well by cutting back where we could.

After my third child arrived I decided try to work from home as I was missing the comradeship of work and as a consequence I am now a self-employed work at home mum. It doesn't pay as much as teaching but it gives me an interest aside from my children and will be something to put on my CV if I do decided in the future to work outside the home again.

My advice to you is to sit down and first of all listen to your heart. It isn't all that wonderful being at home all day long so try to find out about mother & toddler groups in your area so that you can have some adult contact!
Look closely at your finances to make sure you can afford to stay at home.
See if you can develop an interest like I did that may help you bring in a few quid every month.
Finally, don't slam the door when or if you do decide to leave paid employment... you may well want or need to return somewhere down the line

Good Luck,

Sinead x

smarties84

thank you for your replys, much appreciated..... i think i am going to stay how i am until april because i am due a bonus from the job i want to leave in april lol also dp is also looking for another job, so i think ill try and get on the straight,more organised etc until april and then go from there.... i also want another baby at some point and working in the job i want to leave would be horrendous whilst pregnant!! x