SAHM and ladies who who changed their career after children

walby1993

Hi all,

I am in a bit of a tizz! I am currently 8 weeks pregnant (I know I am planning way in advance but thats the way I am - drives DH mad ) and the plan was always to return to work (I am a secondary teacher) on a part-time (3days per week) basis when we had children with my mum looking after the children on the days I worked meaning no childcare costs. However, my mum recently mentioned that she was trying to get a full-time job (currently she doesn't work). I understand why she wants to and would be pleased for her if she did but this is why I am in a tizz:

• If I returned to work 3 days a week my take home would be about £1075 per month with childcare costs of between £450 - 550 per month, so best-case-scenario means I would be left with about £525 a month.
• I have calculated that if I returned for one extra day a week above this (so four days a week), I would take home about an extra £225 per month, incur an extra £150 - £170 in childcare costs plus petrol, leaving a net of an extra £50 per month for one extra day a week. It hardly seems worth it to me!

£525 a month is fine at the moment but we need a bigger place (currently in a one bed flat) and this would not be enough to cover a bigger mortgage. So I am considering a career change. I was thinking about childminding but my DH seems to think it would be too difficult to look after my own LO and someone else's. I just thought that this way I could be at home with baby and earn some money. DH has said what about private tutition but this would not be a big enough earner on its own by the time you factor in holidays etc.

So my questions are:
SAHMs - how do you manage financially? What ways have you found to bring in a bit of extra income?

Ladies who have had a career change - Have any of you changed to childminding? If so, how was it looking after your own LO and some else's? Is it a reasonable living? What other careers fitted around your children?

Thanks in advance!

tooldle

Don't forget when making these comparissons, to take into account your pension. Even on three days a week, your net take is the wages and the pension contributions from the employer. Whislt working an extra day may only appear to net you £50 a month extra, the net effect on your pension is significantly more

tea_lover

What are your OH's plans work-wise? Will he continue full time? is there an option for him to reduce his hours as well to reduce your overall childcare costs?

Whilst the take-home pay may not seem worthwhile for an extra day, the difference it can make to your NI contributions and promotion prospects should also be considered.

Oh, and btw, forward planning is good! We haven't even managed to get pg yet but I still spend hours trying to sort the finances of childcare out lol.

milliemonster

Also have you looked into the possibility of childcare vouchers from your employer? these could offset the tax you pay meaning your net take home pay could be much more.

A lot depends on how much you enjoy your job and also how you will feel after your baby is born, it's easy to think about this when it's your first but you never know how you feel once your baby is here, many mums decide they want to be a SAHM, many others (like me) end up desperate to get back to work for a break!, you just don't know how you will feel until your baby is here

ikkle87

Hun, I would put your details into the entitledto site as if you have had the baby as it may be you will be entitiled to ctc/wtc and that these will offset some of the costs. x

gleek1

Also think about school holidays. You will have a considerable number of weeks a year when childcare is not needed. Many people think about switching TO teaching when they have a family because although it is a phenomenal amount of work, it actually is quite flexible. I am struggling with this myself, I am a qualified primary teacher but have moved into educational research which I love.... however, I know it is nowhere nearly as flexible as being a classroom teacher when I have a family.

Depending on late nights/meetings etc, you do not HAVE to be in school for much longer than the end of the teaching day - work can be done at home. This is also something to consider. Also, when your child goes to school, it is very convenient to be doing similar hours -depending on commute etc.

As well as being a teacher, I am the child of a primary and a secondary teacher, so I have seen all aspects.

Do what you want to do. Teaching is a tough career, if your heart is not in it then you will be miserable staying, however, I do think that there are great advantages to the teacher lifestyle if you have a family. You can always do marking of exam papers in the holidays or teach nightschool to supplement your income

Hope all goes well with the pregnancy!

brunettegirl

walby1993 wrote: »

Hi all,

So my questions are:
SAHMs - how do you manage financially? What ways have you found to bring in a bit of extra income?


Thanks in advance!

I am a SAHM we have had to restructure our budget a lot, do proper shopping lists, stick to budgets, planning, planning and more planning. Always looking for deals, offers, ect.we go to carboots a lot and I bought a lot of clothes and toys from ebay for my lo.
As regards extra money in I don't really I do surveys which pays into paypal, i sell stuff on ebay but that basically pays for the things I buy off ebay.
Its a works in progress, i find toddler groups to go to that are free to attend and try to arrange playdates at peoples houses to avoid softplay and other expensive places. I use this site a lot.
Its amazing how easily you do adapt - and in fairness I could still do a lot better than I do. I'm glad im at home but to be fiar if i had gone back to work full time would only be ten pounds a month better off.......

freda

As a trained teacher, you should be able to get some private pupils, esp. if you are English, maths, sciences or languages. You can get at least £20 per hour for this in the south, look at your local area to see what you could price your teaching at. It works well with children as it can be in the evenings when your OH can sort out the baby. It doesn't have half of the prep/marking and assessment requirements that school teaching has, either. Also, if you can teach A level, you may get some daytime pupils when your child is at nursery / school, but thats a little way down the line.

However, bear in mind you'll be knackered beyond any sort of knackered you've ever known for the first few months so don't get too excited too soon about it! Bear in mind you'll also have to register as self employed and do a tax return.

caevans

Hi
You also won't know how you will feel once baby here. Give yourself time to see what it's like having a baby and whether it's something you would like to do full time. I love my children to bits but couldnt contemplate looking after them full time as it would crack me up! You might find that you would like to go back to work teaching older kids for a break! I will be very poor when I go back to work and wont be bringing in much money to really justify going back. However, for myself I need to work for my own sake :-)
Give yourself time. I am also a planner but you just can't plan how you will feel once you are on mat leave

claire16c

Id stay teaching if I was you, because once your baby becomes school age, it will be a great job to have to fit around them. Ive actually thought now and again about becoming a teacher if I hopefully have kids so I cant help much with the career change thing!

So if you can survive on less money for a while I think it would be worth it.

I think your main problem is not your job, its your 1 bed flat because its going to be hard to find something part time that pays more than the teaching to enable you to move somewhere bigger.

Could you rent out your flat or sell it and rent a 2 bed until you can afford to buy somewhere bigger in a few years once your child is at school and you could work full time?

JodyBPM

How much better off would you be if you worked full time? Would full time minus childcare give you enough to pay the bigger mortgage?

Realistically, you are unlikely to be able to find a part-time job that pays as well as teaching, so you may have to make some difficult choices. It might be a case of work full time and be able to move, or accept that if you work part time (or are a sahm) that you won't be able to afford to move.

Don't forget to check out childcare vouchers if your employer offers them, or see if you are entitled to any help from Tax Credits.

It's a nightmare juggling childcare costs v wages to work out the optimum number of hours to work to give you the best take home pay! On the bright side, as a teacher, your childcare costs will fall dramatically once your child reaches school age!