Can I Afford to be a Stay-at-Home Mom?

It's a question that many couples ask -- when is a woman (or a man for that matter) able to quit work and stay at home instead? "Today" Financial Editor Jean Chatzky addressed this issue in an article on MSNBC. It starts with the following question from a reader:

I’m expecting our third child. I’ve been a working mom all the way through, but now I feel that I should be a stay-at-home parent, at least for a while. My husband earns a reasonable income, but we’re not rich by any means. Do you think we can afford it?

The answer is not an easy one, but there are options, and choices to be made. Jean addresses these:

Truth is, unless your spouse is really bringing in big bucks, you probably wouldn’t be asking this question. In short, the likelihood is that you’ll need to cut back on your spending in order to make ends meet.

At base, it’s a matter of being disciplined.

Jean then goes on to offer some money saving tips, but they're pretty basic and I'd get a load of "wow, what a new, interesting idea" sarcastic comments, so I'll skip those. Besides, you can always get great money saving tips right here at Free Money Finance. ;-)

The bottom line is that if the right choices are made and spending is controlled, many can stay at home. If you're in this situation and are trying to see if you can make it, remember that simply by staying home you'll have lower expenses in work-related areas. It's likely that transportation, clothing, and food (eating out) costs will all go down (maybe even dramatically) if a spouse stays home. Of course some expenses will go up as well, but probably not that much in comparison.

Comments

[YoungMiser]

I think an easy way to do it is to gauge what percentage of income do your expenses consume?

With only 1 income expenses only account for 25 - 50% of monthly income, and there are savings accounts, then I think it would be safe. If expenses are around 60 - 80 of that one income, then it may be a gamble if a large unforseen expenses comes about...

Tim

[Steve]

We made this choice years ago- my wife quit before I had finished college, so it had a major effect on our income. We sold both of our newer (and in-debt) cars and bought an older, cheaper one; we adjusted how often we ate out; and we set a budget and sacrificed to get there. At times it was tough, but my income gradually rose and we have been able to buy the things we want. But the choice had a major effect on our children (now 3 of them). They are happy and have a great relationship with their mother that otherwise we would have missed. We'd do it all over again.

[Lauren]

I'm concerned about this because I make significantly more than my fiance. I'm hoping that this changes in the future so that not working won't mean dropping over half of our income.

[Brad Bailey]

I think there should always be a stay at home parent...at least until the kids start 1st grade. After my kids were born, my then wife got a part time Secretarial job working from home. It helped, but lets not sugar coat this...We struggled! I didn't make much money then, but I think we are raising better kids. Who knows what weirdo is raising your child at a day care. Now that my kids are 8 and 9, I work early morning and able to pick them up everyday after school.