Saving money by becoming a house wife

JulieGeorgiana

Tenyearstogo wrote: »

We are going to save my wages (less my going to work expenditure) for the next few months to see how we manage.

This is what we did. We knew once we had baby 2&3 I would give up work. So my wages paid for my car (which I sold once I finished work), my petrol, DS childcare, and every single penny thereafter went straight into savings. It meant we could 'practice' living on a tighter budget and not worry once I stopped working.

I've not worked for 2,5 years now and I don't regret it for a second.

It can be isolating though, which is why I volunteer 2 hours a week. It's not a lot of time, but it helps the community and gets me out of the house

Toonie

Whilst not in the same situation as you (no family but I only work part time) I am at home during the day. I find that I can get a lot done and having the time to shop around is really great and it works for me. That is the important thing. If you are happy I'd say go for it.

It's also good to have some time to indulge in hobbies and if they also mean you can utilise them to save money even better (I paint and make jewellery so my hobbies pay for themselves with the few pieces I've sold and the money I save on presents). I do think though that you need to be strict with yourself if you are at home during the day. It's all to easy to get caught in the "make a cup of tea and go on MSE" cycle which means you suddenly end up losing a morning or day so I have a list of things to do and once a few are checked off I have a tea break and pop online.

LameWolf

Firstly, good luck if you do choose to become a full time sahw.:o

I had no option but to pack up work when I became too ill to work, and one of the worst things for me is the total isolation when DH is at work; but from what you say this won't be a problem for you.

What I would say, is to structure your day. It's all too easy to mither around for an hour - or two - before you bother even washing up the breakfast things, and before you know it, the day's nearly over and you've achieved nothing useful. I have a list of tasks to try and get done each day, and only allow myself to do "purely-for-fun" things once they're done (down side to this is there's always something that wants doing and the "fun" things tend to go to the back of the queue).

The other thing I struggle with is that although I get a small pension, and DLA, I can't pay my fair 50% towards the running of the house. OK, I do all the finance stuff (I'm better at it than DH, and I have the time to devote to it) but the cold fact is that a lot more than half the money to keep the household running comes from his pay packet, and that's hard for me to cope with.

Just my two-penn'orth.:o

moments_of_sanity

I was recently made redundant but am now on ESA due to ME, the amount of money we manage to save is hugely different from when we both worked full time!

DH works as a supervisor on a temporary basis so his work is never guaranteed and I can't do an awful lot every day although I do try to Hoover the living room and dust everyday (last 2 days it hasn't been done as I don't have the energy), the main things I try to do are meal plan and do the shopping once I have made my list. I usually shop in A!di's as it's small enough for me to get everything I need and doesn't wipe me out for days.

We now manage to save an awful lot more of our money because I have the time to plan meals, cook from scratch rather than buy convenience foods etc, no petrol costs, no parking charges each month. Even though I have ME, I am so much happier than I ever was with the pressure of working full time/part time and having teenagers to sort out etc.

I think you may be pleasantly surprised at how much you can save once you give up work.

maman

want_to_save wrote: »

another question - what would you like to do?

As you've answered that and you seem happy then I'd go for it and give it a try. From what I know of the NHS you wouldn't find it too hard to get more work at a later date if you changed your mind.


It wouldn't suit me. I spent years on education and training and would feel I'd wasted that if I didn't use it and as someone else said it's part of who I am. So I wouldn't want to be a housewife but that wasn't the question you asked!;)

Austin_Allegro

I think it sounds great. One of the problems of the last 40 years or so was that being a housewife was denigrated as being some sort of slave, when it isn't - if you do it properly, it's a skilled job of household management.

In the middle classes at least, it used to be optional for wives to work - now it's compulsory, because housing and other costs have risen to match the fact that more women work.

It doesn't have to be like that though. I'm a sort of 'househusband' - I work part time from home and my wife works full time long hours, so I do most of the housework etc. I quite enjoy it.

You will save money a. because working costs money - for transport, clothing, childcare etc, and b. you have so much more time to look for bargains, cook, plan low cost meals, mend things, grow and preserve food etc. Someone pointed out that 'a penny saved' is actually MORE than 'a penny earned' because you don't have to pay tax on it!

You can also start a money-making hobby online - for example I write e-books on various topics, they don't make a huge amount but it's a bit more than pocket money. If I need a break from cooking or cleaning, I just sit down and write a bit - it seems to work well.

I think if you have a genuine vocation, housework may not be for you, but if you 'work to live' rather than 'live to work' it should be fine. You may feel a bit lonely sometimes but as others have said, if you join a group or something that will help - I go to a business networking group and am also involved with my parochial church council.

maman

Austin_Allegro wrote: »

In the middle classes at least, it used to be optional for wives to work - now it's compulsory, because housing and other costs have risen to match the fact that more women work.

I wouldn't disagree with the economic pressures but another reason IMO is that over a similar period the education of girls has been very similar to that of boys. So many girls don't grow up with the plan that they will get married, have children and become a SAHM (I don't suspect many boys think that way either). We've moved on a lot since the day's of Peter and Jane!

Cheapskate

Just over 7 years ago I gave up a well paid job in a high school, partly because of the stress of the job, and partly because I just wanted to be at home and recoup mentally (family stuff going on as well, that was making me ill). We lost a third of our income on paper, but in reality it was only about 10% as I went back to old, better habits re shopping, cooking, cleaning etc.

Then we had our two youngest children, I worked very part time at weekends, and was offered a very good job two days a week, but have now given up both. Our home is still a tip, but I'm slowly getting there, I am more content than for a long time, despite having serious depression, and can recommend it!


A xo

[Deleted User]

I think its down to the individual really I worked for most of my working life from 14 onwards with a three year break when I had my children.I eventually retired at 50 almost 20 years ago.I actually find I have less time to 'do' things than I seemed to have when I was working.At first it did seem strange not going out to work and for two years I stiill woke at 5.15 every morning as I always had for years.I now get a lie-in and don't get up until around 6.30 but then its because I look after four of my grandsons before and after school and full-time during the holidays as their mum and Dad both have to work full-time to pay the bills.
Even so I still seem to be busy and go to a History club,coffee morning Pub Quiz one night a week a luncheon club and a creative writing club as well as knitting for charity and my main hobby which is reading or genealogy ,oh I also like to swim as well.How I manage to cram everything in I'll never know but my days are full to bursting(I'm thinking of joining our local evening W.I as well next week.I belong to the U3A so I also have various things attached to that as well :) I bake cakes for my tribe of grandchildren and run them here and there, and do the dentist and Dr. runs with them as well.So depending on what YOU want to do when you stop going out to work as oppossed to staying at home and probably working just as hard but in a different way, is really down to you yourself.To say your a stay-at -home- Mum makes it sound like you are resting up and doing very little which really is probabl ynot the case as you will find that you will pick up various things as you go along that will fill the time up very quickly I now would hate to 'go out to work' I don't think I could find the time anyway :)
Good luck in what you decide

Tenyearstogo

I love this board.

Pay day today so I immediately moved the cash out of the current account.

Decided we will save until the late Spring so if I do decide to leave work I'll do it in time for the summer holidays.