Does anyone work w/ends whilst their OH works Mon-Fri?

Spendless

Especially if they have school age children? How does it work out for you?
I've been job hunting for around a year without success. I live in an area that's been hard hit by the recession.

I have 2 Primary school age children and have been at college for past few years updating skills, I also did 6 months voluntary work in an admin role. I've seen a job but it's Sat and Sun all day. Husband works Mon-Fri long hours, is requently in Midlands (2 hours away) and is frequently (usually once a week) away o/night. There is no pattern to this but he also works from home at least once a week, very occassionally twice. I have very limited family help. My parents work, Nan is elderly (86) and FIL had a stroke a few months ago. Working w/ends would mean no childcare costs, have no problems if one was sick and I would be home in the school hols but I'm worried about never having a day off as a family.

billy858

Have you thought about working evenings, or is this not possible because of your husbands hours?

looby75

Thats what I used to do before ex left, I worked weekends and late night Thursday.

It is very hard not having time together as a family, but as your hubby usually has one day where he works at home I would suggest that you make as much as that time as possible (after the kids come home from school for eg) as a mini weekend.

Believe me not having the weekends together will make you appreciate what time you DO all have together more than you can imagine.

Good luck

rainbow81

Hi

I did something similar when my boy was much smaller, so I had him all week and ex-OH went to work. We swapped over at the weekends and to be honest with you I wouldn't recommend it unless you are really desperate for money.

Obviously it's up to you but you do need family time and couple time I think. Just one night a week when no-one's having to get up at 7am you know? A time to relax together.

retro_bluebell

I used to work full time at night and at weekend as a hotel manager when my older boys were small while my ex oh used to work normal office hours....we did it for the same reasons as you so we didnt have to pay childcare costs....I could sometimes fit in 30 hours just over a few days so it was exhausting but we managed it, we were like ships in the night sometimes though I would pass the kids to him as he came in as I was about to go out...like the others have said you appreciate the time you do get together holidays and annual days off are a dream come true.

Spendless

Working evenings is not possible due to husband's job. It varys week to week where he is and what time he's home and if he's away o/night. He doesn't know much in advance himself.
We could do with the extra money - hubby took a pay cut last year that will have more of an impact this. We have some debts. Big ticket items are hard (holidays, re-decorating, anything going wrong with my car etc) but we don't need the money to pay trhe bills- without me working we'll get there in the end -it'll just take a lot longer.

rainbow81

I just wanted to add (because I was a bit negative there) that you can only try it and it's not working for you and your family then change it. But if does work for you then great You could just work to save up for a holiday or something and then reassess.

Good luck.

WASHER

I worked Saturday and Sunday when my children were small (10 months and 2 years old), it was a case of having to do so, I couldn't afford childcare and had no family around incase of sickness. I did it for 5 years, I wouldn't personally recommend it if you are paying your bills etc, I did it to put food on the table, my OH was on contract work at the time, and could of been laid off at anytime and the pay was poor compared to the salary of his previous job. (made redundant).

looby75

Spendless wrote: »

Working evenings is not possible due to husband's job. It varys week to week where he is and what time he's home and if he's away o/night. He doesn't know much in advance himself.
We could do with the extra money - hubby took a pay cut last year that will have more of an impact this. We have some debts. Big ticket items are hard (holidays, re-decorating, anything going wrong with my car etc) but we don't need the money to pay trhe bills- without me working we'll get there in the end -it'll just take a lot longer.

Just wondering if you had considered a work from home job.....there are loads of call centre kind of jobs that you do from your own home now. You need a land line, a reliable internet connection and a pc/laptop of a certain spec to run the co software.

I've tried applying for a few but unfortunately our broadband isn't fast enough so I never get through the line test part of the application but it might be something you could consider seeing as you are stuck at home at nights anyway

the Working Mums site has quite a few p/t from home jobs on it

shelovestobuystuff

This is something I wanted to do,work evenings and weekends to get some extra cash into the household.I thought my hubby would be okay with looking after dd and the dogs while I was out earning but he definately isnt.In my house its just not worth the hassle so I gave it up.Childcare would have cost more than I earned so without his support I couldnt do it.
Now I just try to earn some extra on ebay,etsy etc while hubby is at work and am still available during the day for household stuff,kids,school,the dogs etc.Not my ideal life but it seems to keep everyone else happy.
Working from home is definately worth looking into if you dont have someone willing to watch the kids.

Gingham_Ribbon

If you can get a weekend job easier than weekdays, it might be an idea to go for it in the short term and look for other work once you're in. As far as I can tell, it's easier to get a job when you're in work.