It sure seems like I all my WAH ideas lately havehad something to do with children. I promise that soon I will have something for you that does not involve having extra children in your home.
Today I would like to focus on before and after school care for children in your neighborhood. If you call your local schools and ask them what their rate is for latch key you should be able to set your rates just slightly lower to make yourself more appealing to parents.
By watching kids only before and after school you should only have children in your home for 2-3 hours per day. Make sure to check with your state to make sure there are not any restrictions on how many children you can have in your care at one time or if there are any mandatory licenses that you may need.
My friend, Crystal, over at Money Saving Mom has a series going every Wednesday on how to make more money without working harder. I have to say that it is a wonderful series. She made a suggestion last week about starting businesses that will result in residual income. I am still researchers more ideas on how to go about starting these type of businesses, but in the mean time Crystal suggested a really interesting idea for making some money while still staying home. It is called Preschool In A Box.
Basically the idea is this...I am sure many of you have considered starting an in home daycare to make some extra money, but you really don't want to have kids in your home 8-10 hours a day. Joy Anderson is the genious behind preschool in a box. She shows you how you can start an in home preschool and only work 2.5-5 hours a day and make more money then you can with daycare. I checked out her site and it is completely legit. In fact, I ordered her free informational cd. I think she has some great ideas. So go check it out for yourself.
ZOOOOM EEEKKK!! That is how I feel I run this blog. Run as fast as you can and then come to a sudden halt! Ugh, one of these days I might get it right. Let's try once again to get things going.
I have so many ideas to share on making some extra income as lots of homemaking ideas. So here we go again.
I have so many ideas to share on making some extra income as lots of homemaking ideas. So here we go again.
Once again it is late and I have run out of time and energy to write anything new. Here is a post I wrote answering a readers question.
I thought I would share these questions with everyone because I am sure that there are others who are wondering the same thing.
Reader Lisa asked,
"I wonder is it ever too late to become a SAHM?" and "Is it possible to give up high paying job and live on a teacher's salary?"
I think it is NEVER too late to become a SAHM. Our children need us no matter what their age. I am sure that you would love to be able to go on field trip, games, and other events with your children during their school age years and not have to worry about taking time off of work. I would refer you to Titus 2. I am sure many of you have already read it, but it only confirms that the Lord meant for the wife to be at home taking care of her family.
I know that many woman worry about the loss of income that would come with them quitting their job. I would advise you to take it to the Lord in prayer and trust him to take care of your finances. He has said that he will provide for all of our needs.
I can understand how busy a mom gets with her job and taking care of a family. My mother is the Facility Administrator for 3-4 dialysis units in our city. She is in her 60s and has know idea when she will be able to retire. She is stressed and tired. At her age this should not be the case.
I heard a preacher say once that husbands should do everything they can to support their wives being at home because asking her to work and take care of a household is literally slowly killing her due to increased stress and lack of rest. I realize that there are circumstances when a wife must work or her husband is not supportive of her decision. This is when I would again recommend prayer. Ask the Lord to soften your spouses heart. He sure did a number on my husband.
As to the question of being able to make it on a teacher's salary I can say first hand that YES you can. My husband is a teacher at a technical college. We are able to take care of our monthly bills and still have some money left for paying down debt.
The way we are able to do that is by the choices we make. Often times we are asked to go out to dinner or on vacation and we have to say no. We are sometimes looked down on, but we know that 10 years down the road we will be debt free, car payment free, and mortgage free, and our friends will still be in the same place they were.
In conclusion, remember that you can fulfill your dream of becoming a SAHM at any stage of you life and you can learn to live on one income. It is all a matter of where your priorities are. When your children are on their own are they going to remember the "stuff" you bought them or the quality time you spent with them.
I would love to hear back from you. Let me know how things are going on your journey. No matter what choice you make you have to do what is right for you and your family. Remember to take it to the Lord in prayer. He knows your heart.
I was hoping to post the third part of the work to home series, but time did not permit that today. I still wanted to post something, but since it is very late I will just give you a quit WAH job idea.
Have you noticed that kids clothing consignment sales are popping up everywhere? These can be a great ways to bring in a little extra cash with minimal effort. You may be thinking that you do not have anything to consign. How can you make any money? Well, by flipping clothing. People make money flipping houses. Why not kids clothes and toys? A friend of mine said she knows of a woman who has profited $400 on the last 2 sales she has flipped clothes at. She told me that this woman will go to garage sales and ask people if she can fill a bag for $1. Most people will tell her yes. She then turns around and tags these clothes to be consigned and makes a nice profit. I am sure this could be done with many childrens items.
So there you have it. I am sorry if this is not well written. I am falling asleep at the keyboard.
For more ways to learn about saving money check out my other blog Natural On A Budget.
Have you noticed that kids clothing consignment sales are popping up everywhere? These can be a great ways to bring in a little extra cash with minimal effort. You may be thinking that you do not have anything to consign. How can you make any money? Well, by flipping clothing. People make money flipping houses. Why not kids clothes and toys? A friend of mine said she knows of a woman who has profited $400 on the last 2 sales she has flipped clothes at. She told me that this woman will go to garage sales and ask people if she can fill a bag for $1. Most people will tell her yes. She then turns around and tags these clothes to be consigned and makes a nice profit. I am sure this could be done with many childrens items.
So there you have it. I am sorry if this is not well written. I am falling asleep at the keyboard.
For more ways to learn about saving money check out my other blog Natural On A Budget.
Part 2-
Ask yourself these questions...
"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not
lean on your own understanding. In all your ways
acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."
Proverbs 3:5-6
Do you find it heart wrenching every time you have to leave your precious children in the care of someone else (sometimes a stranger) everyday as you leave for work? Do your children beg you to stay home and not leave? Do you cry all the way to work? Do you simply want to follow the teachings of the Lord and become a keeper of the home?
If you answered yes to any of these questions then you need to read this series. I decided before I had children that I wanted to be a SAHM. When career day would come around in high school people would ask me what I wanted to do for a living. The only thing that I could ever imagine was a mother. Oh, I had dreams and interests in other fields, such as medicine, but nothing ever felt as right as being a wife and mother.
After I got married I knew that I would have to plan in advance if I wanted to make my dream come true. Unfortunately the man I married did not understand my desire and expected that I would always work. I had to do a lot of praying for the Lord to change his heart. After the birth of our first child my husband had come around and I am now doing what I had always said I would do as a child.
So how did I get to where I am today? Planning and Prayer. I can not emphasize enough that you must plan ahead or you will most likely fail. The first thing you need to learn how to do is adjust to living on one income before you quit your job. Sit down with your spouse and plan out a budget using his income alone. For great information on budgeting visit Dave Ramsey's site on money management.
The second thing you need to do is set a realistic date to quit work. If you have a goal in mind you are more likely to reach it.
Next you need to build an emergency fund to cover anything that may happen that you will need to pay for once you actually quit work. I would also recommend using your current income to pay off debt. You are learning to live on just your husband's income alone so you should be able to put anything extra toward paying of debt. You want to make sure that you can have the least amount of bills possible for you husband's income to pay.
The last thing you need to do once you have come home is try to get into a routine. It is really easy to just let yourself become lazy and get nothing done. You will find yourself at lunch time still in your PJ's and the house a mess and your husband may stop in for lunch. He will wonder what you have been doing all day and if having you home is really going to work. You managed to keep up the house when you were working. You need to be able to do the same thing once you are at home. Your new "job" is to make sure that you spend time with God daily, then your husband, then children, and then the house. Find someone who has been a SAHM for awhile and get her advice.
Next time I will begin to go into each of these steps a little more in depth. Keep praying about your decision. God will provide a way if this is truly the desire of your heart.
Part - 1
Is staying at home for everyone and why do you want to do it?
Is staying at home for everyone and why do you want to do it?
"I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord,' plans for your
welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope."
Jeremiah 29:11
I thought that since I had taken some time off I would start the transition from work to home series over again. I am sorry if any of you have already read it, but I did not want to leave anyone out. If you are looking for some inspiration about transitioning from work to home you need to read Larry Burcket's book Woman Leaving the Workplace. This book is where I have found a lot of my info for this series.
I have always loved this verse. It has helped me through many difficult times. When there are days that I do not know how my husband and I will be able to afford for me to stay home I think on this verse and remember God's promise to take care of his children. If you are struggling with the decision to come home, you are not alone. God can and will take care of those who put their trust in him.
I hear of more and more women lately that are wanting to leave work and become a SAHM. Unfortunatly many of them do not see how this can ever be possible. As a nation we have come to believe that to make it in life we need to be a dual income family. Some women have supportive husbands and others do not. It is possible financially to live on one income. I am not going to tell you that this will come easily. As with anything worth having you have to work at it.
Statistics show that the number of women quitting their jobs is on the rise. Mothers are looking at what has happened to our nation's children when their mother's are taken out of the picture and not raising them at home under their loving care.
There are many mothers today, especially in the Christian community, who feel that they are supposed to stay home, yet they feel like they are letting their families down because they work out of the home full time. There are many mothers who have tried to quit, yet have had to return to work because they did things out of order and did not completely prepare themselves and their families for the transition.
I can only give suggestions to help you with your transition in this series. There is no guarantee that this will work just like there are not gurantees that staying at home with your kids will ensure that they grow up to be model citizens. Please do not take your decision lightly. Make sure that you pray with your husband before any final decisions are made. Only God knows the plans that he has for us.
Through out this series I would like to touch on the topics of having a supportive spouse, fears, budgeting, homeschooling, income earning ideas, and when to return to work. Stay tuned until next time for the actual planning process and what steps to take first.
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