Work Dilemma

Curious_George_2

jo1972 wrote: »

I live in a town which has an abundance of schools, nurseries, childminders etc and I have been speaking to an organiser this afternoon and she checked out my postcode and said that nobody is selling in my area yet, well there maybe sellers but not assigned to any schools etc. so I think if I am going to do it I should do it quick! She is a team leader so if I go through her I will be part of her team (which I thought was odd as she lives around 200 miles away from me!), she seems very eager to help with any queries so I'm thinking that's a good thing?

ok, the next question you have to ask yourself is can you get to them all easily with a big stack of books (do you drive / have your own car?)
can you make and keep appointments at the groups? schools?
are you aware that at a toddler group, once you have set out your display you then feel like your in a goldfish bowl as people eye you suspiciously! lol

ok, ignore that last bit... but there is nothing worse than pretending your doing something while hoping someone anyone will come over to your table and buy some books! especially when its a room full of people you know!

the team leader thing is a nice back up, i think i spoke to mine on the phone once and we emailed a few times, but that was it.
you make money = she makes money, so she will be on hand to help anytime you need an answer to something.

edit - just re-read this and it sounds a bit negative, i dont mean it that way, i really enjoyed being an usborne rep, but i didnt make any money from it and was quite dissapointed that i had to give it up in the end,

cazziebo

Do it! I loved being a stay at home mum. I only had a few years but it was very precious and no one can ever take it away from me.

It's amazing how little you can live on if you try - and it's equally amazing how much money you waste when you don't..

think how much it costs to work - clothes, hair, commuting, drinks after work, leaving/marriage/baby/birthday presents, coffees, lunches etc etc. Add on to this how much you spend to treat yourself because you've had a tough day. If you have to pay for childcare then unless you have a fantastic salary, then it must almost balance out.

I also worked part time for a while. That was nice and gave us both (DD1 and I) a bit of a break but part time wasn't feasible once I had the two - the childcare costs would have cancelled out the wage and more!

And I was always busy - never had to find things to do. Don't think you will regret it.

kj*daisy

I work part time, we took a big salary cut but manage somehow. It's worth doing if you possibly can:)

jo1972

Curious George, yes I have a car and think I should be able to find someone to watch the kids whilst I do my visits. Although a bit nervous about the visits now, don't want people staring at me lol!!!

Cazzibo, childcare is expensive. It was worse for me last year as I couldn't find a childminder to take both kids, so had my 2yr old with a childminder and my 4yr old in a nursery, I was paying around £1,000 a month. But I've now found a childminder that will have them both and my dh works shifts so they quite often get picked up early so now only (only? :eek:) pay £660 a month.

kj, I think I might look into getting a part time job too, I think it's better to downsize the time I work rather than stop completely...ease into it gently!

Curious_George_2

jo1972 wrote: »

Curious George, yes I have a car and think I should be able to find someone to watch the kids whilst I do my visits. Although a bit nervous about the visits now, don't want people staring at me lol!!!

dont let me put you off! i had great fun (when it was going well! lol)
its just little things like that i didnt even think about beforehand!
it turns out im not a pushy sales person....

Rachie_B

what about childminding ? you only have one child at home, so could have a few more under 5s with maybe some over 5s before / after school if you wanted.

that way you are still at home with / for your own children and get to make some money at the same time

you are self employed so take on as much / little work as you want ( or is available!)

http://www.ncma.org.uk

Savvy_Sue

You could do worse than ask your current employer if they would consider you going part-time, maybe as a job-share or maybe you can see some other way of doing it.

JennyW_2

jo1972 wrote: »

I haven't the faintest if this is the right place to put this post

I have decided today after having a week off work that I really no longer want to work full time. I've got 3 kids, my eldest (15yrs) has a year left at school, my 4yr old starts reception in Sept and my 2yr old will not start nursery for another 2 years. I'm getting fed up with working full time, leaving the house at 7.45am and not getting home till 7pm, I've no time to do anything around the house apart from cooking, washing, cleaning, I spend virtually no quality time with my kids except at the weekend when I really should be doing decorating and gardening (obviously these things never get done because my kids come first!).

My OH works fulltime shift work so has no time for anything either and I feel as though we're stuck in a rat race.

I desperately want to give up work to stay at home with the kids, plant veggies in the garden, play learning games, get the house sorted and be generally more laid back rather than rushing 24/7.

This will be a complete culture shock for me as I've worked fulltime since 16, I'm now 35 but feel that I need to spend some quality time with my kids.

Problem is that money will be extremely tight, to the point that I'm not sure if incomings will cover the outgoings if my salary is not coming in anymore. I already do mystery shopping, online surveys, quidco etc etc all in good MSE style :money: but would be grateful if anyone could give me any advice on how to make money and be a stay at home parent at the same time.

Hope I've posted this in the right place!

Jo.

I felt exactly the same as you 3 years ago (I was 36). I felt as if I was constantly on the go never stopping, always rushing and always cleaning - like there was no time to do the things I wanted to do like potter in the garden, spend more time with the dogs, pop into town for a coffee - I didn't even get a hour to myself to read a book. SSmple things but important things.

I went from FT down to PT. I think from memory it was a cut of about £400 a month, however you do cut back and learn to cope with what you've got. At the end of the day it's your sanity which is far more important than the pennies. Go for it

heather38

that's what i did after i had my DD, i work in pharmacy and went back 15 hours, i work 2 evenings and a saturday. it's ideal for me, i can have a break plus keep my mind sane talking to grown ups!! in my job you can only have 4 years break and then you have to resit your exams again as a refresher, this way i don't have to do that plus i don't have to have childcare as my mil has the baby for an hour whilst my DH finishes work.
i took a pay cut of £500 a month but don't regret it at all.

jo1972

Thanks for all your replies

I think going part time would be the solution for me, maybe doing a morning/afternoon shift in a docs surgery or something like that. That way I still get to pay the bills that we can't cover on dh's wage plus I might have a couple of quid left to take the kids somewhere nice once a week!

Any more advice is appreciated, especially anyone that's doing part time work at the moment, what sort of field of work should I look for? Do they have part timers in schools? That would be ideal, although I presume jobs are few and far between plus highly sought after!