Saving money by becoming a house wife

Tenyearstogo

My husband would like me to give up my job and become a housewife. We have a teenager and a child in primary school. I'm happy to be at home but I'm worried about the financial side obviously. My hubby's wages pay the bills and will leave enough to live on. My wages pay for the nicer non essential side of life.

I'll save £200 a month in childcare, £50 a month in petrol and £80 on my cleaner/ironing. I know I'll be able to save on food by having more time to shop for bargains and eat less pre prepared food etc.

Am I missing any other ways I can save money? I'm had LBM years ago so cut out unnecessary stuff and generally shop around.

Conversely is there any additional spending I might incur by being at home all day?

Please help wise OSers.

WantToBeSE

you'll save money on work clothes,secret santa, the office 'do' etc.

But i imagine that you will spend more on utilities such as gas/elec if you are home during the day (especially if you are baking etc).

cte1111

If you've got more time whilst being at home, then you can save by shopping around for all your bills, e.g. insurance, utilities, etc. You may well spend more money on hobbies though.

Tenyearstogo

I'm a nurse so wear a uniform, I always put that on a hot wash once a week. I'll probably save on my washing bills as I have to tumble dry everything as I need to do all the washing at weekends. I can use my washing line if I'm home to dry it.

I avoid most work related social activities as I don't believe in mixing my professional and personal life. I'll save money on snacks from the canteen though.

I already shop around for the bills and utilities etc so I don't think I can save more there. I hadn't thought of the extra money on bills, but our usage didn't go up when I started full time work so I don't think I could've used that much. My teenager is home from school for two hours before me, he leaves everything switched on so that probably negated the usage!

I knit and crochet so spend relatively little on my hobbies, I tend to make gifts anyway. This year I've not had a chance to make anything so will have to buy gifts.

Thanks for your input.

JulieGeorgiana

My bills (gas, electric, water) changed slightly with me staying home. But we hardly noticed, so I wouldn't worry too much x

Your quality of life will change for the better, and you'll realise you don't need the money for all those extras x

You'll save on buying gifts, I find I save a lot now by buying offers I find on here etc

want_to_save

another question - what would you like to do?

suki1964

Best thing I ever done. Gave up work to be a sahw

What we lost in my income we made up with living a lot cheaper. I was at home to cook, clean and be able to spend time looking for the best deals on everything. As well as that I can do basic invoicing and accounts so saved there as well

The first year was a bit tight but since then we managed great

Money wise

However I got bored and found myself back working but in completely different fields. I spent a few years in market research, then a year or two in bar work, now I'm a cook/chef in a busy resturant working weekend nights mostly but with plenty of scope to work extra shifts around family commitments

Fen1

Do you know whether you can get relief on washing your uniform at home?

Just curious, do you wear a fresh uniform every day? Then do a big bundle of laundry once a week? Or do you wear the same uniform all week, which you wash once a week?

Tenyearstogo

WTS - I'm quite happy to give up work, more than happy. Nursing isn't the job I career I started 20 years ago, I'm not particularly career driven, my home life is far more important. I work to pay the bills but my husbands income has stepped up a lot in the past five years meaning that second income isn't vital.

Suki - that's the way we have thought. Quality of life. We spent years struggling to make end meets, not buying anything but essentials and still ending up in debt. We are fortunately past that now but I worry that we will have to go without nice things.

A career change might be nice but I don't have any skills really. I did well with a party plan company and enjoyed the sales side but I don't fancy the whole team building and promotional side again.

fen - I do claim tax relief on uniform. I wear clean uniform everyday as I have lots of patient contact but I save it to wash on my days off and do a load.

Blether

If you wanted to do it I would say go for it. The fact that your OH wants you to do it would ring alarm bells for me. You will lose any independence and I would hate to be reliant on someone wages to buy anything for myself. The other down side is that I think it would be lonely. You might consider is that you will lower your pension so might struggle when you retire.

Shushannah

I did this for six years it was brilliant. I went back to work but retrained as a teacher so I could work around the children's holidays. The main reason for this was needing a pension.