Happy Wednesday Ladies!
Time to rev the engines!!! I have only four months to go before I have to venture out of corporate life into the life of full-time work-at-home mommy/wife. So exciting! But also terrifying!! Let me jump right in and explain...
The Sitch
Let's begin with how much of my time is currently being drained by my corporate job.
I work from 8 AM until 5 PM with a one hour break at my current job. Right now I leave for work around 7 AM and don't get home until 6 PM. And if you count the hour it takes to get everyone ready and out the door, that's 12 hours a DAY that I currently spend dedicated to my corporate job.
12 hours a day X 20 days per month = 240 hours per MONTH
After taxes, I am bringing home a total of $2,238 per month. Because I work and am unable to stay at home with my children, we are paying $1,320 for my two boys to go to daycare.
I think you can see where I'm going, so here's some math for ya:
$2,238 Mommy's paycheck after taxes per month
-$ 1,320 Daycare per month for our two boys
$918 Very depressing contribution to our household :*(
I am only bringing $918 TOTAL to our finances and contributing 240 hours a month to my job. Divide $918 by 240 and I am making $3.83 an hour.
I CURRENTLY MAKE $3.83 AN HOUR!!
And also if you'd like to get technical and not include the hours that I am not actually at my desk working per month it would go something like this:
8 hours per day X 20 days per month = 160 hours per month
$918/160 = $5.74 per hour - Still EXTREMELY DEPRESSING
This all leads us to our problem...
The Problemo
Something very important to the situation - I am due with our third bundle of joy (a girl!!) in September. She is definitely not the problem here (so no hate-mail please) - we planned the pregnancy and knew what we were getting ourselves into.
However, here is the math for then:
SEPTEMBER
$2,238 Mommy's paycheck after taxes per month
-$2,120 Daycare per month for 3 children
$118 My contribution to our household
In September, the daycare and gas charges associated with going to work will bring my contribution down to almost nada! The "problemo" is that MY income is what keeps us afloat right now. The $918 is what we use for ALL of our bills and groceries (excluding mortgage and healthcare which is just about the ONLY thing that my husband can pay for from his income).
I'm just going to say it - it is almost impossible to raise a family on the incomes that are paid these days. It's ridiculous!!! We don't live lavishly. We are just your typical suburban family with a mortgage and a few car payments... And all we want to do is make enough money to live comfortably and mind our own business... Is that too much to ask??
The Solutions...?
Ready or not, it all changes in 4 months.
Since I found out mid-January that we are expecting another child in September, I have been furiously searching the internet for ideas on making side money starting ASAP. I'm willing to do just about anything to get away from the corporate lifestyle and these ridiculous office politics and crazy hours. Although I actually believe that the day care is good for my children (we LOVE ours), it just will not make financial sense for them to go once September gets here.
So far I have stumbled upon a few promising options that I have found on various blog posts. And I've already tried a few that I can go ahead and dismiss (I'm looking at you, Online Surveys). I'm going to delve into each one with the initial pros and cons of my research and update as I go.
1: User testing - www.usertesting.com
- 4.18 - Registered to start - This requires me to install a program that I can't install onto my work computer so I will have to check it out at home sometime.
- Next step - Proceed at home
2: Secret shopping - www.thesourceagents.com
- 4.18 - Registered to start and asked to join a few studies in my area. They are now under review and I am expecting an email back if I am chosen to do the secret shopping.
3: This blog - anxietopia.com
- I have no idea how to get started making money blogging. This is on my to-do list for researching and developing.
4: Amazon FBA - sellercentral.amazon.com
- This has been the base of my research over the past month or so. I have gotten really deep into this type of business model. I am confident that I will be able to get this going next month. My husband gets a large chunk of money in Mid-May so as soon as that comes in, I am going to buy my inventory and try to take off! More on this in the future (Mid-May-ish).
5: Daycare at home -
- I am deep into a plan for this idea - it is my absolute last resort but one that I know I would enjoy. The reason that I am hesitant about this one is because I would like to have more freedom than this idea will afford. But!, poor beggars can't be choosers! And we gotta eat! So this might just be our ticket for a bit. :)
Please follow along with me through my struggles! Ideas are welcome! I will try just about anything that you suggest... (Well anything but this: thesnugglebuddies.com) :D
Peas and poop and love and boogers,
aMOMonous
