One income family of four - can we get ahead even after pay cuts?

Bluegreen143

@joedenise yes, on top of the apples/pears/satsumas/bananas I’ll buy more bananas, a box of grapes, some strawberries or blueberries this week at a minimum.

joedenise

That's probably going to be at least £5 then I would think!  Definitely sounds like it worth buying the separate boxes if it means you won't need to buy SM stuff on top.

Baileys_Babe

In your situation, I would buy the 2 boxes, it will be easier for you to manage especially with Money at home.

Bluegreen143

So this afternoon has left me totally conflicted!

Out of the blue, an old boss has called me to ask if I want a job (1y fixed term initially), and it’s a grade above my old job, which is an amazing opportunity after three years out of the workforce. I told her I may be interested in part time work (three days a week) but not full time - she’s come back suggesting four days so I’ve asked if those can be shorter days so I’m done by 3pm to pick Monkey up from nursery.

On the one hand, given we’ve talked about me returning to the workforce in the next 2-3 years, this is a great opportunity to get back into the workforce easily. Even if it just lasts the year it sets me in a much better position job hunting in the future than if I have a 5 year gap in my CV. I thought I’d need to start from scratch or potentially get a minimum wage job - this would be a £28-34k pay scale so would make a big difference even after childcare costs and by far the most well paid job I’ve ever had. Not to mention it’s very flattering to be well remembered after a few years and thought highly enough that they want me back! Financially it means maybe another £700-900 in our budget every month after childcare. We have agreed we’d use this for a holiday and to save towards our future/overpay the mortgage rather than relying on it for our monthly spending (we want to ensure we can afford for me to quit if needed).

However I’m really conflicted too. I really didn’t want to work until Bambi was at least at nursery and probably school. I feel it’s kind of stealing my last year at home with her before she starts. She would need to go to a childminder or nursery four days a week (hopefully shorter days - but this may not cost less). And instead of starting her at nursery in the mornings only as I wanted I would need to send her 9-3 right from the start if I’m still working when she begins. It means I need to arrange childcare for school holidays too whereas at the moment I love that Monkey gets to spend these at home. I feel we are really happy at the moment, have a good quality of life and low stress and I am concerned that this will change if I start working now before the kids are in school. I also feel we are living a simpler life more in tune with our values at the moment and worry we are letting that go just for the sake of money.

Such a dilemma! Will wait and see what she comes back with. We have agreed that four full days is too much for us and should turn it down if there’s no give on this. In a way that would be a relief - but I think a regret too.

Baileys_Babe

Congratulations @Bluegreen143 for being so highly thought of 😊

Moneywhizz

Oh that is a quite a dilemma. It sounds like you have such a good quality of life just now being at home with the kids but if you do want to go back to work in the future it seems like too good an opportunity to miss. Kids are very resilient and would be fine if you decide to take the job, but how it would impact on you as regards time to work, be a good mum, run the house is the question you need to consider. Maybe the decision will be made for you if they are not willing to be flexible with the hours. That would probably be for the best. I'm sure it will all work out, whatever you decide. 

joedenise

That's great about the opportunity but as you say it's a dilemma. Only you can make the decision but from reading on here you really love your life as a full time mum.  I did too and actually ended up taking 14 years off before returning to work!  It was very difficult getting back into work after that time but I did it - and went back into the same kind of work but at a grade lower so it took a year or so to get promotion back to my previous level and then another promotion after another fews years.  I chose not to go for any further promotions as it would have involved having to travel which I didn't want to do.  From that you can see that it is possible to go back after a long gap.

It's a shame your employer didn't run a Keeping in Touch scheme where you go into work for a day or two a year so you can keep your skills up to date which makes it much easier to get back into work.

Good luck with making the decision.

Bluegreen143

Thanks for your thoughts everyone. I think it’s looking likely I’m going to take it as they think that working 8.30-3 four days a week (ish) would work out fine for them. At the end of the day Red is fully agreed that if it doesn’t work out I can quit, no problem. It would probably mean in the region of £6-800 a month left after childcare which would allow us to seriously blast our savings goals. We are agreed we don’t want to inflate our standard of living except to make sure we can use some of it for a cheap holiday (covid rules permitting). If we put £500 a month into our mortgage that is £6,000 extra over the year that we wouldn’t have paid off otherwise. Of course I don’t know what the future holds after this year but if we managed to continue that OP rate we would be done with the mortgage in 10 years instead of 29! 

It is a hard choice as I do love my current set up and because it’s my last year at home with Bambi before she starts her free nursery hours at 3. That said, I feel like she spends all her time with me watching me doing housework as due to covid restrictions I never get to take her anywhere! She is a sociable wee thing and maybe would get quite a bit out of going to a childminder’s some of the time. When I worked when Monkey was tiny I found the evenings very hard going - I finished up at 5.30 (I was meant to work til 6 so could never take a lunch break), spent half an hour stuck in traffic, picked up Monkey at 6 then rushed home to microwave something I’d batch cooked for the freezer so he had a chance of getting to bed before 8. Although this is four days, I think that finishing at 3pm will make such a difference as I could take the kids straight out to a park/walk/playdate or just have time to play with them etc. And time to cook a proper dinner and not have a rushed bedtime routine. So even though it’s more days (I worked 3 days before) it may actually feel like a better balance.

Baileys_Babe

The most important thing will be you and Red working as a team.

But being clear of the mortgage in 10 years is a fantastic bonus.

joedenise

Absolutely agree with @Baileys_Babe.  Working as a team is key.