[swt1899]

I'm a teacher and this year my heart just isn't in it. I miss my Robert SOOO much. We have a great sitter. She is a family friend and a wonderful person. But while I am at work I think about Robert, what he is doing, am I missing anything, etc. We plan on having more children and the cost of the sitter would be astronomical!
My DH and I have talked about me staying home and it looks like we could possibly do it. But with the economy going the way it is... I need to have a little income to help my DH out.
What are your ways of bringing in some income without having to go to work? I am currently making handmade jewelry and it is going ok. But I was just curious on what you gals did. If you don't, how do you make it happen? Do you save? Do you cut out a lot?
I want this so badly. I feel Robert deserves this and my DH is so supportive. I just don't want for him to be stressed about money.
THANKS!

[angelic_ky]

even when i was working i wasn't bring in much and seeing as we were planning on having kids the year after we moved in together we moved to a place that we could afford with just DH's wage... we have a budget that we mostly stick to (kind of needed it as DH is paid monthly)... with grocery shopping i have a detail list to stick to and i work out the cost before shopping (i use the shops online store to work out cost)... i try to buy expensive food items on special, and wit the small items i buy in bulk when on special... perhaps you coould do some tutoring for extra money

[Samual]

Frank stays at home, we aren't tight but we don't tend to buy things we don't need but then we never cut anything on food so we probably don't save money we just don't waste it, I think that happened after having to live on student budgets of £1000 a term. We saved all Franks maternity pay as well, so we had nine months wages stored away in the bank.
We don't do anything for extrra money as we don't really need to and Frank is at home to be looking after the children, so he would refuse to do something that takes time away from them.
If you aren't used to living on one wage I would look at what you're buying every month so you can see what you don't and do need. We work on house keeping so every week I give Frank £150 for that we have to get all the food we need in the week, petrol, school supplies the occasional small treat, household products etc. Then bills and such just come straight out my account direct debit. I only ever keep that months wages in the bank account I actively use, so it is set up so that whatever I have left of that months wages goes into another account the day before the next pay do so instead of spending it, it is saved. As people tend to get a bit spend happy when they have a larger amount in the bank as it makes them feel more secure.
Also you have to either learn to live without a car, or drive your partner to and from work everyday. So for us, Frank is my chauffer.

[twinzplus3]

I'm a freelance writer. I also do curriculum advising.

[MiaCamille]

i babysit kids at home, i usually don't have kids all day unless school is closed, i get them for lunch and bring them back to school and they also come after school. This way i can spend time with Mia Camille and run errands and do all that needs to get done, i bring in an income and my kids don't need a babysitter..It's great!

[erinellakal]

I have been home with the kids since Erin was 1, so almost 5 years. I baby sit in my home too. I use all of my income for the extras like christmas presents, birthday presents, family outings, things like that. Dh(matt)'s income is for bills and mortgage and groceries, etc...

We don't have a strict budget, we just spend smart. We are used to having one income and so we only spend what one income can handle.

Matt got a job that he doesn't have to drive as far now so we are saving tons on gas, not to mention that low prices are helping us out alot.

I also am a substitute janitor at the elementary school. I clean when he is sick or on vacation.
Also helping a friend with her Wedding Decorating business makes a tiny bit of cash for us.
It all adds up and all helps to get by.

Good luck, i hope you can stay home with Robert and your future children, its truley a blessing!

[twinzplus3]

Originally Posted by erinellakal

We don't have a strict budget, we just spend smart. We are used to having one income and so we only spend what one income can handle!

I definitely think this is one of the keys of staying home successfully and not stressing about finances. I'm definitely not being a nay sayer--but it's not that easy to work at home. I think redefining what your "needs" are vs what your "wants" is EXTREMELY important in fact more important than what you end up doing. But like pp--our 'essentials' like groceries, mortgage, etc. is only what one income can handle. If I lose my job (I don't find work at home jobs to always be as stable as "regular" jobs), no biggie. We wouldn't find ourselves foodless and homeless. HTH when you're thinking about it!

[jkl123]

I am a photographer (self-taught), but we rely only on DH's income and save mine. I can set my own hours and sometimes even bring the kiddos. We cut a lot of extras - camping for vacation, instead of fancy places, we got rid of our boat. I do the grocery shopping and we eat what ever is on sale that week. Samuel has some good ideas for running your bank accounts and we do something very similiar.

[erinellakal]

I thought of another thing i do: Rummage and Shop Clearance only!
In the spring i go to as many rummage sales as i can. I got Erins christmas dress for 50cents and its like brand new! You can really save a lot of money and still get really nice stuff. We even got our Lazy Boy at a rummage sale for $45.00 the guy said he had it for 1month and didn't like that way the lower back felt. I tried it out and said "SOLD!" Practically brand new and it was a really nice neighborhood and he said they didn't have any pets and didn't smoke. What a deal, huh?

I never buy any of the kids clothes at full price either. Always shop the clearance racks for the next year! This saves TONS! Childrens Place $1.99 racks are my fave!

I also have a friend who has a little boy who is 1 year older than Kal and a daughter 1 year younger than Ella. So we just trade clothes and call it even!

Kids clothes can get really expensive cuz they grow out of them and they get stained up sooo fast!

Again, good luck!

[browneyes01]

the idea of tutoring sounds like a good idea for you to look into, and just cut costs if you don't need it don't buy it. and continue to make your jewelry I would love to stay home with my kids but i'm a single mother and feel good about making my own money and not having to go on the county .